When you stage data to a flat file on Windows or UNIX, the Integration Service writes data to a flat file, which is named after the configured target file name. The external loader starts loading data to the target database after the Integration Service writes all the data to the target flat file. The external loader does not delete the target flat file after loading it to the database. Make sure the target file directory can accommodate the size of the target flat file.

If a session aborts or fails before the Integration Service writes all the data to the flat file target, the external loader does not start. If a session aborts or fails after the Integration Service writes all the data to the flat file target, the external loader completes loading data to the target database before the external loader exits.