SAP ASE OCF Connector: Overview

Alation Cloud Service Applies to Alation Cloud Service instances of Alation

Customer Managed Applies to customer-managed instances of Alation

The OCF connector for SAP ASE (Sybase ASE) was developed by Alation and is available as a Zip file that can be uploaded and installed in the Alation application. The connector is compiled together with the required database driver, so no additional effort is needed to procure and install the driver.

To download the Sybase ASE OCF connector package, go to the Alation Connector Hub available from the Customer Portal. Go to Customer Portal > Connectors > Alation Connector Hub. Only Alation users with access to the Customer Portal can access the Alation Connector Hub. If you don’t have access to the Customer Portal, contact Alation Support.

This connector should be used to catalog SAP ASE as a data source on Alation on-prem and Alation Cloud Service instances. It extracts and catalogs such database objects as schema, tables, columns, views, primary key, foreign key, functions, and function definitions. After the metadata is extracted, it is represented in the data catalog as a hierarchy of catalog pages under the parent data source. Alation users can leverage the full catalog functionality to search for and find the extracted metadata, curate the corresponding catalog pages, create documentation about the data source, and exchange information about it.

Team

The following administrators are required to install this connector:

  • Alation administrator:

    • Ensures that Alation Connector Manager is installed and running or installs it.

    • Installs the connector.

    • Creates and configures the SAP ASE data source in the catalog.

    • Performs initial extraction and prepares the data source for Alation users.

  • SAP ASE administrator:

    • Creates a service account.

    • Provides the JDBC URI to access metadata

    • Provides access to databases to extract metadata.

    • Assists with setting up Query Log Ingestion.

Scope

The table below shows which metadata objects are extracted by this connector and which operations are supported.

Feature

Scope

Availability

Authentication

Basic authentication

Authentication with username and password

Yes

LDAP

Authentication with the LDAP protocol

No

Kerberos

Authentication with Kerberos

No

Keytab

Authentication with Keytab

No

SSL

SSL Authentication

No

Metadata Extraction (MDE)

Default MDE

Extraction of metadata based on the JDBC driver methods in the connector code

Yes

Custom query-based MDE

Extraction of metadata based on extraction queries provided by a user

Yes

Popularity

Indicator of the popularity (intensity of use) of a data object, such as a table or a column

Yes

Extracted metadata objects

Data Source

Data source object in Alation that is parent to the extracted metadata

Yes

Schemas

List of schemas

Yes

Tables

List of tables

Yes

Columns

List of columns

Yes

Column comments

column comments

No

Column data types

Column data types

Yes

Views

List of views

Yes

Source comments

Source comments

No

Primary keys

Primary key information for extracted tables

Yes

Foreign keys

Foreign key information for extracted tables

Yes

Functions

Extract function metadata

Yes

Function definitions

Extract function definition metadata

Yes

Sampling and Profiling

Table sampling

Retrieval of data samples from extracted tables

Yes

Column sampling

Retrieval of data samples from extracted columns

Yes

Deep column profiling

On-demand profiling of specific columns with the calculation of value distribution stats

Yes

Dynamic profiling

On-demand table and column profiling by individual users who use their own database accounts to retrieve the profiles

Yes

Custom query-based table sampling

Ability to use custom queries for sampling specific tables

Yes

Custom query-based column sampling

Ability to use custom queries for profiling specific columns

Yes

Query Log Ingestion (QLI)

Table-based QLI

Ingestion of query history based on a table that contains query history data

Yes

File-based QLI

Ingestion of query history based on a file that contains query history data

No

Query-based QLI

Ingestion of query history based on a custom query history extraction query

Yes

JOINs and filters

Calculation of JOIN and filter information based on ingested query history

Yes

Predicates

Ability to parse predicates in ingested queries

Yes

Lineage

Automatic lineage generation

Auto-calculation of lineage based on query history ingested from QLI, MDE, and Compose queries

Yes

Compose

Customer-managed (on-prem) Alation instances

Compose on on-prem Alation instances

Yes

Alation Cloud Service instances

Depending on your network configuration, you may be using Alation Agent to connect to your data source.

Compose with Agent is supported from connector version 1.2.1.4888.

Yes

Basic Authentication in Compose

Authentication in Compose with username and password

Yes

Query creation and execution

Yes

OAuth in Compose

Authentication in compose with OAuth Credentials

No

SSO authentication in Compose

Authentication in compose with SSO Credentials

No