To import a .del file with the '|' separator

[Ankita_89]

Is there a way to parse a .del file with a '|' separator using Alteryx? I tried to import a .del file with about 5M records but it wasn't parsing the way we expected it to. Any suggestion will be greatly appreciated! Thanks

[echuong1]

Are you able to upload a sample of the data? I can try to mock up a workflow.

[BrandonB · Accepted solution]

Depending on whether or not you have extra headers in your data, sometimes I like to actually read in files like this with no delimiter and uncheck the box for "first row contains field names". Then you can follow it with a Text to Columns tool that uses a | delimiter to appropriately parses it out. Can you give this approach a try and see if it works for you?

 

[ikeoneh]

Please has anyone been able to fix this?

[BrandonB]

@ikeoneh you can either specify the bar as a delimiter and possibly start the import on a line when the data actually starts using the configuration option. Alternatively, bringing the data in with no delimiter and following it with a text to columns tool is also a good solution. This isn’t an issue with parsing capabilities but rather is a function of the structure that your file has the data in. 

[DawnDuong]

hi @ikeoneh 

I think .del is not one of the supported types, which you can check out here:

https://help.alteryx.com/20212/designer/input-data-tool

One way to circumvent this is to rename your file from .del to .txt. Then read it with the Input Tool with specified delimiter and untick "first row containing field names"