Reading Default Values Instead Of NULL From A Flat File
Oct 22, 2007
Hi,
I have the following problem: I'm connected to flat file source and trying to read data that is later inserted in an MS Access database. Everything wokrs fine instead of one thing - when I have null values in the flat file, I want those NULL values to be inserted in the MS Access db, instead of that what happens is that I actually get the default values for a column type from the flat file and later insert that defalut value. For example if I have a null value in an four-bite-signed-integer column of the flat file, I get 0 as value.
I thouth of solution using a "Derived Column" transformation which can transform the zeros into nulls, but decided to check with you guys if there is a smarter thing to do (for example to edit the flat file source to read the NULLs correctly).
I have a DTSX package which reads values from a fixed-length text file using a data reader and writes some of the column values from the file to an Oracle table. We have used this DTSX several times without incident but recently the process started inserting NULL values for some of the columns when there was a valid value in the source file. If we extract some of the rows from the source file into a smaller file (i.e 10 rows which incorrectly returned NULLs) and run them through the same package they write the correct values to the table, but running the complete file again results in the NULL values error. As well, if we rerun the same file multiple times the incidence of NULL values varies slightly and does not always seem to impact the same rows. I tried outputting data to a log file to see if I can determine what happens and no error messages are returned but it seems to be the case that the NULL values occur after pulling in the data via a Data Reader. Has anyone seen anything like this before or does anyone have a suggestion on how to try and get some additional debugging information around this error?
In SSIS flat file import using fastload, I'm trying to import data into SQL 2005 previously created tables.
The table may contain column that are NULLable BUT there is NO DEFAULT for them.
If the incoming data from flat files contains nothing either between the delimeters, how can I have a NULL value inserted in the column instead of blank/empty string?
I didn't find an easy flag unless I'm doing something wrong. I know of at least two ways to do it the hard way:
1- set the DEFAULT(NULL) for EVERY column that needs this behaviour
2-set up some Derived Column option in the package to return NULL if the value is missing.
Both of the above are time consuming since I'm dealing with many tables. Is there a quick option to default the value to NULL WHEN there is NO data ELSE insert the data itself? So the same behavior that I have right now except that I want NULL in place of empty string/blank in the varchar(x) columns.
I get the following error when reading a flat file : [Credit Information 1 [1]] Error: Data conversion failed. The data conversion for column "AccountName" returned status value 4 and status text "Text was truncated or one or more characters had no match in the target code page.".
I did check all the mappings, and everything seems to be fine, the field is read in as a string. I also check for any strange characters that can possibly cause this error but the value of the field only contains a person's name and spaces at the end.
Does anyone have any ideas what might be the cause of the error?
I am making my first attempt at creating a script for a Script Task. The script needs to do the following;
1. find the length of each record in a single fixed width flat file -file location; C:LearningSettlementDataTestSC15_CopiesSingleFile -file name; CDNSC.CDNSC.SC0015.111062006 (no file extension) 2. if a record is found that is longer than 384 characters; a. copy the record out to a text file -location;C:LearningSettlementDataTestSC15_CopiesErrantRecords -file name; ErrantRecords.txt b. delete record from the flat file where the record length is > 384.
If I can get this to work on a single file, I want to implement it with multiple files. I would imagine that using a ForEachLoop container with the script task 'inside' would be the way to go for multiple files. I have a connection manager set up for the single file and a MultiFlatFile connection manager set up for the whole collection of files. All of the files have the same schema. I don't know if the connection managers are going to be useful to me with what I'm trying to do, but I have them set up.
If you have some input on where I can find resources on how to do this, or have some code to pass along, please share.
I have a very simple question, how do i read the first couple of lines only from a flat file source. Let me illustrate with an example:
**Source file***
Date of refresh 04/05/06 **
abc, 123
bac, 156
I need a way to read the first line 'Date of refresh 04/05/06 **' and get the date '04/05/06' ; and store the date in a variable.
Right now, I have a flat file source and a script component, which receives a connection from the flat file source, The script component is reading the lines, but thrice instead of once. It would be great if I can program the script component to terminate after reading the first line only. Any help would be appreciated very much.
I'm doing a test package which reads a flat file, makes an adjustment using the derived column task and writes to the same flat file. But, the read locks the flat file, so the write can't access it. Any ideas for a resolution?
How do i sequentially read the lines of the flat file that have different structures inside on how to parse it and store them in a table? Let's say, I have this excerpt from the file:
HA111Header1234
KLName1
KLName2
HA222Header4567
KLName3
KLName4
Below are the structures:
If Record type = 'HA' then
Length
Recordtype 2
Code 3
Description 10
else if Record type = 'KL' then
Length
Recordtype 2
Name 5
Code 3
The Code in the KL record type is actually the code in the 'HA' line. So to store the KLName1 in the relational table, it's value for the code field is 111. The same goes for KLName4 which has 222 code. So, when a record type 'HA' is encountered, it's like i want to save its value of the code in a variable and use that to populate the code field of the following recordtype 'KL'.
Can this be possible in Integration Services in which we will use the IS objects themselves to loop through the lines instead of creating a script (programming using script task... i think)?
I have a simple SSIS package -> It reads a local text file which has 10 rows of data ( id, name, telephone # ) and puts it into a table.
It uses the "SSIS Flat File source" to read and a "SQL Command" to insert into the table. I can see that it reads line by line and puts each line into one row in my table.
Now, my production data is over 5 GiG of mainframe data and it seems their data is arranged in some hierarchical form.. so the position or arrangement of data in that file is important.
I pulled the data using my package and as far as I can see , my SSIS package pulled one line at a time ( from the flat file) and pushed it into my table. For each row, I also created an identity column in my table to be able to identify the positional arrangement of the hierarchical data and then use relational mappings to suit our business needs.
In all of this, my assumption is -
"SSIS reads one line at a time, inserts to my table and goes down to the next line .
It does NOT read a snapshot of rows from the flat file so as to write them into the table using internal ordering methods based on that particular snapshot "
Hi, I am reading a flat file in to SSIS. In the script, I want to process differently depending on the length of the row. However, since I am new to .net, I can't figure out the syntax to find the length of the row. Can anyone tell me the syntax? Thanks, Linda
Public Overrides Sub Input0_ProcessInputRow(ByVal Row As Input0Buffer)
'Dim d As Double
If Row.MemberSourceLine.ToString.Length.Equals(267) Then <-- my latest try, but it does not work....
I'm wondering if there is any way to get SSIS to notice, in the Flat File Source, that a "Ragged right" text input file has a record that is too short to populate all the specified columns.
I am reading data from a file that is supposed to be fixed length records, but record 193,591 (out of approx. 500,000) is 20 bytes short of the fixed length (60 bytes). So I changed the input to "ragged right" and found that I can thereby continue to read the file, and load the data (after setting the "maximum errors" to a number greater than the initial "1"). (Without this change to "ragged right", every record after the bad one was "out of synch" with the column arrangement -- so they never made it into the database table destination.)
But the "failures" I am now getting are during the Data Conversion step, when I try to convert some columns to integers (from text, in the input stream). And by looking at the data with a "Redirect Row" setting for the Data Conversion step, I am able to see that the Flat File Source is reading "right past the end of the row."
Is there a way to get the Flat File Source to honor the CR-LF record terminator, and decide that some text columns should contain "nothing" (NULL or zero-length strings), rather than the bytes that contain the CR-LF and the initial text from the next record? Can this somehow be noticed as an error condition?
How I set the Transform Data Task Property in SSIS package????
As I designed SSIS.. where I mapped my text file columns to database table columns but if I selected wrong input text file having less columns than database table then how I will come to know that it is wrong input file???? or in the correct file suppose if i have three columns input then at in table i am getting worng values i.e. 1st column of 2nd row is placed in fourth column of previous row in DB table......that is very weird situation
suppose my DB table contain 4 columns and my (wrong) text file contain 2 columns then i should get error message that column003 is not found???? like that happened in DTS 2000
I have a stored procedure with a SELECT statement, that retrieves 1 row. SELECT name FROM tblNames WHERE nameID = "1" I want all the NULL values in that row to be change in some default values. How do I do this?
What would be a good method to allow an INSERT (or UPDATE) statement to insert NULL into this column but then automatically change the NULL to 0 (zero). In other words, test for NULLs after INSERT (or UPDATE) and change the value to 0 (zero).
Not exactly sure how to do this with a Trigger. Also, what is that [Formula] option used for (column properties in the Table Design view)... and would this apply with my problem?
I have a data transform from a flat-file to a SQL server database. Some of the flat-file fields have NULL values. The SQL table I'm importing into does not allow NULL values in any field, but each field has a Default value specified.
I need to have it so that if a null value comes across in a field using the data transform, it takes the table default on import. I could of sworn I had this working a few days ago, but I get errors now that state I'm violating table constraints. Has anyone done this before?
Hi, In my flat file for some columns I dont have values so it contains empty, novalue. Then When exporting those column values int oSqlserer table column, SSIS is giving the error. How to solve this?
I have a fixed-width flat file. Within some of the rows, I have embedded NULL characters. The inherit problem is that NULL characters are string terminators, so using a flat file source doesn't allow the capturing of these NULL characters or any characters after the first NULL character -- only the string up to the NULL character.
So, within SSIS, what would be the best way to replace NULL characters with a SPACE character? My file is fixed-width, and replacing with a space will allow me to keep the length the same. I am not opposed to running a script task against the file first (before using my flat file source), but would need some guidance as I'm not a .Net guru, by any means.
Unfortunately, going to the bank to have them correct this file has proved fruitless. We're going to have to deal with these characters on our side.
I am facing a problem on validating the data from a flat file while inserting the data into the destination table of sql server 2005 database. In my package, i have to validate the input data whether the values are coming as null or not, before inserting into the destination database. The flat file may not contain data for all NOT NULL columns. I have to find out that row(s) and reject the record. If the rows are coming as Null for the Not Null columns, the OLEDB Destination throws OLEDB exception for the constraint.
To resolve this, i have an script component in data flow, to check whether the input data is coming as null. I have added the output column of boolean type to the script component, it will be assigned to TRUE when there is null for the Not Null column in the script.
And in the follwing conditional split, i am checking the flag for TRUE to reject the record.
I have to insert the Values from the Flat Files , My table structures have Primary keys , how do i insert only the distinct values into the table without the ERROR VIOLATION OF Primary Key already exists a record.
Dropping and Adding Relationships after insert is a way but doesnt serve the whole purpose is there a way we can eliminate duplicate records based on their Primary key before inserting them into the Database.
I am trying to to import a flat file into a table in my database, i get all the values right except for the date, it keeps on inserting NULL values into the date fields.
The date format in the flat file is '20070708' etc.
Does anyone know what i can do to fix this?
I've tried to change the datatype values that it imports, but it still ignores it and inserts NULL values
When exporting the results of a query to a file any values that are null are displayed as NULL in the file. Is there anyway to have them be blank instead? I looked around in the Studio but couldn't find anything that would do this globaly.
I have a pivot transform that pivots a batch type. After the pivot, each batch type has its own row with null values for the other batch types that were pivoted. I want to group two fields and max() the remaining batch types so that the multiple rows are displayed on one row. I tried using the aggregate transform, but since the batch type field is a string, the max() function fails in the package. Is there another transform or can I use the aggragate transform another way so that the max() will work on a string?
my configuration file provides parameters that are used for an SQL query in my package. However, for these parameters it must be possible to pass NULL to the query.
This seems to be impossible in SSIS..? If the config file provides no value, the package uses a default value - and this default value can not be null.
I am testing SSIS and have created a Flat File Destination. I defined the Flat File Connection as New for the first time and it worked fine. Now, I would like to go back and modify the Flat File Connection in the Flat File Destination Editor, but it allows only to create a New connection rather allowing me to edit the existing one. For testing, I can go back and create a new connection, but if my connection had 50-100 columns then it would be an issue to re-create it from scratch.
I'm trying to import some data from a spreadsheet to a database table from a package in integration services. The problem is that I see the data when I open the excel file but when I try to run my package , it doesn't insert any rows in the table and it finishes with a success status.
My excel file has some formulas to get the data from other worksheets. I added a Data Viewer and all I see is null values in every cell.
I have a situation where a tab limited text file is used to populate a sql server table.
The tab limited text file comes from a third party vendor. There are fixed number of columns we need to export to the sql server table. However the third party may add colums in the text file. Whenenver the text file has an added column (which we dont need to import) the build fails since the flat file connection manager does not create the metadata for it again. The problem goes away where I press the button "Reset Columns" since it builds the metadata then. Since we need to build the tables everyday we cannot automate it using SSIS because the metadata does not change automatically. Is there a way out in SSIS?
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?
I m using SSIS and i am transfering the data from Flat File Source to the OLE DB destination File. The source file contain some corrupt data which i am transfering to the other Flat file destination file.
Debugging is succesful but i am not getting any error output in the Flat file destination file.
i had done exactly which is written in the msdn tutorial of SSIS.
Plz tell me why i am not getting the error output in the destination flat file?
I have a report that is run on a monthly basis with a default date of null. The stored procedure determines the month-end date that it should use should it be sent a null date.
The report works fine when I tell it to create a history entry; however, when I try to add a subscription it doesn't appear to like the null parameter value. Since I have told the report to have a default value of null it doesn't allow me to enter a value on the subscription page.
Now, I suppose I could remove the parameter altogether from the stored proc, but then the users would never be able to run the report for a previous time period. Can someone explain to me why default values aren't allowed to be used on subscriptions when they seem to work fine for ad hoc and scheduled reports? This is really quite frustrating as most of my reports require a date value and default to null so that the user doesn't have to enter them for the latest data.
An internal error occurred on the report server. See the error log for more details. (rsInternalError) Get Online Help
First, a couple of important bits of information. Until last week, I had never touched SISS, and therefore, I know very little about it. I just never had the need to use it...until now. I was able to convert my first 3 flat files to SQL2005 tables by right clicking on "SISS Package" and choosing "SISS Import and Export Wizard". That is the extent of my knowledge! So please, please, please be patient with me and be as descriptive as possible.
I thought I could attach some sample files to this post, but it doesn't look like I can. I'll just paste the information below in two separate code boxes. The first code box is the flat file specifications and the second one is a sample single line flat file similar to what I'm dealing with (the real flat file is over 2 gigs).
My questions are below the sample files.
Code Snippet Record Length 400
Positions Length FieldName
Record Type 01 1,2 L=2 Record Type (Always "01") 3,12 L=10 Site Name 13,19 L=7 Account Number 20,29 L=10 Sub Account 30,35 L=6 Balance 36,37 L=1 Active 37,41 L=5 Filler Record Type 02 1,2 L=2 Record Type (Always "02") 3,4 L=2 State 5,30 L=26 Address 31,41 L=11 Filler Record Type 03 1,2 L=2 Record Type (Always "03") 3,6 L=4 Coder 7,20 L=14 Locator ID 21,22 L=2 Age 23,41 L=19 Filler Record Type 04 1,2 L=2 Record Type (Always "04") 3,9 L=7 Process 10,19 L=10 Client 20,26 L=6 DOB 26,41 L=16 Filler Record Type 05 1,2 L=2 Record Type (Always "05") 3,16 L=14 Guarantor 17,22 L=6 Guar Account 23,23 L=1 Active Guar **There can be multiple 05 records, one for each Guarantor on the account**
and the single line flat file...
Code Snippet 01Site1 12345 0000098765 Y 02NY1155 12th Street 03ELL 0522071678 29 04TestingSmith,Paul071678 05Smith, Jane 445978N 05Smith, Julie 445989N 05Smith, Jenny 445915N 01Site2 12346 0000098766 N 02MN615 Woodland Ct 04InfoJones,Chris 012001 01Site3 12347 0000098767 Y 02IN89 Jade Street 03OWB 6429051282 25 04Screen New,Katie 879500
As you can see, each entry could have any number of records and multiples of some of the record types, with one exception, every entry must have a "01" record and can only have one "01" record. Oh, and each record has a length of 400.
I need to get this information into a SQL 2005 database so I can create a front end for accessing the data. Originally, I wanted one line for each account and have null values listed for entries that don't have a specific record. Now that I've looked at the data again, that doesn't look like a good idea. I think a better way to do it would be to create 5 different tables, one for each record type. However, records 2 through 5 don't have anything I can make a primary key. So here are my questions...
Is it possible to make 5 tables from this one file, one table for each of the record types?
If so, can I copy the Account number in record 01, position 13-19 in each of the subsequent record types (that way I could link the tables as needed)?
Can this be done using the SISS Import and Export Wizard to create the package? If not, I'm going to need some very basic step by step instructions on how to create the package.
Is SISS the best way to do this conversion or is there another program that would be better to use? I know this is a huge question and I appreciate the help of anyone who boldly decides to help me! Thank you in advance and I welcome anyone's suggestions!
