Enable support of W_String and VW_String in the Input tool, flat file input source

[denny]

Currently, Input tool, Flat File format, only support String and V_String field data type.

Note: UTF-8 is a supported character set.

I would like to request W_String and VW_String be supported, given UTF-8 is a supported character set.

There is a workaround to do this, meaning Alteryx already does this, albeit through CSV input format, using a non-existent field separate, e.g., | is what I used, or in this link, the NUL or \0 character.

https://community.alteryx.com/t5/Alteryx-Designer/flat-file-import-with-unicode/m-p/537001#M115000

W_String and V_WString not supported today.png

[KylieF]

Thank you for your feedback!  I've conducted a quick review of this idea to insure it has all the necessary components present for when the criteria is met for the idea to be submitted to product, and it looks good. If you haven't yet, be sure to check out our Submission Guidelines which go over the idea boards in a bit greater detail.

[CharlesMatthews]

Not sure if this is expected behaviour -  but a workaround I've found is to use "Field Settings from File".

You can export the current config and then modify the parameters from V_String, to V_WString in the file. 

The input tool then pulls everything as a V_WString and has no conversion errors this way?! :D

It would be good to have this built into the product as standard though!

+Voted on this Idea