Error importing fixed width file

RCern

Hi Everyone,

I have a text file that I am trying to create a workflow for.  My current process uses MS Access.  Back then I originally created a Fixed Width Importing Spec for the TEXT file since it was a monthly process.  Moving to Alteryx, I copied the Fixed Width Importing Spec from MS Access into an Excel (.CSV) Spreadsheet for the Alteryx Import Tool when setting up the import file.

I noticed that there were some differences, so I adjusted the MS Access Importing Spec to match the Alteryx Fixed Width format.

MS Access Spec Fields:

Field Name (renamed this to "Name" to match Alteryx Spec Field)

Start (removed this since Alteryx Spec Field doesn't contain)

Width (renamed this to "Length" to match Alteryx Spec Field) 

Skip (removed this since Alteryx Spec Field doesn't contain)

Type (added this column since it is required for Alteryx Spec Field)

Alteryx Spec Fields:

Name

Type

Length

Scale

However, I am getting an error when I try to import the Fixed Width Importing Spec Excel (.CSV) File.  The error reads as,

"There was an error reading "C:\Users\..............": Data at the root level is invalid.  Line 1, Position 1.

Any ideas as to what I am doing incorrectly?

IraWatt

Hey @RCern, I maybe misunderstanding the problem but if the data is in MS Access can you not connect to it directly through Alteryx and skip the flat file step? Also CSV files are not fixed width they are just comma separated you should just be able to drag a csv onto the canvas without doing any fixed width steps.

To investigate the error I would right click on the file and open it in notepad and see if there is anything strange, for instance the first line of a CSV should be the headers separated by commas and the data rows below should have the same number of rows and also separated by a return character.