====Text-File Data Driver===

===Information===

Loads point-data from text files (such as CSV or Tab Delimited text files).

The files must conform to the expected format, shown below in the //File Format// section.

^Driver Info^Detail^
|Driver Type:|**Live and History**|
|Platforms:|**All**|

===Performance Notes===

While live data performs acceptably, we suggest only using the text-file historian driver during testing, It is extremely inefficient when used on long files, which is the precise reason that databases and our database drivers exist.

===Settings===

There are four options when setting up the driver.

^Option^Description^
|Filename|The full path to the file on the server machine or an accessible network share|
|Delimiter|The delimiter character between columns - usually a comma (,) in CSV files, or a Tab in Tab-Delimited files|
|Lookup Column|The zero-based column number that contains the point name|
|Value Column|The zero-based column number that contains the point value|

===Example===

Let's take a look at the following CSV file...

<code>
POINT_A,12.3
POINT_B,13.7
POINT_C,11.4
</code>

In this case, the **delimiter** is a //comma//, the **lookup column** (the column that gives a name for the point) is //0// and the **value column** (the column that gives the value for the point) is //1//.

===Installation===

**Windows:** \\ Available on the [[http://www.optrix.com.au/library|ARDI Downloads]] site for Windows servers.

**Linux:** 
<code>
sudo apt-get install ardi-rnd
</code>

===File Format===

The files used by this driver must contain //one point per line//.

Generally, they should appear in the format //<name><delimiter><value><newline>//. However by changing the default column numbers, you can adjust exactly where the name and value are loaded from.

<code>
POINT_A,12.3
POINT_B,13.7
POINT_C,11.4
</code>