DataFlux Data Management Studio 2.5: User Guide

External Program - FAQ

The following frequently asked questions are related to the External Program nodes in DataFlux Data Management Studio.

What kind of external program can I connect to using the External Program nodes?

You can use any program that accepts STDIN and/or STDOUT data. This may be a program internal to your enterprise or other software program.

What are the different External Program nodes for?

The External Program nodes enable you to receive input data from outside DataFlux Data Management Studio by calling other programs or making it possible to send data from DataFlux Data Management Studio to outside programs. There are currently six External Program nodes that can be used depending on the format of the data that is being sent and retrieved. These nodes include:

• External Program (Delimited Input and Output)
• External Program (Delimited Input, Fixed Width Output)
• External Program (Fixed Width Input, Delimited Output)
• External Program (Fixed Width Input and Output)
• External Program (Delimited Output)
• External Program (Fixed Width Output)

Is it possible just to retrieve data from an External Program without sending data?

Yes. To do this you can use the External Program (Delimited Output) or External Program (Fixed Width Output) nodes. If the data you are getting from the External Program comes in delimited format use the External Program (Delimited Output), if the data comes in Fixed Width format use the External Program (Fixed Width Output).

Can I also treat shell commands as External Programs?

Yes, shell utilities can be used as external programs.

Can I combine content from an External Program node as input to another External Program node later in a job flow?

Yes.

I am getting the following error message, what should I do?

External Program Plugin - Failed to write to stream. (rc = 109)

This error message appears when the command line string you enter contains extra quotes. Check the command line string.

What is a sample command to call an External Program?

Here is an example of a command call for an External Program:

Suppose you want to call another executable on Microsoft® Windows® that will print delimited content from a text file. We will call that executable xp_prone.exe located in C:\Program Files\xp_prone\xp_prone.exe.

Note: If the path has empty spaces you must use double quotes.

Enter this on the External Program command line:

""C:\Program Files\xp_prone\xp_prone.exe" -i C:\delimited.txt"

If the path to your executable did not have a space you could enter:

C:\bin\xp_prone.exe -i C:\delimited.txt

The quotes at the beginning and end of the first example are necessary for the path to the executable. For example the following would work fine if the path to your executable did not have spaces:

C:\bin\xp_prone.exe -i "C:\Text Files\delimited.txt"