Configuring the Discrete Text Source block
Properties
Filename:
The fully qualified path of the text file (Note, relative paths are not accepted).
Delimiter:
The character used for delimiting columns in the text file
Consecutive as one:
Set Yes if consecutive delimiters should be treated as one delimiter instance. Set to No if each delimiter should be treated as a separate instance.
Headings:
Set to Yes if the data file contains column headings. Set to No if no column headings are present in the data file. (See example below for leading headers)
Number of header rows:
The number of rows before the data that specifies the heading of a column.
Use row number for headings:
Use this row to determine the headings of each column. This option allows the user to skip a certain number of rows in the text file in order to allow for headings that do not appear in the first row of the text file.
Locale:
The regional settings to use when converting data/time values. If the regional settings should be changed here if it is not the same as set for the PC.
Decimal point:
The character used as a decimal point for values. These regional settings are related to the locale setting and are automatically updated to reflect the selection made for locale. Should a locale use specific settings (non-standard) the user can set these non-standard locale settings individually using these options.
Thousands separator:
The character used as a thousands separator for values. Examples of thousand separators are: (1.635.242,87 here the , is used a the thousands separator and the . as the decimal separator. This is a common European standard where the columns would be separated by a tabular character. Another us the United States standard which is 1,284,729.34 where the , is the thousands separator and the . is the decimal separator also with the columns separated by tabular characters.)
Negative sign symbol:
The character used to indicate negative values
Create Index
If enabled, the source will create a new unique index for every row of data read from the source. The index will be incremented on every execute. The starting value is determined by the Index Start Value property.
Index Starting value
The starting value for the index if the Create Index property is enabled.
Index Field
If the Create Index property is disabled, select a field from the data source to use as the index field. Indexes do not have to be unique.
Select TAB
Select the fields you wish to import from the specified data set and set the data types.Five data types are supported and interpreted as either Discrete or Continuous when read:
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String (S) - Discrete
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Double (D) - Continuous
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Integer (I) - Continuous or Discrete (Conversion allowed)
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Timestamp (T) - Timestamp or Discrete (Conversion allowed)
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Quality (Q) - Discrete or Continuous (Conversion allowed)
Convert between these data types by selecting the required fields from the list and clicking on the conversion buttons provided. Only valid conversions are supported.
By default, Architect automatically selects the data type of the 100th row. If, when executing, the block does not read the same data type, the data quality will be marked as bad, and the values will be replaced with zero.
To remedy this, initially when selecting a text source, check the type of data in that row, and that there is not more than one type of data in that particular row. It is important to ensure that the text files are correct and consistent. If you get bad quality data, recheck these data types.
Click Refresh to refresh the field list if property changes have been made.
Preview TAB
Provides a sample preview of the data set as read using the currently specified properties.
Related topics: