SQL Server 2005 – SQL Server Integration Services – Part 11 – SSIS Events and Event Handlers

One of the concepts introduced in the previous article of our series
discussing SQL Server 2005 Integration Services were events. While we initially
looked at them in the context of Windows Instrumentation Management (which, in
turn, serve as the basis of operations for SSIS WMI Event Watcher Task), we
also mentioned that equivalent functionality has been implemented as an
independent feature within SSIS packages. SSIS events are generated by all of the
executable components (including tasks, containers, and packages themselves) at
various stages of their lifetime. If desired, it is possible to define a set of
actions that will be triggered in response to any of them and incorporate such
actions into package components known as event handlers. In this article, we
will focus on the characteristics of SSIS events and their handlers, and
provide some examples demonstrating their use.

SQL Server 2005 Integration Services provide the ability to handle
practically any type of event associated with execution of its task and
container (through the ability to configure corresponding handlers). The
following list contains more significant and commonly monitored types of events
(you might be able to spot some of them in the Output window during package
execution in Debug mode):

  • OnError – generated as the result of an error condition. It falls
    into the category of the most frequently implemented types of event handler.
    Its purpose can be, for example, to gracefully terminate failed execution of a
    task or container, to provide additional information simplifying
    troubleshooting, or to notify about a problem and need for remediation.

  • OnWarning – similar to the OnError event, it is raised in
    response to a problem (although not as significant in terms of severity).

  • OnInformation – produces reporting information relating to the outcome
    of either validation or execution of a task or container (other than warning or
    error).

  • OnTaskFailed – signals the failure of a task and typically follows
    OnError event.

  • OnPreExecute – indicates that an executable component is about to
    be launched.

  • OnPreValidate – marks the beginning of the component validation
    stage, following the OnPreExecute event. The main purpose of validation is
    detection of potential problems that might prevent execution from completing
    successfully.

  • OnPostValidate – occurs as soon as the validation process of the
    component is completed (following OnPreValidate event),

  • OnPostExecute – takes place after an executable component
    finishes running.

  • OnVariableValueChanged – allows you to detect changes to
    variables. The scope of the variable determines which executable will raise the
    event. In addition, in order for the event to take place, the variable’s ChangeEvent
    property must be set to True (the default is False).

  • OnProgress – raised at the point where measurable progress is
    made by the executable (for example, when running Execute SQL Task). This can
    be evaluated by monitoring the values of the system variables associated with the
    OnProgress event handler, such as ProgressComplete, ProgressCountLow, and
    Progress CountHigh.

Some events are limited to specific scenarios (for example, OnQueryCancel is
appropriate in cases where it is feasible to cancel task execution during its
processing), others are component-specific (for example, WMIEventWatcher task,
described in our previous
article
, provides the ability to configure handlers for OnWMIEventWatcherEventOccurred
and OnWMIEventWatcherEventTimedout events, in addition to the ones listed
above).

Most of the event categories (with the exception of the component-specific
ones) exist for each executable (although there are exceptions), which means
that within a package, you can have multiple event handlers, invoked by the
same type of event. In addition, events raised by a subcomponent are by default
processed not only by its own handler (if it exists), but also by a handler for
the same event assigned to its parent and grandparent(s) – until the top
container – i.e. package – is reached. This event processing
"hierarchy" is beneficial, since it allows you to minimize the number
of handlers that you need to create in order to respond properly to events that
you are concerned about (in the simplest case, you can assign them only on the
package level). On the other hand, you can prevent processing of events occurring
on the subcomponent level by their parents’ handlers through assigning a False
value to the Propagate system variable (of Boolean data type) of a
subcomponent’s handler (by default, its value is set to True). This way, you
can ensure that a particular event for a specific executable is handled in a
unique fashion. Another possibility for modifying the default event processing
behavior involves the use of the DisableEventHandlers property of an
executable, which prevents any of its handlers from being triggered in case of
an associated event – however, the notification about the event is passed up
the hierarchy, which activates equivalent handlers defined in the parent and grandparent(s)
containers.

Event handlers share a number of System Variables, which can be used to
obtain more information about them and their underlying events (such as EventHandlerStartTime,
LocaleID, SourceDescription, SourceID, and SourceName) or change their
characteristics (such as earlier described Propagate). There are also variables
which are event handler specific (for example, ErrorCode and ErrorDescription,
associated with the OnError event handler or already mentioned variables
implemented as part of the OnProgress event handler).

Event handlers resemble packages, since both share the same set of features,
including control and data flow as well as support for variables for which they
provide scope. While you can build and configure them programmatically, it is
much more straightforward and intuitive to use the Event Handlers tab of the
package designer interface within the SQL Server 2005 Business Intelligence
Development Studio for this purpose. The tab contains two listboxes – one
listing all package executables, the other displaying corresponding events for
each – and a link placed underneath them, which creates an empty handler for
the currently selected executable and event. Once you click on the link, you
will be presented with the handler interface onto which you can add control
flow elements (including the Data Flow task) by dragging them from the Toolbox
tab (the same way you would populate the Control Flow of a package). With Event
Handlers tab active, you also have access to the Connection Managers area, with
its server and data sources.

Let’s take a look at a simple example demonstrating some of the features
described so far. In particular, we will experiment with the OnError event
handlers defined on the task and package level and their interaction, depending
on the value of the DisableEventHandlers task property and Propagate system
variable of the task’s event handler. We can trigger an error condition using
the WMI Event Watcher-based package, presented in the
previous article
of this series (refer to it in order to determine steps
required to create the package). It does not really matter which one of our
sample WQL Queries you specify as the WQLQuerySource option (assuming that you
use "Direct input" as the WQLQuerySourceType), since our goal is not
to satisfy the condition specified there, but rather trigger the task failure.
This can be easily accomplished by setting the AfterTimeout option to
"Return with failure," assigning a value of 1 to Timeout, and
changing ActionAtTimeout to "Log the time-out and fire the SSIS event."

Now switch to the Event Handlers tab of the Designer interface. Choose the
WMI Event Watcher Task in the Executable listbox and select OnError as its
Event handler. Click on the link below to create the OnError event handler.
Drag and drop the Script Task from the Toolbox onto the empty area of the
designer (as you can see, this process is identical to creating a regular
package). Right-click on the newly added component and activate the Edit option
from its context sensitive menu. After switching to the Script option, type SourceName as the value of ReadOnlyVariables
and Propagate as the value
of ReadWriteVariables. These are system variables of the OnError event handler,
which we will use to extract additional information about the way events are
handled and to modify their default behavior. Click on the "Design
Script…" button and enter the following as the content of the Public Sub
Main():


Public Sub Main()

‘ Add your code here

Dts.Variables(“Propagate”).Value = True
MsgBox(“Event Source = ” & CType(Dts.Variables(“SourceName”).Value, String) & vbLf & _
“Propagate = ” & CType(Dts.Variables(“Propagate”).Value, String), MsgBoxStyle.OKOnly, _
“Script Task in OnError Event Handler of WMI Event Watcher Task”)
Dts.TaskResult = Dts.Results.Success
End Sub

This code assigns a value of True to the Propagate system variable of the OnError
event handler and displays the message box, with descriptive header, informing
about the executable, which was the source of the error as well as the current
value of the Propagate variable.

Close the Microsoft Visual Studio for Applications window and click on OK in
the Script Task Editor interface to return to the Event Handlers tab of the
designer interface. Click on the down arrow symbol of the Executable listbox
and select the Package entry. Using the same procedure as before, create an
event handler for the OnError event containing the Script Task. In its Editor
dialog box, set ReadOnlyVariables to SourceName
and type in the following code after displaying the Microsoft Visual Studio for
Applications window by clicking on the "Design Script…" command
button:


Public Sub Main()

‘ Add your code here

MsgBox(“Event Source = ” & CType(Dts.Variables(“SourceName”).Value, String), _
MsgBoxStyle.OKOnly, “Script Task in OnError Event Handler of Package”)
Dts.TaskResult = Dts.Results.Success
End Sub

As before, close the Microsoft Visual Studio for Applications and Script
Task Editor windows to return to the Event Handlers tab of the designer
interface. Switch to the Control Flow tab and launch the execution of the
package by pressing the F5 key (or selecting the Start Debugging item from the
Debug menu). Shortly after (following 1 second of execution), the WMI task
should time out and trigger failure. This, in turn, invokes the OnError event
handler we have defined for the WMI Event Watcher Task, which generates the
message box, listing the WMI Event Watcher Task as the Event Source and the
current value of the Propagate system variable (True). Once you click on OK,
you will be presented with another message box, generated by the OnError event
handler on the package level (listing WMI Event Watcher Task as the Event
Source). In addition, you will notice that both the task and the package
failed. This happens because the value of the Propagate system variable is set
to True. If you set it to False by changing the first line of code in the Sub
Main procedure of the Script Task in OnError event handler for WMI Event
Watcher Task to:


Dts.Variables(“Propagate”).Value = False

after stopping the execution, and re-launch the package
again, you will see only the message box generated by the OnError event handler
for the WMI Event Watcher Task (you can verify this by checking the message box
header, which should contain "Script Task in OnError Event Handler of WMI
Event Watcher Task" text). At the same time, even though our task fails,
the package finishes successfully (this behavior can be altered by changing the
values of the FailPackageOnFailure or FailParentOnFailure task properties from
their default False to True).

Now revert to our original first line in the OnError event handler in the
WMI Event Watcher Task (setting the Propagate system variable back to True).
Select the WMI Event Watcher Task on the Control Flow area of the designer
interface and set its DisableEventHandlers property to True (in the Properties
window). Once you launch the package, you will notice that this time only the OnError
event handler defined on the Package level is triggered (which, at the same
time, results in the package failure).

Keep in mind that this is barely a short introduction into the rich
event-related functionality in SQL Server 2005 Integration Services. As you can
see, they function in essence as individual packages, giving you the ability to
configure complex workflows, accommodating a variety of dynamically changing
criteria.

»


See All Articles by Columnist
Marcin Policht

Marcin Policht
Marcin Policht
Being a long time reader, I'm proud to join the crowd of technology gurus gathered here. I have a fair share of Microsoft exams behind me, a couple of acronyms after my name - MCSE, MCSD, and MCT, decent familiarity with majority of MS BackOffice products (SMS, SQL, Exchange, IIS), programming and scripting languages (VB, C++, VBScript with wsh) and several years of practical experience with Windows environment administration and engineering. My focus these days is on SQL Server and Windows 2000, and I'll attempt to share the most interesting experiences with these products.

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