AX2228

Setting up file processing: Export to file

Using file processing, you can export data from an Axiom file to a delimited text file, and then save that file to a file location and/or email it.

The following file formats / delimiters are supported for data export files:

• CSV: Comma-delimited text file
• TXT: Text file delimited by space, period, pipe, tab, semicolon, or colon

In order to use file processing to export data, two setup steps must occur:

• The file must be set up with export-to-file tags, to specify the data to be exported. For more information, see Placing data export tags in a sheet.
• The file must be enabled for file processing, and configured to export to a file. This process is discussed in this topic.

To set up file processing to export data to a file:

1. Open the file where you want to set up file processing, and enable it as follows: On the Axiom tab, in the File Output group, click File Processing > Add File Processing control sheet to active workbook.

   NOTE: In systems with installed products, this feature may be located on the Main tab (either directly on the tab, or on the Publish menu).

   The File Processing pane opens, and a sheet named Control_FileProcessing is added to the file.

2. In the File Processing pane, for Processing Type, select Export to Delimited Text File.

3. In the Sheets to Process box, enter the name(s) of the sheet(s) to process.

   You can click the Select worksheets button to select sheet names from a list, or you can type the sheet names. Separate multiple sheet names with semicolons.

   The sheets to process are the sheets from which data will be exported. This setting does not determine which sheets will be refreshed before data is exported; the refresh always applies to all sheets in the file when using file processing.

   Any sheet included here must be set up with export-to-file tags, or else no data will be exported from that sheet when the file is processed.

4. From the Export File Type list, select the type of file to create for the data export. You can select CSV (comma-delimited), or a variety of different TXT formats using different delimiters.

   NOTE: If text in a cell contains the delimiter, that text will be qualified using double quotation marks in the export file.

5. By default, the export file will include a header row that uses the tags in the export-to-file control row. If you do not want a header row in the export file, then set Include Column Headers to Off.

6. In the Output File Settings section, complete the following settings to determine the delivery of the output file (or files):

   Item	Description
   Output To	Select one of the following: Local File System (default): The output location is outside of Axiom, to a location on your local network share. The specific path is detailed in the Output Folder setting. Access to output files is not controlled by Axiom. Axiom Repository: The output location is the Axiom file system, within the Reports Library. The specific path is detailed in the Output Folder setting. Access to output files is controlled by security access to the designated folder within Axiom.
   Output file name	Specify how the output file (or files) should be named. You can do one of the following: You can use file processing variables to generate dynamic file names. You can type a "hard-coded" file name. The file name setting cannot be left blank. By default the file name uses file processing variables, and is set to [Current_Value]_Report. You can change "_Report" to something more specific to the file contents (or omit it to use only the current value). If you do not plan to use multipass processing on the file, then you can delete the current value variable and just type the desired file name. If you want to use a file processing variable, you can type the variable or you can click the pencil icon to open a text editor. From the Insert Variable list, select the variable that you want to use. For more information, see Defining the file name for file processing.
   Output folder	Specify the folder location for the file output. You can type a folder path, or you can click the folder icon to browse to the folder location. The browse dialog will display either your local file system or the Axiom file system, depending on what you selected for Output To. This setting does not apply if you are only emailing files. For more information, see Defining the output folder for file processing.
   File Generation	Select one of the following: Create a Single Output File (default): The results of each pass are collected into a single output file. Note that if you selected multiple sheets to process, you will get a single output file for each sheet. In the latter case, the sheet name is automatically appended to the output file name. Create an Output File for Each Pass: The results of each pass are saved as individual output files. For example, if the multipass settings result in 10 passes, then 10 output files are created (one file for each pass). Note that if you selected multiple sheets to process, you will get an output file for each sheet / pass combination.
   Save or Email Files	Select a delivery option for the output file (or files): Save Files: The output files are saved to the specified output folder. Email Files: The output files are emailed to the specified recipients. The output files are not saved anywhere on the file system. Save and Email Files: The output files are both saved and emailed. If you select an option that includes emailing, then the Email Settings section displays in the File Processing pane.
   Purge Setting	This option only applies when the file output is being saved to the Axiom Repository. If you want the file output to be automatically deleted after a specified period of time, then click the pencil icon to open the Choose Date dialog. No purge date (default): File output is not automatically deleted. Static purge date: Select a specific date, after which the output will be deleted. Relative purge date: Specify a number of days to keep the output after it has been generated. The output will be deleted after the specified number of days have passed. For more information, see Automatically deleting file output generated by file processing.
   Remote Data Connection	This option only applies when the file output is being saved to your local file system, and only for Axiom Cloud systems that are using remote data connections. Select the name of the remote data connection to use for the file processing operation. The designated remote data connection will be used to access the local file system and save output file(s) to the designated location. A remote data connection is required to save files locally from an Axiom Cloud system. For more information, see Managing remote data connections.

   Opening the file after processing: If desired, you can opt to automatically open the output file within Axiom after the processing is complete. This option is only available if the result of the processing is a single file. If you want to use this option, it must be manually configured on the Control Sheet. In the File Settings section, set Open Output File after Processing to On. For more information, see File Processing Control Sheet.

7. If you chose to email the output file (or files), complete the Email Settings:

   Item	Description
   To Bcc	Enter the email addresses to receive the output file via email. Separate multiple addresses with a semicolon. If the file will be processed using multipass processing, to multiple output files, then you should use formulas to dynamically generate the appropriate email recipients for each pass (otherwise each pass will be sent to the same recipients). See Using dynamic email addresses with file processing.
   From	Select one of the following to specify the From address: System User: The From address is the default From address specified for Axiom in the system configuration settings. Current User: The From address is the email address for the user who performs the file processing, as defined in Security.
   Subject Line	Enter a subject line for the email. NOTE: If you want to use bracketed text in the subject line, you must escape this text with an additional set of brackets, so that Axiom does not try to evaluate the bracketed text as a file processing variable. For example, if you want the text "[Axiom Message]" in the subject line of the email, you must enter [[Axiom Message]] in the Subject Line field. The extra set of brackets is removed when the email is generated.
   Body Text	Enter body text for the email. NOTE: If you want to use bracketed text in the body text, you must escape this text with an additional set of brackets, so that Axiom does not try to evaluate the bracketed text as a file processing variable. For example, if you want the text "[Sent from Axiom]" in the body text of the email, you must enter [[Sent from Axiom]] in the Body Text field. The extra set of brackets is removed when the email is generated.

   For more information, see How email is delivered for file processing.

8. If you want to use multipass processing on the file, then complete the MultiPass Settings.

   For Source Column, click the column icon to select the source column for multipass processing. For example, if you select DEPT.VP as the source column, then the file will be processed once for each VP, and the data in the file will be automatically filtered to show only the data for that VP.

   To confirm that the file will be processed using your desired list of items, click Preview Multipass List. A dialog opens, displaying the total number of items to process, as well as the list of individual items.

   For more information on multipass processing, and for details on advanced settings, see Configuring multipass settings for file processing.

9. When you are finished configuring the file processing settings, click File Options > Save to save the settings in the file.

Results

Users can now use File Output > File Processing to process the file. The following actions will occur:

• When using Process File, the file will be refreshed "as is," the data will be extracted to the specified file format, and the export file will be saved and/or emailed according to the file processing settings.

• When using Process File Multipass, the file will be refreshed using a multipass filter to limit the data to the current multipass item (for example, for the current VP if processing by DEPT.VP). This process will occur for each unique multipass item being processed, with a different multipass filter being applied for each pass.

  If the file generation is to multiple output files, then the data is extracted to the specified file format after each pass, and then saved and/or emailed according to the file processing settings.

  If the file generation is to a single output file, then the data from each pass is extracted and stored in memory until all passes are complete. When all of the passes are complete, the data is placed in the specified file format, and then saved and/or emailed according to the file processing settings.