Spectre Flow Text Input Object

The Spectre Flow Text Input object brings raw data into the build script from one or more text files.

The Text Input object has three sections in the properties panel where you set attributes.

Spectre Flow Text Input Properties

You set attributes for the Text Input object in the Closedobject attributes section.

Attribute Description
Input Files Specifies one or more cBase files to use as inputs. For information about the flow script tag, see file or file-list.
Encoding Specifies the encoding of the input files. Optional. For information about the flow script tag, see encoding.
No Headers If true, every file must have its columns specified in the text-input node, in the same order. If false, the first line of each file defines the names of its columns. Optional. For information about the flow script tag, see no-headers.
Delimiter Specifies the delimiter character. Optional. For information about the flow script tag, see delimiter.
No Quotes If true, double quotes are preserved in any parsed values. Optional. For information about the flow script tag, see no-quotes.
No Trim If true, white space is preserved in any parsed values. Optional. For information about the flow script tag, see no-trim.
Dict File Specifies a dictionary file to describe the format of the input values. Optional. For information about the flow script tag, see dict-file.
Include Other Columns If true, any columns found in the input that are not specified are included. Optional. For information about the flow script tag, see include-other-columns.
Filename Column Specifies the name of a new string column that contains the filename of the cBase from which each row was loaded. Optional. For information about the flow script tag, see filename-column.
Modified Column Specifies the name of a new string column that contains the modified time of the cBase from which each row was loaded. Optional. For information about the flow script tag, see modified-column.
Limit Rows Sets the number of rows to input. Any existing rows after the specified number are not processed. Optional. For information about the flow script tag, see limit-rows.
Prefix Sets a string to add to the beginning of the names of all columns from this input. Optional. For information about the flow script tag, see prefix.
Similar Values Warning If true, you are warned when the input data has multiple similar values in the same column. If false, this warning is suppressed.
Date Range Warning If true, you are warned when the year of a date value is earlier than 1900 or later than 2199. If false, this warning is suppressed.
Current Date Specifies the current day for time-series calculations and Analysis Tables. The value of this attribute must follow the default DI date formatting of "YYYY/MM/DD". It is DI best practice to pass a parameter with the current date value to this attribute rather than writing the value directly in the attribute. The default current date is today().
Date Dimension Specifies the name of the date dimension. This dimension is used in time-series calculations and Analysis Tables.
Extract Timestamp Defines a timestamp value for later use in ProDiver. The timestamp value is accessed in ProDiver using the $EXTRACT_DATE and $EXTRACT_TIME macros. It is DI best practice to pass a parameter with the extract timestamp value to this attribute rather than writing the value directly in the attribute.

To access column properties, select a column from the Column List. The following attributes are common column attributes. For a list of all column attributes, including attributes specific to certain data types, see Spectre Flow Column Tags.

Attribute Description
Name Read only attribute displaying the name of the column.
Type Specifies the data type of the column. Available data types are string, integer, double, fixed100, date, datetime, period, and boolean.
Sort By Defines another column to sort by when this column is sorted. For example, setting Month Number as the Sort By column for Month sorts months by their number instead of their alphabetical order (1 (Jan), 2 (Feb), 3 (Mar), etc.).
Label Defines a display name for a column. This name is displayed in ProDiver and DivePort, while calculations and other technical processes use the value in the Name attribute.
Required Dimension

Sets a column to behave like a classic Info Field. In ProDiver, the info field is available as a column that you can add to other columns displayed in a dive. For example, to see the Address column requires that the Customer column is available.

  1. Select the column you want to define as an Info Field.

  2. Select Required Dimension in the Properties pane.

  3. Locate and select the core dimension from the list.

    The first column is only available when the second column is displayed in the client.
Suggested Dimension

Allows you to promote or demote a column.

  • Set to True to promote a numeric column type to become a diveable dimension and have it appear in the ProDiver console.

  • Set to False to demote a column from classification as a dimension so it does not appear in the ProDiver console.

  • When set to False, the new dimension does not appear in the console (which requires dimcount processing), but it can be promoted to a dimension for diving—equivalent to the concept of a dynamic dimension for a classic model.

  • Using Required Dimension on a column effectively sets Suggested Dimension to False.

Comment Defines a comment that describes this column.

Each object has an area where you can enter comments. It is DI best practice to enter a note for every object in a Spectre Flow script.

Every Spectre Flow node comment area is Markdown-enabled. For more information, see Workbench Markdown Editor.

The Text Input object Closedcolumn grid section lists the columns from the input files.

cBase Input Object column grid view

Attribute Description
Name Displays the name of each input column. This attribute is read-only.
Alias Defines an alternate name for one or more input columns. Spaces before or after an alias column name are ignored. Spaces within an alias column name are acceptable.
Type Sets the type of each input column.
Keep

Manages which columns are kept in the output data flow. If no columns have a Keep check mark, all columns are kept in the output data flow, except for any explicitly marked Drop.

Select the Keep check box for columns you want to explicitly keep in the output data flow. A number is automatically added in the Keep Order column when you select its Keep check box. After marking any column with a Keep check mark, only those marked Keep are kept in the output data flow.

NOTE: After any Keep check boxes are checked, do not use the Drop check boxes, because clicking a Drop check box sets all Keep check boxes to unchecked.
Keep Order Manages the order of the columns in the output data flow. By default, columns that are passed to the next object in the data flow are displayed in the order in which they appear in the Name column. You can change this order by typing a number in the Keep Order column. When you assign a Keep Order number, the Keep column is checked automatically. The Keep Order numbers might reorder to accommodate any changes you make.
Drop

Manages which columns are removed from the output data flow. Select the Drop check box for columns that you want to explicitly suppress from the output data flow.

NOTE: Use the Drop check boxes only when no Keep check boxes are checked.