By default, a job executed in a process flow uses the input and output files defined
in the job's source and sink stages. You can, however, override the input and output
files defined in the job so that when the process flow runs, the job will use the
input or output file you specify in the job activity in the process flow instead of
the file specified in the job's source or sink stages. You can override input and
output files by specifying a specific file or by using a variable to refer to a file
defined in an upstream activity.
Open the process flow in Spectrum Enterprise Designer.
Double-click the job activity for which you want to override an input or output
file.
Click the Variables tab.
On the Variables tab, the variables listed under
Inputs correspond to the source stages in the job.
The variables listed under Outputs correspond to the
sink stages in the job.
For example, say you have a process flow that contains a job activity for a
job named MyGeocodingJob. On the Variables tab of the
activity options you see this:
Each variable listed corresponds to the name of a source or sink stage in the
MyGeocodingJob dataflow. In this example the
Variables tab shows one source (Read from File) and
two sinks (Write Failed and Write Successful). If you were to open up the
MyGeocodingJob dataflow in Spectrum Enterprise Designer, you would see something like
this:
On the Variables tab, select the source stage or output
stage that you want to override and click Modify.
the Location field, choose one of the following to override an input or output file.
To override an input file:
Choose this
To
Use file specified in job
Use the file defined in the source stage in the job.
Browse for file on the server
Override the file defined in the job and use a different file that you choose.
Reference an upstream activity's file
Override the file defined in the job with a file whose name and location is defined in an upstream activity's Read from File or Write to File stage or an upstream activity's variable. Use this option if the output file from a previous activity is the input for this activity. The advantage of this option is that if the upstream activity's Write to File stage is ever modified to point to another file, this activity will still point to the correct file. Another advantage is that you do not need to know the file path and name of upstream activities' input file to point to it.
To override an output file:
Choose this
To
Browse for file on the server
Override the file defined in the job and use a different file that you choose.
Temporary file managed by the server
Make this variable reference a temporary file that will be automatically created and deleted as needed. This option is useful in cases where a file used only as an intermediate step in a process flow and is not needed once the process flow completes.
Click OK to close the Modify
Variable window.
Click OK to close the activity options window.
When the process flow runs, the job will use the files you specified in the process
flow activity instead of the file specified in the job itself.
