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Data format settingsdefinehowdates,timesandnumbersareformattedbydefaultinthedata
source.
Inputdatasettings(Delimiters)
TheInput Datasettings(ontheSettingspaneattheleft)specifyhowtheinputdatamustbeinter-
preted.Thesesettingsaredifferentforeachdatatype.ForaCSVfile,forexample,itisimportantto
specifythedelimiterthatseparatesdatafields.PDFfilesarealreadydelimitednaturallybypage,sothe
onlyinputdatasettingsforPDFfilesareinstructionsonhowtoparsethetextoneachpage.
Foranoverviewofalloptions,see:"InputData"onpage307.
Settings for a CSV File
InaCSVfile,dataisreadlinebyline,whereeachlinemaycontainmultiplefields,separatedbya
delimiter.EventhoughCSVstandsforcomma-separatedvalues,fieldsmaybeseparatedusingany
character,includingcommas,tabs,semicolons,andpipes.
Thetext delimiterisusedtowraparoundeachfieldjustincasethefieldvaluescontainthefieldsep-
arator.Thisensuresthat,forexample,thefield“Smith;John”isnotinterpretedastwofields,evenifthe
fielddelimiteristhesemicolon.
Foranexplanationofalltheoptions,see:"CSVfileInputDatasettings"onpage307.
Settings for an Excel File
ForanExcelfileyouhavetospecifywhichsheettouse.Youcanalsosethowmanylinesshouldbe
skipped,ifthefirstrowcontainsfieldnamesornot,andhowthedatashouldbesorted.See:"Excelfile
InputDatasettings"onpage308.
Excelhasitsownwaytodisplaydates.YoucanspecifyiftheDataViewershoulddisplaydatesjustas
Exceldoes,ornot.That'simportantbecauseextractingaDatevaluewillonlybesuccessfuliftheexpec-
teddateformatmatchestheactualformatofadateintheDataViewer.
ThisEditorDataFormatsettingisfoundontheSettingspane;see:"EditorDataFormat"onpage318.
Theexpecteddateformatissetsomewhereelse;see:"DefaultDataFormat"onpage319.
Settings for a PDF File
PDFfileshaveaclearandunmovabledelimiter:pages.So,theInputDatasettingsarenotusedtoset
delimiters.Instead,theseoptionsdeterminehowwords,linesandparagraphsaredetectedwhenyou
selectcontentinthePDFtoextractdatafromit.
Foranexplanationofalltheoptions,see:"PDFfileInputDatasettings"onpage308.
Settings for a database
Databasesallreturnthesametypeofinformation.ThereforetheInputDataoptionsforadatabase
refertothetablesinsidethedatabase.Clickingonanyofthetablesshowsthefirstlineofthedatain
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