FlowHeater

TextFile Adapter

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The TextFile Adapter is used for the import and export of text data. The Adapter can be assigned to both READ and WRITE sides of a conversion. If you want to read or write CSV, TXT, ASC, ASCII, flat files or other text files and convert or transform these into any other format, the TextFile Adapter is perfect for the job. Please also refer to the general information about the usage of Adapters.

Of all the text file formats, CSV (Comma Separated Value) is probably the most popular. The FlowHeater’s TextFile Adapter comprehensively supports CSV files and practically any tabulation of data in text form as well as conversions of the most varied mixtures of character encodings (codepages). The default encoding is the codepage currently configured for your operating system, but alternative codepages can be specified and the actual selection is stored along with the Definition. For example, a Definition could have been created on a German workstation, but can later be executed without causing any problems using the batch module on a Windows Server, where the system codepage is configured for English. Support for DOS (ASCII), Unicode (utf7, utf8, utf16, utf32) as well as EBCDIC (IBM mainframe) is included. The encoding expected for input or chosen for output is simply selected in the "Codepage" dropdown.

 

Choose a CSV text file
Choose a CSV text file

Adapter settings in the General tab

Filename: An absolute or relative path to the file to be read or written. Relative paths are always relative to the folder the Definition file is saved in. Clicking on the “…” button at the end of the filename field opens the familiar operating system file selection window, where you can choose a file to open or navigate to the folder you wish to save the file in.

The first row contains column headings: This checkbox allows you to select whether the first line starts with data or contains field names. If ticked on the READ side, the field names are automatically extracted from the text file and become the default field names for the Definition. On the WRITE side, this option confirms that the field names as specified in the Definition are to be written as the first output row.

Codepage: Selects the character encoding to assume or generate.
e.g.
850 = MS DOS ASCII Western European
1252 = Windows ANIS Western European
65001 = Unicode UTF-8
...
Note: READ and WRITE sides can be assigned different codepages.

Delimitation: With these radio buttons you select how the fields in your text file or flat file are divided from one another. The two options are With delimiters and Fixed width. If you opt to use delimiters, you select which one to use on the Delimiter tab (see below). If you switch back and forth between the two options, the default fixed width of 10 may become set. This can be reset to zero by using the Reset field widths button.

Line breaks: using these radio options you select whether DOS/Windows or UNIX line ends are to be assumed or generated.

 

Chose a field delimiter
Chose a field delimiter

Adapter settings in the Delimiters tab

Delimiter: For a CSV file you specify here which delimiter separates the fields being read or should be output to separate the fields written. The standard delimiter is the semi-colon character. If none of the alternatives offered here apply, you can select the "other" option and enter a special character or string in the text box beside it.

Quotation marks: It is commo

 n in CSV files, but also in flat files with fixed column sizes, that fields containing text are surrounded by quote marks . The standard is without quotation marks.
     123;"Text fields can contain anything; including a delimiter";€100.51;...

You can choose from a selection of characters that are popular for quotation marks here, or define your own special character. Note: If you also selected a fixed width, then the two quotation characters are included in the field’s maximum length. For example, in a field of maximum 20 characters, only 18 characters are left for data.

Only apply to STRING data types: This option tells FlowHeater to only use the specified quotation marks for fields of STRING data type.

Ignore empty fields: If this option is selected, then the quotation marks will not be output for empty fields. This means that empty fields are simply indicated by two consecutive delimiters, making the output more compact.

 

Field and Data types properties
Field and Data types properties

Adapter settings in the Field / Data Types tab

In this tab you can adjust the fields that are considered a part of the data; ignoring or removing fields and inserting new fields / columns and amend the assignment of fields types. The input again from READ Adapter button fetches the column names afresh from the text file. This option is only available on the READ side.
Simply click on a field name in the fields list to select the field to be moved or amended; this highlights the field in this list and its details appear in the Field name and Format sections.

The sequence of processing the currently selected field can be amended here quite easily, by using the Up and Down buttons.

In the Field name text box, the heading assigned to the currently selected field can be amended.

Format: In this section you can specify the field Length and Alignment (left or right justified ). Fixed field widths can either be adjusted explicitly in the Length box or graphically by using the left mouse button to drag the triangular tab stop markers along the ruler (circled here in red). The Pad character is used to define which character is used to fill out the remaining space in any fixed length field that is shorter than its maximum width (left or right justified). The standard character used is a space. Note that this only applies to fixed length fields.

 

Adapter settings in the Format tab

The use of the Format tab is described in detail under general information about the usage of Adapters

 

Examples

 

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