Importing Data into the Data Warehouse
This section describes how to import custom data into the Data Warehouse using Microsoft Visual Basic Scripting Edition script (VBScript).
There are five steps to the custom import process:
Reduce the import data set to include only essential data by clearly defining the purpose of the data import. The import time is directly proportional to the amount of data. See the Planning a custom import task topic.
Match the essential data in the line-of-business (LOB) store or log file to existing structures in the Data Warehouse. For example, if user data is required, use the RegisteredUser class to hold the data. See the Planning a custom import task topic.
Extend the Data Warehouse schema to incorporate LOB data not available in existing structures. For example, if the purpose of the data import is to analyze the favorite ice cream flavors of registered users, then a fav_flavor_code data member can be added to the RegisteredUser class. Only extend the existing schema if absolutely necessary. See the Preparing the Data Warehouse topic.
Parse the LOB data into an intermediate form. This is called staging the data. It increases the reliability of the import and reduces the time spent interacting with the Data Warehouse server. Extract the essential data and place it in a format conducive to direct import into the Data Warehouse schema. See the Staging the data topic.
Create a process to import the data from the staging area into the Data Warehouse. Use the Commerce Server 2000 OLE DB provider to import the data into the Data Warehouse schema. See the Executing the custom import task topic.
A running example is used to explain this process. The example involves an ice cream company with a volume of user data. The goal is to use the Data Warehouse to analyze the regional distribution of favorite ice cream flavors.
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