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Re: Data import

 

On Mon, Nov 2, 2009 at 5:21 PM, Jason Pickering <jason.p.pickering@xxxxxxxxx
> wrote:

> Hi there.
>
> One of the problems with ETL is one must be a bit careful about
> ignoring certain business rules that may be built into the procedural
> code, but not the DB. It seems that most of DHIS2s logic is built into
> the procedural layer (Java / JS) and not the DB itself.

Of course
> there is some there...foreign key relations and such.


The recommended option should be to go through a DHIS 2 GUI which uses the
API and makes sure the validations as well as database foreign key
constraints etc get handled. Connecting to CSV is one option, DXF another.

I think it could
> be a bit risky, but it depends on which tables you are touching. I
> like the idea of transformation to DXF, followed by importation, as we
> can be sure that all the business logic will be enforced through the
> GUI.

Direct injection of routine/semipermanent data has gone quite
> smoothly for me. I imported a big hunk of population data with Kettle,
> and it worked OK. I am not sure there will be a single transformation
> that we can offer people, but rather some well documented examples and
> tips. Every single data source that is a candidate for transformation
> will probably be very different and require some level of
> customization.
>
> Indeed. I think it makes a lot  of sense to have Kettle as an alternative
which could help people transform their data to DXF, with a few good
examples that can be modified to the particular setting.

Knut


> It might be good to start a branch somewhere "contrib" so we can begin
> to collaborate on these issues. it has been mentioned in the past.
> Perhaps a "contrib/etl" and "contrib/reports" would be good. I have
> developed a couple of generic BIRT reports that others may find
> useful. I would think ETL transforms would be useful as well to start
> to assemble. I can do it if there is consensus with the group.
>
> Regards,
> Jason
>
>
> On Mon, Nov 2, 2009 at 5:36 PM, Knut Staring <knutst@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> > Hello,
> > As DHIS 2 becomes increasingly popular, it becomes more and more urgent
> to
> > be able to import metadata and data from other systems.
> > We have had discussions of using a Extract, transfer, load tools (e.g.
> > Kettle/Pentaho Data Integration) - in which case they probably should be
> > embedded in some way?
> > Ola and I just came up with a simple format now which we think could
> > represent many types of data "out there". That is, people should be
> guided
> > in transforming their data into a simple tabular format, which could then
> be
> > read by DHIS.
> > We have updated an existing blueprint:
> > https://blueprints.launchpad.net/dhis2/+spec/import-data
> > As an alternative approach could be to require people to convert their
> data
> > to SDMX or DXF, it would be good to have everyone's thoughts on this.
> > Knut
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> >
>



-- 
Cheers,
Knut Staring

References