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Data Source View (SSIS)

A data source view is a document that describes the schema of an underlying data source. A data source view provides a named, browseable, persisted selection of database objects that can be used to define sources, destinations, and lookup tables for SQL Server Integration Services tasks, transformations, data sources, and destinations. In Integration Services, a data source view is a design-time object that makes it easier to implement the same data source in multiple packages.

A data source view is built on a data source. Therefore, before you can use a data source view in a package, you must add the data source to the package. For more information, see Defining Data Sources (Analysis Services).

When an Integration Services component, such as a source or a transformation, uses a data source view, the definition of the view is translated into an SQL statement and stored in a property of the component.

You can extend a data source view by adding calculated columns that are populated by custom expressions, adding new relationships between tables, replacing tables in the data source view with queries, and adding related tables. You can also apply a filter to a data source view to specify a subset of the data selected.

Because a data source view is not created within the context of a package, it can be used by tasks and data flow components in multiple packages. In Integration Services, data source views are design-time objects that you use when you build packages in SSIS Designer. Data sources views are not used when you build packages programmatically.

Data source views can be created in Analysis Services, Business Intelligence Development Studio, and in Integration Services projects. You create data source views by using the Data Source View Wizard. You can then modify the data source view in the Data Source View Designer, which is included in Business Intelligence Development Studio and SQL Server Management Studio. For more information about creating and extending data source views, see Designing Data Source Views (Analysis Services) and Defining Data Source Views How-to Topics.

For more information about using data source views in packages, see Using Data Source Views in Packages

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