Simple though it may appear, the Set Planner report can be quite invaluable. Experience suggests that successful Extraction Sets are invariably easier to produce if the Set Planner application is used to bring into focus the sometimes ill-defined and indistinct requirements.

The Set Planner is one component in a suite of applications used to accomplish the task of building a smaller Oracle Database from the contents of a larger one. For a step-by-step guide to DataBee and the tools and processes involved please see the DataBee manual home page. If you are unsure about what an Extraction Set is and why you might need one please see the useful Extraction Set Overview page.

The DataBee Set Planner Application

As with all DataBee applications, the Set Planner presents its global functions (loading, saving, exiting etc.) as a column of buttons in the right hand side of the application window. The area on the left provides the major functionality where the decisions about tables to include and exclude from the Extraction Set can be made. In the bottom left hand corner of the window are buttons which can display additional information on for each table (columns, indexes, foreign keys &etc).

The Global Functions

The Bee Logo Button

The Bee Logo button brings up an "About" dialog box which provides information on the DataBee version and support contact information.

Load Plan from File

The Load Plan from File button reads in a previously saved Extraction Set plan and configures the Set Planner to use it.

Clear Plan

The Clear Plan button clears the existing Extraction Set plan information from the Set Planner application.

Save Plan

Saves the current Extraction Set plan to a disk file. The saved Extraction Set plan file is a standard user readable text file. It is inadvisable to manually modify an Extraction Set plan file.

Save Plan As

Saves the Plan to a disk file with a new name.

Plan Wizard

The Plan Wizard button greatly simplifies the creation of a new Extraction Set plan. The Wizard will present a series of screens - and explain each step in turn. Use this tool whenever you need to create a new Extraction Set plan.

Reports

The Reports button starts a dialog box which will print out a report of the table information contained on the main display panel. This report is the primary output of the Set Planner application and is a very useful reference to have when designing an Extraction Set in the Set Designer application. See the specific help of the Set Planner Report dialog box for more information.

Rows Wanted Column

The buttons in this column serve as indicators which show how the table will be included in the Extraction Set. There are four buttons and their meanings are:

All

All rows from the table should be included in the Extraction Set. Tables of this type are generally reference tables which must be included. Be aware that if a table is a child in a foreign key (ie has a non-zero count in the FK Child column) then retrieving the table in full may cause the Set Extractor application to retrieve the parent table in full in order to ensure that the constraint in the subset database will enable.

Subset

Only some of the rows from the table should be included in the Extraction Set. The rows which are eventually included will be determined by Extraction Set rules.

None

No rows from the table should be included in the Extraction Set. This means the table is not considered relevant to the Extraction Set and can be disregarded.

--- ? ---

Undecided. No decision has been made about this table.

Table Name Column

This is the name of the table. The table names are placed in this column via the Get Schema Table Info. dialog box or the Plan Wizard.

Row Count Column

This column shows the number of rows in each table in the source schema. This column will be unknown "?" if the Get Table Row Counts tool or the Plan Wizard has not been used.

FK Parent Column

The FK Parent column contains the number of tables that the table is a Parent of in a Foreign Key relationship. This column will be unknown "?" if the Get Foreign Keys tool or the Plan Wizard has not been used.

FK Child Column

The FK Child column contains the number of tables that the table is a Child of in a Foreign Key relationship. This column contains only the number of direct child relationships. This column will be unknown "?" if the Get Foreign Keys tool or the Plan Wizard has not been used.

View Columns Button

The View Columns button launches a dialog box which displays the table columns.

View Indexes Button

The View Indexes button launches a dialog box which lists all of the indexes for the table and also shows the index columns

View FK Parent Button

This button launches a dialog box which displays all of the tables and constraining columns in which this table is a parent in a Foreign Key relationship.

View FK Child Button

This button launches a dialog box which displays all of the tables and constraining columns in which this table is a child in a Foreign Key relationship.

Mark as Base Button

The base table is the table around which the subset database will be built. There should be very few base tables (usually only one). The Extraction Set will use the initial set of rows loaded in the base table to make sure the rest of the tables in the schema have the rows required to support the base table and each other. The base rows form the core of the subset database and determine the other rows which will be extracted to populate the subset database.

Discard Table Button

The Discard Table button removes the current table from the Set Planner application. If the table is the Parent or Child in any foreign keys these will also be discarded. Discarding a table affects only the Set Planner application - it has no effect on the table in the source schema.

The Tools Tab

Get Schema Table Info.

This button launches a tool that will download the schema information (tables, columns, indexes etc) from the source database of the selected user. Usually this function will be performed as part of the Plan Wizard - but it can be activated manually if required.

Get Foreign Keys

Many Oracle database schemas contain referential integrity constraints which define relationships between tables. Knowledge of such constraints can be very useful when making decisions about which tables to include in the Extraction Set. Usually this function will be performed as part of the Plan Wizard - but it can be activated manually if required.

Get Table Row Counts

When planning an Extraction Set it is useful to know the number of rows in each table in the source schema. The Get Table Row Counts tool enables the number of rows in each table in the source schema to be acquired and displayed on screen. Usually this function will be performed as part of the Plan Wizard - but it can be activated manually if required.

Data Dictionary Optimizer Hint

Certain operations, such as the download of schema information and foreign key constraints, access the Oracle Data Dictionary through the use of the USER_* views. These operations use the default optimizer mode currently in force on the database. If the download of schema and table information is slow then setting an appropriate hint in this section may speed up the process considerably. Note: This optimizer mode does not affect the retrieval data rows in the Set Extractor application - it is only affects statements which access the Oracle Data Dictionary.