Flat File Destination: Broken Rows

I am exporting data to a csv file. One of the columns has values with so mixed characters which end up confusing the system and breaking the rows before the real end of the row. What I mean is; on the flat file a resultant single row can be broken down into
two or more rows as a result of the characters in the offending column. I work for the healthcare industry. Please see the example of what I’m talking about below. This is a real value from one of the rows in my table which I have and this value(amongst many
more under tis column) is causing the affected row to be split into two rows. Where the letters
OE: is coming up as a new row on my flat file. I want all this to be in the same row. My column delimiter is double dagger and my row delimiter is {CR}{LF}
Example value:
Column name: Comments
Value:
BIBA: blah blah,
accidentally
kicked
brick
wall
to
lateral
aspect
to
R
foot.
reports
hearing
a
crack.
mobilised
after
injury.
pain
++
swelling
+
nil
obvious
deformity.
minimal
movement
of
the
toes.
LAS
obs:
entonox
to
good
affect
RR18 98%air
P66reg 114/75
5.3mmols
T36.8
pain 8-4/10
PMH:
Nil
Allergies-
nuts&prawns
OE:
swelling
and
pain
to
lateral
and
medial
malleolus
and 5th
metatarsals.
For
xray
Mpumelelo

I think I have managed to get a solution to my problem.
Instead of using csv file I have decided to use text file as my destination flat file format when exporting the data
I have used Tab{t} as my column delimiter
I have left the default system specified {CR}{LF} for row delimiter
On my flat file connection manager, I have gone to the properties and changed
AlwaysCheckForRowDelimiters from True to False.
After a good fight the above worked. No more broken or split rows :).
If anyone has a better approach or suggestion it will be gladly welcome.
Many thanks,
Mpumelelo

Similar Messages

Flat file Destination VS Raw file Destination ??

Team ,
Can some help me understand few differences and similarities between Flat File Destination and Raw File Destination ? Thanks in advance .
Rajkumar Yelugu

Hi,
Please check these differences :-
Flat File Destination: The Flat File Destination component writes data out to a text file in one of the standard flat-file formats: delimited, fixed width, fixed width with row delimiter.
Raw File Destination: The Raw File Destination is all about raw speed. It is an entirely native format and can be exported and imported more rapidly than any other connection type, in part because the data doesn’t need to pass through a connection
manager.
durgesh sharma

Header in flat file destination (ssis)

Hi
I am creating a header in the flat file destination which has some hard coded values and record count which will get its value from a variable assisgned to a row count transformation in the package.
There is no problem in hard coded value but when i try to get the value of record count, i always get zero.
This is how i am doing it.
In the flat file destination, when we open flat file destination editor, i hard code the values which i want in the HEADER itself right there in the editor.
For the record count, i go properties of the flat file and select expression. In the expression editor, in property, i am selecting 'HeaderRowDelimiter' and drag that variable in the expression box.
Let me know if there is any suggestion.
Thanks

The value of the rowcount is only known AFTER the Data Flow Task is completely finished... and there header is writen before that.
Here are some examples:
http://agilebi.com/jwelch/2008/02/08/adding-headers-and-footers-to-flat-files/
http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Search/en-US/sqlserver?query=add%20header%20and%20footer%20ssis&rq=meta:Search.MSForums.ForumID(00e50af7-5f43-43ad-af05-d98b73c1f760)+site:microsoft.com&rn=SQL+Server+Integration+Services+Forum
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[Flat File Destination [220]] Error: Failed to write out column name for column "Column 2"

I am using SSIS to extract fixed width data into a flat file destination and I keep getting below error. I have tried almost everything in this forum but still no solution. can anyone help me out to solve this problem.
[Flat File Destination [220]] Error: Failed to write out column name for column "Column 2".
[SSIS.Pipeline] Error: component "Flat File Destination" (220) failed the pre-execute phase and returned error code 0xC0202095
Thanks

Hi Giss68,
Could you check the Advanced tab of the Flat File Connection Manager to see whether the InputColumnWidth and the OutputColumnWidth properties of the Column2 has the same value? Please refer to the following link about the same topic:
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/10292091/how-do-i-fix-failed-to-write-error-while-exporting-data-to-ragged-right-flat-fil
If it doesn’t work, please post the sample data and the advanced settings of Column2 for further analysis.
Regards,
Mike Yin
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here
Mike Yin
TechNet Community Support

Dynamic Column Names in Flat File Destination

Hello,
Inside a Data Flow Task, I have an ADO.Net data source which executes a stored procedure that provides results in 5 columns.
The requirement is to have it connect to a flat file destination, such that the column names is dependent on what data was pulled by the data source. There is a variable indicator which identifies the data that was pulled. For example:
If the indicator is 0, then the columns names will be A,B,C,D,E. Otherwise, if the indicator is 1, then column names will be V,W,X,Y,Z.
Any suggestions will be of great help.
AJ

If you only have two variations then use a branched execution (based on precedence constraints) and direct it to one DFT or another based on the result returned by the stored procedure.
Otherwise use .net
code to create one package or another dynamically.
PS: I suggest not to bother using SSIS for such a simplistic scenario.
Arthur My Blog

Flat File Destination Multiple Delimiters

Hi Guys,
This might been an easy one for you. I need to find out if the data from a table can be loaded into a text file with multiple delimiters or not using SSIS? For example, if I have 2 columns of data from a table,
ID Name
100 Mark
I need to load this into a flat file and the output should be like this
100,@Mark
So basically, I need to have 2 delimiters in the flat file destination namely "," and "@". How can this be done.
Thanks in advance.

Can't you just fill in two delimiters in the Column Delimiter field of the Flat File Connection Manager (never tried it)?
Alternatives:
-In the source query add a @ to the second column: select column1,
'@' + column2 as column2 from yourTable
-Add a Derived Column with an expression that adds a @ in front of column2: "@" + [column2]
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Flat file destination error

hi
i am adding new field to my existing package which is char(10).
getting this error:
[Flat File Destination [139]] Error: Data conversion failed. The data conversion for column "MEMBER_ID" returned status value 4 and status text "Text was truncated or one or more characters had no match in the target code page.".
i right click flat file destination->i only see external and input column over there,
there is no output column.
in flat file connection mamanger ->outputcolumn->its char(10)
what needs to be change here?

Hi coool_sweet,
According to your description, you are trying to add a new source column to a flat file in an existing package.
Based on the error message, the issue should be caused by text was truncated when load new column to column "Column1" in Flat File Destination. Because the length of new column data should be more than 10 (with some junk values) in the Source,
while you are trying to convert the column to 10 as the character length.
To fix this issue, we can increase the length of column "Column1" in Flat File Connection Manager. Alternatively, if you still want to convert the new column to a column with length 10, we can right-click the Source component to select “Show Advanced
Editor”, then go to tab 'input and output properties' to expand the output column corresponds to the column "Column1", change TrancationRowDiposition property to RD_IgnoreFailure.
Besides, the issue can also be caused by using some special characters in the new column. We can check the Unicode checkbox on the right hand side of Locale property in Flat File Connection Manager to fix this issue. For more details, please see the following
thread:
https://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/sqlserver/en-US/d3605656-4a13-47b6-b96e-45379e2b2a9f/export-to-flat-file-with-unicode-chinese-characters?forum=sqlintegrationservices
If there are any other questions, please feel free to ask.
Thanks,
Katherine Xiong
Katherine Xiong
TechNet Community Support

Reorder columns in Flat File Destination

Hi Friend's
Although, I did some google in order to find the solution for reording the columns before exporting to a text file using FLAT FILE DESTINATION, one of the work around which i found is editing the final package xml file and moving the DTS:FlatFileColumn
fields as required.
Is there any other solution in order to avoid this approach as I have some 40 fields to be displayed in text file and manually reordring these fields in xml would be cumbersome.
I need to create text file using FLAT FILE DESTINATION.

SSIS Data flow doesn't support dynamic metadata, and any changes in metadata like re-arrange mappings should be done manually. if you want to have columns in a re-arrange design which could be re-mapped dynamically and simply it is better to looks for
another way than data flow task, dynamic t-sql queries can be good alternative.
http://www.rad.pasfu.com
My Submitted sessions at sqlbits.com

Dynamic Header Values in Flat File Destination

Hi,
I have to put 'T' or 'P' as part of a header in a flat file destination. The header is sourced via a work table which defines what the header looks like. One of the columns should contain 'T' for test or 'P' for production. When the package is executed in
the test environment, 'T' should appear as part of the header. When the package is executed in the production environment, 'P' should appear as part of the header.
Any ideas on how to achieve this is very much welcome.
Thanks,
AJ

Package parameter indicating the environment and a DerivedColumn transform that generates a column with T or P depending on the parameter value.

How to create a dynamic SSIS package for multiple flat file destinations

Hi,
I have to create a ssis package which has single data flow task and inside that I have 23 source (sql- select * from - statements)- destination (flat files, 23 distinct) connection.
Now for each product I have to create separate SSIS package (i.e. if prod=abc then these read select * from abc_tables and 23 abc_ txt files)
I want to do it dynamically, means only single package and inside that variables will take select * values for each source-dest connection (so i believe 23 variables) and same for destination flat files.
Let me know. :)
ANK HIT - if reply helps, please mark it as ANSWER or helpful post

Sorry It seems you're contradicting yourself. you say I know my source and dest structure and the you're
asking all I want is to have a dynamic structure
what does that mean?
and reading your next sentence
I want to run a package for 5 products, instead of creating 5 ssis packages with 23 source- dest connection, I would
like to have one with only 23 source- dest connections
What I feel is what you're looking for is to have a looping structure to loop through each of the 5
products.
In that case what you could do is this
1. Create a object variable in SSIS
2. Use a Execute SQL Task to populate the variable with all available products (I think you'll have a master table for that). Set ResultSet property to Full ResultSet and then in ResultSet tab map Object variable to 0 th index
3. use a ForEachLoop container with ADO .NET recordset enumerator and map to object variable. Create a variable of datatype same as that of Product identifier field to get individual values out
4. Inside loop create your data flow task with 23 source destination connection. In the query part use a parameter for product field and map it to the variable containing product value to get only data for the product.
Please Mark This As Answer if it helps to solve the issue Visakh ---------------------------- http://visakhm.blogspot.com/ https://www.facebook.com/VmBlogs

SSIS Script Component Conditional Split to Flat File Destination

I have a flat file which needs to be split into multiple flat files based on value in RecordType column.
For example, if (RecordType == 20), then direct all rows to a new text file,
I have around 15 different record types. I have managed to write some C# code for Conditional Split, but
still trying to figure out what is the next step to save these rows to a text file.
I will be grateful if someone please point me to the right direction.
Many Thanks
#region Namespaces
using System;
using System.Data;
using Microsoft.SqlServer.Dts.Pipeline.Wrapper;
using Microsoft.SqlServer.Dts.Runtime.Wrapper;
using System.IO;
#endregion
[Microsoft.SqlServer.Dts.Pipeline.SSISScriptComponentEntryPointAttribute]
public class ScriptMain : UserComponent
string copiedAddressFile;
private StreamWriter textWriter;
private string columnDelimiter = ",";
private string filepath = @"C:\DestFiles";
private string[] columns;
public override void PreExecute()
IDTSInput100 input = ComponentMetaData.InputCollection[0];
columns = new string[input.InputColumnCollection.Count];
for (int i = 0; i < input.InputColumnCollection.Count; i++)
columns[i] = input.InputColumnCollection[i].Name;
public override void Input0_ProcessInputRow(Input0Buffer Row)
if (Row.intRecordType ==20)
Row.DirectRowToRecordType20();
else if (Row.intRecordType ==10)
Row.DirectRowToRecordType10();

see similar example
http://www.sqlis.com/sqlis/post/Using-the-Script-Component-as-a-Conditional-Split.aspx
Please Mark This As Answer if it solved your issue
Please Mark This As Helpful if it helps to solve your issue
Visakh
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CAN NOT TRANPORT INFOSPOKE FLAT FILE DESTINATION PATH

Hi,
I am writing from infospoke to a flat file in application server. When I transported this to QA, Application server Check box is unchecked and path is changed to path in QA.
Do I need to have Logical File name in order to transport. If I have 5 infospokes do I need to have 5 logical file names or is there any way to pass a parameter ... .
Is there any other way to transport with out having File Name option instead of Logical File name?
Thanks
Krishna

Hi Krishna,
You would need an ABAP program to change the entry in the table RSBFILE.
First try this. Goto se11 -> RSBFILE -> give your Infohub name and check if you have authorization to change the path.
ELSE..
Write an ABAP program and update the field.
REPORT test.
tables: RSBFILE.
update RSBFILE set PATH = '<your path>' where OHDEST = <your Infobub>.
Bye
Dinesh

Transferring over billion records to flat file destination.

I have a requirement, where i need to create a flat file which loads over billion records in it. Can you please suggest me the best way to follow?
Thank you in advance!

SSIS or even SQLBulkcopy class. Make sure your have plenty space on the disk...
Best Regards,Uri Dimant SQL Server MVP,
http://sqlblog.com/blogs/uri_dimant/
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Large scale of database and data cleansing
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Handling flat file destinations dynamically

After performing a join operation on two tables i get the below resultset
pid, fname, typename, pname, pcost
1, cad, bars, product-1, 100
2, har, witte, product-2, 120
3, nes, bars, product-3, 119
Now i need to create files with the obtained resultset like
Column 'fname' is the folder name and 'typename' should be the file in the particular folder.
For example the first record should be inserted into file name 'bars.txt' in the folder 'cad'
and third record should be created in file name 'bars.txt' in the folder 'nes'.
Could someone please help me with this?

You can do this using Foreach Loop Container (Collection - Foreach ADO Enumerator).
1. First create 5 variables for pid, fname, typename, pname, pcost
2. Create another variable for the directory where you want to create the folders (Let's say variable name is strDestPath)
3. Create another variable of type "Object" (Let's say variable name is objFnames)
3. Next, use an Execute SQL Task and in the SQL Statement, put your query and the Result Set should be "Full Result set"
4. On the same task, go to Result Set and set the following
Result Name to 0 ; Variable Name to User::objFnames
5.Next, drop a Foreach Loop Container (FELC) and connect the Execute SQL Task created above to FELC
6.In FELC, go to Collection > Select “Foreach ADO Enumerator” as Enumerator
7.In FELC, select the ADO object source variable : User::objFnames
8.In FELC, go to Variable Mappings and map the variables as
Variable
Index
User::Pid
0
User::fname
1
User::typename
2
User::pname
3
User::pcost
4
9.Next, drop a Script task inside the FELC
10.Open the script task > and select all your variables as ReadOnlyVariables
11.Next, click Edit Script
12. Add the using System.IO class (just below using Sytem.Windows.Forms) and use the following script
public void Main()
// TODO: Add your code here
Dts.TaskResult = (int)ScriptResults.Success;
String originalPath = (String)Dts.Variables["User::strDestPath"].Value + "\\";
String folderPath = originalPath + (String)Dts.Variables["User::fname"].Value;
MessageBox.Show(folderPath);
if (Directory.Exists(folderPath))
Console.WriteLine("That path exists already.");
//return;
DirectoryInfo yearDi = Directory.CreateDirectory(folderPath);
string Filename = folderPath + "\\" + (String)Dts.Variables["User::typename"].Value + ".txt";
StreamWriter Writer = new StreamWriter(Filename);
Writer.WriteLine(Dts.Variables["User::pname"].Value + " " + Dts.Variables["User::pcost"].Value);
Writer.Close();
Narsimha

Flat Files - SSIS Handy Hints

After working with flat files (especially text and CSV) for some time in my current role I have decided to come up with this little discussion which I believe may benefit peers who might not yet have come across some of the issues that I have raised in this
piece. This piece is just a summary of what I have thought would be useful hints for anyone to consider when they are working with CSV or text files. Everything in this writing is purely from my experience and I am discussing it at SSIS level. I believe most
of the actions can be applied across in SSMS when dealing with flat files there.
Flat files as destination file
Exporting data to flat file destination is relatively easy and straight forward. There aren’t as many issues experienced here as they are when one imports data from flat files. However, whatever one does here hugely impacts on how easy and straightforward
importing data down the line from your flat file that you create at this stage will be. There are a few things to note. When you open your Flat File Destination component, of the options that you will see – listed below is a discussion of some of them. I have
found it useful to take the actions which I have mentioned below.
Column names in the first row – If you want the column names to be in the first row on your file make sure that you always check the box with that option. SSIS does not do that for you by default.
Column delimiter – I always prefer to use Tab {t}. The default delimiter is Comma {,}. The problem that I have found with use of comma delimiters is that if the values have inherent commas within them the system does not always get it right
in determining where the column ends. As a result you may end up getting some rows with shifted and misplaced values from their original columns owing to the wrong column allocation by the system.
AlwaysCheckForRowDelimiters – this is a Flat File Connection Manager property. The default setting of this property is True. At one time I found myself having to use this after I faced a huge problem with breaking and misplacement of rows
in the dataset that I was dealing with. The problem emanated from the values in one of the columns. The offending column had values of varchar datatype which were presented in the form of paragraphs with all sorts of special characters within them, e.g.
This is ++, an example of what – I mean… the characters ;
in the dataset which gave me: nearly 100% ++ headaches – looked like {well}; this piece
OF: example??
You can see from the above italicised dummy value example what I mean. Values such as that make the system to prematurely break the rows. I don’t know why but the somehow painful experience that I had about this led me to the conclusion that I should not
leave the system to auto-decide where the row ends. As such, when I changed the property
AlwaysCheckForRowDelimiters from True to False, along with the recommendations mentioned in items 1 and 2 above, breaking and misplacement of rows was solved. By breaking I mean - you will find one row in a table being broken into two
or three separate rows in the flat file. This is carried over to the new table where that flat will is loaded.
Addendum
There is an additional option which I have found to work even better if one is experiencing issues with breaking of rows due to values being in the ‘paragraph’ format as illustrated above. The option for ‘paragraphed’ values which
I explained earlier works, but not always as I have realised. If that option does not work, this is what you are supposed to do
When you SELECT the data for export from your table, make your SELECT statement to look something like this
SELECT
ColumnName1,
ColumnName2,
ColumnName3,
REPLACE(REPLACE(OffendingColumnNameName,CHAR(10),''),CHAR(13),'')
AS OffendingColumnNameName,
ColumnName4
FROM
MyTableName
The REPLACE function gets rid of the breaks on your values. That is, it gets rid of the paragraphs in the values.
I would suggest use of double dagger column delimiters if using this approach.
Text or CSV file?? – In my experience going with the text file is always efficient. Besides, some of the things recommended above only work in text file (I suppose so. I stand to be corrected on this). An example of this is column delimiters.
Item 2 above recommends use of Tab {t} column delimiter whereas in CSV, as the name suggests, the delimiters are commas.
Flat files as source file
In my experience, many headaches of working with flat files are seen at importing data from flat files. A few examples of the headaches that I’m talking about are things such as,
Datatypes and datatype length, if using string
Shifting and misplacement of column values
Broken rows, with some pseudo-rows appearing in your import file
Double quotation marks in your values
Below I will address some of the common things which I have personally experienced and hope will be useful to other people. When you open your Flat File Source component, of the options that you will see – listed below is a discussion of some of them. I
have found it useful to take the actions which I have mentioned below.
Retain null values from the source as null values in the data flow – this option comes unchecked by default. From the time I noticed the importance of putting a check mark in it, I always make sure that I check it. It was after some of
my rows in the destination table were coming up with shifted and misplaced column values. By shifted and misplaced column values I mean certain values appearing under columns where you do not expect them, by so doing showing that purely the value has
been moved from its original column to another column where it does not belong.
Text qualifier – the default entry here is <none>. I have found that it is always handy to insert double quotes here (“). This will eliminate any double quotes which the system may have included at the time when the flat file was
created. This happens when the values in question have commas as part of the characters in them.
Column delimiter – this solely depends on the column delimiter which was specified at the time when the flat file was created. The system default is Comma {,}. Please note that if the delimiter specified here is different from the one in
your flat file the system will throw up an error with a message like “An error occurred while skipping data rows”.
Column names in the first data row – if you want the first row to be column names put a check mark on this option.
Datatypes and datatypes length
By default when you import a flat file your datatypes for all the columns come up as varchar (50) in SSIS. More often than not if you leave this default setup your package will fail when you run it. This is because some of the values in some of your columns
will be more than 50 characters, the default length. The resulting error will be a truncation error. I have found two ways of dealing with this.
Advanced – This is an option found on the Flat File Source Editor. Once this option is selected on your Flat File Source Editor you will be presented with a list of columns from your flat file. To determine your datatypes and length there
are two possible things that you can do at this stage.
Go column by column – going column by column you can manually input your desired datatypes and lengths on the Flat File Source Editor through the Advanced option.
Suggest types – this is another option under Advanced selection. What this option does is suggest datatypes and lengths for you based on the sample data amount that you mention in the pop-up dialog box. I have noticed that while this is
a handy functionality, the problem with it is that if some of the values from the non-sampled data have lengths bigger than what the system would have suggested the package will fail with a truncation error.
View code – this is viewing of XML code. If for example you want all your columns to be of 255 characters length in your landing staging table
Go to your package name, right click on it and select the option View code from the list presented to you. XML code will then come up.
Hit Ctrl + F to get a “Find and Replace:” window. On “Find What” type in
DTS:MaximumWidth="50" and on “Replace with:” type in
DTS:MaximumWidth="255". Make sure that under “Look in” the selection is
Current Document.
Click “Replace All” and all your default column lengths of 50 characters will be changed to 255 characters.
Once done, save the changes. Close the XML code page. Go to your package GUI designer. You will find that the Flat File Source component at this point will be highlighted with a yellow warning triangle. This is because the metadata definition has changed.
Double click the Flat File Source component and then click on Ok. The warning will disappear and you will be set to pull and load your data to your staging database with all columns being varchar (255). If you need to change any columns to specific data types
you can either use Data Conversion Component or Derived Column component for that purpose, OR you can use both components depending on the data types that you will converting to.
Dynamic Flat File Name and Date
Please see this blog
http://www.bidn.com/blogs/mikedavis/ssis/153/using-expression-ssis-to-save-a-file-with-file-name-and-date
There is so much to flat files to be discussed in one piece.
Any comments plus additions (and subtractions too) to this piece are welcome.
Mpumelelo

You could create a
WIKI about this subject. Also see
http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/sqlserver/en-US/f46b14ab-59c4-46c0-b125-6534aa1133e9/ssis-guru-needed-apply-within?forum=sqlintegrationservices
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Flat File Destination: Broken Rows

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