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

Parameter	Description	Example
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.

Image 1: The Info Tab

Source tab

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

Source Details

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

Parameter	Description	Example
(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.

Schema

The Schema section is where you define which source columns you want to sync in your connection. You can repeat the values for multiple columns.

Parameter	Description	Example
Name	Mandatory. The name of your column as it appears in the source.	Name
Alias	Optional. You may choose to use an alias on your column so that it has a different name in the data sync.
Data Type	Mandatory. The data type of the column values.	Text
Description	Optional. You may choose to add a description to your column.

Select Show Advanced for more options for the Schema section.

Parameter	Description	Example
Mandatory	If both Mandatory and Validated are checked on a column, then rows where the column is empty are rejected If just Mandatory is checked on a column, then all rows are synced with the execution log status of failed, and the source error of "Mandatory Rule Violation" If just Validated is checked on a column, then all rows are synced.
Validate Data	If both Mandatory and Validated are checked on a column, then rows where the column is empty are rejected If just Validated is checked on a column, then all rows are synced.
Trim Whitespace	Optional if data type = text. For Text data types, you can choose whether to trim the whitespace._

You can choose to add in a Transformation > String Replacement by inputting the following:

Parameter	Description	Example
Pattern	Mandatory if using a Transformation. The pattern for your string replacement.
Replacement	What you want to replace your pattern with.

Note that you can have more than one String Replacement

Filter

You have the option to add a source filter to your data sync. Please review the documentation here for more information on source filters.

Next steps

• Configure your Destination

• Define your Sync Actions.

• Add in your Post Sync Scripts, if required.

• Click Jobs > Start a Job to begin your sync.