How To: Create a Global Substitution Parameter

Relates to versions - from Micromine Geobank 2018 SP10 (10.4.843.10) to 2025 SP2 (25.0.1903.2)

This guide has been produced to outline the use of Global Substitution Parameters and is intended for Database/Application administrators.

Overview:

Geobank 2018 reintroduced the concept of Global Substitution Parameters (GSP's). GSP's were a popular feature in the GBIS product but were replaced with Local Substitution Parameters in Geobank when it was initially released to meet the needs of our client base at the time. Over time, it has been discovered that there are use cases for having both available in Geobank.

GSP's allow the Database Administrator to design common substitution parameters, such as File Name, Project and Site ID once, and reuse them in multiple objects. The benefits of this are time saving (you only need to write the SQL code once), but, potentially more importantly, also offer a reduction in errors. Some projects will have hundreds of objects that utilise a substitution parameter, such as Project. If the Database Administrator needs to write and potentially edit these objects manually, there is a huge opportunity to introduce errors.

Creating a Global Substitution Parameter:

To create a Global Substitution Parameter:

1. Right-click on the Global Substitution Parameters node and select New | Global Substitution Parameter:
   
   
   
   
2. Alternatively, you can also add a new Global Substitution Parameter when you edit the properties of an object:
   
   
   
   
3. Once you have chosen to add a Global Substitution Parameter, the setup dialogue will appear:
   
   
   
   Here, you can configure any parameter that you use more than once.
   Some examples include Site or Project ID, Sample ID, Dispatch, etc.

Migrating Local Substitution Parameters:

It is a good practice to migrate the existing Local Substitution Parameters. This task must be completed manually because it is possible to have both Local and Global substitution parameters with the same name, but within individual SQL queries. In such cases, the Database Administrator will need to create the Global Substitution Parameter and manually edit existing objects to use the new parameter instead of the Local Substitution Parameters from earlier versions of Micromine Geobank.

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