Data Files - CSV Format vs. Fixed-Width Format

Data files must be formatted one of two ways in order to be read by the system; that of Fixed-Width or Comma Separated Variable (CSV). Each of these formats is read differently by definition files.

It is easy to produce a file in the CSV format with other software programs. Data is separated by commas (or other delimiters such as colons, semicolons and pipes) in this format.

In the Fixed-Width (FW) format, similar data appears in the same position of each line of data.

The following samples show how to format the exact same data for both a CSV file and a FW file:

CSV Data Sample

The following lines of data are formatted for a CSV data file. Notice that there are commas between each field:

01-101-40001-101-101-1,04/06/2001,C,1000,FAS Fund-CA

01-101-11001,04/06/2001,D,1000,FAS Fund-CA

01-101-40001-101-101-1,04/06/2001,C,1000,Travel-CA

01-101-11001,04/06/2001,D,1000,Travel-CA

Fixed-Width Data Sample

The following lines of data are formatted for a fixed-width data file. Notice that spaces are used to line the fields up in the same position:

01 101 40001 101 101 1 04/06/2001 C 1000 FAS Fund-CA

01 101 11001           04/06/2001 D 1000 FAS Fund-CA

01 101 40001 101 101 1 04/06/2001 C 1000 Travel-CA

01 101 11001           04/06/2001 D 1000 Travel-CA