Environments & Data Sources

Environments and data sources work together to organize and control how users access data in SEI.

You can create separate environments—such as Production or Test—to represent different contexts or stages. Within each environment, you define one or more data sources, each of which represents a specific database connection.

Every data model in SEI is based on a single data source. You can associate multiple data sources with a single environment, and quickly switch the active environment at any time using the environment selector in the navigation panel. The selected environment applies to all open views.

When to use environments

• Isolating operational contexts: Create separate environments for development, testing, and production to ensure changes are validated before going live.
• Managing data access: Restrict or grant access to specific data or reports based on the active environment.

When to use data sources

• Connecting to multiple databases: Link different source systems, such as SQL Server, Oracle, or Snowflake, to access the required data.
• Organizing data connections: Group and manage connections for reporting, analytics, or integration purposes.

Add an environment

1. From the navigation panel, click the gear icon at the bottom. The Administration page opens.
2. Select Env. & Data Sources from the menu.
3. In the Environments panel, click the + icon.
4. Enter an environment name and an abbreviateed name.
5. Choose the color for the environment. Use the color picker and select Apply, or enter a HEX code manually.
6. Click Confirm.

note

To make an environment the default for new users, select it from the list and click Set as Default.

Rename an environment

1. In the Environments panel, select the environment you want to rename.
2. Click the pencil icon next to it.
3. Enter a new name and click Confirm.

Create a data source

1. Select the environment where you want to add a data source.
2. In the Data Sources panel, click the + icon.
3. Enter the data source configuration, filling in all required properties in the Data Source Definition panel.
4. Click Validate and then Save to complete the setup.

Data Source Definition properties

Property	Description
Data Source Description	Enter a unique name.
Type	Select the type of database connection for the data source: SQL Server Microsoft Access iSeries (IBM DB2) Oracle ODBC for MySQL ODBC Excel ODBC Pervasive ODBC Teradata Snowflake To use other types, create an OLEDB connection or an SQL linked server.
Server	Enter the name of the database server.
Database Name	Enter the warehouse or database name. It is case sensitive. For Oracle, use SID.
Extra connection string properties	Enter any additional connection string parameters required by the database provider.
Transaction With (No Lock)	(SQL Server and iSeries only) Enable to read transactions without waiting for locks. This may show uncommitted or inaccurate data.
Database Schema Name	Define the database schemas available to data models based on this source. Add multiple schemas as needed. Entry format: SQL, OLEDB – Database name and schema name (e.g., databasexyz.schemaxyz). Oracle – User name and schema name (e.g., userabc.schemaabc). DB2 iSeries – Library name only. Access – Not required. If multiple schemas include the same table or view name, the first listed takes priority.
Force Translation	(iSeries only) Enable to set the connector’s “Force Translate” property.
Port	(Oracle only) Specify the Oracle instance port number.
Path	(Access only) Specify the path to the Access database file.
Pooling	(Oracle only) Activate and define pooling parameters to improve performance. You can keep the default values or adjust as needed: Min. Pool Size 1, Max. Pool Size 100, Decr. Pool Size 1, Incr. Pool Size 5. Important: The max number of connections on the Oracle server must be higher than Max Pool Size.
SEI Schema	Specify the schema used by SEI components (if applicable).
Authentication Strategy	Choose how to connect to the database: Windows Authentication – Use when SEI and the database run on the same server, and the SEI service account has access. Use Specific – Use a specific server login. Key-Pair Authentication – Use a certificate or key pair for authentication.
User Name	Enter the username for database authentication.
Password	Enter the password for the specified user.

Snowflake data source definition properties

Snowflake is a fully managed, cloud-based OLAP database optimized for large-scale analytics and batch processing. It features independent scaling of storage and compute, automatic data partitioning, and high-performance parallel query execution.

To configure a connection to Snowflake, select Snowflake as the data source type. Dedicated Snowflake fields will appear—complete these fields as described below:

Field	Description
Server	Enter a Snowflake account name.
Database Schema Name	Enter the shema name only (do not include database prefix).
Authentication Strategy	Select the method for authenticating with Snowflake. For Key-Pair Authentication, use your public and private keys if supported.
Key User	Enter the username for authenticating with Snowflake.
Private Key	Upload the private key file for authentication.
Pass Phrase	(Optional) Enter the password if the private key file is protected.

Set a data source as data warehouse

If you plan to use a data source for OLAP cubes, you need to designate it as the data warehouse.

1. In the Data Sources panel, select the data source.
2. Click Set as Data Warehouse at the bottom of the panel.
   Additional fields appear in the Data Source Definition panel.
3. Enter the Data Warehouse Schema. This typically matches the custom schema.
4. (SQL Server only) Enable Use MARS during the cube loading to allow multiple active result sets for safer parallel queries.

note

Before version 8.0.1, MARS was enabled by default. Learn more about this option here.