Delimited Text File

The fields available when Delimited Text File is selected as the Target Type - .

Figure 1 - The tab when File is selected

• File Name – type in the name of the file the data is to be copied to.
• Formatting – the data is copied out as a text file. Select Comma Separated, Tab Separated or Custom as required.
• Custom Delimiter - if you have selected Custom, select the delimiter you wish to use.
• Locale – specify the area or country in which the data in the file is to be used. This will allow the system to format fields such as date fields according to local standards.
• Truncate Open Ends - when exporting data to File, system performance is heavily affected by the number of “unlimited width” text fields in the exports (i.e. Open Text fields with no field width settings). Open Text fields can be truncated by using this setting (default is 200 characters). Forsta strongly recommends truncating Open Text field widths with this setting rather than choosing “Full length”, as this will lead to significant improvements in processing time.
• Open Ends Handling - defines how open ended questions are handled. The options are:
• Include Open Ends - all open end questions are included in the export.
• Exclude Open Ends - no open end questions are included in the export.
• Open Ends Only (one row per respondent) - only open end questions are included in the export file, with one row in the file for each respondent (all the answers for each respondent are in the same row).
• Open Ends Only (one row per answer) - only open end questions are included in the export file, with one row in the file for each answer given.
• File transfer - export files can either be sent by email or placed on an FTP server. FTP may be a good option for large volumes of data, since emails with large attachments may be blocked. FTP can allow automation of data flows, since files can then be picked up automatically by another system/process. Note that FTP transfer can be enforced as a company setting, in which case the email option will not be selectable.
• Encrypt file - if your company has licensed the Encryption add-on and it has been enabled, the data transfer encryption functionality makes it possible to perform secure data transfers in Forsta Plus. If the source file has been encrypted by the sender using your PGP public key, you will need to decrypt the files using your private key. Note that an administrator setting makes it possible to force every Forsta Plus user within a company to use encryption and FTP server during data transfer. Check the box to use file encryption.
• Email Address – the email address to which the file is to be sent.

Note: When the Source Type is Panel Database and the Target is a File, you can format the values to be copied, for example the date format, field widths etc.