Required workspace permission: Run data generation
The data generation job uses the configured tables modes and generators to transform the data in the source database or source files. The transformed data is used to create the destination database or to write transformed files to file storage.
In the simplest type of data generation, Tonic Structural uses the configured table modes and generators to transform data in the source database and write the transformed data to the destination location. The destination location is usually a database server, but might also be:
A storage location such as an S3 bucket
A container repository
A Tonic Ephemeral snapshot
For a file connector workspace, the data generation job uses the configured generators for each file group to transform the data in the source files. The transformed data is used to create output files that correspond to the source files.
When subsetting is enabled, Structural first identifies the tables and rows to include in the subset. It uses the configured table modes and generators to transform the data. It then writes the transformed data to the destination location.
Required license: Professional or Enterprise
When upsert is enabled, Structural runs a data generation job that writes the transformed data to an intermediate database. The data generation can include subsetting.
After the initial data generation, Structural runs an upsert job to add or update the appropriate records from the intermediate database to the destination database. The upsert job only adds and updates records. It does not remove any records from previous data generation jobs.
Before Structural can run an upsert job, the destination database must already exist and have the correct schema defined. To initialize the destination database:
Disable upsert.
Run a regular data generation.
Re-enable upsert.
To start the data generation, at the top right of the workspace management view, click Generate Data.
As you configure the data generation options, Structural runs checks to verify that you can use the current configuration to generate data.
If any of these checks do not pass, then when you click Generate Data, Structural displays information about why you cannot run the data generation job.
If all of those checks pass, then when you click Generate Data, if there are no warnings, the Confirm Generation panel displays.
Data generation is always blocked by conflicting schema changes.
The workspace configuration includes whether to block data generation for all schema changes, including non-conflicting changes.
If this setting is turned off, then if there are non-conflicting schema changes, when you click Generate Data, a warning displays. Non-conflicting schema changes include new tables and columns. If the new columns contain sensitive data, then if you do not assign generators before you generate data, that sensitive data will be in the destination database.
If you are sure that the data in the new tables and columns is not sensitive, then to continue to the Confirm Generation panel, click Continue to Data Generation.
The Confirm Generation panel allows you to confirm the details for the data generation. If subsetting is configured, you can determine whether to generate the subset. Structural can also provide tips on how to improve the data generation performance.
If you configured subsetting, then you can indicate whether to only generate the subset.
To create a subset based on the current subsetting configuration, toggle Use Subsetting to the on position.
The initial setting matches the current setting in the subsetting configuration. If Use subsetting is turned on on the Subsetting view, then it is on by default on the Generation Confirmation panel.
When you change the setting on the generation confirmation panel, it also updates the setting on the Subsetting view.
If upsert is enabled for the workspace, then you can also determine whether to use upsert for data generation.
If upsert is enabled for the workspace, then by default Use Upsert is in the on position.
To not use upsert, toggle Use Upsert to the off position. When upsert is turned off, the data generation is a simple data generation that directly populates and replaces the destination database.
Tonic.ai has released an improved version of the data generation process. It is always used for PostgreSQL and is an optional process for Oracle.
To switch to the new process for an Oracle workspace, on the Confirm Generation panel, toggle Data Pipeline V2 to the on position.
For the new process, the job type is Data Pipeline Generation instead of Data Generation.
When upsert is enabled, the Confirm Generation panel provides access to the connection information for the intermediate database. To display the intermediate database connection details, click Intermediate Upsert Database.
If the intermediate database information is incorrect, to navigate to the workspace configuration view to make updates, click Edit Intermediate.
The Confirm Generation panel provides the destination information for the workspace. To display the destination database connection details, click Destination Settings.
Depending on the workspace configuration and data connector type, the destination information is either:
Connection information for a database server
A storage location such as an S3 bucket
Configuration for an Ephemeral snapshot
Information to create container artifacts
If the destination information is incorrect, to navigate to the workspace configuration view to make updates, click Edit Destination Settings.
For a file connector workspace, if the source files came from a local file system, then the destination files are written to the large file store in the Structural application database. You can download the most recently generated files.
If the destination data is written to a container artifacts, then from the Confirm Generation panel, you can configure custom tag values to use for the artifacts that are generated by the data generation job. For information about how to configure the tag values, go to #workspace-settings-containerization-tags.
Required global permission: Enable diagnostic logging
By default, Structural redacts sensitive values from the logs. To help support troubleshooting, some Structural data connectors can be configured to use diagnostic logging, which generates unredacted versions of the log files. For details, go to #diagnostic-log-environment-settings.
If the data connector is not configured to use diagnostic logging, then you can choose whether to enable diagnostic logging for an individual data generation job. The option is also available for data connectors that do not have a diagnostic logging setting.
On the Confirm Generation panel, to enable diagnostic logging for the job, toggle Enable Diagnostic Logging to the on position.
Access to diagnostic logs is also controlled by the Enable diagnostic logging global permission. If you do not have this permission, then you cannot download diagnostic logs.
For data generation, assigning Truncate table mode to tables that you don't need data for can improve generation performance.
For subsetting, if an upstream table is very large, and the foreign key columns are not indexed, then it can make the subsetting process run more slowly.
The Want faster generations? message displays at the bottom of the Confirm Generation panel. It displays for all non-subsetting jobs. For subsetting jobs, the panel only displays if Structural identified columns that you should consider indexing.
To display information about tips for faster generation, click Generation Tips.
On the Generation Tips panel for subsetting jobs, the Add Indexes panel displays the first few columns that you might consider indexing.
To display a panel with a suggested SQL command to add the index, click the information icon next to the column.
On the panel, to copy the command to the clipboard, click Copy SQL to Clipboard.
If there are additional columns that are not listed, then to display the full list of columns to index, click Show all columns.
On the full list, to download the list to a CSV file, click Download list of columns (.csv).
On the Generation Tips panel for non-subsetting jobs, the Truncate Tables panel displays the hint to truncate tables that contain data that you do not need in the destination database.
To navigate to Database View to change the current configuration, click Go to Database View.
On the Confirm Generation panel, after you confirm the generation details, to start the data generation, click Run Generation.
When upsert is enabled, to start the data generation and upsert jobs:
Click Run Generation + Upsert.
In the menu, click Run Generation + Upsert.
Structural displays a notification that the job has started. To track the progress of the data generation job and view the results, click the View Job button on the notification, or go to the Job History view.
If upsert is enabled for a workspace, then on the Confirm Generation panel, the more common option is to run both data generation and upsert.
After you run at least one successful data generation to the intermediate database, then you can also choose to run only the upsert process.
For example, if the data generation succeeds but the upsert process fails, then after you address the issues that caused the upsert to fail, you can run the upsert process again.
You also must start the upsert job manually if you turn off Automatically Start Upsert After Successful Data Generation in the workspace settings.
From the Confirm Generation panel, to run upsert only:
Click the Run Generation + Upsert button.
In the menu, click Run Upsert Only.
When you run upsert only, the process uses the results of the most recent data generation.
The following issues prevent a data generation or subsetting job.
The following errors occur when you attempt to generate a subset. They do not apply if Use subsetting is turned off.
When upsert is enabled, the following issues cause the upsert job to fail.
| Issue | Description | How to resolve |
|---|---|---|
| Issue | Description | How to resolve |
|---|---|---|
| Issue | Description | How to resolve |
|---|---|---|
| Issue | Description | How to resolve |
|---|---|---|
| Issue | Description | How to resolve |
|---|---|---|
| Issue | Description | How to resolve |
|---|---|---|
Structural license expired
The current Structural license is expired.
No workspace configured
The Structural instance does not have any workspaces to generate data from.
Insufficient workspace permissions
You do not have permission to run data generation on this workspace.
Unable to connect to the source database
The source database connection is either missing or incomplete.
Edit the workspace configuration to complete the source database connection. Make sure to test the connection.
Unable to connect to the destination database
The destination database connection is either missing or incomplete.
Edit the workspace configuration to complete the destination database connection. Make sure to test the connection.
Evaluation - The source database size exceeds the maximum allowed
During a Structural evaluation, the source database size is larger than the configured maximum for that evaluation.
Reduce the size of the source database.
Scale mode - Invalid generators
A table that uses Scale mode has columns with assigned generators that are not valid for Scale mode.
Change the selected generator for the columns.
Scale mode - Passthrough generator or sub-generator for the Conditional generator
A table that uses Scale mode has columns that use the Conditional generator, and that are assigned Passthrough as a generator or sub-generator.
Change the selected generator, sub-generator, or default generator.
Preserve Destination - cannot resolve foreign key references
A table that uses Preserve Destination mode is referenced from another table.
Truncate - cannot resolve foreign key references
A table that uses Truncate mode is referenced from another table.
Cross Table Sum - incomplete generation
A column is assigned the Cross Table Sum generator, but some required configuration field values are missing.
Incremental mode - circular foreign key dependency
There is a circular foreign key dependency between tables that use Incremental mode.
AI Synthesizer configured when it is disabled
A table is configured to use the AI Synthesizer, but the AI Synthesizer is not enabled.
Set the environment setting TONIC_NN_GENERATOR_ENABLED to true.
OR
Remove the AI Synthesizer from the generator configuration.
Unresolved schema changes
There are detected schema changes that are not resolved.
No target tables configured
The subsetting configuration does not include any target tables.
Invalid target table configuration
A target table has an invalid percentage value or WHERE clause.
In-subset table uses Scale mode
A table that is in the subset uses Scale table mode.
In-subset table uses Truncate mode.
A table that is in the subset uses Truncate table mode.
In-subset table uses Preserve Destination mode.
A table that is in the subset uses Preserve Destination table mode.
In-subset table uses Incremental mode.
A table that is in the subset uses Incremental table mode.
Destination database not populated
The destination database is empty.
Update the workspace to disable upsert, then run a regular data generation job to populate the destination database. You can then re-enable upsert.
Invalid table mode
A table is assigned a mode other than De-Identify or Truncate.
Change the table mode to De-Identify or Truncate.
Unable to connect to the intermediate database
The intermediate database connection is either missing or incomplete.
Edit the workspace configuration to complete the intermediate database connection.
Unresolved schema conflicts
There are schema conflicts between the source and destination databases.
Update the source or destination database schema to resolve the changes.
