Data connections

Data connections are the successor of database aliases. Data connections provide the option to configure and administer data sources for all components of Infor EPM in a central place.

Data connections are used in these places:

• OLAP configuration (Load Jobs, Changelog, Mappings)
• Application Engine
• Application Studio
• Office Integration

Different to database aliases, data connections do not allow configuring different credentials for different users and roles. If special high-privileges are needed, additional data connections can be created where high-privilege credentials are used and then enabled only for the component where it is needed. Data connections can be enabled for single components to provide control over such high-privilege connections.

For example, creating a high-privilege data connection and enabling it only for Application Engine processes.

In version 11, Office Integration and Application Studio shared data connections and used the same unique names for data connections. In version 12, Office Integration connects only to a dedicated application and uses the All Shared Connections feature, which checks all available databases for a specific user. The feature is implicitly enabled, but can be disabled by the administrator.

Unique names for data connections for Office Integration are now created in this format: ApplicationUniqueName_DataConnectionUniqueName. For example, BIBestPr_BestPracticesOLAP. To share unique names for data connections between Office Integration and Application Studio, you must create a new data connection for Office Integration in EPM Administration and specify a unique name in the same format as is used for Application Studio.