Configuring Execution Options
Execution options are available on the Configuration tab and allow you to enable alert notifications for monitoring the data quality of a source dataset.
After a profile executes, a Data Quality Index (DQI) is generated. The DQI is an overall indicator of data quality for the dataset. The index can be used to monitor the data quality of the dataset, to observe how the quality evolves over time, and to receive alert notifications based on a user-specified threshold. To configure alert notifications, users specify a threshold for a Data Quality job, and configure one or more alert emails to be sent when the DQI value produced by the job is lower than the specified threshold.
The DQI is equal to the total percentage of records/rows of data that pass all profiling rules. However, if dimensions are configured in the profile or weights are applied to profile rules, the index scores can differ. For more information, see Data Quality Dimensions.
Tip... If you’re only interested in monitoring data statistics and quality levels without writing data to the Pass or Fail targets, you can disable writing by configuring the following options:
- Write Pass Content in PASS_TARGET? - Select No if you do not want to write the pass content to the pass target, or else select Yes.
- Write Fail Content in FAIL_TARGET? - Select No if you do not want to write the fail content to the fail target, or else select Yes.
- Write Pass Content in PASS_TARGET? - Select No if you do not want to write the pass content to the pass target, or else select Yes.
- Write Fail Content in FAIL_TARGET? - Select No if you do not want to write the fail content to the fail target, or else select Yes.
To configure alert notifications:
Note: Notifications must be enabled first.
Enable Notifications
Data Profile Notifications feature requires configuring key settings to enable alert notifications, including the threshold value, SMTP server details, and subscriber email addresses. These settings can be defined globally in the Preferences or individually within each Data Profile.
To apply the same settings to all new data profiles by default, configure them in the Preferences (see Setting Data Profile Preferences and Setting SMTP Server Preferences). If you want to customize alert settings for a specific profile, you can override the global settings by configuring them directly in that profile under Execution Options.
Note: Settings applied at the individual profile level only affect that specific profile and do not impact the global Preferences configuration.
To enable notifications:
Open the profile (.dp) file, go to the Configuration tab>Execution Options section, then select Yes for Enable Notification. Fields then appear for setting the DQI threshold and subscriber list.
You can now Configure an SMTP Server.
Configure an SMTP Server
The alert notification feature requires an SMTP server to be configured. The SMTP server settings can be defined globally in the Preferences or individually within each Data Profile.
If you want all new profiles to use the same SMTP server by default, configure it in the Preferences (see Setting Data Profile Preferences and Setting SMTP Server Preferences). If you want to customize alert settings for a specific profile, you can override the global settings by configuring them directly in that profile under Execution Options.
Note:
- At present, the SMTP server feature is only available for use with the data profile alert notifications.
- At runtime, when an SMTP server is not configured and alert notification is enabled on a data profile, the following message is written to the data profile log file: “DQ Index (xxx) threshold (yyy) alert email could not be sent because no email server is configured.”
- At present, the SMTP server feature is only available for use with the data profile alert notifications.
- At runtime, when an SMTP server is not configured and alert notification is enabled on a data profile, the following message is written to the data profile log file: “DQ Index (xxx) threshold (yyy) alert email could not be sent because no email server is configured.”
Tip... Best practices dictate that the SMTP Server is best configured in the Preferences.
The following instructions describe both configuration options.
To specify the SMTP Server details for a single Data Profile:
Note: If you do not have an SMTP server, you can use Google Mail as an SMTP Server.
1. Open the profile’s .dp file.
2. Navigate to the Configuration tab and expand the Execution Options section.
3. Ensure that the Enable Notification option is set to Yes.
Once you enable the notification option, the options to specify the threshold value, SMTP server details, and subscriber’s emails will appear. To receive email notifications, you must provide the SMTP server details and add the subscriber email addresses. Afterward, set the desired threshold value. When the DQI falls below this threshold, email notifications will be sent to the specified subscribers.
A note asking you to specify the SMTP server details will be displayed. If the SMTP server details are already set in Preferences, this note will not appear, and the SMTP server details will be initialized using those values.
4. If required, specify the SMTP server details by clicking the 
icon on the far right, above the subscriber's grid.
icon on the far right, above the subscriber's grid.5. In the dialog box that appears, enter the following values:
• User Name – A valid email address which will be used as the FROM email for all alerting, and used as the user name to log in to the SMTP server.
• Password – The password to log in to the SMTP server.
• Host – The domain name or IP address of the SMTP server. For example, smtp.gmail.com.
• Port Number – The SMTP Server port number.
• Enable TLS – Select True to use the TLS protocol or False to use the SSL protocol.
Note: After you specify the SMTP Server details, the note asking you to specify the SMTP server details will no longer be displayed.
6. Click OK.
To specify the SMTP Server details for all Data Profiles:
• Expand the Options>Preferences>DataConnect>Data Profiler section. Specify the SMTP Server details (see Setting Data Profile Preferences).
OR
OR
• Expand the Options>Preferences>DataConnect>Execution section and select the SMTP Server Preference tab. Specify the SMTP Server details (see Setting SMTP Server Preferences).
Proceed to Set Data Quality Index Threshold.
Set Data Quality Index Threshold
The alert notification threshold can be set for a single data profile or for all new data profiles. To apply an alert threshold for a single profile, set the threshold in the profile. To apply an alert threshold to all new profiles, set the threshold value from the Data Profile preferences page (see Setting Data Profile Preferences). The following instructions describe both options.
Tip... Changes made to the threshold value and SMTP Server details in a profile apply only to that profile and do not affect the Preferences settings. Thus changes made in the profile override the Preferences values.
To specify the Threshold Value for a single Data Profile:
1. Open the profile’s .dp file.
2. Navigate to the Configuration tab and expand the Execution Options section.
3. Ensure that the Enable Notification option is set to Yes.
Once you enable the notification option, the options to specify the threshold value, SMTP server details, and subscriber’s emails will appear. To receive email notifications, you must provide the SMTP server details and add the subscriber email addresses. Afterward, set the desired threshold value. When the DQI falls below this threshold, email notifications will be sent to the specified subscribers.
A note asking you to specify the SMTP server details will be displayed. If the SMTP server details are already set in Preferences, this note will not appear, and the SMTP server details will be initialized using those values.
4. If required, specify the SMTP server details by clicking the 
icon on the far right, above the subscriber's grid (see Configure an SMTP Server).
icon on the far right, above the subscriber's grid (see Configure an SMTP Server).After you specify the SMTP Server details, the note asking you to specify the SMTP server details will no longer be displayed.
5. After specifying the SMTP server details, enter the desired threshold value in the Threshold Data Quality Index text box.
Enter a value of 0 to 100. For example, 80.0. When the value of the DQI is less than the threshold value specified, an email notification is sent to subscribers. A value of 100 sends notifications when any imperfection exists. A value of 0 sends no notifications.
To specify the Threshold Value for all Data Profiles:
• Expand the Options>Preferences>DataConnect>Data Profile section to open the Data Profile preferences page. Set the threshold value (see Setting Data Profile Preferences).
Enter a value of 0 to 100. For example, 80.0. When the value of the DQI is less than the threshold value specified, an email notification is sent to subscribers. A value of 100 sends notifications when any imperfection exists. A value of 0 sends no notifications.
Proceed to Define Subscribers.
Define Subscribers
A list of subscribers to whom the notifications will be sent is defined in the profile.
To define subscribers:
1. Open the profile .dp file, expand the Configuration tab>Execution Options section.
Note: The Enable Notification option must be set to Yes in order to access the SMTP Server details.
2. Click 
(at the far right, above the subscriber's grid) to add an email address and enter the following:
(at the far right, above the subscriber's grid) to add an email address and enter the following:• Subscriber’s Email – Enter the email address for each person you wish to receive alert email notifications.
(Click
to delete an email address.)
(Click
to delete an email address.)• Subscriber Choice – Select one:
• Message Only – Select to only receive a message in the email.
• Message and statistics report – Select to receive a message and also a statistics.csv file which shows where the data quality problems are.
Note: If no SMTP server values appear in the profile, it means the SMTP server has not been configured in either the Preferences (see Setting SMTP Server Preferences) or the profile itself.
Last modified date: 09/22/2025