When you use IBM® InfoSphere® DataStage® to
access the ODBC application
programming interface (API), you can choose from a collection of connectivity
options. For most new jobs, use the ODBC connector, which offers better
functionality and performance.
A connector is a component that provides data connectivity and
metadata integration for external data sources, such as relational
databases or messaging software. A connector typically includes a
stage that is specific to the external data source.
The
ODBC connector is
one of several different stages that access external data sources
in database management systems (DBMS). In addition to the
ODBC Connector
stage, the following stages are available:
- ODBC Enterprise
stage, which is available only for parallel jobs
- ODBC stage,
which is available only for server jobs
If you have jobs that use the older stages and want to use the
connector, use the Connector Migration Tool to migrate jobs to use
connector.
The
ODBC connector provides
some ease-of-use benefits to you:
- View data in a design-time environment.
- Create job parameters directly from the connector without
having to define the parameters first.
- Save connection information that you specify in the stage as a
data connection object, which means that you can reuse the object.
- Configure rules for reconciling data types between the source
and target schemas to avoid runtime errors.
- Receive immediate feedback about any invalid values for properties
on the Properties page.
- Reset a property value to its default value.
- View error messages that are generated when your jobs run.
The following table lists the scenarios where you might want to
use one of the stages other than the ODBC Connector stage.
Table 1. Scenarios
where you might use a stage other than the ODBC Connector stageGoal |
Stage to use instead of the ODBC Connector stage |
Use stored procedures. |
- Stored Procedure (preferred)
- ODBC
|
In a lookup operation, return more than one
result on the reference link for each input row. |
ODBC (server jobs) |