Read File Transformation

The Read File transformation locates and opens the contents of a file, whose name is specified in a source column, and copies the contents into a destination column.

When you configure the transformation, you define the path containing the files listed in the source column. All the files must be in the same directory path.

Note  The directory name can start with a disk drive or a Universal Naming Convention (UNC).

If a file is not found in the path, you can either:

• Null the destination column.

  Or

• Fail the task.

A Read File transformation fails if:

• The Error if file not found check box is selected and the path matches no existing file.
  
  
• The source column is not a string type.
  
  
• The destination column is not a string or binary type.
  
  
• The process does not have permission to read the file.
  
  
• Invalid file name characters appear in the source column.
  
  
• The read path specifies a location in a nonexistent folder.

Translating File Content

If the destination column is a string type, file contents are interpreted according to their file type (for example, ANSI, OEM, or Unicode). Translation is performed on the instance of Microsoft® SQL Server™ running the package, using current code pages. If the destination column is of binary or image type, no translation occurs.

To perform a Read File transformation

Enterprise Manager

See Also

DataPumpTransformReadFile Object

Read File Transformation Properties

DTS Transformations