Debugging a custom parser or extractor module

Use the Integration Studio to debug a custom parser module or a custom extractor module.

Related topics

Developing-custom-ETLs

Integration-Studio

To debug a custom parser or extractor module

  1. In the Integration Studio, under Package Explorer in the ETL project, select the parser or extractor file.
  2. From the Integration Studio menu, select Debug Configurations.
    pack_exp_java.png

  3. In the Debug Configurations dialog box that is displayed, right-click the ETL Java node in the tree view, and choose New.
    new_etl_java.png
  4. In the right pane of the dialog box, enter a name for your new configuration.
  5. Under Project:, click Browse to locate and select your project.
  6. Under Module:, click Search to locate your parser or extractor module.
  7. Under Input file:, click Browse to locate and select your input file in order to test your parser or extractor module.
  8. Click Apply to save the configuration.
  9. When you are ready, click Debug to give the parser or extractor a debug run using the configuration that you created and saved in the preceding steps.

    Creating a debug configuration
    run_config_java.png

After you click Debug, a new ETL process is launched on your development workstation. This process has all the characteristics of an ETL task, except that it does not upload any data to TrueSight Capacity Optimization.

During the run, the ETL Console pane (bottom right) shows all error messages and logs produced by the ETL. These messages are also saved in the /log folder of your project.

After a debug run is complete, BMC recommends that you complete the following tasks:

  • Ensure that the ETL Console pane is not displaying any errors.
  • Check the /output folder of your project to view the data produced by the ETL.

The /output folder

This folder contains a dataset ID file (for example, MyParserP_datasetid or MyExtractorE_datasetid) for each dataset that the module has produced. This file contains a simple comma-separated value representation of the dataset. You can view it in the Edit area to verify that the output contains the right data, metrics, and timestamps. This data is exactly what the module will upload into TrueSight Capacity Optimization when used in a real ETL.

Note

The run configuration used in the development environment is a subset of the run configuration that is available when the ETL is active in production. For example, in the development environment, you can only choose a single local file to parse, while in production you can browse to an FTP folder and even search its sub-folders to extract files.

 

Tip: For faster searching, add an asterisk to the end of your partial query. Example: cert*