Add Primary Keys

The ADDPKEYS Action adds Primary Key Constraints to the Data Subset. It will add all Primary Keys specified where

1. The Primary Key is set to “Active” in Tables Sheet of the Control Spreadsheet.
2. The relevant Foreign Key table and Primary key table is set to “Active” in the Tables Sheet.

The PREPENV action creates Indices in the Target Data, but does not create the Primary Key constraints. The SUBSET action will not create them either.

If you have run SUBSET and are happy with the results, you can then add your Primary Keys using the ADDPKEYS Action.

This adds the Primary Keys that are set to “Active” in the Tables sheet of the Control Spreadsheet. Instructions for editing the Tables sheet are available here.

To run ADDPKEYS, open The VIP Server Controller from your desktop or start menu. You must open it as an administrator. If The VIP Server Controller is already running, make sure the relevant .vip workflows are Put in Memory. See this article for instructions.

Next, complete the mandatory parameters in the “Run Flow” tab. If working from a Config file created for the current Subset, you should only need to update the parAction argument and enter any additional optional parameters. You will need to update the location of the Subset Report and SQLActionsPath if these have changed. See this article for instructions on working with a Config file.

Specify “ADDPKEYS” for parACTION:

parAction=ADDPKEYS

Complete any optional parameters. See this Knowledge Base article for a full list of Arguments and example parameters.

Once you have parameterized the ADDPKEYS Action, make sure your Configuration Spreadsheet, Subset Report and Log file are all shut. Next, click “Create File” and then click “Start” to run the action.

In the output dialogue, you will see “Flow execution completed on remote server. Please check logs for details.” once the ADDPKEYS Action is complete”:

If you receive an error message in your output dialogue or log, please refer to this article to troubleshoot common issues. You can also run your Action on debug mode for a more detailed log. You can also check the Log File and Subset Report at this stage, to check that the Actions have performed correctly.

Next, check your Database to make sure the Primary Keys constraints have been added. You can additionally run the VALIDATEPKEYS Action to make sure all Primary Keys are unique.

If the Primary Keys are incorrect, you can perform the DROPPKEYS Action to remove them and add a new set.

Note: You can only add Primary Keys that are not already present in the target database. Otherwise the action will fail. If you need to first remove certain Primary Keys, you can use the DROPPKEYS action or the composite DROPKEYS action.

Run ADDPKEYS form the Command Line

To run ADDDPKEYS from the Command Line, first open your re-usable .cmd script in a text editor.

If you have already configured a .cmd script for one Subset Action and wish to edit and re-use that script, you should only need to specify “ADDPKEYS” for  -parAction=””:

Otherwise, configure all mandatory parameters in the .cmd script.

You can also specify optional parameters at this stage.

Make sure your Control Spreadsheet, the Subset Report, and any Log Files are closed.

Run the script to add the Primary Keys.

Check the Log File and Subset Report at this stage, to check that the Actions have performed correctly.

Next, check your Database to make sure the Primary Keys constraints have been added. You can additionally run the VALIDATEPKEYS Action to make sure all Primary Keys are unique.

If the Primary Keys are incorrect, you can perform the DROPPKEYS Action to remove them and add a new set.

Note: You can only add Primary Keys that are not already present in the target database. Otherwise the action will fail. If you need to first remove certain Primary Keys, you can use the DROPPKEYS action or the composite DROPKEYS action.