If you want to combine (or join) data from a SQL source and an ASCII source, the Sentinel allows you to do just that. To perform heterogeneous joins, it helps to know a little about the data you have at hand. We always like to lay down a base of data, meaning the most meaningful data against which all other data is loaded. In these examples, the base is Customer Name and address. We then join, or import, Contacts, then Product Sales, then Salespeople names. (See the Load Customer All at once Schedule Document).
Task Names to Run
Import-1a. Customers from ASCII
Macros-5. Mark Customers as Active
Import-2. Contacts
Import-4a. Customer Product Sales
Import-3. Salespeople names for each Account
Notice that this first puts a base of Customers, against which Contacts, Product Sales and Salespeople names are run. This is a 4-way join, which can be very slow and consume a lot of overhead.
The Sentinel is extremely efficient at running these heterogeneous joins due to its intelligent approach to running Tasks.
Using Notes Select statement (instead of SQL Select)
If you are uncomfortable with SQL syntax, but are comfortable with the Notes syntax, you could leave the SQL Select Statement section blank and use the Notes formula Select CompanyCity = "Boston" instead of the familiar Select @All . This will move more data across the network, but the Sentinel will discard all but that data that fits the Notes Select statement.