Glossary
Action
A Statelake Action defines a runnable data processing step by combining the Connection, Definition, and Map components for the input, output, and mapping involved in that process. An Action also defines an execution profile so that the processing can run automatically e.g. every 30 minutes.
Please also see Actions.
Alphanumeric
A data type that accepts alphabetic characters and integers only.
Artifact
An artifact is a specific item or element that is produced during the development process - anything in fact that is created so a piece of software can be developed. This can be a data model, a prototype, workflow diagram, a design document, a token, or a setup script.
Autosearch
An option utilising user interaction to input search criteria during the running of an Action.
Bankers Rounding
Forces values to the nearest even integer. For instance, a value of 2.5 would round down to 2, but a value of 1.5 would round up to 2.
BLOB
An acronym for Binary Large Object.
BOM
A acronym for Byte Order Marks.
Boolean
A binary variable that records whether something is either true or false, using binary digits (BITS) of 0 for false and 1 for true.
Canvas
A blank area on screen, like a painter’s canvas.
Concatenate
To link or join values or strings.
Configuration
An important concept in Statelake is a Configuration Database, or Configuration for short. A Statelake Configuration is a set of Statelake components such as Connections, Definitions, Maps, and Actions, which have been created via the Statelake Designer module, and which describe the data sources and destinations, mapping rules, and other aspects of the processes. Each Designer session opens one configuration only, but multiple sessions can be open at any one time accessing the same Configuration. Each collection is held in its own database - the Configuration Database. A Configuration usually starts out empty and then grows as components are created new or imported from other Configurations.
Please refer to Creating Configurations With Manager.
Configuration DB
Also known simply as a Configuration.
Configuration Item
See Module.
Connection
A Statelake Connection captures the details of where data is coming from or going to. For example, a source DB Connection that is being used for input or a destination File Connection that is being used for output. Connections will include details such as database names and file directory paths. However, connections do not describe the data structures. For that, see Definitions.
Connector
See Module.
Creditor
An entity to whom you owe money, such as a supplier.
CRM
An acronym for Customer Relationship Management. It is a system for recording and storing customer data - including contact information, interactions with company representatives, and purchases, enabling you to create a workable customer profile.
Data Warehouse
A large store of data accumulated from a wide range of sources within a company that is used to provide valuable information to management to guide their decision making.
Database, DB
An organized collection of structured information, or data, typically stored electronically in a computer system
Dataset
A collection of related sets of information composed of separate elements or tables, that are manipulated and accessed as a single unit in a computer system.
Debtor
An entity that owes you money, such as a customer.
Decision Tree
A map of the possible outcomes of a series of related choices. A decision tree usually consists of three different elements – the Root node, or top-level node representing the ultimate objective or main choice; the Branches, which stem from the root and represent different options; and the Leaf node, which are the last options attached at the end of the Branches. This could be represented by an IF‑THEN‑ELSE statement or a flow diagram.
Definition
A Statelake Definition defines a data structure for use as input or output. The data structure will include at least one record and the field or fields in each record. A Statelake Definition can define complex structures that include multiple records in various relationships, such as invoice header and associated invoice lines. A Statelake Definition also handles the conversion of records and fields to and from data formats such as CSV, XML, SQL, and JSON.
Designer
Statelake Designer is an executable that allows you to create and maintain configurations which describe the data sources and destinations, mapping rules, and other aspects of the processes. Each Statelake Designer session connects to one Configuration, for creating, modifying, and running the components within that Configuration. A Designer session cannot connect to more than one Configuration. To use Designer with a different Configuration the current session must be closed and a new one opened. Alternatively, it is possible, and quite common, to have multiple Designer sessions open at the same time, with each one connected to one Configuration.
Please refer to Designer - Build and Manage Integrations.
Destination
A reference to the Statelake components that define the output data.
Drag-and-drop
The technique of picking up one piece of data with the mouse, and dropping it onto another.
EAM
An acronym for Enterprise Asset Management, EAM is used to plan, optimize, execute, and track the maintenance of assets within the organisation.
EDIFACT, EDI
EDIFACT is one of several well-structured file formats such as CSV, XML, or JSON. It is an acronym that stands for Electronic Data Interchange For Administration, Commerce and Transport, and is the international standard for a specialised compact file type with rules ratified by the U.N., that is used in global data transfer. It ensures that data can be safely exchanged across borders and across industries. The term is often shortened to just EDI, or Electronic Data Interchange.
Escaping
Escaping simply means that a text character within a string is preceded by another symbol that indicates that the character following the escape symbol should interpreted literally and should be treated as text only, and is not a control character.
Event
An event is an action or an occurrence that is identified by a computer program and determines the flow of that program. An event could be a mouse-click or a step or an action.
Foreign Key
The foreign key is a field attribute in a table that refers to a field in another database table. The foreign key links the two fields together.
Hub-and-spoke
Statelake uses hub-and-spoke architecture, where all data flows through a centralised hub.
Integer
A whole number such as 4 or 76.
Installation
Each installation of Statelake can have as many Configurations as are wanted or required. The most common reason for having multiple Configurations is to provide separate environments such as Training, Test, and Production. It is easy to create a new Configuration and if multiple environments are required then it is recommended that they are implemented across multiple configurations instead of mixing environments within a Configuration.
More information can be found at Installing Statelake.
LAN
An acronym for Local Area Network, a LAN represents a configuration or a group of computers that are linked together (either physically wired or wireless) to enable them to share information and resources. For instance, all computers on the LAN can access a single printer or share storage. A LAN can have as few as 2 users or hundreds of users, but is limited to a defined area.
Manager
Statelake Manager is the top-level, umbrella executable application that enables you to create new configuration databases; access existing configuration databases; open and run Statelake Designer, and Statelake Monitor.
Refer to Creating Configurations With Manager.
Mantissa
The mantissa is the part of a floating point number that represents the significant digits of that number. In mathematical terms, it is the fractional part of the number following the decimal point,
Map, Mapping
A Statelake
Map defines how output is to be created from the associated input. The mapping will often be a set of simple links from input fields to output fields, but the input structure, output data structure, and mapping, can be as complex as is required.
For more information, please visit Map.
Module
A Module (or Configuration Item) is a generic term to describe any one piece of configuration within Statelake. For instance, a Module could refer to a DB Connection, a Web Definition, a Map, or an Action. The following is a list of specific configuration items that are all referred to as Modules when discussed generically.
General Setup
Users
Logs
DB Connection
File Connection
Web Connection
DB Definition
File Definition
Web Definition
Transport
Report
Map
Action
Trading Partner
Folder
When a Module is exported from the configuration database, it is generally referred to as a Template. When a Module is exported, all the dependant modules are also exported to the template. This template can then be imported into another configuration database and the original module is recreated exactly.
A collection of Templates are bundled together they are generally referred to as a Package, which normally contains related templates that provide a starting point when working with a particular business application.
Look at Modules and Templates.
Monitor
Statelake Monitor allows you to monitor the status of actions and services.
Please see Monitor - Running Actions & Schedules for more information.
Multi-tier
Where there are several layers or levels. Similar to two-tier where there are only two levels or sets of components.
Namespace
A namespace is a logical declared container space which groups together and stores the names associated with one particular event or process, such as you would store associated files within a particular folder. All the names within that namespace are unique - a name can appear in multiple namespaces but cannot appear twice in the same namespace.
Each namespace should gather resources together that have some relationship to one another. so that in run-time processes, the unique identifier for an artifact is composed of the namespace and the artifact's local name.
OAuth 2.0
OAuth 2.0 is an authorization framework protocol that enables a user to grant a third-party web site or application, access to that user’s protected resources and data - without necessarily revealing their identity or their credentials.
One-to-many
One record in a database table can be associated with one or more records in another table. This relationship is known as one-to-many.
OOP
A acronym for Object Oriented Programming.
Operator
Adapted from mathematics and logic, an operator is a symbol that represents an action or a process. Mathematical operators include + (plus), - (minus), < (less than), > (greater than), <> (not equal to). Logical operators include AND, OR, NOT.
Outbound Transports
See Transports. Please visit Outbound Transports for more information.
Package
See Module.
POS
POS is an acronym for Point Of Sale. A POS system streamlines sales processes, payments, and inventory, and manages business functions such as accounting.
Primary Key
The main unique identifier for a record. For instance, in a list of employees, the primary key could be their employee number – a number unique only to that one employee/record.
REST
REST is an acronym for Representational State Transfer, which is a standard, made in response to the missing elements in SOAP.
Root Node
In a tree structure, the Root node is either the topmost or the very bottom branch, depending on how the tree is represented visually. It is the master or starting point – the point from which everything else stems and represents the ultimate objective or main choice. Then there are the Branches, which stem from the root and represent different options, and the Leaf node, which are the last options attached at the end of the Branches.
Scenario
A hypothetical sequence or series of events. In our training module, scenario is used to simulate a real-world data transfer.
Schema
The structure or organisation of a database. The blueprint of how the database is constructed.
Secondary Key
The second identifier after the primary key, for identifying records. In an employee record for example, you could hold the employee number, employee name and employee location. All 3 fields are critical to identify that particular employee, and one must be selected as the primary key. Other fields are candidate or secondary keys.
Service
Service runs elements of a configuration as a background process.
SMTP
SMTP is an acronym for Simple Mail Transfer Protocol, and is a communication protocol used for sending and receiving email messages over the Internet.
SOAP
SOAP means Simple Object Access Protocol. It is a lightweight XML-based message protocol or method of transferring messages, or small amounts of information, across the Internet. SOAP messages are formatted in XML and are typically sent using HTTP - both SOAP and HTTP are widely supported and recognised data transmission standards. HTTP has the additional advantage of avoiding most network firewalls, so most SOAP messages can pass through without any problems.
Each SOAP message is contained in an envelope that includes a header and a body. The header may include the message ID and date the message was sent, while the body contains the actual message. Because SOAP messages all use the same format, they are compatible with many different operating systems and protocols.
SOAP can be carried over a variety of standard protocols, including the web-related HTTP. Also refer to REST.
Source
A reference to the Statelake components that define the input data.
SSL
An acronym for Secure Sockets Layer, SSL s a protocol for web browsers and servers that allows for the encryption, authentication, and decryption of data sent across the internet for a LAN. SSL has now been superceded by TLS. TLS authenticates more efficiently. SSL uses the MD5 algorithm, while TLS uses the SHA-256 algorithm. The difference between these algorithms is that MD5 is vulnerable to collision attacks, while SHA-256 is not. After encrypting each message, SSL uses Message Authentication Code (MAC) while TLS uses Hash-based Message Authentication Code or HMAC.
String
A data type that can be a sequence of any character or number that is represented as text.
Tag
A type of variable used on a screen form that describes its content, such as <CompanyName> or <DateStamp>. Entry of these tags into a form inserts the appropriate value into the variable during processing.
Template
See Module.
TLS
An acronym for Transport Layer Security. TLS is a security protocol that encrypts emails and other data sent over the internet for privacy, preventing unauthorised access to your emails when they are in transit over internet connections.
TMS
An acronym for Transport Management System. A TMS centralises and organises transportation information, allowing a company to effectively manage their logistics and transportation functions.
Trading Community
The community formed by a group of Trading Partners. Please refer to Trading Community.
Trading Partners
Entities such as customers who are to receive data in the same format, where that data is extracted in a single Action and is identified for each entity but kept separate.
For more information, visit Trading Community.
Transports
Facilitate the transfer of files from the Statelake environment, to a remote environment or other system.
Tutorial
A hypothetical sequence or series of events. In our training module, tutorial is used to simulate a real‑world data transfer. Please refer to the Tutorials pages.
Two-tier
Two levels or sets of components. Similar to multi-tier where there are several layers or level.
UAT
An acronym for User Acceptance Testing, UAT is one of the last stages of the software development life cycle. It is performed after the software has been thoroughly tested. It is sometimes known as End User Testing.
UNC
An acronym for Universal Naming Convention or Uniform Naming Convention, and is a way to identify a shared file on a computer system, by specifying the location of resources on a local-area network (LAN). UNC uses the following format: \\server-name\shared-resource-pathname.
Unicode
Where ASCII (American Standard Code for Information Interchange) is a character encoding standard that leverages up to 8 bits to represent up to 256 English characters, including letters, numbers, and simple punctuation, unicode is a universal extended character-encoding standard that supports codes for more than 149,000 characters, which enables text from almost all major languages to be represented for computer processing.
Union Operator
A union operator is the symbol that is used to join together two (2) or more statements, and must be of the same data type. An example is when two (2) or more strings are joined together into one (1) single continuous string.
Variable
Variables are used to store information that is to be referenced and stored in programs. It is a value that can change, depending on the information passed to it from a program. A variable is given a name for easy tracking and reading from/writing to and can contain any value, such as an integer or a string. All variables must be of a specific type which controls the information stored – such as decimal, boolean, floating point, or string. In Statelake you will use four variable types.
Script variable – a variable in a script.
Local global – a variable which has scope across Action steps in one execution of an Action.
Scalar - a variable that holds an individual specified value, such as a single number.
Super global – a variable with a value that can be accessed across an entire configuration, regardless of the module.
Tag – see Tag.
Please also refer to Variables.
WMS
An acronym for Warehouse Management System, WMS is software that helps companies manage and control daily warehouse operations.
WSDL
WSDL stands for Web Services Description Language. WSDL is an XML notation for defining and describing a web service, and which tells a client how to compose a web service request and describes the interface that is provided by the web service provider.