Exporting data to files

By the end of this chapter you will be able to:

• Set up a File Exporter

In this exercise you will create an export of the customer summary report, to a file:

• In your model, add a new File Exporter:
  • Hover over Customer Summary by Region, and press - Add a new File Exporter
  • Give the new exporter the Name: Send Customer Summary Report
  • Press
  • You will now see the new File Exporter on the modelling pane

Save your model layout.
As well as exporting the file to a directory on the PhixFlow server, you will email the file to yourself. Before you set this up, you need to update the user Train with your email address:

• Go to the left-hand menu bar and press - Show the list of Users
• Double-click on the user Train to open the details
• Update the Email Address with your email address
• Press to save your changes

To complete configuration of the File Exporter:

• Double-click on the new File Exporter icon on your model view
• In the tab Details:
  • Tick the flag Enabled
  • In the field File Name (Expr) enter the value: "customerSummaryByRegion.txt"
  • In the field Output Directory (Expr) enter:

"customerReports/customerSummaryByRegion"

• • Tick the flag Overwrite existing file
  • Tick the flag Include Header Row
  • Go to the Send By Email tab
  • Input the following:
    • Email from: system@PhixFlow.com
    • Subject Expression: "Export of customerSummaryByRegion.txt at " + now()
    • Message Expression: "Please find file customerSummaryByRegion.txt attached. Generated at " + now()
    • Attach File: ticked
    • Go to the User Recipients tab
    • Drag the user Train (the user you are currently logged in as) into the list of recipients
• In the main File Exporter configuration form, press

  Note that the pipe to the File Exporter is dotted – this means that it is a Push pipe. When linking a Stream to a File Exporter you must always use a Push pipe. This is because you cannot run a File Exporter on its own; it must always be driven from a Stream (otherwise, it has no data to process).

• Run Analysis on the Stream Customer Summary by Region
• Check the log message generated in the Console – in particular scroll to the end; you should see messages telling you that a file has been exported
• Now find your file - you should have received an email with the file attached
• The file should have also been exported to the PhixFlow server