SQL SERVER – The Basics of the Execute Package Task – Notes from the Field #067

[Note from Pinal]: This is a new episode of Notes from the Field series. SQL Server Integration Service (SSIS) is one of the most key essential part of the entire Business Intelligence (BI) story. It is a platform for data integration and workflow applications.

In this episode of the Notes from the Field series I asked SSIS Expert Andy Leonard a very crucial question – What are the Basics of the Execute Package Task and where do we start with it? Andy was very kind to answer the questions and provides plenty of information about how a novice developer can learn SSIS from the beginning and become expert in the technology.

Learning how to configure and use the SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS) Execute Package Task gives you a great starting point for understanding SSIS package orchestration. I advocate writing small, functional SSIS packages that perform a unit of work. That’s a great idea for many reasons. But it begs the question: “How do I string together the execution of these packages?” Remember: SSIS is a software development platform. With “SQL Server” included in the name, it is easy for people to confuse SSIS as a database tool or accessory, but Control Flow Tasks put that confusion to rest.

SSIS provides several Control Flow tasks. Here is a list that provides a good approximation of which tasks I use most, from most-used to least-used:

• Execute SQL Task
• Data Flow Task
• Script Task
• Execute Package Task
• File System Task
• Execute Process Task

In this article I provide a basic example of configuring the SSIS Execute Package Task, shown in Figure 1:

Figure 1: SSIS Execute Package Task

The Execute Package Task provides one way to implement an SSIS Design Pattern for SSIS package execution known as the Parent-Child pattern. When an SSIS package uses the Execute Package Task to start another SSIS package, the package with the Execute Package Task is called the Parent and the package started by the Execute Package Task is called the Child.

The Execute Package Task changed between SQL Server 2008 R2 Integration Services and SQL Server 2012 Integration Services. The changes support the SSIS 2012 (and 2014) Catalog. There is a new property called ReferenceType which defaults to “Project Reference” in packages executing in Project Deployment Mode (the default mode for building SSIS 2012 and SSIS 2014 SSIS packages), as shown in Figure 2:

Figure 2: Options for the Execute Package Task ReferenceType Property

Project Reference is used to execute an SSIS package – a Child package – in the same SSIS project with the package that contains the Execute Package Task – the Parent package. When Project Reference is selected, the next property in the property grid is PackageNameFromProjectReference, a dropdown containing a list of all the SSIS package in the SSIS project.

Setting the ReferenceType property to External Reference is a way to execute SSIS packages that are stored in the file system or the msdb database. When External Reference is selected the next properties in the property grid change to reflect this backwards-compatible functionality, as shown in Figure 3:

Figure 3: Setting the ReferenceType Property to External Reference

The Location and Connection properties are used to specify an OLE DB Connection (to the msdb database) or a File Connection (to the location of the dtsx file). SQL Server locations also require the name of the SSIS package; the File System option does not because the SSIS package is the only thing in the file. The External Reference ReferenceType setting is useful for importing SSIS solutions that contain earlier versions of the Execute Package Task because External Reference behaves exactly like previous versions of the Execute Package Task.

The remaining properties in the property grid – Password and ExecuteOutOfProcess – are shared between ReferenceType options. Password is used if the SSIS package is password-protected (if the ProtectionLevel property of the SSIS package is set to either EncryptSensitiveWithPassword or EncryptAllWithPassword). ExecuteOutOfProcess is a setting that determines whether the package will be executed as part of the current process or a new process.

When executing SSIS packages in Project Deployment Mode (using the Project Reference ReferenceType), Parameter Bindings are enabled and allow values to be passed from the Parent package to the Child package, as shown in Figure 4:

Figure 4: Binding a Parent Package Parameter to a Child Package Parameter

Parameter Bindings are disabled when the ReferenceType property is set to External Reference.

Once configuration is complete, click the OK button to close the Execute Package Task Editor. You can test execution by pressing the F5 key or selecting “Start Debugging” from the SSIS dropdown menu. A successfully-executed Execute Package Task will appear as shown in Figure 5:

Figure 5: A Successful Execution!

The Execute Package Task drives a powerful data integration architecture pattern: Parent-Child execution. Using SSIS Precedent Constraints and Sequence Containers with the Execute Package Task, a data integration developer can develop SSIS “driver” packages that call Child SSIS packages in any combination of parallel and serial orders of execution.

If you want to get started with SSIS with the help of experts, read more over at Fix Your SQL Server.

Reference: Pinal Dave (https://blog.sqlauthority.com)