Profiler Object:Initialization

← Profiler Object Reference

The following functions set the paths to the necessary data files, the license, and initialize the Profiler Interface:

SetLicenseString

This function sets the license string required to enable Profiler Object’s complete functionality.

The License String is a software key that unlocks the full functionality of the component. Without the License String, the object will only function in DEMO mode

The license string is normally set using an environment variable, either MD_LICENSE or MD_LICENSE_DEMO. Calling SetLicenseString is an alternative method for setting the license string, but applications developed for a production environment should only use the environment variable. When using an environment variable, it is not necessary to call the SetLicenseString function. For more information on setting the environment variable, see Licensing. This function accepts one parameter.

Parameters

Name	Data Type	Description
LicenseString	String	A string value representing the software license key.

Return Value

The SetLicenseString function returns value of 0 or 1.

The SetLicenseString function returns 0 if the provided License String is incorrect.

Syntax	profiler->SetLicenseString(StringValue);
C	integer = mdProfilerSetLicenseString(profiler, LicenseString);
.Net	integer = profiler.SetLicenseString(LicenseString);

SetPathToProfilerDataFiles

The SetPathToProfilerDataFiles function sets the the path to the data files required for profiling.

The required data files are

• mdProfiler.dat
• mdProfiler.mc

This function accepts one Parameter.

Parameters

Name	Data Type	Description
LocationString	String	A string value representing the location of the Profiler data files.

Syntax	profiler->SetPathToProfilerDataFiles(StringValue);
C	mdProfilerSetPathToProfilerDataFiles (profiler, LocationString);
.Net	profiler.SetPathToProfilerDataFiles(LocationString);

SetFileName (Optional)

This function sets the path/file name of profiling output file. The processing results will be stored in the output file. This function accepts one parameter

Parameters

Name	Data Type	Description
FileNameString	String	A string value representing the name of the file.

Syntax	profiler->SetFileName(StringValue);
C	mdProfilerSetFileName(profiler, FileNameString);
.Net	profiler.SetFileName(FileNameString);

SetAppendMode (Optional)

This function sets the mode for how the output file needs to be handled. The default is overwrite mode if this function is not called.

Note that if a Profiler file is opened in append mode, certain statistics will not be accurate, as some results cannot be carried over from run to run. Specifically: TableExactMatch, TableContactMatch, TableHouseholdMatch,TableAddressMatch, ColumnInferredDataType, ColumnSortation, and ColumnSortationPercent.

If you intend to open the file in Append mode, you will want call SetSortAnalysis(), SetMatchUpAnalysis() and SetRightFielderAnalysis() appropriately.

The SetAppendMode function takes a value of the enumerated type AppendMode.

Value	Name	Description
0	Append	Add new profiling information to any existing information.
1	Report	Open the profile table so that reporting may be done. No new records can be appended to the profile run.
2	Overwrite	Overwrite existing output profile table.
3	MustNotExist	Output profile table must not exist.

Parameters

Name	Data Type	Description
appendMode	AppedMode	This sets the append mode for the output file.

Syntax	profiler->SetAppendMode(AppendModeValue);
C	mdProfilerSetAppendMode (profiler, appendMode);
.Net	profiler.SetAppendMode(appendMode);

SetUserName (Optional)

This function sets the user name for a particular run. This is optional. This function accepts one parameter.

Parameters

Name	Data Type	Description
UserNameString	String	A string value representing the user name.

Syntax	profiler->SetUserName(userNameString);
C	mdProfilerSetUserName (profiler, UserNameString);

SetTableName

This function sets the name of the table. This function takes one parameter

Parameters

Name	Data Type	Description
TableNameString	String	A string value representing the table name.

Syntax	profiler->SetTableName(tableNameString);
C	mdProfilerSetTableName(profiler, TableNameString);
.Net	profiler.SetTableName(TableNameString);

SetJobName (Optional)

This function sets the job name for a particular run. This is optional. This fuction accepts one parameter

Parameters

Name	Data Type	Description
JobNameString	String	A string value representing the Job name.

Syntax	profiler->SetJobName(jobNameString);
C	mdProfilerSetJobName (profiler, JobNameString);
.Net	profiler.SetJobName(JobNameString);

SetJobDescription (Optional)

This function sets the job description for a particular run. This is optional. This function accepts one parameter.

Parameters

Name	Data Type	Description
JobDesciptionString	String	A string value representing the job description.

Syntax	profiler->SetJobDescription(jobDescriptionString);
C	mdProfilerSetJobDescription (profiler, JobDesciptionString);
.Net	profiler.SetJobDescription(JobDesciptionString);

SetSortAnalysis (Optional)

This function omits the sortation analysis. Sortation analysis can consume a good amount of the AddRecord() profiling time. This time penalty grows geometrically as more records are added, so it can be quite costly. As many users are not interested in this statistic, it is a good candidate for omission.

The default value is "true." This function was made available to allow bypassing a time-consuming analysis that may not be required by the user. This property can be turned off by passing "false" for the value. This property should be set before InitializeDataFiles() is called.

Parameters

Name	Data Type	Description
SortAnalysisValue	Int	0-False, 1-True. This Sets the analysis on or Off

Syntax	profiler->SetSortAnalysis(int);
C	mdProfilerSetSortAnalysis(profiler, SortAnalysisValue);
.Net	profiler.SetJobSortAnalysis(SortAnalysisValue);

SetMatchUpAnalysis (Optional)

This function Omits duplicate record detection. Duplicate analysis consumes some of the AddRecord() and ProfileData() profiling time. However, the penalty is not high (under 5% during AddRecord() and 30% during ProfileData()), and often outweighs the usefulness of having these statistics. The default value is "true." This function was made available to allow bypassing a time-consuming analysis that may not be required by the user. This property can be turned off by passing "false" for the value. This property should be set before InitializeDataFiles() is called.

Parameters

Name	Data Type	Description
MatchUpAnalysisValue	Int	0-False, 1-True. This Sets the analysis on or Off

Syntax	profiler->SetMatchUpAnalysis(int);
C	mdProfilerSetMatchUpAnalysis(profiler, MatchUpAnalysisValue);
.Net	profiler.SetMatchUpAnalysis(MatchUpAnalysisValue);

SetRightFielderAnalysis (Optional)

This function omits inferred data type analysis. This analysis is responsible for the Inconsistant Data and Inferred Data Type statistics. The speed penalty is incurred during the AddRecord() profiling step, and is under 10%. Because the penalty is not very high and these statistics are useful, it is not usually a good candidate for omission.

The default value is "true." This function was made available to allow bypassing a time-consuming analysis that may not be required by the user. This property can be turned off by passing "false" for the value. This property should be set before InitializeDataFiles() is called.

Parameters

Name	Data Type	Description
RightFielderAnalysisValue	Int	0-False, 1-True. This Sets the analysis on or Off

Syntax	profiler->SetRightFielderAnalysis(int);
C	mdProfilerSetRightFielderAnalysis(profiler, RightFielderAnalysisValue);
.Net	profiler.SetRightFielderAnalysis(RightFielderAnalysisValue);

SetDataAggregation (Optional)

This function omits all forms of aggregation. This analysis is responsible for all data aggregation steps. Any statistic that cannot be determined incrementally (for example, median, standard deviation, etc) is determined via aggregation. Although the time savings can be rather high (nearly 40%), the aggregation statistics are usually too useful to be sacrificed.

The default value is "true." This function was made available to allow bypassing a time-consuming analysis that may not be required by the user. This property can be turned off by passing "false" for the value. This propertie should be set before InitializeDataFiles() is called.

Parameters

Name	Data Type	Description
DataAggregationVale	Int	0-False, 1-True. This Sets the aggregation on or Off

Syntax	profiler->SetDataAggregation(int);
C	mdProfilerSetDataAggregation(profiler, dataAggregationValue);
.Net	profiler.SetDataAggregation(dataAggregationValue);

SetCountGeneration (Optional)

This function omits all forms of value gathering. This analysis is responsible for all value tables (Frequency, Pattern, SoundEx, etc). All iterators will return no results. Also, since data aggregation uses these tables, this also suppresses data aggregation statistics. The time savings is very high (over 90%), but the cost is great.

The default value is "true." This function is available to allow bypassing a time-consuming analysis that you may not require. This property can be turned off by passing "false" for the value. This should be set before InitializeDataFiles() is called.

Parameters

Name	Data Type	Description
CountGenerationValue	Int	0-False, 1-True. This Sets the count generation on or Off

Syntax	profiler->SetCountGeneration(int);
C	mdProfilerSetCountGeneration(profiler, CountGenerationValue);
.Net	profiler.SetCountGeneration(CountGenerationValue);

InitializeDataFiles

Opens the required data files and prepares the profiler for use. You MUST call the SetLicenseString function (if you don’t have the MD_LICENSE environmental variable set) prior calling InitializeDataFiles.

If the InitializeDataFiles function returns a code other than zero, you can call the GetInitializeErrorString function to display a string describing the error.

Required Functions You must successfully call SetPathToProfilerDataFiles and SetFileName functions.

The InitializeDataFiles function returns a value of the enumerated type ProgramStatus

Value	Name	Description
0	ErrorNone	No error - initialization was successful.
1	ErrorConfigFile	Error in Configuration file
2	ErrorDatabaseExpired	Database file expired
3	ErrorLicenseExpired	License expired.
4	ErrorProfileFile	Error in Profile file
5	ErrorUnknown	Unknown error.

Syntax	profiler->InitializeDataFiles();
C	ProgramStatus = mdProfilerInitializeDataFiles(profiler);
.Net	ProgrmStatus = profiler.InitializeDataFiles();

GetInitializeErrorString

This function returns a descriptive string to describe an error from the InitializeDataFiles function.

Remarks The GetInitializeErrorString function returns a string describing the error that occurred when the InitializeDataFiles function failed. This is useful for outputting a quick message to the user.

Syntax	profiler->InitializeErrorString();
C	string = mdProfilerGetInitializeErrorString(profiler);
.Net	string = profiler.InitializeDataFiles();