tFileInputDelimited using header name to order column

Careau — Wed, 10 Apr 2024 18:43:05 GMT

I have To import a csv file in a table.
I use a tFileInputDelimited -> tMap -> tDbOutput
It's working well. But the system that provided me with the file cannot assure me that the columns will always be in the same order.

Is there a way to parse the csv using the column header name instead of the fixed column order specified in the tMap?

Re: tFileInputDelimited using header name to order column

gvarun_arthasolutions — Sat, 29 Nov 2025 20:42:13 GMT

Hello,

tFileInputDelimited maps columns by position, not by header name.

Even if you tick “Set heading row as column names,” that only helps with metadata display — it doesn’t dynamically reorder the data.

Talend doesn’t have a built‑in “map by header name” option in tFileInputDelimited.

Workarounds

Use tFileInputDelimited + tSchemaComplianceCheck

Read the file as raw strings (e.g., all columns as String).
Use the header row to detect column positions.
Then remap dynamically in a tMap or tJavaRow.

Read as a single line and parse yourself

Configure tFileInputDelimited with only one column (the whole line).
In a tJavaRow or tExtractDelimitedFields, split the line by delimiter.
Use the header row to build a map of headerName → index.
Then extract values by header name, regardless of order.

Example in tJavaRow:

String[] headers = (String[])globalMap.get("headers"); // stored earlier

String[] values = input_row.line.split(";");

output_row.myColumn = values[findIndex(headers, "myColumnHeader")];

Use tFileInputFullRow + custom parsing

Similar to above, but gives you the entire row as a string.
You can then parse with Java or Talend routines, using header names.

Switch to tFileInputPositional or tFileInputRegex

If the file format is flexible, regex or positional parsing can give you more control.
Still requires custom logic to align headers with values.

Pre‑process the file

Run a small preprocessing job that:

Reads the header row
Reorders the columns into a fixed order
Writes out a “normalized” CSV

Then feed that normalized CSV into your existing Talend flow.
Thanks

topic tFileInputDelimited using header name to order column in Talend Studio

tFileInputDelimited using header name to order column

Re: tFileInputDelimited using header name to order column