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Import Basics

Designer Cloud Powered by Trifacta Enterprise Editioncan import data from a variety of flat file formats and other distributed sources.

Note

does not modify a source. Instead, a set of metadata is associated with the source data, which enables transformation of the source. On export, a new version of the data is written to one or more specified output destinations.

Steps: 

When data is imported, a reference to it is stored by the platform as an imported dataset. The source data is not modified. In the application, you modify the recipe associated with a dataset to transform a sample of the imported data.

Note

Any user with a valid user account can import data from a local file.

  1. Sign in to the application.

  2. In the menubar, click Library. Click Import Data.

  3. To add a dataset:

    1. Select the connection that contains your source.

    2. Upload:

      1. Select Upload to upload a file from your local desktop. You can select multiple files to upload. For this example, select only 1 file.

        Note

        These are the supported file extensions: txt, TXT, csv, CSV, json, JSON, log, LOG, gz, GZ, tsv, TSV, avro, AVRO, pdf , PDF, xml, XML, xls, XLS, xlsx, XLSX, bz2, BZ2, sz, SZ, snappy, SNAPPY, pqt, PQT, parquet, PARQUET. If you upload any other file extensions, the application will do a content verification and display an error message.

      2. Browse and select the file or files for your source. Select Open.

    3. Backend storage, such as S3:

      1. Browse and select the file or files for your source.

        Note

        An error message displays if you upload any other extension files. These are the supported file extensions: txt, TXT, csv, CSV, json, JSON, log, LOG, gz, GZ, tsv, TSV, avro, AVRO, pdf , PDF, xml, XML, xls, XLS, xlsx, XLSX, bz2, BZ2, sz, SZ, snappy, SNAPPY, pqt, PQT, parquet, and PARQUET

      2. To queue the dataset for uploading, select the Plus icon next to its name.

      3. You can select multiple files.

    4. Check the Add to new flow checkbox. This option creates a new flow, which is a container object for your Alteryxassets, and adds your imported dataset to it.

  4. To begin working with your dataset, select Continue.

  5. The imported dataset and its containing flow are created.

  6. You can begin working with the dataset in the Transformer page. For more information, go to Transform Basics.

Tip

If you are interested, you can create a visual profile of your source data before you begin transforming. For more information, go to Profiling Basics.