I am trying to load an ASCII file with only a linefeed indicator using fixed column markers and skipping the first row. Defining the file works fine. but when I try to preview the same source in the transformation I get an invalid column length message.

Does anyone know what the problem (and solution) is?

Is this DTS or SSIS?
Post your file schema (a few example lines).
If DTS, I presume you are using a Data pump task and the destination is SQL Server.
Give a little more info please

David Lundell
Principal Consultant and Trainer
www.mutuallybeneficial.com

David,

This is a DTS problem.

I am enclosing the first five text lines. The input file is a text file.
I'm defining 29 fixed length columns and have editted the original
file to create a carriage control at the 140th position. I define
the fixed length columns in the properties tab for the text file source with no problems, but when I go to the properties in the Transform Data Task and select source I get the 'invalid column lengt' message. I am not able to view the file from that tab even though I can see it in the properties of the text file source.

Den

B0018001055102 000115500 000519750000 0627200626178006505250 C00000000 A100000 00000 %100 00000000
B001800130H105 000058200 000116400000 0627200626178000205250 C00000000 A100000 00000 %100 00000000
B001800206R102 000263900 000712530000 0627200626178000305250 C00000000 A100000 00000 %100 00000000
B001800206R102 000189000 000510300000 0628200626179001905250 C00000000 A100000 00000 %100 00000000
B001800206R102 000088000 000237600000 0705200626186000905300 C00000000 A100000 00000 %100 00000000

When you delimit the fixed fields it is possible to mark the start of the record as a column but then DTS sees it as an invalid length. As soon as I removed that mark, the problem was solved.

There's no other way to enter an invalid length - double clicking the same column removes the delimiter, it doesn't create two.

Interesting that Microsoft came up with an error message but didn't make it impossib;e to delimit at the start of the record.



There are 10 kinds of people in the world - those that understand binary and those that don't.