About Data Transformation Services (DTS)
Commerce Server includes several Data Transformation Services (DTS) tasks that you use to import data into the Data Warehouse. DTS is a feature of Microsoft SQL Server. It provides the functionality to import, export, and transform data between Microsoft SQL Server and any OLE DB, Open Database Connectivity (ODBC), or text file format. For example, importing catalog data from the Catalog database to the Data Warehouse is a DTS task. After you import data into the Data Warehouse, business managers can use the Analysis modules in Commerce Server Business Desk to analyze the data.
For detailed information about using the Commerce Server DTS tasks, see Running the Data Warehouse.
The following table lists the DTS tasks included with Commerce Server.
| Commerce Server 2000 DTS tasks | Description |
| Web server log import | Defines and imports Web log files. You use this task to set Web log file properties that determine the data that is imported from a Web log file, and how individual users and visits are distinguished. |
| Configuration synchronization | Synchronizes the Data Warehouse with Commerce Server Business Desk after you make changes to the configuration settings. This task must be performed before every import task. |
| Transaction data import | Defines and imports transaction data. You use this task to select the type of transaction data you want to import into the Data Warehouse. |
| Data deletion | Deletes detailed log file data and summarized data from the Data Warehouse. You delete log file data to reduce the size of the Data Warehouse. You delete all data, detailed and summarized, if you have imported test data and want to empty the Data Warehouse before importing valid data. |
| Product catalog import | Imports catalog data. Catalog reports using imported catalog data contain more descriptive product information than those using transaction data. |
| User profile data import | Imports user profile data. User profile data is defined with user profiles that are created in the Profiles resource, and is used to collect personal information from users who register on your Web site. |
| IP resolution | Resolves Internet Protocol (IP) addresses from the imported user data. IP resolution converts IP addresses, imported from your log files, into domain names. For example, the IP address 198.105.232.4 becomes www.microsoft.com. This helps readers more readily understand the data contained in your reports. |
| Campaign data import | Imports data about marketing campaigns. You use campaign data to analyze the success of your marketing campaigns. |
| Report preparation | Populates OLAP cubes with the import data, prepares the data for report generation, and cleans up after a delete. This task must be performed after every import and delete task. |
For more information about DTS tasks, see SQL Server Books Online.