VI Fileout Output Object

The Visual Integrator (VI) Fileout output object saves data to a file.

In addition to a data file, the Fileout object can also generate a dictionary file (dic or dict file extension). Either the data or dictionary file can be used as input to another VI script or as input to Visual Builder.

The Fileout output object has three panes where you set attributes.

Object Attributes

You set attributes for the Fileout output object in the object attributes pane.

VI Fileout Object Attributes

Attribute	Description
Input	Defines the object from which the data flow arrives. Use one of the following methods to attach the Fileout output object to an input data flow object: Right-click the data flow object, and click New Object after this > Output > Fileout. Place the Fileout output object on the task flow, and click its Input attribute's browse button. Move the pointer to the canvas and note that a dotted-line connector is attached to the Fileout output object. Attach this connector to the data flow object. NOTE: The Fileout output object's Input attribute is populated with the name of the input data flow object.
Filename	Defines the name and path of the file that this object creates. Enter a path and file name in the Filename box, or use the browse button to select the file. You can use the Append attribute if you do not want to overwrite an existing file.
File_Type	Defines the file type for the output file. Select one of the following values from the File_Type list: column_headers (default)—Writes a delimited output file with column headings. standard—Writes a delimited output file without column headings. xml—Writes a basic Extensible Markup Language (XML) file. The top-level element is dataroot and contains a set of row elements named row. Each row element contains a set of column elements named with the name of the corresponding input column. Excel—Writes a standard Excel file.
Delimiter	Specifies the delimiter that is used to separate columns for variable format files. If not specified, ASCII tab is used. Choices are: space tab \t comma , semicolon ; pipe \|
Newline	Specifies a newline character for text output. The specified character will be used to end each output line of regular output. This attribute should not be used for XML output. If this attribute is not specified or empty, the file output object will use the default linefeed for each platform—LF (ASCII 10) for Unix systems, and CR LF (ASCII 13 10) for Windows systems. The following special values are accepted for this attribute: `crlf`—The newline will be CR LF (ASCII 13 10) `lf`—The newline will be LF (ASCII 10) `cr`—The newline will be CR (ASCII 13) NOTE: Available starting with 7.1(17).
Append	Specify to either append or clear the output file for each run. true—Output file is not cleared and each subsequent run appends the results to the existing file. false (default)—Output file is cleared for each run and only contains the results from the current run. The Append and Safe_Write attributes are mutually exclusive; only one of these attributes can be set to true.
Always_Quote	Specifies to add quotation marks to column headings and output values. true—All column headings and output values are quoted and any existing quotation marks in the data are doubled. false (default)—Column headings are quoted only if they begin with a quotation mark or contain an output delimiter (a space or comma). You cannot use the Always_Quote and Never_Quote simultaneously.
Never_Quote	Specifies to disable adding quotation marks to output values. This attribute allows for fine-grain control of quoting behavior in unusual circumstances. true—No output values are quoted, even if they contain delimiters or double-quotation mark characters. false (default)—Column headings are quoted if they begin with a quotation mark or contain an output delimiter (a space or comma). You cannot use the Always_Quote and Never_Quote simultaneously.
Safe_Write	Specify that the output is written to a copy of the file. true—Output is written to a copy of the file, which is moved into place only if the task succeeds. The file copy appends the number sign (#) to the file name, which is removed if the task succeeds. false (default)—Output is written directly to the output file. The Append and Safe_Write attributes are mutually exclusive; only one of these attributes can be set to true. TIP: Use of this attribute avoids issues that arise when the same file is read and written in the same task.
Encoding	Defines the encoding for the output file(s). Values include: auto—The input object sets the encoding based on the file signature and the Unicode state of other objects in the same task. ascii—The characters in the file are interpreted as ISO-8859-1 or Latin1 characters. gb18030—The file is interpreted as Chinese National Standard 18030-2000 characters. The gb18030 encoding option is supported on Windows platforms only. latin1—The characters in the file are interpreted as ISO-8859-1 or Latin1 characters. utf-8—The file is interpreted as UTF-8 Unicode characters. unicode—The file is interpreted as 2-byte Unicode characters (UCS-2) with native byte swapping, unless overridden by a UCS-2 file signature. unicode-be—The file is interpreted as UCS-2 characters in a big-endian fashion. unicode-le—The file is interpreted as UCS-2 characters in a little-endian fashion. UCS-2 and UTF-8 files can include a Byte Order Mark (BOM) at the beginning of the file to denote the file encoding. These file signatures are defined as follows: UCS-2 Big Endian—`FE FF` UCS-2 Little Endian—`FF FE` UTF-8—`EF BB BF` File signatures are common for Unicode files on Windows operating systems. If the file input object reads multiple files, the signature of each file determines its encoding. If the encoding attribute is auto and no signature is found, the encoding is assumed to be latin1 if no other object in the task handles Unicode data and the VI file is not encoded as utf-8 (using the charset 1208 directive). Otherwise, the encoding is assumed to be utf-8. See also Integrator Unicode Data Support.
Signature	Defines whether a Byte Order Mark (BOM) is written for Unicode files. auto (default)—Signature is written only for files encoded in UCS-2 characters. No signature is written to UTF-8 files (UNIX and Windows only). true—Signature is always written to a Unicode file. false—Signature is never written to a Unicode file.
Create_Directory	Defines whether to create parent directories for the output. true—A parent directory is created. false (default)—No parent directory is created.
Dictionary_File	Defines a dictionary file for the output. Click the browse button to navigate to where you want to output the dictionary file. Supply a file name if the file is new. The dictionary file can be new-style or old-style format. Old-style—The original DI dictionary format, which defines column types as well as column names. New-style—Supports special characters such as parentheses in the field names. See Original Dictionary File.

Column Grid

You set attributes for how the input columns appear in the output flow with the column grid.

Attribute	Description
Input Column	Displays the name of each input column. This attribute is read-only.
Source Object	Displays the name and object type of the source object. Double-click the Source Object for a column to change the task flow focus to that object.
Keep Order	Manages the order that columns display in the output data flow. By default, columns that are passed to the next object in the data flow are displayed in the order that they appear in the Name column. You can change this order by typing a number in the Keep Order column. When you assign a Keep Order number, the Keep column is checked automatically. The Keep Order numbers might reorder to accommodate any changes you make.
Keep	Manages which columns are kept in the output data flow. If no columns have a Keep check mark, all columns are kept in the output data flow, except for any explicitly marked Remove. Select the Keep check box for columns you want to explicitly keep in the output data flow. A number is automatically added in the Keep Order column when you select its Keep check box. After marking any column with a Keep check mark, only those marked Keep are kept in the output data flow. NOTE: After any Keep check boxes are checked, do not use the Remove check boxes as clicking a Remove check box sets all Keep check boxes to unchecked.
Remove	Manages which columns are removed from the output data flow. Select the Remove check box for columns that you want to explicitly suppress from the output data flow. NOTE: Use the Remove check boxes only when no Keep check boxes are checked.

For the Keep Order, Keep, and Remove columns, the following context menu options are available:

Select All—This option is available on the Keep and Remove columns. Choose this option to select all check boxes in the column.
Clear Column—This option clears all values from a column. If the column uses check boxes, every box is cleared.
Sort Column—This option sorts the column. When this option is first selected, the column is sorted in ascending order. When this option is selected again, the column is sorted in descending order.
Hide Empty Values—This option is available when some rows have values and other rows do not. Select this option to hide rows that do not have a value.
Show All—This option is only available when rows with empty values are hidden. Select this option to show all rows, including rows with no values.