Completing Connection Properties for CSV Files

Importing data into the FlexNet Manager Suite database from CSV (Comma-Separated Values) files (or plain text files) is probably one of the most reliable and simple ways of loading data.

The following properties can be set when importing from a file of comma-separated values.

Property Notes
File name This is the full path to the CSV file to import.
Tip: Click the ellipsis button (...) at the right of the text box to use Windows Explorer to locate the file.
Column delimiter

Choose the option that matches how the columns are delimited in the CSV file.

Tip: You may enter any printable character as a custom delimiter.

If you choose Fixed Length, you must specify the column width in a schema.ini file, prepared using the Tools > ODBC Data Source Administrator menu option.

First row contains column names

Select this check box if the first row in the CSV file is a header row with the names of the values, rather than a data row. Conversely, clear the check box if the first row contains data that should be imported.

Skip the first nn Row(s) Specify a number of data rows to ignore when importing the CSV file. If the first row is flagged as column names, it skips this number of rows after the header row. This is useful for ignoring introductory comments, as may happen (for example) with a Microsoft License Statement (MLS).

Even though CSV imports are usually simple and reliable, there are a number of advanced options for configuring your system to import from CSV files:

  • There are registry settings you can set to improve the success of the import process (see below).
  • In addition, if you set the Column delimiter to Fixed Length or want to specify any special treatment of columns in the CSV file, you need to create a schema.ini file in the same folder as the CSV file. The Business Importer will extract column information from the schema.ini file when importing data from the CVS file.
    Important: your imported CSV file uses a delimiter other than the one specified in the Microsoft registry entry (even if the separator is a simple tab character), you must use a schema.ini file to over-ride the registry setting. If you neither change the registry nor use a schema.ini, and use a different delimiter, the import will fail. The registry setting is located at HKLM\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Jet\4.0\Engines\Text\Format.
The following registry keys (on the computer where the business adapter runs) may be set for 32-bit systems in:
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Jet\4.0\Engines\Text]
and for 64-bit systems in:
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Jet\4.0\Engines\Text]
Setting Comments
MaxScanRows

The format for each column is automatically assigned, based on a sampling of 25 rows. This may generate issues in some case scenarios. For instance, if the 25 first rows of specific column include only numeric values, the column will be considered as numeric when string values may exist in other rows below. Depending on the scenario, an error will be generated or values will be discarded. Also any data surrounded by the text delimiter (a double quote [“], will be considered as text.

This setting defines the number of rows read to determine the format of a column. A value of zero indicates the full text file will be read; this value may impact performances.

Format Set the delimiter for each field value (replacing the default value of a comma).

Any delimit character is allowed, except for double quotation marks (“). A blank space may be used as the delimit character.

If for some reason you cannot change the registry setting on this server, you can over-ride the registry setting with a line in a schema.ini file.

FlexNet Manager Suite (On-Premises)

2022 R1