Designer Guide

10.5.7
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Formatting Flat File Columns

When you import or edit flat file definitions, you need to define the following column options:

Precision.
Precision is defined differently for different datatypes.

Scale.
Scale is the maximum number of digits after the decimal point for numeric values.

Field width.
Field width is the number of bytes the Integration Service reads from or writes to a file. Field width applies to fixed-width file definitions only. Field width must be greater than or equal to the precision.

The following table describes precision and field width for flat file definitions:

Datatype	Fixed-Width Flat Files	Delimited Flat Files
Number	Precision is the number of significant digits. Field width is the number of bytes the Integration Service reads from or writes to the file. By default, the field width equals the precision. Use the Format column to define the field width. When you configure the field width, accommodate characters such as thousand separators, decimal separators, and negative signs. For example, “‑123,456” has a field width of 8.	Precision is the number of significant digits. The Integration Service ignores any field width formatting.
Datetime	You do not enter a precision value. Field width is the number of bytes the Integration Service reads from or writes to the file. The datetime format specified for the column determines the field width. For example, the default datetime format of MM/DD/YYYY HH24:MI:SS has a field width of 19. Use the Format column to define the format and field width.	You do not enter a precision value. The Integration Service ignores any field width formatting.
String	Precision is the number of bytes the Integration Service reads from or writes to the file. You do not enter a field width for string values. The precision is the total length of the source or target field. If you plan to load multibyte data into a fixed-width file target, you need to configure the precision to accommodate the multibyte data.	Precision is the maximum number of characters the Integration Service reads from or writes to the file. You do not enter a field width.

Format.
Format defines the appearance of numeric and datetime values.

For datetime values, you can choose to output only the date or time parts of the data. For example, you can configure the file definition for datetime data with the following format:

03/2002

For numeric values, you can choose thousands and decimal separators. For example, you can configure the file definition for numeric data with the following format:

1.000.000,95

If the source file structure changes significantly, you may need to reimport the flat file source definition.

You can define the appearance of number and datetime columns at the following locations:

Source or target field.
You can define the format for individual columns on the Columns tab for the source in the Source Analyzer, or for the target in the Target Designer.

Source or target instance in a mapping.
You can define the default datetime and numeric formats for a source or target instance in a mapping in the Mapping Designer. The Integration Service uses the default formats you define when you do not define a format for an individual column.

Working with Flat Files

Formatting Numeric Columns

Formatting Datetime Columns

Defining Default Datetime and Numeric Formats

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