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Workday User Guide
Last Updated: 2023-06-23
Parse External Data in a Table

Parse External Data in a Table

Security:
  • Prism: Tables Create
     domain in the Prism Analytics functional area when creating a table.
  • Any of these security requirements when editing a table:
    • Prism Datasets: Owner Manage
       domain in the Prism Analytics functional area.
    • Prism Datasets: Manage
       domain in the Prism Analytics functional area.
    • Table Editor
       permission on the table.
    • Table Owner
       permission on the table.
    • Can Insert Table Data
       permission on the table.
When you load a delimited file into a table, you must define how Workday parses the data. You define the parsing options on the
Edit Parsing Options
 step when you load data into a table, such as creating a table by uploading a file, or when adding more rows to an existing table.
Workday supports delimited files that are RFC 4180-compliant. For more information, see RFC 4180.
  1. Access the
    Edit Parsing Options
     step for loading data into a table.
  2. Configure the parsing options.
    As you complete this task, consider:
    Option Description
    Row Delimiter
    Specifies the single character that separates rows (or records) in your source data files.
    In most delimited files, rows are separated by a new line, such as the line feed character, carriage return character, or carriage return plus line feed. Line feed is the standard new line representation on UNIX-like operating systems. Other operating systems (such as Windows) might use carriage return individually, or carriage return plus line feed. Selecting
    Any New Line
     causes Workday to recognize any of these representations of a new line as the row delimiter.
    Field Delimiter
    Specifies the single character that separates the fields (or columns) of a row in your source data files. Comma is the most common field delimiter.
    Field Names
    Specifies the default name of each field. You can change the field names after you finish defining the parsing options.
    Field names must conform to the name validation rules.
    Workday automatically treats the first line in each source file as a header row instead of as a row of data. If you don't want to use the first line as names for your fields, clear
    Use values from first row
    .
    Escape Character
    Specifies the single character used to escape the
    Quote Character
     or another instance of the
    Escape Character
     when a
    Quote Character
     is specified. Workday reads an escape character as data only if it's escaped with another escape character.
    If your data values contain quote characters as data, those characters must be escaped and the entire field value must be enclosed with the
    Quote Character
    . If not, then Workday assumes that the quote character denotes a new field.
    Quote Character
    The character that encloses a single field value, if any.
    Some delimited files use the quote character to enclose individual data values. The quote character is typically the double quote character (
    "
    ).
    If a field value contains a field delimiter as data, then the field value must be enclosed in the
    Quote Character
    , otherwise Workday assumes that the field delimiter denotes a new field.
    If a field value contains the quote character as data, then the field value must be enclosed in the
    Quote Character
     and it must be escaped, either by the
    Escape Character
     or another quote character.
    If a field value contains a row delimiter (such as a new line character) as data, then the field value must be enclosed in the
    Quote Character
    .
    Suppose that you have a row with these 3 data values: 
    weekly special
wine, beer, and soda
"2 for 1" or 9.99 each
    If the field delimiter is a comma, the quote character is a double quote, and the escape character is a double quote, then a correctly formatted row in the source data looks like: 
    "weekly special", "wine, beer, and soda", """2 for 1"" or 9.99 each"
    Comment Character
    Specifies the character that represents a comment at the beginning of a line of text. Workday ignores every line in the external file that starts with the comment character. Example: Select # as the Comment Character to ignore lines that start with #.
    When the Comment Character is empty, Workday reads all lines as rows of data.
    Rows to ignore
    Specifies the number of lines at the beginning of the file to ignore when reading the source file. To use this with the
    Use values from first row
     option, ensure that the line containing the field names is visible and is the first remaining line.
    Jagged Rows
    Select these options when the schema of the source file isn't an exact match of the table schema, and you want Workday to ignore any missing or extra fields at the end of the file schema.
    Field Options
    These options control how to handle whitespace characters in Text fields.
    • Trim leading spaces outside quotes. This option removes whitespace characters outside the quotes of Text fields before the quote character.
    • Trim trailing spaces outside quotes. This option removes whitespace characters outside the quotes of Text fields after the quote character.
    • Trim leading spaces in quotes. This option removes whitespace characters inside the quotes of Text fields at the beginning of the field value.
    • Trim trailing spaces in quotes. This option removes whitespace characters inside the quotes of Text fields at the end of the field value.

This content is not part of the Workday Administrator Guide.