Using the Management Agent for Fixed-Width Text Files

By using the management agent for fixed-width text files, you can synchronize data that is contained in fixed-width text files.

Connected data source support

• Fixed-width text files

Management agent type

• This is a file-based management agent.

Schema

The schema is generated based on the discovery of the data in the template input file. When you refresh the schema for this management agent, Management Agent Designer starts, reads the template input file, and then updates the management agent schema. Then, you can update the management agent configuration based on the new schema. You cannot edit the schema for fixed-width text files.

Remarks

• The fixed-width text file format consists of one record per line, where each record contains a series of attributes, separated by columns. You can specify the first row in the fixed-width text file as header names. After you have parsed the fixed-width text file, you can adjust the column width in Management Agent Designer. The following table is an example of a fixed-width file format.

  Numb	CustNumb	FirstName	LastName	Address	City	State	Zip
  1	Cust1	Jeff	Smith	12 Broad Street	San Francisco	CA	11700
  2	Cust2	Chris	Preston	34 State Street	Anchorage	AK	21002

  Multiple-value attributes and their header names must be in sequential order. A field with any attribute cannot appear between fields that compose a single multiple-value attribute. The following table is an example of a valid fixed-width file format containing a single multiple-value attribute (Phone), composed of two fields (Phone, Phone).

  Numb	FirstName	LastName	Phone	Phone
  1	Jeff	Smith	555-555-1212	555-555-1234
  1	Chris	Preston	555-555-1313	555-555-1345

  The following table is an example of an invalid delimited file format containing a multiple-value attribute (Phone). The LastName delimited field appears between two delimited fields, (Phone) and (Phone) that make a single multiple-value attribute (Phone).

  Numb	FirstName	Phone	LastName	Phone
  1	Jeff	555-555-1212	Smith	555-555-1234
  1	Chris	555-555-1313	Preston	555-555-1345

• FIM treats all data as case sensitive.

• File-based management agents do not export characters that are not in the destination code page. FIM fails when it attempts to export objects that contain any character that is not in the target connected data source code page. If you try to avoid this behavior by converting the file to Unicode and then doing a best-fit translation, FIM cannot confirm the export. As a workaround, you can do your own file translation during export attribute flow.

• For file-based management agents, the template input file should contain all the object classes and attributes that will be synchronized, and it should be in a full import format.

• If you use a template input file that is larger than 200 KB, FIM analyzes only the first 100 objects when discovering the schema. As a result, if there are object classes and attributes that you want to synchronize that do not appear in the first 100 objects, manually add those object classes and attributes as connector space object types and attributes. Depending on the size of the file, a delay might occur when FIM reads the entire file.

• File-based management agents only support importing a single value for the object class (OC) attribute. If you try to import a multivalued OC attribute from a connected data source, the management agent fails with a multi-single-mismatch error.

• This management agent supports password management. For more information, see See Also.

See Also

Concepts

Configuring Management Agents
Create a Management Agent
Select a Template Input File
Confirm Fixed-Width Text File Format
Configure Attributes
Map Object Types
Define Object Types
Configure Partitions
Configure Connector Filter Rules
Configure Join and Projection Rules
Configure Attribute Flow Rules
Configure Deprovisioning Rules
Configure Password Management and Specify Rules Extensions
Password Management