Overview | Types | Creating | Maintaining | Deploying
An Omnidex Environment is a term that describes all the aspects an Omnidex database. This includes:
Typically, an Omnidex Environment is a directory with subdirectories that contain all of these elements. This is often the most convenient approach since whole directories are easy to move and back up. In many cases, however, the database and indexes are large enough that they must span multiple disk drives or even machines. In that case, the Omnidex Environment refers to the entire collection, even though it is disbursed.
Omnidex previously supported a proprietary syntax to describe Omnidex Metadata which was then compiled into a .env file with oacomp which required a separate indexing installation specification using dbinstal. As of the Omnidex 5.1 release, Omnidex uses a more consistent DDL approach for specifying both Omnidex metadata and index installation and used OdxSQL to process the DDL into an XML.
Although the oacomp/proprietary syntax is still supported, DISC recommends that all new Omnidex applications use the new DDL syntax. However, there are few items that the DDL does not yet support so existing customers should check with DISC before converting any existing oacomp/environments.
Please see Omnidex Legacy Environments for more information.
An Omnidex Environment File is an XML file that contains all of the metadata about the database and the Omnidex indexing. It is created interactively using the Omnidex Administrator, or using SQL statements such as CREATE ENVIRONMENT, CREATE DATABASE, CREATE TABLE and CREATE INDEX. The metadata contained in an Omnidex Environment File includes:
Omnidex Environments that connect to relational databases can be selective about which tables and columns are included. This can be helpful in that it can greatly reduce the number of tables and columns seen by the Omnidex application. This can also reduce maintenance on the Omnidex Environment since it will only have to be updated for changes to the tables it includes.
Omnidex Environment Files also serve an important role in connections. An Omnidex Connection String points to an Omnidex Environment File. This means that the Omnidex Environment File is the starting point for nearly every Omnidex operation.
An Omnidex Environment can be organized in any fashion to reflect the standards of an organization. If no overriding standards exist, Omnidex recommends the following directory structure for an Omnidex Environment. This example presumes a database named “simple”.*
| Directory | Description |
|---|---|
| /simple | Root directory containing Omnidex Environment File |
| /simple/dat | Directory containing any data files, such as raw data files or delimited files |
| /simple/idx | Directory containing Omnidex indexes |
| /simple/sql | Directory containing SQL files used in this environment |
| /simple/log | Directory containing log files generated in this environment |
* Note that this directory structure is not required, and any structure may be used.
See also: