Text File Output

The Text File Output step exports rows to a text file.

This step is commonly used to generate delimited files (for example, CSV) that can be read by spreadsheet applications, and it can also generate fixed-length output.

You can’t run this step in parallel to write to the same file.

If you need to run multiple copies, select Include stepnr in filename and merge the resulting files afterward.

Step name

Step name specifies the unique name of the step on the canvas. You can change it.

Configure the step (tabs)

The Text File Output step includes these tabs:

• File

• Content

• Fields

File tab

Use the File tab to define where and how files are created.

Option	Description
Filename	Output file path and name. Select Browse to locate a file or folder. For supported file system types, see Connecting to Virtual File Systems. Do not include a file extension when date/time is appended and Extension is set.
Pass output to servlet	Returns output using a web service instead of writing to a file. See Web services steps.
Create parent folder	Clear if you do not want to create the parent folder automatically.
Do not create file at start	Avoids creating empty files when no rows are processed.
Accept file name from field?	Uses file name(s) from the incoming stream, based on File name field. For performance tuning when writing multiple files, see Improving performance when writing multiple files.
File name field	Incoming field containing the output file name at runtime.
Extension	File extension to append. Default: .txt.
Include stepnr in filename?	Adds the copy number (for example, _0) when running multiple copies of the step.
Include partition nr in filename?	Adds the partition number to the file name.
Include date in filename?	Adds the system date to the file name (for example, _20181231).
Include time in filename?	Adds the system time to the file name (for example, _235959).
Specify Date time format	Adds a date/time stamp using Date time format.
Date time format	Date/time format to use when appending date/time.
Add filenames to result	Clear if you do not want to add output file names to the transformation result file list.

Select Show filename(s) to simulate and display the list of files that will be generated.

Content tab

Use the Content tab to define output formatting.

Option	Description
Append	Appends rows to the end of the file.
Separator	Field delimiter (commonly semicolon or tab). Select Insert Tab to insert a tab character. Default: ;.
Enclosure	Encloses fields so separator characters can appear inside field values. Optional; default is ".
Force the enclosure around fields?	Forces enclosure for all fields.
Disable the enclosure fix?	Disregards enclosures on string fields and separators.
Header	Clear if you do not want a header row.
Footer	Adds a footer row. When Append is selected, existing footers can’t be stripped before appending new rows.
Format	Line ending format: DOS or UNIX. Default: CR + LF (Windows/DOS).
Compression	Output compression: .ZIP or GZip. Only one file is placed in a single archive. Default: None.
Encoding	File encoding. Leave blank to use the system default. To use Unicode, specify UTF-8 or UTF-16.
Right pad fields	Pads string fields with spaces (or truncates) until the field length in the Fields tab is reached.
Fast data dump (no formatting)	Improves performance for large outputs by skipping formatting.
Split every ... rows	Splits output into multiple files after N rows when N > 0.
Add ending line of file	Adds an alternate ending row to the output file.

Fields tab

Use the Fields tab to define output field formatting.

Column/option	Description
Name	Output field name.
Type	Output data type.
Format	Optional conversion mask. See Common Formats.
Length	Output length (varies by type).
Precision	Number of floating-point digits for number-type fields.
Currency	Currency symbol (for example, $ or €).
Decimal	Decimal symbol (dot . or comma ,).
Group	Thousands separator (comma , or dot .).
Trim type	Trimming method to apply to strings. Trimming works only when no field length is specified.
Null	String to write when the field value is null.
Get Fields	Populates the table from the incoming stream.
Minimal width	Removes unnecessary padding. When selected, string fields are no longer padded to their specified length.

For guidance on choosing data types and field metadata, see Understanding PDI data types and field metadata.

See also

• Text File Output (Legacy)