How To Export To A Fixed Width Flat Text File With Row Delimiters?
Aug 28, 2007
We're having issues exporting a set of data from SQL to a fixed width flat text file by just doing a right click on the DB, then choosing Tasks > Export Data. You can not specify a row delimiter when you choose a Fixed Width format. The only way around this that we've found is to specificy char(13) and char(10) at the end of the SQL select statement. Without row delimiters you end up with 1 giant record rather than 20,000 regular sized records. Is there any other way around this that we're missing?
Using Ragged Right is not an option either since the record lengths will be inconsistent if the last field doesn't contain a consistent length to the data.
Thanks,
Mike
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Dec 7, 2006
I am sorry, I am posting this message again, since I did not get anyreply.I want to export a table into a "fixed width" file using SQL 2005import export wizard.This is the version I have:SQL Server 2005 - 9.00.2047.00For some reason it joins all the rows together. For EX: if the tableis like this:Create table Mytable (col1 varchar(50) null, col2 varchar(60) null,col3 varchar (100) Null)Insert into MyTable values ("abcdef", "12345", "8900")Insert into MyTable values ("xxxxxxx", "11111111", "22222222")Insert into MyTable values ("yyyyyyyyy", "5555555555555555","6666666666")Insert into MyTable values ("abcdef", "12345", "8900")Insert into MyTable values ("xxxxxxx", "11111111", "22222222")Insert into MyTable values ("yyyyyyyyy", "5555555555555555","6666666666")It is not exporting every row in a single line. Actually if I open itin "Ultra Edit", it is all in one line.I used to do this regularly with SQL 2000 import export wizard and itexported every row in one line.I looked at the setting:The header row delimiter has {CR}{LF}Code page has 1252 Ansi-Latin.In the Advanced tab:String:dt_str.I tried changing the header row delimiter to just {CR} or just {LF}.Also I tried changing the string to dt_text and nothing seems to help.Please help.Thank you
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Jun 21, 2007
Hi-I have a sql database (2005) that I need to extract a report from that looks somehintg like SELECT * From Empl_Hours WHERE some_flag <> 'true' .The thing works fine, but the problem is this: I need to insert a record in the 1st row that looks like "Static_text"+row_count() +"more_static_text"where row_count is the actual # of rows that were retrieved. Thanks in advance for any help.DAn
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Mar 28, 2007
Export to Fixed width text file
I am trying to export a table to a fixed lenght text file, there is only flat file option and that does not put LF/CR at the end of row, is there any solution?
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Mar 29, 2007
Export to Fixed width text file
I am trying to export a table to a fixed lenght text file, there is only flat file option and that does not put LF/CR at the end of row, is there any solution?
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Dec 6, 2013
I have like 100 columns and most of them work fine, but some will not work. I need to select the columns with correct width for fixed width flat file.
Here is typical SQL statment that works for most of them.
left(RTRIM(A.City) + Replicate(' ', 25) ,25) as [City]
The above one is not working, but many other works fine like the address. Why would it work for some, but not others?
It works fine if I use any char, but not space. i.e.
left(RTRIM(A.City) + Replicate('*', 25) ,25) as [City]
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Feb 13, 2007
Hi,
I am trying to create a program that transfers tables to flat files.
At this point in time, I have suceeded in created one that creates delimited files.
However, I am now trying to create fixed-width files as you can do with the SSIS designer, but programatically.
Is there a way to programatically determine the width of a column from the source table? I can not seem to find any kind of function or member that stores this information or allows me to retrieve it.
I know what I need to change in order to set a width for a column, but I just don't know how to find the width without just asking the user to provide one.
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May 29, 2006
Currently we're working on an SSIS package to extract data from a SQL Server database to several fixed width flat files.
Some of the data needs to be formatted/converted in a certain way
DateTimes need to be formatted in ISO8601Booleans need to be 0/1 instead of False/True...Has anybody any idea what the preferred approach (best practice) would be to do these conversions?Convert everything in the select query? What about readability of your query?
Do it somewhere in the package? If so, how?....
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Feb 1, 2007
Hi,
There's a lot of information on importing data from text files, but not a lot on exporting data to text files... I've checked but found no info on this.
I'm trying to export data from SQL Server to a fixed-width flat file and wondering if I'm doing it the right way.
I use a view as source (using a OLEDB connection manager) and I can see the data without problem.
I defined a Flat File Destination (using a flat file connection manager). When setting up the flat file connection manager, I am asked for a file... Does this mean one should create manually a template file with the desired output format? So I used a production file as template since we're replacing an existing process.
After having set up everything, I run the SSIS only to see all the data on the same row. There are no CRLF...
When I create the file connection manager, there's no way to mention the row delimiter. In the properties I see a "Row Delimiter" field and when I try with "{CR}{LF}" it makes no difference. Interesting to note that, contrary to the HeaderRowDelimiter field, the RowDelimiter field has no drop-down control to give choices.
So I had to return the CRLF as the last field of the source view (SELECT .... ,'CRLF' = CHAR(13) + CHAR(10) FROM ...) to make it work.
Seems odd... Is it the way to go?
Thanks
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Dec 12, 2006
More SSIS woes. DTS was so much easier.
I have a flat file. It's fixed-with with CRLF record delimiters (a.k.a. Ragged Right format).
Some fields are null, and represented by the text NULL.
I'm trying to import the file into SQL via an OLE DB connection. The target table is a SQL 2000 data table. Two of the fields in the target database are of type smallint.
When I run PREVIEW on the data source (Flat File), everything looks good & correct. I added the convert columns task to convert my strings to smallint. This is where things go haywire.
After linking everything up, the conversion gives me a "Cannot convert because of a possible loss of data." All of my numbers are < 50, so I know this isn't the case. Another SSIS bogus error
My first instinct is the SSIS doesn't understand that NULL means null. I edited the file and replaced all instances of NULL with 4 emtpy string chars. Still no good. It seems to be having a hard time parsing the file now.
I dropped the convert task and tried editing the data source, and set the two smallint fields to smallint instead of string (SSIS formats). I get the same conversion error.
Changing the NULL values to 0 fixed the problem, but they're not 0. They're null.
Short of creating another script that converts all zeros to NULL using the aforementioned hack, I'm out of ideas.
I'm I missing something or is SSIS just incapable of handling nulls in fixed-width flat file formats?
TIA
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Sep 14, 2007
I have a text file that is comma delimited and im pulling it in with a flatfile connection manager. I want to read some of the data, then output another flat file but in a fixed column width. What settings do I made to the connection manager of the output flatfile ?
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Oct 19, 2007
I am new to SSIS and am having trouble with automatically setting up the destination output columns.
I am sure there must be an easy way to do this.
My table (source) has 86 columns in it of varying lenghts.
In my connection magagers, I have created one for the SQL Server (source data) and one for the flat file (destination output).
I have also created an OLE DB source data object and a destination Flat File object and set them up to the respective connection managers.
Finally I have linked the source to the destination.
Now when I look at the source, it shows me all 86 columns.
When I open up destination, there are no columns set up.
Problem: do I have to type in all the columns manually in the connection manager for the Flat File?
I would think there would be some automatic way that it would self-populate the columns over to the flat file destination.
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May 19, 2008
Hi All,
I have a simple SSIS package that runs a query on the db and outputs a fixed width flat file. I have all my column widths defined and in the connection manager i can preview the output. Everything looks great. All the fields fall where they should and each record is on it's own line.
When i run the SSIS program and then go open my text file with a text editor the ouput is all on the same line. I have tried changing my file format from fixed width to ragging right and adding a row delimiter but that doesn't work either. I feel like i'm missing something small here. It could even be an issue w/ my text editor (although i've tried to open the text file in multiple editors). In the flat file connection manager I have my file defined to be 187 characters long, So figure every 187 characters it should output a new line (it should add the carraige return right?).
Has anyone encountered an issue like this?
Any help would be much appreciated.
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May 14, 2007
I can't use DTS nor DTSwizard as I need to put it in a .sql and run it through a command line via .bat file (it's more for the users).
Each row ends with an EOL character, the fields are all fixed width, but I have a little problem here, some rows are empty but just with a EOL character.
How shall I go about it?
many thanks! :D
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Jun 14, 2007
I have the misfortune of converting a DTS package to SSIS that loads a flat file that has a text fields that can contain embedded text delimiters ("), column delimiters (,) and even new lines (CR+LF i.e.,hex 0D 0A) in it. A sample line from the file is posted here, remember this is just one line though it shows as three lines, since the third field has embedded new line in it:
4,"Sam","EVP; MARKETING PRODUCT MANAGER ""Level I"",
Internet Sales / HELP
8005551212",100
If you open in excel it handles it perfectly showing four fields, as below, and this is what I want ( I cannot get it aligned right in the posting, just save the above line in *.csv and open to see what it should be):
4 Sam "EVP; MARKETING PRODUCT MANAGER ""Level I"", 100
Internet Sales / HELP
8005551212"
Now, SSIS errors on the embedded text delimiters and breaks into two or three lines based on which option I chose. I have tried few options based on postings in the forum:
a). Using undouble and undoubleout: Does not work when there are embedded column delimiters (,) in the text field
b). Modified undouble script posted by lvovg at http://forums.microsoft.com/MSDN/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=1718225&SiteID=1. Handles the embedded column delimiters (,) perfectly, but the embedded new lines (CR+LF i.e.,hex 0D 0A) are breaking it.
Since, I am using the ragged right format to read from the file then use transform script on the line by lvovg, the line is already broken by the ragged right format at the embedded new lines, hence does not work.
Right now I am stuck. Can someone please help (anyone from MS) ? I am already baffled at the amount of coding required to convert a very basic ( and working ) flat file load DTS package to SSIS. I am willing to persist bit longer to convert this to SSIS, before I give up and stick with DTS and wait for a fix / workaround.
Thanks.
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Oct 30, 2006
I am trying to export data from a query in SQL Server 2005 SSIS to a flat file destination. Everything works fine except the rows returned from my query are written to the flat file in one long string (i.e., without line breaks). I have tried appending a new line character to the rows returned from the query but that only throws an error when the package is executed. My rows returned from the query are 133 characters wide (essentially only one column per row) so I have set the properties accordingly for a fixed width file format with 133 character wide rows.
Any suggestions or ideas on how to correct this would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you,
Michael
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Aug 2, 2006
Is there a better way to handle fixed width flat files than the built-in SSIS capability? I have a fixed width file with over 400 columns and it looks like I need to manually click lines where each column starts/ends (quite tedious and prone to error). I have an excel version of the spec with start position, length, and data type for each column. So far it looks like the only way to automate this task is to somehow automatically generate the package XML from the spec and paste it into the dtsx file. Anyone know of a better way?
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Jul 23, 2005
We are using the bcp utility (via APIs) to export data from a SQL tablein a fixed format text file. BCP is inserting spaces for a field ifthe field contains a NULL. This is fine with us except at the end ofthe line, there are no spaces for that field just the end-of-rowterminator prematurely, so it looks like that field is not present andmesses up another piece of software we pump the text file into downstream.Example -- The last row illustrates the problem.123-49-890 Mary Smith Raleigh NC
999-88-123 Henry Ax Boston MA
456-99-123 Sue Kite WA
789-88-126 Andy Yates Philadelphia
We have thought about using a SQL query to convert the NULL dataexplicitly to spaces, but were wondering is there a switch or somethingin our format file to get around this.Thanks.
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May 11, 2006
I am transferring data from an OLEDB source to a Flat File Destination and I want the column width for all of the output columns to 30 (max width amongst the columns selected), but that is not refected in the Fixed Width Flat File that got created. The outputcolumnwidth seems to be the same as the inputcolumnwidth. Is there any other setting that I am possibly missing or is this a possible defect?
Any inputs will be appreciated.
M.Shah
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Aug 13, 2007
What is the easiest way to get a large fixed width text file (200 columns) defintion into SSIS? To have to define each column with the ruler would be very cumbersome.
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Jan 31, 2008
What is the easiest way to accomplish this task with SSIS?
Basically I have a stored procedure that unions multiple queries between databases. I need to be able to export this to a text file on a daily basis and add a total records: row to the end of the text file.
Thanks in advance for any help.
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Mar 20, 2008
Hi,
I have a flatfile which is of the following format. I want to import this data into the sql server 2005 database.
The alphabets at the start of each line represents the type of record. The data are position specific.
XYZQ20214646001V0608
A1249220AUGPSEA D11I0000
BCA030552050000C1234567841234412000
CFO093441050000C0895632175223652000
D100C5D0AA00C5D366
D200C5D92E00C5DB9F
E002720AUGSEA 0NRT 008D00000001 00C5D0E600C5D348N0000000000000
0000000 00000000CA0000FO0000
F002622AUGNRT 0SEA 008F00000002 00C5D96A00C5DB81N0000000000000
0000000 00000000CA0000FO0000
for ex in Record A, the following are the values that are based on column length
1 - (col length is 1)
249 (col length is 3)
20AUG (col length is 5) etc..
P
SEA
D
1
110000
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Jun 21, 2006
I trying to import from fixed width text files that may contain one or more empty rows at the bottom of the file (where an empty row is {CR}{LF}). By experimenting, I found it runs successfully with up to 32 blank rows, but with any more I get this:
Warning: 0x8020200F at Copy TBMO files to DW, TBMO text file source [1]: There is a partial row at the end of the file.
Error: 0xC0047038 at Copy TBMO files to DW, DTS.Pipeline: The PrimeOutput method on component "TBMO text file source" (1) returned error code 0x80020005. The component returned a failure code when the pipeline engine called PrimeOutput(). The meaning of the failure code is defined by the component, but the error is fatal and the pipeline stopped executing.
Error: 0xC0047021 at Copy TBMO files to DW, DTS.Pipeline: Thread "SourceThread0" has exited with error code 0xC0047038.
Error: 0xC0047039 at Copy TBMO files to DW, DTS.Pipeline: Thread "WorkThread0" received a shutdown signal and is terminating. The user requested a shutdown, or an error in another thread is causing the pipeline to shutdown.
Error: 0xC0047021 at Copy TBMO files to DW, DTS.Pipeline: Thread "WorkThread0" has exited with error code 0xC0047039.
The data rows look like this (256 wide):
104 8690 100540 0.00 196.27 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
Any suggestions on how to bypass these lines? I tried configuring error output, but that didn't seem to help.
Thanks,
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Mar 15, 2006
I have a flat file that has fields delimited by tilde {~} and rows delimited by {CR}{LF}. The problem is, my source is spitting out the {NULL} (&H00) at the end of the row.
The data displays correctly in the pre-viewer (with a non-print symbol at the end of the last field), but gives an error when I try to run the package.
Example:
€œdata€?~€?data€?~€?data€?{NULL}{CR}{LF}
I can process the row in c# using:
€œ
€?
as the row delimiter. What is the equivalent notation for SSIS?
Thanks,
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Jun 7, 2007
I'm exporting using a query to a flat .txt file. The problem I'm encountering is when I export the data and then open the .txt file into excel some columns cause line breaks to the next row. The columns that are breaking to a new row are varchar fields where the user has entered text into the field with double quotes ".
When I export, I'm using row delimiter {CR}{LF} column delimiter Comma and text qualifier Double Quote (")
Is there a way to prevent this from happening when I export and open the flat file into Excel?
I tried using replace, but I was getting a syntax error in my query. Here is the query without using replace:
SELECT e.session_date, l.lab_no, i.first_name + ' ' + i.last_name AS Teacher,
tt.name, d.district_name, s.school_name, t.title, a.q1 AS Question1, a.q2 AS Question2,
a.q3 AS Question3, a.q4 AS Question4, a.q5 AS Question5, a.q6 AS Question6, a.q7 AS Question7,
a.q8 AS Question8, a.q9 AS Question9, a.q10 AS Question10
FROM evaluation e
LEFT OUTER JOIN training t ON t.id = e.training
LEFT OUTER JOIN lab l ON l.id = e.lab_no
LEFT OUTER JOIN instructor i ON i.id = e.instructor
LEFT OUTER JOIN trainee tt ON tt.id = e.trainee
LEFT OUTER JOIN district d ON d.id = e.district
LEFT OUTER JOIN school s ON s.id = e.school
LEFT OUTER JOIN answers a ON a.id = e.answers
WHERE session_date >= '20070401' AND session_date < '20070501'
I would need to use the replace on columns a.q7, a.q8, a.q9, and a.q10
I tried using another delimiter...pipes (|) and that didn't work? Maybe I was attempting it incorrectly?
Thanks in advance for any help.
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May 2, 2006
I am attempting to import a fixed width file into a SS2005 table and am having problems when importing a date that has no value in it. The table will allow nulls.
The date is in dd/mm/yyyy foramt and when there is no date then there are 10 spaces. When transforming the data I TRIM the data down using a derive transform script so all there is, is an empty string. When the file attempts to load I get the following message:
[OLE DB Destination [2238]] Error: There was an error with input column "paid_date" (2306) on input "OLE DB Destination Input" (2251). The column status returned was: "The value could not be converted because of a potential loss of data.".
How can it potentially lose data when there is nothing to lose?
I need some way of converting the empty string into a null. Has anyone got any ideas for me?
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Oct 19, 2007
I have a fixed width file that I only need a middle field imported.
The field I need starts at character 116 and is 15 character wide. What should my format file look like?
I have a format file that can import a field before it but this is data I don't need. How do you skip the first field?
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Jun 14, 2007
Hi,
I was trying to import a fixed-width file to a sql 2005 table.
The total record lenght is 1500. I was trying to import it to a single column.
The strange thing that's happening is: SSIS is inserting only the first 32 chars of the record and the remaining are gone. I tried using nvarchar(max) and varchar(max) but of no use.
I think something somewhere is going wrong but I was unable to figure it out. Earlier I was able to load a similar file into a single column table.
My Header row delimiter is {CR}{LF}
The preview pane shows the complete record but when it transfers to the table, I'm getting 32 chars only.
Can anybody suggest any ideas to figure this out?
Thanks,
Siva.
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Dec 7, 2006
Hello,
I have a series of fixed width files, all with the same schema. I need to import the data into a SQL Server table. Each record in the flat file begins with 'D1'. The length of each record (string) is 380. There are cases where the record ends after position 193, and a new record appears in the current string beginning at position 194. So at position 194 'D' appears, and '1' appears at position 195.
In the flat file, I need to insert a line break after position 193 if position 194 = 'D' and if position 195 = '1'. I'm guessing I would do this with a Script Component Transformation. Once the file is edited, then I can bring the data into the table.
What might the script look like? If you have any suggestions, samples, or know of examples on the web you can point me to, please share.
Thank you for your help!
cdun2
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Sep 6, 2007
Hi everyone,
There is a small problem encountered while creating a package in sql
server 2005.
Actually i am using a flat file which has 820 rows and 2 columns which
are seperated by line feed(for ROW) and tab(for COLUMN).after
importing i found that ther are only 800 rows imported into the table.
Ather verifying the input file i found out that there are some null
values in the second column so there is no line feed for those
values.
Can anyone please help me how to give multiple delimiters for the same
input flat file.
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Jan 22, 2008
I'm using SSIS to do bulk inserts from fixed width files to about 20 tables in my SQL database.
The problem I'm running into is in creating Format Files for the bulk insert task to use. I've gotten the bcp command to create format files that will read csv files, but I can't seem to figure out how to get it to create one for fixed-width.
I know it can be done: http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms191234.aspx
At the bottom (Section F) it shows an XML format file for reading a fixed-width file. When I manually create one of these to match one of my tables, the bulk insert worked fine.
Closest I've come is with this ( [] bracketed items are correct values, just censored here):
C:Program FilesMicrosoft SQL Server90ToolsBinn>bcp [database].[owner].[table] format
nul -c -f C:TableFMT.xml -x -S[Server] -U[Username] -P[Password]
My question is, what is the bcp command to create this sort of XML format file?
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Jul 29, 2015
I wasn't sure where to put this topic so I put it here since I figured it is a question that would apply to virtually any version even though I am using SQL Server 2005.
We have a vendor that sends us a fixed width text file every day that needs to be imported to our database in 3 different tables. I am trying to import all of the data to a staging table and then plan on merging/inserting select data from the staging table to the 3 tables. The file has 77 columns of data and 20,000+ records. I created an XML format file which I sampled below:
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<BCPFORMAT xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/sqlserver/2004/bulkload/format" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
<RECORD>
<FIELD ID="RetNo" xsi:type="CharFixed" LENGTH="6"/>
[Code] ....
The data file is a fixed width file with no column delimiters or row delimiters that I can tell. When I run the following insert statement I get the error below it.
BULK INSERT myStagingTable
FROM '.........myDataSource.txt'
WITH (
FORMATFILE = '.........myFormatFile.xml',
ERRORFILE = '.........errorlog.log'
);
Here is the error:
Msg 4832, Level 16, State 1, Line 1
Bulk load: An unexpected end of file was encountered in the data file.
Msg 7399, Level 16, State 1, Line 1
The OLE DB provider "BULK" for linked server "(null)" reported an error. The provider did not give any information about the error.
Msg 7330, Level 16, State 2, Line 1
Cannot fetch a row from OLE DB provider "BULK" for linked server "(null)".
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Aug 31, 2007
Hey Everyone,
I have a Data-Flow task embedded in a Sequence Container (does not fail component on error) on the Control Flow panel of the SSIS designer. This data flow task contains a connection to a Flat File Source -> A Data Transformation -> Into an OLE Db Destination.
The problem is that the Flat File isn't always delimited properly -> the client cannot be relied on to do this.
My question is when the delimiters are messed up, how can I capture the offending error row(s) from the Flat File Source?
What I've tried:
1) Set every column in the source flat file on error to: Redirect Row
2) Added a Script Transformation to pull the description and the record id out of the offending row
3) Added an Error file flat file destination to the end of the flow.
The package always fails on the Flat File Source and never Redirects the offending Row to the error output - I never see my onError Script Transformation go Green, Red, or Yellow - SSIS doesn't let it get there.
I'm really new to SSIS so sorry if this is a super basic question.
Here is the Error Text:
[Source - InventTable_csv [1]] Error: The column delimiter for column "RECID" was not found.
[Source - InventTable_csv [1]] Error: An error occurred while processing file "C:------InventTable.csv" on data row 15228.
[DTS.Pipeline] Error: The PrimeOutput method on component "Source - InventTable_csv" (1) returned error code 0xC0202092. The component returned a failure code when the pipeline engine called PrimeOutput(). The meaning of the failure code is defined by the component, but the error is fatal and the pipeline stopped executing.
[DTS.Pipeline] Error: Thread "SourceThread0" has exited with error code 0xC0047038.
I do have the MaxErrorCount set to 1 on the Data Flow Task but still think I should see my script task execute and a log entry be generated.
Any Ideas?
Matt
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