October 3, 2005 at 9:59 am
I created a simple flatfile that uses this format:
<10 wide>, <4 wide>, <cr>, <lf>
Here's the file:
c1 c2 <cr><lf>
1234 5678<cr><lf>
abcd efgh<cr><lf>
There are blanks between the columns.
I added a Flat File Connector to a Data Flow task, pointed it to this file as the source, and selected "Column names in first data row" option. The Connection Manager suggested a "delimited" file format. (What?!). So I go to the columns tab and define the row width to be 14 (10+4). I can see from the preview that the columns don't align properly and each row is followed by two "black boxes". Obviously, it includes the <cr><lf> so the row length should be 14 +2 = 16! Furthemore, the preview shows both "c1" and "c2" - the column names - as part of the data.
Can anyone clarify for me what I'm doing wrong?. Under sql 2000 this would be a trivial import job. Under Sql 2005 CTP there is nothing but confuson in my mind and sql 2005 appears to be orders of magnitude dumber than sql 2000. (hard to believe).
TIA,
Bill
October 3, 2005 at 1:43 pm
I have found out this much:
"fixed width" format is for files with equal record lengths that do NOT end with <cr><lf>
"Ragged right" format is the correct option for fixed width records ending in <cr><lf>.
While SSIS may be orders of magnitude more sophisticated than the old DTS, I think SSIS is also much more obtuse and needs documentation that points out this (and other) shifts in viewpoint from DTS.
Bill
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