The File extract reads data from a File or Directory connection type.
Optional SQL Query
By entering an optional SQL statement in the extract, the data can be sorted in advance. Use the name of the extract's connection as the table name in the SQL statement. If no SQL query is entered, performance is improved and all columns and all lines are extracted from the file.
Table names and field names must be written in double quotation marks in the query statement. The columns are identified with the standard aliases of the extract. Two cases are distinguished for these aliases:
| Flat File with Header: | The columns are marked with the column name in the header. Example: Select “Customers”, “Region”, “Products” from “Sales_file” where “Region” = ‘US’ |
| Flat File without Header: | The columns are marked with column numbers.Example: Select "column1", "column2", "column3" from "Sales_file" where “column2” = ‘US’ |
The SQL syntax of the H2 database engine is used. For more information see http://www.h2database.com/html/grammar.html.
Note: comments in the SQL statement are allowed using -- or // or /* … */
Setting
The Settings enable the users to choose a specific set of rows in a file.
Skip lines: enables the user to ignore a specific number of rows at the beginning of the file. If the header row is set, only the subsequent rows after the header are ignored. The default value of the Skip lines is 0.
Start: defines the first line number to be read from the file. If the header row is set, only the subsequent rows after the header are ignored. The default value of the Start is 1.
End: defines the last line number to be read from the file. The default value of the End is 1, meaning all rows are read.
Columns: limits the maximum number of columns to be read. If not set, all columns that are presented in the first data row are used.
Example:
** Some comment
**
**
Index;City;Country
1;Freiburg;Germany
2;Paris;France
3;Vienna;Austria
4;New York;USA
skip: 3 / start: 2 / end: 3 / columns: 2
Result:
Index;City
2;Paris
3;Vienna
Updated July 21, 2025