Auto Documentation reports provide a convenient and comprehensive way to create printed documentation for all of the objects you create in SAP Data Services.
Auto Documentation reports capture critical information for understanding your jobs so you can see at a glance the entire ETL process.
After you create a project, you can use Auto Documentation reports to quickly create a PDF or Microsoft Word file that captures a selection of job, work flow, and/or data flow information including graphical representations and key mapping details.
The types of information provided by Auto Documentation reports include:
Table 53:
Information Description
Object properties Apply to work flows, data flows, and ABAP data flows. Variables and parameters Apply to jobs, work flows, data flows, and ABAP data flows. Table usage Shows all tables used in this object and its child objects.
For example for a data flow, table usage information includes data stores and the source and target tables for each.
Thumbnails An image that reflects the selected object with respect to all other ob jects in the parent container. Applies to all objects except jobs. Mapping tree Applies to data flows.
8.1 Navigation
Auto Documentation reports allow you to navigate to any project, job, work flow, data flow, or ABAP data flow created in the Designer and view information about the object and its components.
To open Auto Documentation reports, from the Management Console Home page, click Auto Documentation. Auto Documentation navigation is similar to that of Impact and Lineage reports. The Auto Documentation page has two primary panes:
● The left pane shows a hierarchy (tree) of objects.
● The right pane shows object content and context.
Expand the tree to select an object to analyze. Select an object to display pertinent information in the right pane. In the right pane, select tabs to display desired information. Tabs vary depending on the object you are exploring. Note that if the subcategory within a tab has a window icon on the far right side of its header bar, you can collapse or expand that part of the display.
Related Information
Impact and Lineage Analysis Reports [page 96]
8.1.1 Searching for a specific object
1. Type the object name in the Objects to analyze search field. The search field is not case sensitive, you may use the percent symbol (%) as a wildcard, and spaces are allowed.
2. Click the search icon (binoculars) or press Enter.
The top level of the navigation tree displays the current repository. You can change this repository in the Settings control panel.
When you first open Auto Documentation, in the right pane the Project tab displays with hyperlinks to the projects in the repository. You can click on these links to drill into the project to display a list of jobs. You can also continue to click the job name links to continue drilling into objects for more information (thumbnails, object properties, and so on).
You can also navigate to this content by selecting objects in the navigation tree. The hierarchy of the tree matches the hierarchy of objects created in Designer.
● Repository ● Project ● Job ● Work flow ● Data flow
8.1.2 Repository
Clicking a repository name in the navigation tree displays the Overview tab in the right pane, which includes the following:
Table 54:
Option Description
Repository name The name given to the repository in the Repository Manager. Repository type The type of repository such as the database type.
Repository version The repository version.
8.1.3 Project
Clicking on a project name in the navigation tree displays the Project tab in the right pane, which displays the list of jobs in the project. You can click on these jobs to drill into the hierarchy.
8.1.4 Job
Clicking on a job name displays information on two tabs:
Table 55:
Tab Description
Name of job This tab includes: ● Description
● A graphical image of the next level of objects in the job (for example one or more work flows or data flows)
● Variables and parameters used in the job
Table usage This tab lists the datastores and associated tables contained in the selected object if applicable.
8.1.5 Work flow
Clicking on a work flow name displays information on two tabs:
Table 56:
Tab Description
Name of work flow This tab includes:
● A thumbnail image reflects the selected object with respect to all other objects in the parent container.
For example, if this work flow is the only one in the job, it appears alone; but if there are two other work flows in the job, they will also appear in the thumbnail image. You can click the other thumbnail images to navigate to them, which re places the content in the right pane with that of the selected object.
● A graphical image of the object's workspace window as it appears in the De signer.
You can click on objects to drill into them for more details. Objects that have a workspace in Designer will display that workspace.
● The object properties displays properties such as Execute only once or Recover as a unit if set.
● Variables and parameters used in the work flow
Table usage This tab lists the datastores and associated tables contained in the selected object if applicable.
8.1.6 Data flow
Table 57:
Tab Description
Name of data flow This tab includes the following:
● A thumbnail image reflects the selected object with respect to all other objects in the parent container.
● A graphical image of the object's workspace window as it appears in Designer. You can click on an object in the data flow to drill into it for more information: A table displays the following information when selected:
○ A thumbnail of the table with respect to the other objects in the data flow ○ Table properties including Optimizer hints (caching and join rank settings)
and Table basics (datastore and table name)
A transform displays the following information when selected:
○ A thumbnail of the transform with respect to the other objects in the data flow
○ Mapping details including column names, mapping expressions, descrip tions, and data types.
To go to the top level of the data flow object, click the data flow name in the navi gation tree, or click the Back button on your browser.
● Object properties—Data flow properties such as Execute only once and Degree of parallelism
● Variables and parameters used in the job
Mapping tree This tab displays a list of target tables. You can expand or collapse each table display by clicking its header bar. Each target table lists its target columns and the mapping expressions (sources) for each.
Table usage This tab lists the datastores and associated tables contained in the selected object if applicable.
8.2 Generating documentation for an object
For most objects, you can quickly generate documentation in Adobe PDF or Microsoft Word format by clicking the printer icon next to the object name in the right pane.
8.2.1 Printing Auto Documentation for an object
1. Select the highest-level object you want to document in the left pane. 2. In the right pane, click the printer icon next to the object name.
3. In the Print window, select the check boxes for the items to include in your printed report. 4. Select PDF or Microsoft Word format.
5. Click Print.
The Windows File download dialog box displays. Click Open to generate and open the file now, or click Save to save the file to any location.
6. After saving or printing your report, click Close to close the Print window.
8.3 Auto Documentation Settings control panel
The Auto Documentation Settings control panel allows you to change the options for your reports. In the upper-right corner of the window, click Settings.
The following options are available in the Settings tab:
● Repository—Select a repository from the drop-down list box and click Apply.
● ImageDisplay—Specify whether a whole or partial image is displayed for large images. Setting the option to Partial improves performance and memory utilization.