To confirm the table options, click the [Table Options] tab.
The top portion of the Edit Table Layout tab contains the following information about the file:
| | Media Type identifies how the data is accessed. |
| | File Type identifies the file as one of fixed record length, IBM variable record length or text file with carriage return or carriage return and line feed (CR or CRLF). |
| | Character Type identifies the character set as ASCII or EBCDIC. |
| | Record Length is the length of the record for fixed-length files or the length of the longest possible record if the records are variable-length. |
| | Skip Length specifies the number of bytes to skip at the start of the file. Zero, the default, means that the entire file is processed. Specify a skip length greater than zero to exclude data at the beginning of a file from being analyzed. For example, if the first 32 bytes contain only header information, you might specify the skip length as 32. |
| | The Database Select or Condition/Where/Order text boxes allow you to manually edit these values when applied to a relational/ODBC table being read live (not flattened). If a Select clause is specified then the DB Condition/Where/Order text boxes are greyed out (i.e. the Select clause overrides the DB Condition/Where/Order clauses). To override these values using systemvariables, see Overriding the SQL Select Statement and Modifying the Database Condition, Where and Order Clauses. |
The lower part of the window displays the first 32K of data in the file. Each row is a record, with the record number being displayed in the leftmost column. The ruler above the first record marks the byte positions of data in the records.
The Table Options tab has the following buttons and controls:
| | Analyze File. If you change the record length by mistake and cannot remember the correct length, click [Analyze File] to reset the length. |
| | Character Set. The character set (ASCII or EBCDIC) is carried over from the first part of the table layout and is displayed in the rectangular area above the record numbers. Click in this rectangle to toggle between character sets. |
| | Hex check box. To View the data in hexadecimal format, check the Hex check box. This option is useful when working with unprintable characters or compressed data, such as packed numeric data. |
In most cases, Analyzers analysis of your data is correct and the records displayed in the lower portion of the screen line up in vertical columns. If they do not, the following table will resolve problems with misaligned records.
|
Symptom |
Problem |
Solution |
|
Fields in the records are skewed down to the right |
The record length is likely too short |
Increase record length |
|
Fields in the records are skewed down to the left |
The record length is likely too long |
Decrease record length |
|
The records area consists mostly of blank spaces and punctuation characters |
You have incorrectly changed the character set identified by Analyzer (ASCII or EBCDIC) |
Click the Character Set drop-down and choose the other character set |
|
The record length appears too large |
The record length is probably a multiple of (2, 3 or 4 times) the actual record length |
Try entering a value in the Record Length text box equal to a fraction (1/2, 1/3 or 1/4) of the displayed record length |
|
The records appear to snake |
The skip length is too small |
Increase the skip length |