Can we develop plugins for DataStage?

vinodlakshmanan · Post by **vinodlakshmanan** » Fri Dec 24, 2004 2:38 am

Is there any VSS (Microsoft Visual Source Safe) plugin for DataStage? If not, is it possible to develop the same. Can anyone explain the fundamentals behind plugins for DataStage, how to develop them and how to compile and "plug them in".

ray.wurlod · Post by **ray.wurlod** » Fri Dec 24, 2004 5:14 pm

Is there any VSS (Microsoft Visual Source Safe) plugin for DataStage?
No. Such a thing does not make any sense. Plug-in stages are for processing rows of data.

If not, is it possible to develop the same?
Yes, but it would be a waste of time, for the reason given above.

Can anyone explain the fundamentals behind plugins for DataStage, how to develop them and how to compile and "plug them in"?
There is a manual on writing plug-in stages available for asking from Ascential. Its name is DataStage Plug-In Writer's Guide and contains all the functions that a plug-in stage must deliver. You need to be a competent C programmer to develop the stage itself, and C++ if you want to use a custom GUI. It's not a task for the faint-hearted.

I am assuming that you want to build a check-out, check-in capability for DataStage using VSS. A plug-in stage will not, repeat not, allow you to do this, since the structure of the DataStage repository is not documented, not in the public domain, and liable to be changed by Ascential at any time without warning. Plug-in stages operate at run time, not at design time.

dsxdev · Post by **dsxdev** » Sat Dec 25, 2004 1:26 am

Where to find these Giudes ?

DataStage Plug-In Writer's Guide, ... etc.

chulett · Post by **chulett** » Sat Dec 25, 2004 9:26 am

As noted by Ray:

There is a manual on writing plug-in stages available for asking from Ascential.