Ab Initio Commandline Utilities

Usage of Ab Initio Command Line Utilities

Introduction
Handy Ab Initio utilities help us to understand Ab Initio functions in a better way.
Ab Initio command line utilities have the following basic advantages:

Makes developers to understand inline transformations better.
Less dependent on GDE for understanding functionality of the dml, date functions
which are more critical to the biz.
Command line utilities are there for whole Ab Initio Software.

Types of Command Line Utilities
GDE related
Co>Operating System related
EME related

GDE related

DML verification
Inline transformation function testing
Database verification testing

DML verification
m_dump

If we require to test the dml for the feed, we can do with GDE using view data facility.
Apart from this we have m_dump utility which prints information about data records, their
record format, and the evaluations of expressions.

This DML utility prints information about data records, their record formats, and the
evaluations of expressions.
m_dump <metadata> [<data>] [<action> ]

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For example input file contents are like
File name
:- ip.dat
Data
:-
121CN

Its respective dml
File Name
:- k1.dml
Record format :-
record

decimal("") CLNSPD = "";

string("") XMPFID = "";

string("") NETTYP = NULL("");

string("") IA = NULL("");

string("") NEWLINE = "";
End;

For testing corrective dml for the input feed file we can use below command at
command line

m_dump $AI_DML/k1.dml ip.dat

If we want to view a particular record of the feed file, we can do it by using GDE.
Also we can view that record from command line.

Command to view particular record is :

m_dump $AI_DML/k1.dml ip.dat start 5 end 5

By using above command we can view the content of the record number 5.

If we want to know the total length of a particular record or DML file or size of the
fields, then we can use the m_dump utility.

m_dump $AI_DML/test.dml -describe

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Output of the above command is:

Name

Offset
Size

Type

cc_firm_msg2
0

1

string(1)

Filler_128
1

40

string(40)

end_of_firm_msg2
41

9

string(9)

firm_entries
50

7

string(7)

end_of_firm_msg3
57

35

string(35)

Filler_129
92

41

string(41)

Total
133

Inline transformation function testing
m_eval

If we want to know a particular transformation (expression), how it works we require to
run the graph through GDE or through command line utilities we can do the same.

The m_eval utility evaluates DML expressions in a shell and displays their derived types.

m_eval [ option ... ] expression [ expression ... ]

if we want to test the date format dml we can use below command m_eval '(date("DD-
MMM-YYYY")) today()
Result:"22-FEB-2010"

if we want to test what is the functionality of string_index function m_eval
'string_index("abcdefgh eieio", "e")
Result:
5

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if we want to add two numbers
m_eval
'124+100'
Result:
224

Database verification testing
m_db

If we want to test the .dbc file is working fine or not or if we want to generate dml for the
database table, these activities can be done by using m_db utility along with many other database
related activities.

m_db command [ options ]

Run diagnostic tests against your database for this dbc file.

m_db test test.dbc

Generates DML for the table test_table

m_db gendml test.dbc -table test_table > test_table.dml

We can create a database table using m_db utility.

m_db create test.dbc -dml test.dml -table test_table The above command will create table
test_table with the record format provided in the test.dml file.

We can truncate a database table using m_db utility.

m_db truncate test.dbc -table test_table

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EME related

These utilities are generally Air commands ( Ab Intio repository commands).
Some of the important EME commandline utilities are:

Project creation
Sandbox creation
Project cloning
Migration of graphs (Project to Project, EME to EME )
Check out
Check in

Project Creation

Creates a new project and specifies various project attributes, including its location
parameter name, a project parameter prefix, included common projects, and additional entries in
the extension list.

air project create project-name

[-location location]

[-prefix prefix]

[-common parm-name common-path] [parm-name common-path] ...

[-extension pattern type [pattern type] ...]
[-nodefault]

To create a project called test that includes a common project air project create
/Projects/test -common /Projects/common
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Sandbox Creation

Creates a sandbox in the specified path. The sandbox directory is created (if it does not
exist) and marked as a sandbox, and the built-in sandbox directories are created.

air sandbox create path

[-template path]

[-prefix prefix]

[-replace s1 s2]

[-location location]
[-nodirectories]

To create a sandbox called test_sandbox

air sandbox create /Application/Sandboxes/test_sandbox Project cloning

Copies the settings, but not the content, of the specified project to a new project. Settings
include the project parameters, the extension list, common projects, and the start and end scripts.

air project clone source-project dest-project

To copy the settings of the lesson project into a new project called myproject air project
clone /Projects/lesson /Projects/myproject
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Migration of Ab Initio Objects (from Project to Project and EME to EME) Create
a EME tag with a name corresponding to the release name on the Ab Initio graph to be migrated
in a project residing on EME datastore.

air tag create <tag name> <project directory/graphname>

To create a tag for the graph test.mp in development environment air tag create tag_v1
/Projects/Development/mp/test.mp Verify the contents of the tag

air tag list -p <Tag name>

To verify the contents of the tag tag_v1

air tag list -p tag_v1

The Ab Initio graph is extracted from the source EME as a binary .SAVE file and
transported to the target environment.

air save <save file name.SAVE> -from-tag <tag name>

To create a binary .SAVE file for the graph

air save test.SAVE -from-tag tag_v1

The .SAVE file is then transported from the source EME to the target EME

The .SAVE file can be transported from Development environment to production
environment by using FTP method

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Then the SAVE file is loaded into the target EME and the graph is checked out into the
target sandbox.

air load <save file name.SAVE> -relocate <source project rpath> <destination project
rpath>

To load the .SAVE file into the production environment air load test.SAVE -relocate
/Project/Develoment /Project/Production

Check out

Check out updates the sandbox with the particular version of code that is being checked
out from the EME. By default the latest version of any object is checked out, but we can check
out any version of code we want.

A graph can be checked out from EME to the sandbox using the following command:

air project export <rpath> -basedir <basedir path> -files mp/<graphname>
run/<scriptname>

To check out the graph test.mp from the EME to the sandbox air project export
/Project/Production -basedir /Application/Sandboxes/Prod/ -
files mp/test.mp run/test.ksh

Check in

Once the project files have been edited and updated they need to be checked in to create a
new version in the EME datastore, which will be available for other users.

A graph can be checked in into EME using the following command air project import
<rpath> -basedir <basedir path> -files mp/<graph name> run/<script
name>

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To check in the graph test.mp into the EME

air project import /Project/Develoment -basedir
/Application/Sandboxes/Test/
-files mp/test.mp run/test.ksh

Co>Operating System related

File management utilities
Catalog management utilities
Job management utilities
Clean up commands
Other commands

File management utilities

The Co>Operating System file management commands allow you to manage a set of
distributed files in a multifile system as a single entry.

m_chmod

Changes the permissions of files, multifiles, directories, and multidirectories.
m_du

Prints information about directory disk usage to standard output.
m_mkdir

Creates a multidirectory in a multifile system.
m_rm

Removes files, multifiles, directories, and multidirectories.
m_touch

Creates a zero byte multifile or changes the timestamp of an existing file.
m_cp

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Copies one or more multifiles.

m_df

Prints information about filesystem disk usage to standard output.
m_rmdir
Removes
multidirectories.
m_ls

Lists files, multifiles, directories, and multidirectories.
m_mv

Moves or renames mulitifiles and multidirectories.
m_mkfs

Creates a multifile system.
m_rmfs

Removes a multifile system.

Catalog management utilities

The Co>Operating System file management commands provide a means of working with
catalogs of lookup files. A catalog is a list of lookup files.

m_catalog_add

Adds a lookup file to a catalog.

The following example adds a lookup file named january_claims to the catalog test1 for
the data file with the URL file://control/mfs/monthly/jan.dat.

The URL of file containing the record format for the data file is
file://control/mdr/claims/monthly.dml, and the primary key for the lookup file is claim_id.

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m_catalog_add -catalog test1

-table january_claims

-data file://control/mfs/monthly/jan.dat
-metadata
file://control/mdr/claims/monthly.dml

-key claim_id

m_catalog_delete

Removes a lookup file from a catalog.

The following example deletes a lookup file named january_claims from the catalog
test1

m_catalog_delete -catalog test1

-table january_claims

m_catalog_export

Prints the text representation of a catalog to standard output.

The following example prints the text representation of the catalog test1 to standard
output:

m_catalog_export -catalog test1

m_catalog_import

Populates a catalog using a text representation from standard input.

The following example populates the catalog test1, using the text representation from the
file test1.catalog-save as input: m_catalog_import
-catalog
test1 < test1.catalog-save

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m_lscatalog

Lists the contents of a catalog in text form.

The following example lists all the lookup files in the catalog test1. The command has no
-table or -data arguments. Note that the output from the command displays the optional Index
URL and Flags fields only when there is a value for those fields in a table.

m_lscatalog -catalog test1

Table:
january_claims
Key:
claim_id

Data URL: file://control/mfs/monthly/jan.dat
Index
URL:
file://control/mfs/monthly/jan.index
Metadata
URL:
file://control/mdr/claims/monthly.dml
Flags:
block_compressed
keep_on_disk
Table:
customers
Key:
SSN

Data URL: mfile://fr1n01/CUSTOMERS

Metadata URL: file://control/mdr/dw/customers.dml

m_mkcatalog

Creates a catalog.

The following example creates a catalog names test1.

m_mkcatalog -catalog test1

m_rmcatalog

Removes a catalog.

The following example removes the catalog test1:

m_rmcatalog -catalog test1

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Job Management Utilities

The Co>Operating System job management commands are used to manage Ab Initio jobs
in running state.

Some important job management commands are provided below

m_kill

This command is used to kill a running job.

m_kill test.rec

m_rollback

Rolls back a job to the last completed checkpoint, or to the beginning if the job
has not completed any checkpoints.

m_rollback
-kill
test.rec

Kills a running job

m_rollback
-d
test.rec

Rolls back the job to the last completed checkpoint, or to the beginning if it has
not completed any checkpoints, and then deletes its recovery file, log files, and many of
the temporary files and directories and internal job-specific files the job created.

Cleanup commands
The Co>Operating System cleanup commands do the following: Find any Ab Initio
temporary files and directories on a computer Display the amount of disk space they use
Remove them

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The basic cleanup utilities are as follows:

m_cleanup

This command uses the specified job log files to list temporary files and directories.

m_cleanup -j job_log_file_name

m_cleanup_du

This command displays the amount of disk space used by the temporary files and
directories specified by the job log file.

m_cleanup_du -j job_log_file_name

m_cleanup_rm

This command removes the temporary files and directories specified by the job
log file.

m_cleanup_rm -j job_log_file_name

Other commands

Some of the other useful Co>Operating System utility commands are provided below:
m_env

This command provides information about the Ab Initio environment's configuration
variable settings.

This command has many argumets for different options. For example to obtain the
version of the Co>Operating system we need to use the following command.

m_env
-v

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m_password

This command is used to convert a text password to an encrypted form.

m_password -password <text password>

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Ab Initio Commandline Utilities

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Usage of Ab Initio Command Line Utilities

Usage of Ab Initio Command Line Utilities

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