# Input tab

![PDI\_Discover metadata from a text file Input tab](/files/0cqrMIG5yEr10fMArtFS)

Use the following options in the **Input** tab to specify details for the input text file:

| Option                                    | Description                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     |
| ----------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **File name**                             | Select the delimited file you want to evaluate. The file location can be any location supported by a VFS connection. See [Connecting to Virtual File Systems](/pdia-data-integration/10.2-data-integration/data-integration-perspective-in-the-pdi-client/virtual-file-system-browser.md)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       |
| **Trim fields**                           | Select this option to identify the field as an integer. Clear the option to indicate that the field is a string.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                |
| **Header column name detection strategy** | <p>Select the strategy you want to use to determine the column names in the file. Once a header row has been determined, any rows of data above that are ignored, the following rows are counted as data. The following strategies are available:- <strong>First possible line containing only strings</strong></p><p>Selects the first line that contains only string values as the header row. For example, if the data has 5 fields per row, and you set the <strong>Maximum number of header rows</strong> field to 6, the step searches the first 6 rows in the file for a row containing 5 string fields. The first row encountered with the 5 string fields is selected as the field name header. Any rows after the selected header row are considered as data, even if they are within the 6 header rows specified.</p><ul><li><strong>First possible line containing any data type</strong></li></ul><p>Selects the first line that contains a consistent number of fields as the header row. For example, if the file rows contain 5 fields, the first line containing 5 fields is selected as the header row within the <strong>Maximum number of header rows</strong> field, regardless of the data types in the rows.</p><ul><li><strong>Last possible line containing only strings</strong></li></ul><p>Selects the last line that contains only string values as the header row. For example, if the data has 5 fields per row, and you set the <strong>Maximum number of header rows</strong> field to 6, the step searches the first 6 rows in the file for a row containing 5 string fields. The last row encountered with the 5 string fields is selected as the field name header.</p><ul><li><strong>Last possible line containing any data type</strong></li></ul><p>Selects the last line that contains a consistent number of fields as the header row. For example, if the file rows contain 5 fields, the last line containing 5 fields is selected as the header row within the <strong>Maximum number of header rows</strong> field, regardless of the data types in the rows.</p> |
| **Maximum number of header rows**         | Enter the maximum number of rows that can be a header. If the file does not have a header row, set this to 0. Only one row can be a header.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     |
| **Maximum number of footer rows**         | Enter the maximum number of rows that can be a footer. If the file does not have a footer row, set this to 0. **Note:** The number of footer rows can only be determined if the entire file is scanned.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         |
| **Fallback charset**                      | Select the character set of the file. If the step is unable to determine a character set for the file, it defaults to the ISO-8859-1 character set. If an x86 platform is used, the file uses an ASCII character set.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           |
| **Limit scanned rows**                    | Enter the number of rows to scan in the file before determining the valid set of delimiters and enclosures used in the file. To scan the entire file, enter 0 (zero).                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           |


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