Overview

Comma-separated values is the lowest common denominator of enterprise data exchange. Almost every system in an estate can produce it: HR systems export headcount, procurement exports purchase records, facilities exports floor and seat allocations, and any vendor tool without an API will still produce a report as a CSV. This connector is the general-purpose route for all of that.

The connector reads delimited text files and writes them to staging tables. The csv_file.php driver takes the first row as the header, derives the destination columns from it, and loads each subsequent row as a record. Column names are taken from the file, so the shape of the staging table follows the shape of the export. Files are read either from a directory on the ReadyWorks server, including files uploaded through the console, or pulled from an FTP server.

In a ReadyWorks context this is how data that has no connector of its own reaches the data fabric. Joiner and leaver feeds, seat and location registers, application ownership spreadsheets and cost centre mappings typically arrive this way, and once staged they reconcile against device and identity data from the API connectors. Two job settings matter for recurring feeds: Append Files to Same Destination Table combines several files from one path into a single table, and Append New Data to Existing Tables accumulates each run’s rows instead of replacing the table.

The connector is inbound only. It reads files and writes staging tables, and it never writes a file back out.

Connector Properties

Authentication Methods

Two methods ship. Both use the same parsing driver and differ only in where the file comes from.

Method 1: Comma Separated File (CSV_file)

No Authentication

Comma Separated File reads from a directory on the ReadyWorks server. Set Server File Path to that directory (the default is storage/etl5), and set Manual File Upload to Yes when operators will attach files through the console. Process Unchanged Files controls whether re-reading a file that has not changed since the last run is treated as an error, which is the setting to relax when a feed is delivered less often than the job runs.

Connection Configuration Fields (3)

No authentication recipe is stored. The driver script authenticates natively using the fields above.

Method 2: FTP Server (CSV_ftp)

Download CSV files from an FTP server

FTP Server downloads files from an FTP host before parsing them. Supply the server name and port (the default is 21), and a temporary working path on the ReadyWorks server where downloaded files are held during processing. Username and Password are optional, which allows anonymous FTP. Use this when the source system can only push files to a drop server.

Connection Configuration Fields (5)

No authentication recipe is stored. The driver script authenticates natively using the fields above.

NOTE: The form has no option for FTPS or SFTP, and no certificate settings. Plain FTP carries credentials and file contents without encryption, so keep the transfer inside a trusted network segment.

NOTE: The Password field’s help text reads “Enter username of the FTP connection”. Enter the password.

Inbound Job Fields Enabled (11)

These are the job-level settings exposed for a CSV import.

Inbound Job Templates (1)

One inbound template ships as a worked example. It arrives disabled and points at a placeholder file name, so it is a starting point to copy rather than a job to enable.

Job Template Configuration

Settings

Job Parameters and Enumeration

CSV File

CSV File or Path: your_csv_file.csv

Outbound Job Templates (0)

This connector ships no outbound templates and does not support outbound jobs.