Poll Table Activity
The Poll Table activity checks if a database operation (insert or update) has occurred on any rows of a database table by checking the status of a special flag column at the specified time interval.
- A sequence column of INTEGER type - This column contains the primary keys (a sequence of unique numbers: 1, 2, 3 ...)
- A flag column of CHAR(1) type - This column contains a flag that the Integration Appliance uses during run time to determine if the Integration Appliance should process the row.
Before an orchestration with a Poll Table activity is run on the Integration Appliance, you must also populate these columns in your database table. Set the flag column to P if you do not want the Integration Appliance to process the row during run time. Set the flag column to null if you want the Integration Appliance to process the row during run time.

- A row is inserted into the database. The flag column is set to null for the row.
- The Poll Table activity runs for the first time and sets the flag value to P for this row.
- The same row is updated, and the Poll Table activity runs again. The row is not returned in the return data of the activity because the Integration Appliance checked the flag column and the flag indicated that this row had already been processed.
In order for a row to be processed again by the Integration Appliance, you must reset the flag column back to null before an orchestration job with a Poll Table activity accessing the same source database table is run.
Add a Poll Table activity in the orchestration
- Create or open an orchestration. A graphical representation of the orchestration opens.
- Select the Activities tab and expand the Database folder.
- Drag the Poll Table activity onto the orchestration.
- Select the Poll Table activity.
Create, select, or edit a database endpoint
- Click Pick Endpoint task from the Checklist and
choose from one of the following actions:
- Select an existing endpoint:
- Select Browse. The Project Explorer opens.
- Select an existing endpoint and click OK. Skip to the Specify the columns of the source table to poll for database operations procedure.
- Select an existing endpoint and edit the endpoint:
- Select Browse. The Project Explorer opens.
- Select an existing endpoint and click OK.
- Click Edit. The Edit Endpoint pane shows.
- Create a new endpoint:
- Select New. The Create Endpoint pane opens.
- Select an existing endpoint:
- Create or edit a database endpoint.
Specify the columns of the source table to poll for database operations
- Click Pick Endpoint from the Checklist. The Pick Endpoint pane opens.
- Click Browse. The Select a Single Source Table dialog box opens.
- Select a table that during run time, the Poll Table activity polls for database operations.
- Select a user schema from the Filter by User Schema list.
- Select Hide Buffer and Control Tables to
filter out any buffer or control tables used by the Integration Appliance.
Note: This filter only hides buffer and control tables that use the standard names generated in scripts from Studio.
- Select a single table from the list:
- Click >> to add a table.
- Click << to remove a table.
- If you only want to poll for database operations on primary key columns of the source table, select the Select Only the Primary Keys from Table check box.
- Click OK. The columns of the table show in the Pick Table pane. (If you selected the Select Only the Primary Keys from Tables check box only the primary key columns display.)
- If the character encoding for this table is different from the
encoding for the database, enter another encoding using one of the
following options:
- From the Encoding list, select one of the default encoding types.
- Enter your encoding type directly by clicking in the Encoding field and typing in your encoding type.
- Select the columns in the table that during run time you want the PPoll Table activity to poll for database operations (insert, delete, or update). By default all columns are selected. Clear the Use check box for unwanted columns. Click Use All to reselect all the columns.
- Click the heading of the column to sort the rows by the column value. For example, to sort the rows by their column name, click in the Column Name heading of the column. An arrow shows to the right of the column header name. An up arrow indicates the column is sorted by alphabetic order starting with a and continuing to z. A down arrow indicates the column is sorted by reverse alphabetic order starting with z and continuing to a. Click the arrow to reverse the alphabetic order.
- If necessary, change the settings of the Data type, Encoding,
or Nullable values for each query input parameter.
Click the field to make a new selection:
- Data Type - Defaults to the data type for
the column in the source database table. If the required data type
for the column in the buffer table is different from the data type
of the source table, select a different data type by clicking in the Data
Type cell and selecting another Data Type from the list.
You must select an appropriate data type for those data types that
are marked UNSUPPORTED.Note: (for MONEY and XMLTYPE data types) For the XMLTYPE data type in an Oracle database and the MONEY data types in a SQL Server database, Studio does not automatically associate the correct data type so you must manually select the appropriate data type.
- Size - Size of the column defined in the table. This size is retrieved from the database table and is not configurable
- Encoding - Defaults to current default encoding that was set either at the database level or the table level. If the required encoding for the column is different from the current default encoding, select another encoding by clicking in the Encoding cell and selecting another Encoding from the list.
- Nullable - Defaults to the nullable setting for the column in the source database table. If nullable = false, then the column must be included in the message. The Use check box must be selected for those columns where nullable=false. A column marked nullable=false cannot not contain a null during run time.
- Data Type - Defaults to the data type for
the column in the source database table. If the required data type
for the column in the buffer table is different from the data type
of the source table, select a different data type by clicking in the Data
Type cell and selecting another Data Type from the list.
You must select an appropriate data type for those data types that
are marked UNSUPPORTED.
Select the Sequence and Flag columns
- Select Choose Columns from the Checklist.
- Select a Sequence Column from the list. This is the sequence column of INTEGER type containing the primary keys (a sequence of unique numbers: 1, 2, 3 ...) that you either added to your source database table or determined that you could use an existing column in your source database table.
- Select a Flag Column from the list. A flag
column of CHAR type containing a flag that the Integration Appliance
sets to P when the Integration Appliance has processed
the row. The Integration Appliance uses sequence and flag columns
to check for duplicate messages. In addition, both columns and the
setting of the Delete rows after they have been processed check
box in the Delivery Rules pane are used by
the Integration Appliance to determine the action for a delete request:
- If the Delete rows after they have been processed check box is selected, the Integration Appliance sets the flag to M and then deletes the row.
- If the Delete rows after they have been processed check box is cleared, the Integration Appliance sets the flag to M and then P but the row is not deleted. In order for a row to be processed again by the Integration Appliance, you must reset the flag column back to null before an orchestration job with a Poll Table activity accessing the same source database table is run.
- Configure the Delivery
Rules.Note: If you select the Exactly once option in the Delivery Rules task, you must create control tables that are used by the Integration Appliance during run time. You create the control tables after publishing the orchestration from Studio to the Integration Appliance. You create the control tables using the Web Management Console (WMC) before you deploy the project.Note: If you select the Exactly Once option, you must enable persistence. For more information, see Enabling Persisence.
- Configure the Retry Options.
Map the output of the activity
- Select the Map Outputs task in the Checklist.
The output parameters for the activity are displayed under the row element
in the From Activity pane. The output parameters displayed in the
From Activity pane correspond to the columns you selected in the Pick
Table task. If the Batch option
was selected in Delivery Rules, the multiple
occurrences symbol displays next to the row element.Note: During run time, the rows output parameter of the Poll Table activity is not populated with the sequence and flag column values. Only the columns selected in the Pick Table task are returned.
- Map the required output parameters to variables. See Creating a map for general instructions on mapping. You are not required to map the output parameters for these activities.