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21.3 When the Source Database Changes

Source systems change: tables are added, fields renamed, a new version of the ERP system installed. Modeller checks the data source when it opens a project and when you refresh, and helps you update the model.

Refreshing

DATA SOURCE → Refresh (or right-click the data source → Refresh) reconnects and reloads the list of tables and fields of the whole data source. It also re-creates the materialized dynamic views – this can take a while.

New tables appear in the Object Tree, ready to be added to the model.

Renamed or Missing Tables and Fields

If a table or field used in the model no longer exists, Modeller shows Rename or delete table '…' or Rename or delete field '…':

  • the list shows existing names that look similar, with how alike they are – it may have been renamed;
  • Rename points the model to the selected name;
  • Delete removes it from the model;
  • Skip leaves it for now – the object becomes invalid until you fix it;
  • Cancel stops the check.

In the Warehouse diagram, a table that is missing in the database gets a red title bar, and missing fields are shown in red text (build 20335 and later).

Your choices are recorded in Table/field translations, so the same renames are applied automatically next time – e.g. when you install the project at another customer with the same source system version.

Table/Field Translations

PROJECT → Table/field translations shows and edits this list of renamed tables and fields. Load translation file imports a list. Despite the name, this has nothing to do with languages – it maps names between versions of the source database.

Working Offline

If the data source can't be reached when you open the project, Modeller says so in Messages and works from the stored table list. Features that need the database – checking dynamic views, browsing tables – are unavailable until you reconnect with Refresh.

Searching the Data

To find which tables contain a value – a code or a name – click DATA SOURCE → Search data (Ctrl+Alt+F) (build 20370 and later). It opens the Source tables pane on the Warehouse tab with Search data ticked, ready for you to type the value – see Searching the Data in 22.1 Tables in the Warehouse. It searches the data source chosen in the pane, and you can limit it to some tables. From build 20371 the button stays pressed while the search is shown; click it again, or press Ctrl+Alt+F, to hide the search and clear its results. In builds 20362 to 20369, tick Search data (Advanced: search the data in build 20362) in the pane yourself.

[!NOTE] Before build 20370, the same place had Search DB (Ctrl+Alt+F), which searched for a value in all tables of the project's staging database – the first database data source, not Metadata or Audit log. From build 20353 it was available whenever the project had a staging database; before, only while a data source was selected in the Object Tree. Partial matches found the text inside longer values.