The creation of a Single Group Output requires two Objects, a Group and an Output Name Template. Let's take a look at the Single Group Output from the example. In this example we will edit an already existing Output.
The Company 1 Single Group Output
Looking at the name of the Output, it is extremely similar in style to the name of the Source Company 1 Sales Order Detail. It contains a reference to the Group, "Company 1", and a reference to the Data it processes "Single Group Output" much in the same way that the Source does. Simlarly to the Source configuration, we will also use the Group object and a Name Template to set up this Output to be Single Group.
The Group
The Output Name Template
Similar to Source Name Templates, Output Name Templates allow users to setup DataForge to dyanmically insert the GROUP name of an Output into its actual Output Name.
An Output Name Template is another simple object. It has 2 configurable fields: Output Name and View Name. The Output Name must have the text ${GROUP} somewhere in it. The ${GROUP} token will tell DataForge where the user wants the Group name dynamically inserted into the Output name. As stated above, the "Company 1 Single Group Output" Output name has two parts, the "Company 1" Group, and the "Single Group Output" that indicates what data is in the Output.
The second configurable field is the View Name which is only used in the event the Output this Template gets attached to is a Virtual Output (view rather than table or file). It is recommended to also include the ${GROUP} token in the View Name to avoid output collisions when groups are cloned. Only letters, numbers, and underscores are allowed in the View Name. If there are spaces in the ${GROUP} name, they will be normalized when the Template is applied to the output.
Creating an Output Name Template for a single group output would look like the image below.
The Single Group Output Template
Applying the Group & Template
With a "Company 1" Group and a "Single Group Output" Template created, we are ready to transform the existing "Company 1 Single Group Output" into a true Single Group Output. As of right now, it has no Group and no Output Template applied. As we learned in the Creating a Multi Group Output page, this means that it would behave as a Multi Group Output if Cloned.
The Output before applying the Group and Template
Apply the Group and Output Template by using the associated dropdowns. Once both are selected, the Output Name control will be greyed out and automatically populated by DataForge, just like a Source using a Group and Template. In addition, since this is a Group Output and will potentially be cloned, a Connection that uses a Connection Template needs to be applied to the Output. This allows the Clone to work and prevents any cloned outputs that have the same schema and table names from automatically overwriting each other. Users should review output connection destinations and Schema and Table names after cloning to ensure Outputs are correctly pointing where they should be.
Group and Output Template applied
The Output has now been converted into a Single Group Output! When the Company 1 Group is cloned, a brand new Output associated with the newly created Group will be made. Even though it correctly cloned the objects, we would still want to change the table names of the cloned outputs to avoid publishing more than one output to the same destination. In the next section, we will perform a clone of Company 1 to see how the Outputs behave.
Notes
Note that an Output that has a Group MUST be in the same Group as all of its mapped Sources., or the mapped Sources must be ungrouped. In the event that a user maps a Source from a different Group into a Grouped Output, DataForge will throw an error and prevent the action.
Updated