Database to Text File¶

Create a New Transformation¶

Make sure you have opened the appropriate project in which you want to store the new transformation.
There are several ways you can start to create a new transformation:
- Select New in the File menu, then choose New Transformation from the sub-menu; OR
- Click the down arrow next to the file icon in the toolbar, then choose New Transformation from the sub-menu.
Right-click on Transformations in the hierarchical tree in the Design tab in the left pane of the screen, then choose New Transformation from the pop-up menu.
If you are working in an operation, you can click the control button to the right of the Transformation field and select Create New; OR
The transformation wizard appears in its own New Transformation tab in the right pane of the window.

Specify Source and Target Types¶

Enter an appropriate name for your new transformation in the Transformation Name field.
Select Database from the Source drop-down list and Text from the Target drop-down list.
Click the Next button in the toolbar to continue.

Select Source Database Information¶

In the next screen of the Transformation Wizard, select the name of the source that holds the database information you want to transform from the Database Source drop-down menu, OR click the control button to the right of the field to create a new source database.
Click the Next button in the toolbar to continue.
The next steps you follow depend upon whether you want to use only a single table in your source database, or whether you need to access more than one database table. Select how you will get information from your source database:
- More than one table in the source database will be accessed.
- Only a single table in the source database will be accessed.

Select Text Target Information¶

In the next screen of the Transformation Wizard, select the document definition that you want to hold the transformed text from the Select a Document drop-down menu, OR click the control button to the right of the field to create a new definition. See Creating a New Text Document Definition or Creating a Text Document Definition from a Template File for additional information.
Click Save to save your work and exit out of the Transformation Wizard.

What's Next?¶

Now that you have defined the nature of the source and your desired target, you are ready to map the relationship between your source and target at the field, or element, level.

Note

On Flat-to-Flat Transformations:

You can create a transformation from a flat database source to a flat database or flat text target. You can afterwards update the source (whereas normally in transformations the target is updated); but be aware that you must hard-code any updates to the source.

Note that in such a transformation the target, as well as the source, must also be flat.