PhixFlow Help

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Overview

Use a file collector to specify the structure, content, naming patterns and location of files of data. When you run the file collector, PhixFlow imports the data. You can also use a file collector to process files inside compressed file archives such as zip files; see Handling Compressed Files, below.

You can also use a file collector to import email messages and their attached files; see Reading Data From an Email Account for details.

To open a file collector's property tab, double-click on:

  • the file collector name in the repository
  • the file collector icon in a model.

Before running a model, you must upload files that do not already exist on the PhixFlow server. For example you may have CSV or Microsoft Excel files saved to your computer or the network.

  1. In the property tab, set the Input Directory Expression.
  2. In the model, right-click on the file collector icon to open the context toolbar.
  3. Click Upload File.
  4. PhixFlow opens a file browser. Find and select the file.
  5. Click Upload File.

For information about the properties toolbar, and about the sections Parent Details, Analysis Models, Description and Audit Summary, see Common Properties.  For a full list of all the PhixFlow property tabs and windows, see Property Tabs.

Sections on this page

File Collector Properties

Basic Settings

FieldDescription
NameEnter a name for this file collector.
Auto Configuration

This check box is available for a new file collector that has not been configured. It is ticked by default.

 Tick to load an Excel spreadsheet and automatically configure the file collector and stream properties using the data in the spreadsheet; see Easy Loading for Excel Spreadsheets, below.

 Untick to switch off auto-configuration. More file collector properties become available so that you can specify details about the file. You also need to add the stream and pipe to the model.

EnabledTick to indicate you have completed the properties and the file collector is ready to use.
Source Type
Select the root directory on the PhixFlow server in which the file collector looks in for input files. The directory locations are specified in the System Configuration tab → System Directories section. 

Specified Directory

For files that are already stored in a known location on the PhixFlow Server. When you run the file collector PhixFlow will extract data from files in this directory and save the data to the server location specified in System Configuration tab → System Directories →  Import File Location.

If you do not want to use the Import File Location, select Specified directory and   Tick Ignore base directory

Managed File

Use for files that you have on your local machine or the network. Upload the file before attempting to run the collector. PhixFlow uploads the file to the server, in the location specified in System Configuration tab → System Directories →   File Upload Directory. When you run the file collector, PhixFlow extracts the data from the files in this location.

Number of Header LinesEnter the number of lines in the header of the file. These are ignored when reading the file. (This option is not available for Binary File, XML and HTML file types).
File Type
Can have values:

Comma Separated Values: fields are delimited by a comma, (or other character).

Fixed Length Records: fields have a fixed column width.

Binary File: Data is extracted from the file using a Binary File Grammar (in XML) specified in the File Format Description tab.

File Details Only: Only attribute details about the file itself will be available.

Excel Spreadsheet: Data is extracted from the an excel spreadsheet supporting a .xls or .xlsx extension.

.xlsx type excel files containing in excess of 10,000 rows are not supported by PhixFlow and should not be imported using a file collector.

XML File: Data is extracted from an XML file.

HTML File: Data is extracted from an HTML file.

For information about the PhixFlow internal variables you can use to specify the attributes you want, see File Collector Attributes, below.

Next Sequence

Available when File Location Strategy is All Files in Folder.

Enter the next sequence number expected to be found within the name of the file being imported.

Allow Non-Scheduled CollectionIf this is turned on, then the collector will run as part of any ad-hoc Analysis Engine run which requires this data. If not, it will only run as part of a scheduled task under the Analysis Engine.
FTP SiteThe FTP Site on which the import file is stored. If no site is specified then the file is assumed to be on the local machine. If a site is specified then all directory paths specified on this form should be the full path to the file since the base directory specified in system configuration is ignored (since the base directory is specific to the local machine).

File Location Strategy

Can have values:

All Files in Folder: read all files matching the pattern specified in File Pattern Expression.

Read File Paths: read in file path names from a collector or stream.

This input database collector or stream must be attached to the file collector by a lookup pipe with no index set. The attribute of the input stream or collector which contains the file path names is specified in the field: File Name Attribute. The value entered into this field should be plain text, e.g. myFilePaths but not quoted "myFilePaths".

Each file path name is interpreted as a pathname relative to the Import Directory. A path name may be a simple file name, or it may have multiple levels of directory, including compressed files (which will be interpreted as directories). The directory separator must be '/' (forward-slash), and not '\' (back-slash), even on a Windows platform. There should be no leading '/'.

E.g. 'abc.csv', 'dir1/dir2.zip/abc.csv'

Please note that once an attempt is made to read a file via the Read Paths method, the stream will not attempt to re-import the contents of that file if instructed to do so during another analysis run, even if the original import failed.
Please also note that the stream containing the file paths will not run automatically in this situation, and so must be added to a taskplan if it is required to run it before the file collector stream.

Read Names: This option is deprecated.

Read in file locations from a collector or stream. This input collector or stream must be attached to the file collector by a pipe. The attribute of the input stream or collector which contains the file locations is specified in the field: File Name Attribute.

Tag

This field is only available if the Source Type field is set to Managed File.

Specify a directory using string literals only. Do not use PhixFlow variables.

When files are uploaded by PhixFlow they are placed into a directory whose full path is a combination of the root File Upload Directory (specified in System Configuration on the System Directories tab), the tag value specified here and the Input Directory specified below (hard coded to 'in' for Managed files).
For example, if the System Configuration File Upload Directory is set to C:\ManagedFiles and Tag is set to CVFiles then the File Collector will look within C:\ManagedFiles\CVFiles\in for files to process.

If you are creating a file collector to load email messages and/ or attached files, you can specify a tag here if one has been provided in the subject line of the incoming emails. See Reading Data From an Email Account for further details.

Ignore Base Directory

This field is only available if Source Type = Specified Directory.
Normally the base directory, specified in the "System Directories" tab of the "System Configuration" screen, is prepended to all directories specified on this form. However, if this flag is ticked then this does not happen and the directories specified on this form alone are used as the full path specifications for the import file.
Input Directory
Expression

When Source Type is Specified Directory

Specify a directory using string literals only. Do not use PhixFlow variables.

If the Source Type is Specified Directory, files will be read from the directory specified in Input Directory Expression.

Unless the flag Ignore Base Directory is ticked, the path specified in this field will be added to the default input directory root - this is specified in the System Configuration File Upload Location. If the flag Ignore Base Directory is ticked, the full path for the input directory must be specified.

In fact, this field is an expression. This must evaluate to a plain text string. In the simple case, this will be text surrounded by quotes, for example:

"C:/data/address/input/accountValues"
Also, because this is an expression, you must always use / rather than \, even on windows platforms.

You can include PhixFlow variables in this expression, for example.:

"C:/data/address/input/" + _inputMultiplier

If you need to include wildcards or some other variable element in the resulting path, you must use the Directory Pattern Expression.

If File Location Strategy = All Files in Folder PhixFlow will look in this directory to find files matching the pattern specified in File Pattern Expression.

If File Location Strategy = Read Names this is added to the start of the file location read from the file name attribute.

When Source Type is Managed File

If the Source Type is Managed file, this will contain a non editable value of "in"
This will be appended to the combined path of System Configuration File Upload Directory and Tag to give the input directory that files will be read from.

Directory
Pattern Expression

Enter a regular expression to specify one or more relative paths from the Input Directory to its sub-directories. PhixFlow looks in the input directory and its sub-directories for files whose names match the File Pattern Expression.

PhixFlow can recognise some compressed file types; see Handling Compressed Files, below. PhixFlow treats these compressed files as a matching sub-directory.

Internal Variables

You can use the following PhixFlow internal variables in this expression:

  • _fromDate: the start date of the period of the stream being processed.
  • _toDate: the end date of the period of the the stream being processed.


 Examples

The Input Directory specifies three directories:
    'region1/teamA'; 'region1/teamB'; 'region2/teamA'

To load files from all regions for teamA only, enter:  ".*/teamA/"
To load files for all teams in region 1 only, enter:  "region1/.*"


 Tips on Regular Expressions

As this field takes a regular expression, remember:

  • Directory separators are forward slashes / (not backslashes \)
  • Any character is a full stop (period) .
  • Any string of characters is .* (not just *)
  • A full stop (period) must be escaped like this \\.

See Regular Expressions or you can find more information on the web, such as the Mozilla Regular Expression page.

Exclude Dir.
Pattern Expr.

If the Directory Pattern Expression includes some sub-directories that you do not want to search, enter a regular expression that will exclude those sub-directories.

Internal Variables

You can use the following PhixFlow internal variables in this expression:

  • _fromDate: the start date of the period of the stream being processed.
  • _toDate: the end date of the period of the the stream being processed.


 Examples

Input Directory has the sub-directories:
    'region1/teamA'; 'region1/teamB'; 'region2/teamA'
Directory Pattern Expression is:  ".*"
This means PhixFlow will load all files from all regions.

To exclude files from teamB, enter the expression:  ".*/teamB/"


 Tips on Regular Expressions

As this field takes a regular expression, remember:

  • Directory separators are forward slashes / (not backslashes \)
  • Any character is a full stop (period) .
  • Any string of characters is .* (not just *)
  • A full stop (period) must be escaped like this \\.

See Regular Expressions or you can find more information on the web, such as the Mozilla Regular Expression page.

File
Pattern Expression

Available when File Location Strategy is All Files in Folder.

Enter a regular expression that will match one or more files in the Input Directory, in order to generate a list of files to load.

PhixFlow uses the File Pattern Expression combined with the fields that specify the directories in which to look. This means PhixFlow:

  • looks in directories specified in the Input Directory
  • and looks in sub-directories specified the Directory Pattern Expression
  • but ignores sub-directories that have been excluded by the Exclude Dir Pattern Expr.

If the specified directories contain no files that match the regular expression, the file collector will not load any files.

Internal Variables

You can use the following PhixFlow internal variables in this expression:

  • _fromDate: the start date of the period of the stream being processed.
  • _toDate: the end date of the period of the the stream being processed.
  • %SEQ%: the current sequence number.


 Examples

An Input Directory, inputRecords.txt, contains multiple files. To load:

  • a single file called inputRecords.txt, enter: "inputRecords.txt"
  • all the files, enter:  ".*"
  • files with the extension .txt, enter: ".*\\.txt"
  • files whose names start with teamA, enter: "teamA.*"
  • files with the format record_yyyy-MM-dd.txt, where yyyy-MM-dd is the current date, such as
  • record_2013-03-26.txt, enter:  "record_" + toString(now(),"yyyy-MM-dd") + "\\.txt"

You can also load files with name contained in the list of files uploaded by the Stream Action which caused the File Collector to run. The stream action must it must have a Context Value called 'f' with the value expression '_files'.

In this case, enter the file pattern expression:  "("+listToString(_context.f,"|")+")"


 Tips on Regular Expressions

As this field takes a regular expression, remember:

  • Directory separators are forward slashes / (not backslashes \)
  • Any character is a full stop (period) .
  • Any string of characters is .* (not just *)
  • A full stop (period) must be escaped like this \\.

See Regular Expressions or you can find more information on the web, such as the Mozilla Regular Expression page.

Archive Directory Expression

Optionally, enter an expression for a directory path. The expression must resolve to a Regular Expression.

To enter a plain text directory as an expression:

  • enclose the path in quotes
  • use forward slash / as a separator, even for paths on a Windows platform, for example, "C:/data/address/directory/".

The Archive Directory Expression is the location to which all files processed by the file collector will be written.

The Error Directory Expression is the location to which any files that cause an error during processing will be written.

Error Directory
Expression
Local Archive Directory

 Available when FTP Site is specified. Specify whether the archive directory is on the PhixFlow server (local) or on the original server.

If you have uploaded a file to the file collector, when you run analysis, PhixFlow reads the data into the file collector's stream and then archives the uploaded data. This means the file collector no longer has any data. If you subsequently run analysis again, the stream set will be empty. To keep the data in the file collector, you must do one of the following:

  • do not specify an archive directory
  • upload the file to the file collector again
  • once the data is in the stream, make the stream, or the pipe to the stream, static.
Local Error DirectoryAvailable when FTP Site is specified. Specify whether the error directory is on the PhixFlow server (local) or on the original server.

Advanced

FieldDescription
Maximum FilesEnter the maximum number of files that PhixFlow will process when the file collector runs.
Minimum FilesEnter the minimum number of files that PhixFlow expects to find when the file collector runs. If fewer files are found then this is treated as an error.
Max Records Per FileEnter the maximum number of records that PhixFlow will read from each file.

Errors Before Rollback

The maximum number of errors PhixFlow will permit during the processing of a file before. Once this number has been exceeded, PhixFlow will abandon the attempted file load; see Error Handling below.

Parallel ReadersEnter the number of files to process in parallel. If blank, this defaults to 1. If the file collector is configured to read files in sequence, this field is ignored and a single file reader is used.
Unreadable DirectoriesSelect what PhixFlow will do if there are unreadable directories when it is searching a directory hierarchy for files to import.
  • Error: the search fails and the unreadable directories are reported in the log.
  • Warning: the search continues and unreadable directories are reported in the log.
  • Ignore: the search continues and unreadable directories are ignored.
XPath ExpressionAvailable when File Type is XML File or HTML File.

Enter valid XPath syntax. For information about how to use XPath expressions and how to use the returned data in the corresponding stream attribute expressions, see XPath Examples.

Character SetSelect the character encoding to be used:
  • utf-8
  • utf-16
  • ascii
  • other - see Other Character Set, below
  • cp1252
  • iso-8859-1
Column SeparatorSelect a value from the drop-down list.
  • Comma
  • Space
  • Tab
  • Other -  see Separator Character, below
Separator CharacterAvailable when Column Separator is Other. Enter a custom column separator or a sequence of multiple characters.
Quote Style

Select a value from the drop-down list.

  • Double Quote
  • Single Quote
  • Back Tick
  • Other - see Quote Character below
  • None

Quote CharacterAvailable when Quote Style is Other. Enter a custom quote style character.

Ignore Extra Columns

Available when File Type is Comma Separated Values.

 Tick PhixFlow will not report an error if the record being read  contains more columns than expected.

 Untick PhixFlow report will report an error if there are too many columns; see Error Handling below.

Ignore Missing Columns

Available when File Type is Comma Separated Values.

 Tick PhixFlow will not report an error if the record being read contains fewer columns than expected.

 Untick PhixFlow will report an error if there are too few columns; see Error Handling below.

Import Rows MatchingEnter an expression that PhixFlow compares to each line in the file against the expression. Only lines that match are imported.
Replace Text MatchingIn each imported line, find all occurrences of the expression that you enter in Replace Text Matching and replace it with the  expression that you enter in With.
With
Excel Data Range Expression Available when File Type = Excel Spreadsheet.

Leave this field blank or enter an expression for the spreadsheet data range that PhixFlow will look in. The data that PhixFlow extracts from the range is defined in the File Columns section, below. The expression can specify:

  • blank: PhixFlow looks at the whole first worksheet in the Excel file, even if this is a hidden sheet. 
  • columns on the first worksheet, for example, "A:C"
  • columns and rows on the first worksheet, for example, "A1:G10"
  • the worksheet and data range, with the format "WorksheetName!TopLeftCell:BottomRightCell", for example, "DailyCalls!A1:G100"

You cannot specify:

  • only a worksheet.
  • columns for a specified worksheet.

If the worksheet name contains:

  • spaces, you must enclose the name in single quotes, for example My Sheet is expressed as "'My Sheet'!A1:G10"
  • single quotes, you must
    • enclose the whole name in single quotes
    • and use two single quotes (apostrophes).
      For example Gary'sSheet is expressed as "'Gary''s Sheet'!A1:G100"

Use the internal variable _worksheets to list all worksheets that PhixFlow found in the file.


 Simple Examples

To specify the Daily Calls worksheet, columns A to G, rows 1 to 10:

"'Daily Calls'!A1:G10"

To specify different areas from the same worksheet, or multiple worksheets:

["'Daily Calls'!A1:G100", "A1:B20", "'Monthly Totals'!A1:C100"]


To specify John's Data worksheet, columns A to G, rows 1 to 10, escaping the space and apostrophe:

 "'John''s Data'!A1:G10" 

 Example using _worksheets

To examine the list of worksheets that have been found and specify ranges for only certain sheets, if they exist. The worksheet names contain spaces and/or single quotes.

do (
    $rangeList = [],
    forEach($sheet, _worksheets,
        if ( listContains(["sheet A", "sheet'B"], $sheet),
            do(
                $safeSheet = "'" + replaceAll($sheet, "'", "''") + "'",
                $range = $safeSheet + "!A1:B10",
                addElement($rangeList, $range)
            )
        )
    ),
    $rangeList
)

This expression evaluates to the list of a maximum of two ranges, if both worksheets sheet A and sheet'B exist. If a sheet is not found, the range is not be included.

This is important for error handling. If you specify a range that is not in the Excel file, PhixFlow will error. If you are not sure that a worksheet will always be included, write an expression like this to check, and only specify the range when the sheet is found.

To ensure PhixFlow recognises the generated ranges as valid, you must use $safeSheet, as this doubles any embedded single quotes and wraps the result in single quotes.

Ignore Undefined Values
Available when File Type is Excel Spreadsheet. When importing the file:

 Tick PhixFlow ignores all unsupported Excel values such as #N/A, #REF! #DIV/0 and replaces them with null values. When the import is complete, PhixFlow displays a single warning message stating the number of unsupported cell values with details about the first unsupported cell value.

 Untick PhixFlow attempts to import all the values that it finds. PhixFlow reports individual warning or errors in the console for any unsupported Excel values. If the import exceeds the maximum number of errors/warnings, PhixFlow ends the process and the import will fail.
Maximum Excel File Size (MB)

Specify the maximum file size, in megabytes, to process. This prevents upload attempts on excessively large files from slowing down the server.

The default is 0, which means no restriction. Specify a number greater than 0, for example 500, to prevent the file collector from processing files larger than this size.

File Password

Available if File Type is Excel Spreadsheet.

If you are reading a spreadsheet which is password protected, enter the password here so that the file can be unlocked.

Confirm Password

Available when File Type is Excel Spreadsheet.

If you are reading a spreadsheet which is password protected, confirm the password here so that the file can be unlocked.
Log Traffic

This option is affected by system logging options; see System Logging Configuration.

  • Allow Logging when ticked, logging can be set here.

  • Log File Collector Traffic : when ticked, PhixFlow always logs the number of records read from files by file collectors, whatever is set here.

To change this property, you must have the Modify System Logging Configuration privilege.

 Untick to prevent logging. Ticking this box has no effect when the system logging option is ticked.

 Tick to log details of communication. Ticking this box has no effect when the system logging option Allow Logging is not ticked.

File Columns

Available when File Type is Comma Separated Values, Fixed Length Records and Excel Spreadsheet. Enter the attributes of the data columns that you want to extract from the input file. The grid has the standard toolbar and the extra buttons:

  •  Populate Attributes Once you have uploaded a file, automatically populate the File Columns grid with the data attributes. PhixFlow samples some rows in the file to determine the values to use.
  •  Streams Open a repository tab listing all the streams.
  •  File Collector Open a repository tab listing all the file collectors.

To add attributes, click  Add and to edit an attribute double-click on a row in the grid. PhixFlow opens an attribute form.

FieldDescription
Name

Enter the name of the column, which can contain any combination of letters, numbers and _ the underscore character.

If you use   Populate AttributesPhixFlow uses data in the first row of a file to generate column names. Any invalid characters are stripped out. 

PhixFlow always uses this name to refer to this attribute.

Order

Enter a number that matches the column number in the input file. For example, if you want to extract the third, first and fifth column of data from a file, the three rows in this grid will have the order:

  • 3
  • 1
  • 5
Type
Enter one of the data types:

If you use   Populate Attributes , PhixFlow uses the type it recognises from the data, or String.

Length

Enter the maximum length of the field in the input file

  • For String, the maximum length of the string
  • For Integer, the maximum number of digits.

This is:

  • required when File Type is Fixed Length Records
  • optional when File Type is Comma Separated Values or Excel Spreadsheet, as only the field sizes of the fields in the stream that this collector will write to are important.

If you use   Populate Attributes , PhixFlow uses the length of the longest record that PhixFlow has seen. As PhixFlow does not check all the records, longer fields may exist in the CSV file.

XML Namespaces

This section is available when File Type is XML. It has a toolbar with standard buttonsThe grid contains a list of the namespaces defined in an XML response.

To add a namespace to the list, click  Add. PhixFlow opens a new XML Namespace properties tab. To remove a namespace, use the  Permanently Delete in the toolbar.

File Format Description

Available when File Type is Binary File. Enter details about the binary input file format and the data you want to extract.

FieldDescription
Validate File Format

Tick to indicate you have completed the properties and the XML description matches the file format.

Stream Item Node

Enter an expression for a string or list of strings. Each string is a node name in the binary file that will generate an output record.

 Examples

For a single output record, enter:

"DATA_RECORD_1"

For a list of output records, enter:

["DATA_RECORD_1","DATA_RECORD_2","DATA_RECORD_3"]

File Format DescriptionEnter an expression, using XML Binary File Grammar, describing the format of data in the file.

Error Handling


All the properties that support error handling are documented individually above; this is a summary of these features, and what to consider when designing the error handling needed for the files you are loading.

Ignore Missing Columns

If you tick Advanced → Ignore Missing Columns  you will still import rows which are missing columns. The missing columns will give you blank values in the stream for the missing fields.

However, PhixFlow starts lining columns up from the left, based on the idea that if there are missing columns, they will be missing from the right hand side. This means if columns are missing from somewhere in the middle or at the beginning of the line, the line may fail to import if the data types don't line up. However, this is not an error trap,  it is arbitrary - if you think lines might be missing values in the middle or at the beginning of lines you should be careful about using this option – in any case, you will need further validation.

Ignore Extra Columns

If you tick Advanced → Ignore Extra Columns - again, this assumes that extra columns will appear on the right. If they appear in the middle or at the beginning of the row, the row may or may not import depending on how the data types of the resulting record line up with a standard record. Again, if you think this may occur, you need further validation.

Errors Before Rollback

If you set a number in Advanced → Errors Before Rollback – providing that, across the run (not individual files), the error count is less than the threshold you have set - this will load all records that are not in error. You will get a warning message about any that fail in the console – with the file name, and details of the line that failed. But these are essentially discarded from the import. These files will then be placed in the archive directory.

If, across the run, the threshold is reached – all files that have been processed up to that point will be placed in the error directory, including files don’t contain errors (because these are associated with a failed run). The run will be in error - that is, a red line in the console, the resulting data set for the run (the stream set) will be invalid, and therefore not available to the next step in your process. Any files remaining after the error threshold was reached will remain, untouched, in the input directory.



Supported Formats and Values

Supported Date/Datetime Format Patterns


The following formats are available for use in Date and Datetime type fields:

Valid Date FormatsValid Datetime Formats
dd/MM/yy dd/MMM/yy dd/MM/yyyy dd/MMM/yyyy dd-MM-yy dd-MMM-yy dd-MM-yyyy dd-MMM-yyyy MM/dd/yy MMM/dd/yy MM/dd/yyyy MMM/dd/yyyy MM-dd-yy MMM-dd-yy MM-dd-yyyy MMM-dd-yyyy yyyyMMdddd/MM/yy HH:mm:ss dd/MMM/yy HH:mm:ss dd/MM/yyyy HH:mm:ss dd/MMM/yyyy HH:mm:ss dd-MM-yy HH:mm:ss dd-MMM-yy HH:mm:ss dd-MM-yyyy HH:mm:ss dd-MMM-yyyy HH:mm:ss MM/dd/yy HH:mm:ss MMM/dd/yy HH:mm:ss MM/dd/yyyy HH:mm:ss MMM/dd/yyyy HH:mm:ss MM-dd-yy HH:mm:ss MMM-dd-yy HH:mm:ss MM-dd-yyyy HH:mm:ss MMM-dd-yyyy HH:mm:ss yyyyMMdd.HHmmss

The symbols used in these formats are explained in the following table

SymbolMeaningPresentationExamples
yyearyear1996
Mmonth of yearmonthJul; 07
dday of monthnumber10
Hhour of day (0~23)number0
mminute of hournumber30
ssecond of minutenumber55

The number of letters used in the pattern determines the format.

  • Number: The minimum number of digits. Shorter numbers are zero-padded to this amount.
  • Year: Numeric presentation for the year field are handled specially. For example, if the count of 'y' is 2, the year should be displayed as the zero-based year of the century, which is two digits.
  • Month: 3 or over, use text, otherwise use number.

Supported TrueFalse Values

The following values are available in upper, lower and mixed cases for use in the TrueFalse type field:

Valid True ValuesValid False Values
true,yes,T,Y,1false,no,F,N,0

File Collector Attributes 

You can use the following PhixFlow internal variables to specify the attributes you want to load using a file collector. These attributes are available for all file types.

AttributeDescription
_fileNameThe name of the file.
_lineNumberThe line number of the record within the file it was read from.

The _lineNumber attribute is not available for file collectors of File Type is File Details Only.

_modifiedDateThe datetime of when the file was last modified.

The last modified time of a single file residing within a .gz or a .tgz container can not be determined by phixflow, instead the datetime of when the corresponding gz/tgz container was created will be returned.

_pathThe full path to the file which is the result of concatenating the _rootDirectory and the _subDirectory values.
_rootDirectoryThe root base directory (if specified) concatenated with the value evaluated in the Collectors 'Input Directory Expr' field.
_sizeThe size of the file in bytes.

The size of a single file residing within a .gz or a .tgz container can not be determined by phixflow, instead a size of -1 will be returned.

_subDirectoryThe sub-directory relative to the _rootDirectory in which the corresponding file resides.
_worksheetThe name of the current worksheet of the Excel file. The _worksheet is only available if the File Type is Excel Spreadsheet.
_range

The Excel range expression that was used. The _range attribute is only available if the File Type is Excel Spreadsheet.


Handling Compressed Files


In the majority of cases a compressed file will just contain a single file. For example, simple zip file called DailyCalls.zip would contain a single file named DailyCalls.csv.

However, some compressed files contain directories, sub-directories, files and further compressed files. In such cases the compressed file can be thought of as a directory, and further, any compressed files within the compressed file can be thought of as directories in the directory structure inside the compressed file. Therefore, compressed files are treated like normal directories and obey the same rules when matching the Directory Pattern Expression and the Exclude Dir Pattern Expression. Similarly all directories, sub-directories, and compressed files within a compressed file will also be treated as normal directories when matching the Directory Pattern Expression and the Exclude Dir Pattern Expression. Files contained anywhere inside the directory structure in the compressed file (including files contained in a compressed file within the compressed file) are treated as normal files when matching the File Pattern Expression.

Supported Compressed Files

Compression TypeFiles ending with extensionDescription
zip".zip"

A zip archive created by either windows programs such as winzip etc or unix commands such as zip. For example, to create a compressed zip file called dailyCalls.zip that includes a single file called dailyCalls_20120918.csv:

zip dailyCalls.zip dailyCalls_20120918.csv

tar".tar"

A tar archive created by the unix tar command. For example to create a tar file called dailyCalls.tar that includes a single file called dailyCalls_20120918.csv:

tar -cvf dailyCalls.tar dailyCalls_20120918.csv 

gz".gz"

A gz archive created by the unix gzip command. For example, to create a compressed gz file called dailyCalls_20120918.csv.gz that includes a single file called dailyCalls_20120918.csv

 gzip dailyCalls_20120918.csv

The unix gzip command always assumes the named container has a single file of the same name contained within.

tgz".tgz"

A joint tarred gz archive created by combining both the tar and gzip commands into a single command. For example, to create a compressed tgz file called dailyCalls.tgz that includes a single file called dailyCalls_20120918.csv:

tar -cvzf dailyCalls.tgz dailyCalls_20120918.csv

There is currently no support for rar type compressions.

File Compression Examples

The following table shows how each compressed file found will be treated given the following values for 'File Pattern Expression', 'Directory Pattern Expression' and the 'Exclude Dir Pattern Expression'.

Compressed File NameCompressed File Sub SystemFile Pattern ExpressionDirectory Pattern ExpressionExclude Dir Pattern ExpressionMatching/Processed Files
DailyCalls10.zip/DailyCalls10.csv".*Calls10.*"".*
DailyCalls10.zip/DailyCalls10.csv
DailyCalls.tar/subdir1/calls10.csv
/subdir1/calls20.csv
/subdir2/calls100.csv
/subdir2/calls200.csv
/subdir3/calls1000.csv
/subdir3/calls2000.csv
".*calls10.*"".*".*subdir2.*DailyCalls.tar/subdir1/calls10.csv
DailyCalls.tar/subdir3/calls1000.csv
Outer.zip/subdir1/calls10.csv
/subdir1/calls20.csv
/subdir1/Inner.zip/innerdir/calls100.csv
/subdir1/Inner.zip/subdir2/calls1000.csv

Note that Outer.zip contains a compressed zip file called Inner.zip
".*calls10.*"".*subdir1.*".*subdir2.*Outer.zip/subdir1/calls10.csv
Outer.zip/subdir1/Inner.zip/innerdir/calls100.csv
Outer.tar.gz/Outer.tar/subdir1/calls10.csv
/Outer.tar/innerdir/calls100.csv
/Outer.tar/subdir1/Inner.zip/innerdir/calls1000.csv

Note that Outer.tar.gz contains a tar container which in turn contains a compressed zip file called Inner.zip
".*calls10.*"".*subdir1.*innerdir.*
Outer.tar.gz/Outer.tar/subdir1/Inner.zip/innerdir/calls1000.csv


Easy Loading for Excel Spreadsheets 

With PhixFlow, you can quickly and easily load all the data from a worksheet in an Excel file, without having to set all the different file collector and stream properties. 

  1. Drag a file collector into an analysis model.
  2. In the file collector properties, enter a name for the collector. Leave Auto Configure ticked.
  3. Hover your mouse pointer over the file collector and click Upload File Managed File.
  4. Find and select the Excel spreadsheet you want to load into PhixFlow. Click Open then 
  5. For an .xlsx file only, PhixFlow prompts you to specify the worksheet that you want to upload to the file collector.
  6. PhixFlow automatically:
    • uploads the Excel data:
      • from the specified worksheet in an .xlsx file.
      • from the first worksheet in an .xls file.
    • sets the file collector properties
    • creates a stream
    • sets the stream properties, including adding attributes for each data column in the Excel spreadsheet.

You cannot use the Auto Configure option to:

  • select specific Excel data columns to load
  • always load the latest version of an Excel worksheet when you run analysis on the model
  • load a data file that is not an Excel file.








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