# Extract to Rows

You can use the **Extract to Rows** step to parse hierarchical data type fields coming from a previous step and put them into the PDI stream. This step supports wildcards for arrays and for string keys. After parsing the data, the step assigns a data type to the extracted values.

For an overview of hierarchical data in Pentaho, see [Hierarchical data](https://docs.pentaho.com/pdia-data-integration/extracting-data-into-pdi/hierarchical-data).

### Options

![Extract to rows step dialog box](https://773338310-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FYwnJ6Fexn4LZwKRHghPK%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-9445f148e30e322aece7525c43b33271281bdd52%2FPDI%20Extract%20to%20rows%20step.png?alt=media)

| Option                        | Description                                                                                                                 |
| ----------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Step name**                 | Specifies the unique name of the Extract to Rows step on the canvas. You can customize the name or leave it as the default. |
| **Source hierarchical field** | Specifies the hierarchical input field name from the previous step that will be used to extract the data.                   |
| **Pass through fields**       | Select to include the input fields in the output.                                                                           |

### Fields

| Field                      | Description                                                                                                                                                                                                                 |
| -------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Hierarchical data path** | Complete path of the field name in the hierarchical field source. See [Hierarchical data path specifications](https://docs.pentaho.com/pdia-data-integration/pdi-transformation-steps-reference-overview/broken-reference). |
| **Output field name**      | Name of the field that maps to the corresponding field in the hierarchical input source.                                                                                                                                    |
| **Type**                   | Data type of the generated output field.                                                                                                                                                                                    |
| **Path field name**        | (Optional) Adds the hierarchical path as a new output field.                                                                                                                                                                |

### Example

The sample transformation `Advanced_Using_Multiples_To_Join_And_Edit.ktr` demonstrates the capabilities of this step and is available in the plugin distribution package in the `data-integration/plugins/hierarchical-datatype-plugin/samples/transformations` directory.

![Extract to rows example ktr](https://773338310-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FYwnJ6Fexn4LZwKRHghPK%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-4561ad3af528c9d3f86f9f4cbe046c15b108ec8a%2FPDI%20Extract%20to%20rows%20example%20ktr.png?alt=media)