DataFlux Data Management Studio 2.5: User Guide

External Program (Fixed-Width Input and Output) Node

You can add an External Program (Fixed-Width Input and Output) node to a data job. The node enables you to pass data fields into an STDIN from an executable outside of DataFlux® products using a fixed-width text file. The node then takes data from the STDOUT from the executable and parses the file as another fixed-width text file. Once you have added the node, you can double-click it to open its properties dialog. The properties dialog includes the following elements:

Name - Specifies a name for the node.

Notes - Enables you to open the Notes dialog. You use the dialog to enter optional details or any other relevant information for the input.

External program - Specifies the external program that you want to use for this DataFlux Data Management Studio node. For an example of a command call for an external program refer to External Program - FAQ. Note that you can also click Browse to navigate to the external program.

The Input Fixed Width (Sent to stdin) tab includes the following elements:

End of line - Specifies the type of action at the end of the line. Select one of the following drop-down items:

• None - When selected, no end of the line processing is performed.
• Carriage Return - When selected, adds a carriage return at the end of the line.
• Carriage Return/Line Feed - When selected, adds a line feed along with a carriage return to move to the next line. This option is designed mostly for DOS, which expects a carriage return and a line feed to move to the next line.

Encoding - Enables you to set encoding options.

The Fields section of the Input Delimited tab includes the following elements:

Available - Displays the fields that you can make available for the next step in your data job. Items displayed in this list are dependent on your data sources and any preceding steps in your data job.

Selected - Displays the fields that will be made available to the next node in your data job.

Copy to Output - Copies the data in the Fields table to the output.

Export - Exports the file layout as a DFL file.

The Output Fixed Width (Read from stdout) tab includes the following elements:

Record Length - Enables you to specify the number of characters in the line that contains each record.

Number of rows to skip - When selected, enables you to specify the number of introductory lines to skip before DataFlux Data Management Studio starts reading the file content as data.

Encoding - Enables you to set encoding options.

Number of rows to read - When selected, enables you to limit the number of rows to be read as input when you work with delimited text files. When selected, you can choose fewer rows as input rather than the entire content. Check this box to set a limit to the number or rows that can be retrieved.

Truncate Record At Line Terminator - When selected, enables you to handle exceptions that do not follow the specified fixed length for a row.

The Fields section of the properties dialog includes the following elements:

Fields Table - Enables you to define each field in your text file, including field name, field type, and field length. You can click Add to define a new field and use the up and down arrows to change the order of fields. Finally, you can click Delete to remove field definitions.

Import - Enables you to restore a file layout from a .dfl file that you have exported.

Export - Enables you to save the file layout as a .dfl file.

You can access the following advanced properties by right-clicking the Fixed-Width Input and Output node:

• CRLF_TERMINATE
• INPUT_BYTE_ORDER_MARK
• INPUT_ENCODING
• INPUT_FIELDS
• MAX_OUTPUT_ROWS
• OUTPUT_BYTE_ORDER_MARK
• OUTPUT_ENCODING
• OUTPUT_FIELDS
• OUTPUT_LINE_END
• PROGRAM_NAME
• RECORDWIDTH
• SKIPROWS
• WRITE_ROWS_BEFORE_READ