Maintaining InfoSources (Flat File) 

Purpose

You can load data from flat files (CSV or ASCII files) into the BI system.

You can upload the following data types:

...

       1.      Transaction data

       2.      Master data, either directly or flexibly

¡        Attributes

¡        Texts

       3.      Hierarchies

Prerequisites

Note the following with regard to CSV files:

·        Excel files use separators to separate fields. In the European version, a semi-colon (;) is used as a separator. In the American version, a comma (,) is used. You can also use other separators. You must specify the delimiter used in the Scheduler.

·        Fields that are not filled in a CSV file are filled with a blank space if they are character fields and with a zero (0) if they are numerical fields.

·        If separators are used inconsistently in a CSV file, the “wrong” separator is read as a character, and both fields are merged into one field and possibly shortened. Subsequent fields are then no longer in the correct order.

Note the following with regard to CSV files and ASCII files:

·        If your file contains headers that you do not want to be loaded, on the External Data  tab page in the Scheduler, specify the number of headers that you want the system to ignore during the data load. This gives you the option of keeping the column headers in your file.

·        A conversion routine determines whether or not you have to specify leading zeros. See also Conversion Routines in the BI System.

·        For dates, you usually use the format YYYYMMDD, without internal separators. Depending on the conversion routine, you can also use other formats.

·        If you use IDocs to upload data, note the 1000 byte limit for each data record length. This limit does not apply to data that is uploaded using the PSA.

Notes on Uploading

·        When you upload external data, you are able to load the data from any workstation into the BI system. However, from a performance point of view, you should store the data on an application server and load it from there into the BI system. This also means that you can load the data in the background.

·        If you want to upload a large amount of transaction data from a flat file, and you are able to specify the file type of the flat file, you should create the flat file as an ASCII file. From a performance point of view, uploading the data from an ASCII file is the most cost-effective method. In certain circumstances, generating an ASCII file might involve a larger workload.