Fixed width file

Overview

Fixed-width text files are special cases of text files where the format is specified by column widths, pad character and left/right alignment. Column widths are measured in units of characters. For example, if you have data in a text file where the first column always has exactly 10 characters, and the second column has exactly 5, the third has exactly 12, this would be categorized as a fixed-width text file.

If a text file follows the rules below it's a fixed-width text file:

  • Each row (paragraph) contains one complete record of information.

  • Each row contains one or many pieces of data (also referred to as columns or fields).

  • Each data column has a defined width specified as a number of characters that's always the same for all rows.

  • The data within each column is padded with spaces (or any character you specify) if it doesn't completely use all the characters allotted to it (empty space).

  • Each piece of data can be left or right aligned, meaning the pad characters can occur on either side.

  • Each column must consistently use the same number of characters, same pad character and same alignment (left/right).

Example use case

You have a fixed-width file that contains your Employee information. You want to use a batch sync to pull this info into a Cinchy table and liberate your data.

The fixed-width file source supports batch syncs.

The fixed-width file source doesn't support Geometry, Geography, or Binary data types.

Info tab

You can find the parameters in the Info tab below (Image 1).

Values

ParameterDescriptionExample

Title

Mandatory. Input a name for your data sync

Employee Sync

Variables

Optional. Review our documentation on Variables here for more information about this field. When uploading a local file, set this to @filepath.

@Filepath

Permissions

Data syncs are role based access systems where you can give specific groups read, write, execute, and/or all of the above with admin access. Inputting at least an Admin Group is mandatory.

Source tab

The following table outlines the mandatory and optional parameters you will find on the Source tab.

The following parameters will help to define your data sync source and how it functions.

ParameterDescriptionExample

(Sync) Source

Mandatory. Select your source from the drop down menu.

Fixed Width File

Source

The location of the source file. Either a Local upload, Amazon S3, or Azure Blob Storage The following authentication methods are supported per source: Amazon S3: Access Key ID/Secret Access Key Azure Blob Storage: Connection String

Local

Header Rows to Ignore

Mandatory. The number of records from the top of the file to ignore before the data starts (includes column header).

1

Footer Rows to Ignore

Mandatory. The number of records from the bottom of the file to ignore

0

Encoding

Optional. The encoding of the file. This default to UTF8, however also supports: UTF8_BOM, UTF16, ASCII.

Path

Mandatory. The path to the source file to load. To upload a local file, you must first insert a Variable in the Info tab of the connection (ex: `filepath`). Then, you would reference that same value in this location (Ex: @Filepath). This will then trigger a File Upload option to import your file.

@Filepath

Test Connection

You can use the "Test Connection" button to ensure that your credentials are properly configured to access your source.

If configured correctly, a "Connection Successful" pop-up will appear.

If configured incorrectly, a "Connection Failed" pop-up will appear along with a link to the applicable error logs to help you troubleshoot.

Next steps

Last updated