passing multiple values from parent to child package

Starting with "How to: Use Values of Parent Variables in Child Packages" in the SQL Server 2005 Books Online (http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms345179.aspx), it seems I need to create a separate package configuration in the child package (of type parent package variable) for each variable I want to pass from the parent to the child. Is that really so? The XML configuration file type allows me to specify any number of variables; how do I do that with the parent package variable?

For that matther, why doesn't the Execute Package Task simply allow me to specify the values of child variables (or other properties) directly? It seems SSIS has made something as trivial as a series of function calls completely opaque:

MyChildPackage(var1=1, var2="foo");

MyChildPackage(var1=2, var2="bar");

MyChildPackage(var1=3, var2="baz");

Kevin Rodgers wrote:

Starting with "How to: Use Values of Parent Variables in Child Packages" in the SQL Server 2005 Books Online (http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms345179.aspx), it seems I need to create a separate package configuration in the child package (of type parent package variable) for each variable I want to pass from the parent to the child. Is that really so?

Your perception is right.

Kevin Rodgers wrote:

The XML configuration file type allows me to specify any number of variables; how do I do that with the parent package variable?

I may not be understanding you correctly; but I think with either 'parent package variables' or 'XML configuration file' you still need to create an entry in package configuration organizer for every property you want to override; so no difference there. The only difference is that in a XML file, yes you're right, multiple object-properties values can be defined.

Kevin Rodgers wrote:

For that matther, why doesn't the Execute Package Task simply allow me to specify the values of child variables (or other properties) directly? It seems SSIS has made something as trivial as a series of function calls completely opaque:

MyChildPackage(var1=1, var2="foo");

MyChildPackage(var1=2, var2="bar");

MyChildPackage(var1=3, var2="baz");

you mean to make the parent package 'aware' of the variables available in every child package...not sure how good that would be; but you can submit a suggestion to Microsoft:

http://connect.microsoft.com/feedback/default.aspx?SiteID=68

|||

Kevin Rodgers wrote:

Starting with "How to: Use Values of Parent Variables in Child Packages" in the SQL Server 2005 Books Online (http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms345179.aspx), it seems I need to create a separate package configuration in the child package (of type parent package variable) for each variable I want to pass from the parent to the child. Is that really so? The XML configuration file type allows me to specify any number of variables; how do I do that with the parent package variable?

The XML config file allows you to specify lots of configurations. A configuration is for a single property only.

Kevin Rodgers wrote:

For that matther, why doesn't the Execute Package Task simply allow me to specify the values of child variables (or other properties) directly? It seems SSIS has made something as trivial as a series of function calls completely opaque:

MyChildPackage(var1=1, var2="foo");

MyChildPackage(var1=2, var2="bar");

MyChildPackage(var1=3, var2="baz");

That would mean the parent package needs to have some knowledge of what is in the pckage it is calling. That doesn't really fit with the concept of abstraction - which is what the ability to do parent-child packages is all about really (in my mind anyway). However that isn't a complete justification and I can see why this would be useful - perhaps you should submit the request at Connect?

Hope that helps.

-Jamie