Create Informatica Mappings From/To an ODBC Data Source for Halo Service Desk

Informatica provides a powerful, elegant means of transporting and transforming your data. By utilizing the CData ODBC Driver for Halo Service Desk, you are gaining access to a driver based on industry-proven standards that integrates seamlessly with Informatica's powerful data transportation and manipulation features. This tutorial shows how to transfer and browse Halo Service Desk data in Informatica PowerCenter.

Connect to Halo Service Desk as an ODBC Data Source

Information for connecting to Halo Service Desk follows, along with different instructions for configuring a DSN in Windows and Linux environments.

Start by setting the Profile connection property to the location of the HaloServiceDesk Profile on disk (e.g. C:\profiles\HaloServiceDesk.apip). Next, set the ProfileSettings connection property to the connection string for HaloServiceDesk (see below).

HaloServiceDesk API Profile Settings

HaloServiceDesk uses API key authentication. You can find or create API keys in HaloServiceDesk under Administration > Integrations > Halo API.

Set the following connection properties to connect:

• AuthScheme: Set this to APIKey.
• APIKey: Set this to the API key from your HaloServiceDesk account.
• Domain: Set this to the hostname of your HaloServiceDesk instance (e.g. yourcompany.haloservicedesk.com).

Windows

If you have not already, first specify connection properties in an ODBC DSN (data source name). This is the last step of the driver installation. You can use the Microsoft ODBC Data Source Administrator to create and configure ODBC DSNs.

Linux

If you are installing the CData ODBC Driver for Halo Service Desk in a Linux environment, the driver installation predefines a system DSN. You can modify the DSN by editing the system data sources file (/etc/odbc.ini) and defining the required connection properties.

/etc/odbc.ini

[CData API Source]
Driver = CData ODBC Driver for Halo Service Desk
Description = My Description
Profile = C:\profiles\HaloServiceDesk.apip
AuthScheme = APIKey
ProfileSettings = 'APIKey = your_api_key
Domain = yourcompany.haloservicedesk.com'

For specific information on using these configuration files, please refer to the help documentation (installed and found online).

Create a Linked Table to Assets Data

Follow the steps below to create a linked table, which enables you to access live Assets data.

Create the ODBC Connection

Follow the steps below to connect to Halo Service Desk in Informatica PowerCenter:

1. In the Informatica Developer tool connect to your repository and create a project.
2. In the Connection Explorer pane, right-click and click Create a Connection.
3. In the New Database Connection wizard that is displayed, enter a name and Id for the connection and in the Type menu select ODBC.
4. In the Connection String property, enter the DSN.

NOTE: If you are working in a Linux operating system, set the Driver Manager for Linux property to unixODBC 2.3.x.

Create the Halo Service Desk Data Object

After you have created an ODBC connection to Halo Service Desk, you can now access Halo Service Desk entities in Informatica. Follow the steps below to add Assets entities to your project.

1. In the Object Explorer, right-click your project and then click New -> Data Object.
2. In the wizard that is displayed, select the Relational Data Object option.
3. Click the Browse button next to the Connection box and select the ODBC connection you created in the previous step.
4. Select the option to create a data object from an existing resource and click the Browse button next to the Resource box.
5. In the dialog that is displayed, clear the Show Default Schema Only option and expand the node for the ODBC connection. Select the entity that you want.

You can now browse the table in the Data Viewer: Right-click the node for the table and then click Open. On the Data Viewer view, click Run.

Create the Mapping

Follow the steps below to add the Halo Service Desk source to a mapping:

1. In the Object Explorer, right-click your project and then click New -> Mapping.
2. Expand the node for the Halo Service Desk connection and then drag the data object for the table onto the editor.
3. In the dialog that appears, select the Read option.

Follow the steps below to map Halo Service Desk columns to a flat file:

1. In the Object Explorer, right-click your project and then click New -> Data Object.
2. Select Flat File Data Object -> Create as Empty -> Fixed Width.
3. In the properties for the Halo Service Desk object, select the rows you want, right-click, and then click copy. Paste the rows into the flat file properties.
4. Drag the flat file data object onto the mapping. In the dialog that appears, select the Write option.
5. Click and drag to connect columns.

To transfer Halo Service Desk data, right-click in the workspace and then click Run Mapping.