Creating a Data Connector data source that accesses data in a .CSV formatted text file

Products

• IT Management Suite
• Asset Management Suite

Issue/Introduction

 This article describes how to create and configure a Data Connector data source to access data in a .CSV (Comma Separated-Value) formatted text file.

Environment

ITMS 8.x

Asset Management 8.x

Resolution

 A Data Connector data source is needed to access the user's data so that a Data Connector import rule can later import this into the Symantec Management Platform database. For more information on how to use Data Connector or how to use different data source types, refer to the following article:
 
Using Data Connector to import data into the Symantec Management Platform database
 

1. In the Symantec Management Platform Console, click on the Settings button > All Settings.
2. Click on to expand the folders Notification Server > Connector > Data Sources.
3. Right click on the Data Sources folder > New > CSV File Data Source. 
4. Click on the New CSV File Data Source name and change this to a new name. For example "Data source used for importing computers from a .CSV file".
5. Click on "Add description", if desired, to add an optional description.
6. Click in the "Delimiter character" drop-down list and select the character that is used to separate Comma Separated-Values in the .CSV file. By default, this is a comma ",".
7. If the .CSV file includes columns, leave the "CSV file contains column headings" checkbox checked. Otherwise, click to uncheck this.
8. Click on the "Allow import" checkbox to enable it.
9. In the "Import from file" field, select the .CSV file to use. The .CSV file must be on the Symantec Management Platform server or available to it via a UNC path.
   
   If the .CSV file is on the Symantec Management Platform server:
   
   a. Click on the "Import from file" browse ("...") button.
   b. Navigate to where the .CSV file is located at.
   c. Click on to select the .CSV file.
   d. Click on the Open button.
   
   If the .CSV file is available from a UNC path:
   
   a. Type the UNC path to where the .CSV file is located at and then add its file name. For example: \\ServerX\c$\user data\mydata.csv.
    
10. Click on the "View import data" button to view the data from the .CSV file. If the data doesn't appear as expected, correct the .CSV file data until it does.
11. If data is to be pre-processed using C# code:
    
    a. Click on the "Pre-process import data" checkbox to enable it.
    b. Click on the "Edit function" button.
    c. Type the C# code to use.
    d. Click on the "Save changes" button.
    e. Click on the "View import data" button again. If the data no longer appears as expected, correct the C# code until it does.
    
    Note: When setting up the data source, it is not recommended to immediately set up its pre-processing C# code as that may further complicate the configuration. This can be skipped and later added after the data source and import rule are configured and working. For information about how to use C# code for data source pre-processing, refer to the following article:
    
    Using C# code for Data Connector data source pre-processing
     
12. Click on the "Save changes" button. The data source should now look similar to the following example:
    
     
     
13. Next, create a Data Connector import rule that uses the data source created in these instructions. For more information on how to create a Data Connector import rule, refer to the following article:
    
    Create a Data Connector import rule that creates or updates resources