OLE DB Source To Flat File Destintation Using Fixed Width Columns - Determining Source Column Width
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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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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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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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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Jun 1, 2007
Is there a maximum width for fixed width column?
I'm trying to read in a flat file (which, admittedly, has one very wide column), and it keeps breaking because of truncation when it tries to read in the file.
Any ideas?
Jim Work
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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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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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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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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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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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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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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 12, 2006
How do I delete columns in a fixed width column file connection object, after I've saved it I can't remove columns anymore?
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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 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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Apr 24, 2008
How do i import a Varying Column Width Flat file into a Table using SSIS?
I have a flat file that has 4 columns with varying width
Like I should read the file as
Col 1 - (1 to 10 Characters)
Col 2 - (12 to 21 Characters)
Col 3 - (22 to 35 Characters)
Col 4 - (36 to 38 Characters)
At the end of the record is a "LF"
I think "Fixed Width" Columns allow me to define a standard column length for all the columns.. Right?
Any thoughts on how to?
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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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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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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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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 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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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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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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Feb 26, 2007
I am writing a package that will process delimited flat files that will come in one of a few different versions. Within each flat file, the number of delimited columns will be the same, but each version of the file has a different number of columns. I have tried configuring the flat file data source to expect the version with the largest number of columns, but it will then throw away rows that have less than this number of columns (warning: There is a partial row at the end of the file).
Is it possible to use a single flat file data source that will work with all of the different width files?
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Oct 31, 2005
I have a request to produce a SQL report that will be produced with fixed column width. For example see below Position Element LengthField Format 1-2 Column1 2 Alphanumeric 3-4 Column2 2 Alphanumeric 5-13 Column3 9 Chars Any idea how I can produce the report specified above? Thanks
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Feb 1, 2007
What is the best way to deal with a flat file source when you need to add a new column? This happens constantly in our Data Warehouse, another field gets added to one of the files to be imported, as users want more data items. When I originally set the file up in Connection Managers, I used Suggest File Types, and then many adjustments made to data types and lengths on the Advanced Tab because Suggest File Types goofs a lot even if you say to use 1000 rows. I have been using the Advanced Tab revisions to minimize the Derived Column entries. The file is importing nightly. Now I have new fields added to this file, and when I open the Connection Manager for the file, it does not recognize the new columns in the file unless I click Reset Fields. If I click Reset Fields, it wipes out all the Advanced Tab revisions! If I don't click Reset Fields, it doesn't seem to recognize that the new fields are in the file?
Is it a waste of time to make Advanced Tab type and length changes? Is it a better strategy to just use Suggest Types, and not change anything, and take whatever you get and set up more Derived Column entries? How did the designers intend for file changes to be handled?
Or is there an easy way to add new fields to this import that I am overlooking? I am finding it MUCH more laborious to set up or to modify a file load in SSIS than in DTS. In DTS, I just Edit the transformation, and add the field to the Source and Destination lists, and I'm good to go. My boss isn't understanding why a "better" version is taking so much more work!
thanks,
Holly
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Feb 19, 2008
Good day everyone,
I have a package that reads data from a CSV file, transforms it and finally loads it in a destination DB table.
My current problem lies in the parsing of the input flat file. I shall illustrate it using a small example.
Source File:
P;Product-1;Short Description for product 1
P;Product-2;Short Description for product 2
Problem:
I configured the flat file connection manager to use semicolon as the column separator. But then I have received some sample flat files where I found that the semicolon might be sometimes used as content of a column data.
Possible Solutions:
I have thought about 3 different solution and I would like to get your feedback and recommendations about them.
Alternative 1:
Use a complex column delimiter, which wouldn't be used in the data.
Example:
P#~#Product-1#~#Short Description for product 1
P#~#Product-2#~#Short Description for product 2
Question 1:
- Is it possible to define such a customized column delimiter for the Flat File Connection Manager?
- If yes, how can I do this?
Alternative 2:
Use double quotes around the data, which the Flat File Source Adapter must somehow recognize and trim before pushing the data down the Data Flow.
Example:
"P";"Product-1";"Short Description for product 1"
"P";"Product-2";"Short Description for product 2"
Question 2:
- Is it possible to configure the Flat File Source Adapter to work as described?
- If yes, how can I do this?
Alternative 3:
Use a Script Component and write the needed code for parsing the Flat File.
Question 3:
- Do you have further suggestions/ideas for solving this parsing problem?
Thanks in advance and my regards,
Samar
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May 12, 2006
Hello All,
I have come across this issue with the Flat File Source when the delimiter is set to a comma.
"""KAILUA KONA,HI""","CA",
In the data snippet above and with the setting of using a comma as a column delimiter
and a " as the text qualifer.
the data will be parsed in this fashion:
"""KAILUA as a column:
HI""" as a column
CA as column
when it should be
"KAILUA,HI" as a column
CA as column.
Is there a way to let the Flat File Source to let it know not to parse the data in multiple quotes ?
Thank you
Eric Flores
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Jun 6, 2006
I'm sending the results of an SSIS data flow to an fixed-width flat file output, but instead of getting separate rows of data, like so:
row1data...
row2data...
row3data...
etc...
I get:
row1data...row2data...row3data...etc...
Is there some setting I'm missing in either the flat file output or the file connection to turn this on?
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Jan 14, 2008
Hello everyone,
I have a package that extracts data from a Flat File. If any errors or truncation occur during the extraction of the input data, the package should fail. All fields that have erroneous values should be reported in the log file.
My Solution:
- I have created a Data Flow Task that contains a Flat File Source Adapter and a dummy destination.
- I have left the default "Error Output" configuration of the Flat File Source adapter, namely if a truncation or an error occur for a certain column, then the reaction is "Fail Component".
Problem:
This configuration gives me only the first erroneous column in the row being processed.
Question:
Is it possible to make the Flat File Source adapter continue parsing the current row before it fails? This way, I would be able to get all the erroneous columns in the row in one shot.
Thanks in advance...
Samar
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