{{ transformations:ImportDelimitedTextAction.png}}
======IMPORT DELIMITED TEXT FILE======
Category: Import / File\\

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=====Description=====
This action loads data from one or multiple delimited text files.

The number of columns in the resulting dataset is defined by the first row of imported data.\\

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=====Use cases=====
Use the //Import from a delimited text file// action when you have a plain text, structured, data file with fields that are separated by a delimiting character.  In the case of a file having //no// embedded delimiters, all values are imported into a single field.\\

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=====Action settings=====
^ Setting  ^ Description  ^
|Load file<sup>*</sup>| Fully-qualified file name of the dataset (includes relative or absolute path).  |
|Encoding|ASCII, ANSI (with code page), and other types of encoding. If you're not sure what to choose, try UTF-8 as it's the most common Unicode encoding.|
|Separator|The delimiter character that separates one value from another. For instance, for CSV files it should be a comma.\\ A custom separator consisting of up to 8 characters can also be specified.  If //No separator// is selected, all values are imported into a single field.|
|Decimal|When a text value looks like a number, EasyMorph converts it into a number. The decimal character specifies whether such numbers should have a comma or a dot as the decimal separator.|
|Thousand|When a text value looks like a number, EasyMorph converts it into a number. Select the separator used to define the thousands places within the value.  Options:  //Default//, //Comma//, //Point// or //Space//.|
|Skip first lines<sup>*</sup>|This option specifies how many lines to skip from the beginning of a file. It can be helpful in cases where first rows\\ contain some metadata (file header) and actual tabular data starts only after that metadata. This setting can be specified using a parameter as well.|
|Columns don't have headers|Check this if data doesn't have column headers.|

<sup>*</sup> Setting can be specified using a [[:parameters|parameter]].

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====Advanced options====
^ Setting  ^ Description  ^
|Show parsing errors|Check this to add a column that contains parsing errors (if any) for each line. It can help detect rows that have too few values, or too many values.|
|Ignore quoting|By default, values wrapped in double quotes can contain the separator character and line breaks. Check this option if wrapping double quotes should be treated as regular characters.|
|Maximum number of lines to load<sup>*</sup>|Limits the number of rows loaded from the file. This setting is applied after //Skip first lines//. Use "0" to load all rows.|
<sup>*</sup> Setting can be specified using a [[:parameters|parameter]].\\

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=====Remarks=====
Preview the raw and imported versions of the dataset using the //Show preview// button at the top of the action settings window.\\

This action can import multiple files.  See [[import:fileimportmodes|Importing Multiple Files]] for more information.\\

**Import 2 to 3 times faster (experimental feature).**  To enable this feature, check //on// the "Twice faster CSV import" option in Application Settings (in the About toolbar).

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=====Examples=====
**Input:**
<code>
...
Data to import
---
1|12|3.5|red|265
2|47|4.55|teal|354
3|4|8.1|burgundy|380
</code>

The input text has the following properties:
  * pipe-delimited .txt 
  * starts with 3 rows of metadata
  * has no header rows
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**Action parameters:**
>  Separator is Pipe
>  Skip the 3 first lines
>  Columns don't have headers (checked)

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**Result table:**
|  1|  12|  3.5|red|  265|
|  2|  47|  4.55|teal|  354|
|  3|  4|  8.1|burgundy|  380|

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====Community examples====
  * [[https://community.easymorph.com/t//1538/2|Suffix with comma between last name and suffix causing rows to shift]] ([[https://community.easymorph.com/uploads/short-url/5wpGSARRp4GlknxWvCz6DpmyBNV.morph|Project]]; Module: //Main//; Group: //Tab 1//; Table: //data.csv//;\\ Action position: //1//)
  * [[https://community.easymorph.com/t//1972/2|Read Data with two line header]] ([[https://community.easymorph.com/uploads/short-url/4YFQxslIv3pmgtF2eRywf4wpcFQ.morph|Project]]; Module: //Main//; Group: //Tab 1//; Table: //Read, Mark groups//; Action position: //1//)
  * [[https://community.easymorph.com/t//2454/4|.txt to .csv - Multiple Line & Character Length HELP!
]] ([[https://community.easymorph.com/uploads/short-url/m3PqCDwhBrNEG2xW23QqEvl8RbX.morph|Project]]; Module: //Main//; Group: //Group 1//; Table: //SAMPLE.txt//; Action position: //1//)
  * [[https://community.easymorph.com/t//1800/4|Download multiple files from HTTPS and copy to folder, preserving file names]] ([[https://community.easymorph.com/uploads/short-url/pQyGPi01bpxaWBHR6LdGlGMyRbH.morph|Project]]; Module: //Main//; Group: //Tab 1//; Table: //Table 1//; Action position: //2//)

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=====Shortcuts=====
Fast ways to create the action:
  * Press the "Add data" menu button. Pick "Import file" or "Import multiple files".
  * Drag a text file into the application window. Supported file extensions: csv, psv, tsv.
  * Drag a folder with text files into the application window.

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=====See also=====
  * [[transformations:importfixedwidthtext|Import fixed width text file]]
  * [[transformations:importplaintext|Import plain text]]
  * [[transformations:filesplitter|Split delimited text file]]
  * [[transformations:splitdelimitedtext|Split delimited text into columns]]
  * [[transformations:subfield|Split delimited text into rows]]