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Copying Scribe Target Steps Using DTSEdit

Post Author: Joe D365 |

There may be a scenario when working with Scribe Insight and Microsoft Dynamics CRM when you have to integrate data to multiple locations at once—for example, if you're syncing data from an external system to a production as well as test instance of Microsoft Dynamics CRM. In order to save time and to ensure identical data in each environment, the best practice is to create one step and then make a copy of it rather than creating two each step by hand.

Here's how:

1. Once you have completed the design and build of the first step, you can make a copy of it by going into Flow Control under the Configure Steps section and using the copy step button.

2. After copying the step, rename it with a relevant name so you can identify it later. Notice the Connection says MS CRM Test Environment. There is no way to change this from within the Scribe Workbench.

3. At this point you have one step for your MS CRM Test Environment and another step ready for your MS CRM Production Environment, but they are both still pointing to the same test instance of CRM. This is where we can use DTSEdit to modify the CRM instance for the second step. First we need to make sure we have a connection defined, so let's take a look at our connections.

As you can see, we have two connections to Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011. The MS CRM Test Environment is currently being used as the source and target. We are going to use DTSEdit to adjust step two of our Scribe job to point to MS CRM Production Environment. Go ahead and close out of the Scribe Workbench at this point.

4. DTSEdit is a tool provided by Scribe Software that allows you open and edit Scribe DTS files in a spreadsheet-based fashion. It should be found in the Scribe Folder under Program Files.

5. Double click on dtsedit.exe to open the application and open up the Scribe DTS file we have been working with.

6. As you can see, DTSEdit is laid out much like Excel—columns and tabs inside each sheet and multiple tabs across the bottom of the document.

There are four sheets that will need to be modified to adjust the connection for step two of our job.

  1. Data Providers
  2. Target Tables
  3. Keys
  4. Links

We will cover details of each step. There is a ton of data available in the DTSEdit tool. Feel free to play around and try different things, just be sure to have a backup of your DTS files before you do!

7. Now it's time to work with the data providers sheet. The data providers sheet lists the connections stored in the Scribe job. We have already defined our new connection, so at this point we just have to tell it that our connection will now be used as a target. Locate the Data Providers Sheet and the connection we defined as MS CRM Production Environment.

Put a "T" in the Connection Value Column next to Usage to denote this data provider is now being used as a target.

8. Locate the Target Tables sheet. This sheet lists all target steps contained in the job. Locate step two and the Data Providers column that denotes MS CRM Test Environment. Change that column to MS CRM Production Environment.

After:

9. Locate the Keys sheet. Keys are synonymous with lookup links in the Scribe Workbench. Find any key that is part of step two.

Update the data provider columns to match the MS CRM Production Environment.

10. Locate the links sheet. Update the Data Provider column to reflect the new MS CRM Production Environment provider where necessary. There will typically be many more rows to update on this sheet.

Keep updating until you've completed all the links for step two.

11. At this point that's it! You can now re-open the Scribe job in the Scribe Workbench. You will know very quickly if you missed anything as you will see errors upon opening. If you open your Connections or Configure steps, you will notice that they have been updated to reflect the MS CRM Production Environment.

As you can see, DTSEdit can be a very powerful tool when creating integration and migrations with Scribe Insight to save time and reduce errors!

Happy CRM'ing!

Joe CRM
By Joe D365
Joe D365 is a Microsoft Dynamics 365 superhero who runs on pure Dynamics adrenaline. As the face of PowerObjects, Joe D365’s mission is to reveal innovative ways to use Dynamics 365 and bring the application to more businesses and organizations around the world.

2 comments on “Copying Scribe Target Steps Using DTSEdit”

  1. Joe, I have a DTS that when I open it, it locks out my network account, how do I fix this?

    1. Hi there - wait a good 3-5 mins to make sure it is not trying to make a connection and will time out on its way. If it truly is locking up our recommendation is to try to upgrade scribe to the latest and greatest. If it is still locking up there is a chance the package is corrupt and may need a ticket with scribe.

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