Supported File Formats

Filenames

File path length limits

Maximum character limits for file paths:

• File paths to sources for imported datasets: 1024 

  Tip: This limit (storagelocations) applies to both files and tables.

• File paths to output files:  2048 

  Tip: This limit (writesettings) applies to files stored on any file-based storage location.

Forbidden characters in import filenames

The following list of characters present issues in the listed area of the product. If you encounter issues, the following listings may provide some guidance on where the issue occurred.

• General:

  "/"

• Seb browser: 

  "\"

• Excel filenames:

  "#","{","}"

• Spark-based running environment:

  "{", "*", "\"

• Dataflow running environment:

  @

Native Input File Formats

Dataprep by Trifacta can read and import directly these file formats:

• CSV

• JSON v1, including nested

  NOTE: JSON files can be read natively but often require additional work to properly structure into tabular format. Depending on how the Dataprep by Trifacta application is configured (v1 or v2), JSON files may require conversion before they are available for use in the application. See "Converted file formats" below.

  
  

  NOTE: Dataprep by Trifacta requires that JSON files be submitted with one valid JSON object per line. Consistently malformed JSON objects or objects that overlap linebreaks might cause import to fail.

• Plain Text
• LOG
• TSV

• Parquet

  NOTE: When working with datasets sourced from Parquet files, lineage information and the $sourcerownumber reference are not supported.

• Avro

  NOTE: When working with datasets sourced from Avro files, lineage information and the $sourcerownumber reference are not supported.

• Google Sheets
  
  

  Feature Availability: This feature may not be available in all product editions. For more information on available features, see Compare Editions.

  NOTE: Individual users must enable access to their Google Drive. No data other than Google Sheets is read from Google Drive.

Converted file formats

Files of the following type are not read into the product in their native format. Instead, these file types are converted using the Conversion Service into a file format that is natively supported, stored in the base storage layer, and then ingested for use in the product.

Converted file formats:

• Excel (XLS/XLSX)

  NOTE: Other Excel-related formats, such as XLSM format, are not supported. If you are encountering issues, try to Save As to XLS or XLSX from within the Microsoft Excel application.

  
  

  Tip: You may import multiple worksheets from a single workbook at one time. See Import Excel Data in the User Guide.

• Google Sheets

  Feature Availability: This feature may not be available in all product editions. For more information on available features, see Compare Editions.

  Tip: You may import multiple sheets from a single Google Sheet at one time.

• PDF

  • PDF is supported for import only.
  • See Import PDF Data in the User Guide.

• JSON v2

Notes on JSON:

There are two methods of ingesting JSON files for use in the product. 

• JSON v2 - This newer version reads the JSON source file through the Conversion Service, which stores a restructured version of the data in tabular format on the base storage layer for quick and simple use within the application. 

  Tip: This method is enabled by default and is recommended. For more information, see Working with JSON v2.

• JSON v1 - This older version reads JSON files directly into the platform as text files. However, this method often requires additional work to restructure the data into tabular format. For more information, see Working with JSON v1.

Parsing Limits

After a file is passed into the Dataprep by Trifacta application,  a set of transformations is applied to it to prepare it for use in the application. These transformations may impose additional limits on the file that is imported. When these transformations fail, the file may be imported into the application as a single column of data. For more information, see Initial Parsing Steps. 

Native Output File Formats

Dataprep by Trifacta can write to these file formats:

• CSV
• JSON

• Avro

  NOTE: The Trifacta Photon and Spark running environments apply Snappy compression to this format.

• BigQuery Table

Compression Algorithms

When a file is imported, the Dataprep by Trifacta application attempts to infer the compression algorithm in use based on the filename extension. For example, .gz files are assumed to be compressed with GZIP. 

Read Native File Formats

Write Native File Formats

Snappy compression formats

Dataprep by Trifacta supports the following variants of Snappy compression format: