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Import a File

You can import one or more files into the Library or immediately add them to a new or existing flow.

Note

When you import a file, the data is not stored in Designer Cloud Powered by Trifacta Enterprise Edition. What you create is an imported dataset, which is simply a reference to the source of the data. Designer Cloud Powered by Trifacta Enterprise Edition never stores or modifies source data. For more information, see Object Overview.

Other import options:

Steps:

Note

Before you begin, you should review information on file formats supported for import, which cause your files to fail to import or to be properly ingested and formatted. For more information, see Supported File Formats.

  • From the menubar, click Library.

  • In the Library page, click Import Data.

  • From the left sidebar in the Import Data page, select the connection where your data is located.

    • You must have read permissions on any directory and file that you wish to import.

    • Upload: Navigate your local desktop to select the file or files that you wish to upload.

      Tip

      You can select multiple files in the same directory for uploading at the same time.

      • File-based datastore: If you are uploading from a file-based backend datastore, navigate the available directories to locate your file.

    • Microsoft Excel: If you are importing an Excel file that contains multiple worksheets, you must select the worksheets to include as part of your import. For more information, see Import Excel Data.

      • Dataset with Parameters: If you are importing multiple files with similar filenames, you can import them as part of the same dataset using parameters or variables. In this manner, you create a single imported dataset, which automatically includes any new files that appear in the directory and that follow the same filenaming pattern. For more information, see Create Dataset with Parameters.

  • Some aspects of the import process can be modified. In the right panel, click Edit Settings for a file that you have imported.

    • By default, the application applies a few steps to file-based imported datasets to attempt to organize them into tabular format and hides these steps from your recipe. As needed, you can disable these automated steps, so that the steps themselves appear in the Recipe panel. For more information, see Remove Initial Structure.

    • If your file uses a different file encoding than the default encoding, you can change it for the file during the import process. For more information, see Change File Encoding.

  • When you are ready to complete the import process:

    Tip

    If present, you can click the Add to new flow checkbox, which adds the imported datasets to an Untitled flow. For more information, see Flow View Page.

    • If you are importing a single file: click Continue to load to add it to a new flow, create a recipe for the imported dataset, and begin editing that recipe. See Transformer Page.

    • If you are importing multiple files: click Continue to load them. See Flow View Page.

  • Your files are available as imported datasets.

For more information, see Import Data Page.

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