Adding Data from Flat Files

You can create your profile from records in flat files on your machine or on server. To do this, perform these steps:
  1. In a web browser, go to:

    http://server:port/metadata-insights

    Where server is the server name or IP address of your Spectrum™ Technology Platform server and port is the HTTP port. By default, the HTTP port is 8080.

  2. Log in using your credentials.
  3. On the Home page, click Profiling.
  4. Click the Add Profile button .
    The Add Profile page is displayed with a wizard showing three stages of profile creation: Select Source > Configure Profile > Finish.
  5. From the Select data source options, select the Flat File option, and click the Add Files button.
    The Choose File pop-up window is displayed.
  6. Use the file path selection box to go to the path on your local machine or server where the files are located.
    A list of files is displayed below the file path selection box. You can filter required files from the list by using the Filter type ahead text box.
  7. Select all the files you need to create the profile and click OK.
    The selected files are displayed on the left side of the page, below the Add Files button.
  8. To add more files, click the Add Files button again and repeat steps 6 and 7.
    Note: You can add files from different folders on your local system, on server, and FTP server in any combination you want. For using FTP server, you need to configure it first. For more information, see the Administration Guide.
  9. Click any file in the list to view these details:
    • The number of files selected. For example7 File(s) selected
    • Color coding for file's metadata
      • Green: Metadata detected automatically
      • Blue: User configured metadata
      • Red: Metadata not detected. Such files are skipped during profiling. However, you can configure the metadata of these files using the File Setting fields as described in this task below. After manual configuration, these files turn blue.
    • Path of the file. For example, E:/Sample Files/profile/fileOne.txt
    • File settings
    • Preview of the records in the file
  10. To modify settings for any of the files, select it and make changes as described in this table.
    Settings Description

    Character encoding

    The text file's encoding. Select one of these:

    UTF-8
    Supports all Unicode characters and is backwards-compatible with ASCII. For more information about UTF, see unicode.org/faq/utf_bom.html.
    UTF-16
    Supports all Unicode characters but is not backwards-compatible with ASCII. For more information about UTF, see unicode.org/faq/utf_bom.html.
    US-ASCII
    A character encoding based on the order of the English alphabet.
    UTF-16BE
    UTF-16 encoding with big endian byte serialization (most significant byte first).
    UTF-16LE
    UTF-16 encoding with little endian byte serialization (least significant byte first).
    ISO-8859-1
    An ASCII character encoding typically used for Western European languages. Also known as Latin-1.
    ISO-8859-3
    An ASCII character encoding typically used for Southern European languages. Also known as Latin-3.
    ISO-8859-9
    An ASCII character encoding typically used for Turkish language. Also known as Latin-5.
    CP850
    An ASCII code page used to write Western European languages.
    CP500
    An EBCDIC code page used to write Western European languages.
    Shift_JIS
    A character encoding for the Japanese language.
    MS932
    A Microsoft's extension of Shift_JIS to include NEC special characters, NEC selection of IBM extensions, and IBM extensions.
    CP1047
    An EBCDIC code page with the full Latin-1 character set.
    Field delimiter

    Specifies the character used to separate fields in a delimited file.

    For example, this record uses a pipe (|) as a field delimiter:

    7200 13TH ST|MIAMI|FL|33144

    The characters available as field delimiter are:

    • Comma
    • Semicolon
    • Pipe
    • Tab
    • Space
    • Period
    You can customize field delimiters, to add a customized field delimiter follow these steps:
    1. Click the Add button placed adjacent to Field delimiter. Add Separator pop-up window is displayed.
    2. Enter your custom field delimiter in the character field, the corresponding Unicode is displayed and vice-versa.
    3. Enter a suitable name for your delimiter in the Description field.
    4. Click Save, your customized delimiter appears in the Field delimiter drop down.

    Text qualifier

    The character used to surround text values in a delimited file.

    For example, this record uses double quotes (") as a text qualifier.

    "7200 13TH ST"|"MIAMI"|"FL"|"33144"

    The characters available to define as text qualifiers are:

    • Single quote (')
    • Double quote (")

    If the file uses a different text qualifier, click the ellipses button to select another character as a text qualifier.
    Line separator Specifies the character used to separate records in line in a sequential or delimited file.

    The record separator settings available are:

    Unix (U+000A)
    A line feed character separates the records. This is the standard record separator for Unix systems.
    Macintosh (U+000D)
    A carriage return character separates the records. This is the standard record separator for Macintosh systems.
    Windows (U+000D U+000A)
    A carriage return followed by a line feed separates the records. This is the standard record separator for Windows systems.
    First row is header row

    Specifies if the first record in a delimited file contains header information. A Yes indicates it has header information.

    For example, this file snippet shows a header row in the first record.

    "AddressLine1"|"City"|"StateProvince"|"PostalCode"
"7200 13TH ST"|"MIAMI"|"FL"|"33144"
"One Global View"|"Troy"|"NY"|12180
  11. To apply settings of one file to another:
    1. Select the file from which you want to copy the settings, and click the Copy File Settings button.
    2. In the Apply file settings pop-up window that is displayed, select the files to which you want to apply the settings, and click OK.
      Note: The file settings are applied to the selected files.
  12. To see preview of the selected file, see the Preview section below File Settings.
  13. To configure the profile you created, click on the top right corner of the page.