> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.kinetica.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Kinetica FileSystem Import

Using the *Kinetica FileSystem (KiFS) Import* wizard, files staged in
[KiFS](/content/tools/kifs) can be imported into *Kinetica*.

To import a file from *KiFS* into *Kinetica*, click on the
**Kinetica FileSystem** panel on the [Import](/content/admin/workbench/ui/import)
landing page in [Workbench](/content/admin/workbench).

The **Kinetica FileSystem Import** wizard appears in the
right-hand pane.

<img src="https://mintcdn.com/kinetica/sjJMVofFVyzBN4Br/content/admin/workbench/images/wb.import_kifs.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=sjJMVofFVyzBN4Br&q=85&s=dd7ebfbf33f2ae0668e37b457dab4ba2" alt="../../../images/wb.import_kifs.png" width="466px" data-path="content/admin/workbench/images/wb.import_kifs.png" />

The wizard has two tabs:

* **Import** - contains the 5-step process for importing files
  from *KiFS*
* **History** - lists all of your previous *KiFS* import attempts

## Import Overview

When importing, the following five steps will need to be completed:

* [Setup](#setup)
* [Source](#source)
* [Destination](#destination)
* [Configure](#configure)
* [Summary](#summary)

At any step, the following actions are available at the bottom of the screen:

* **Next** - proceed to the next step
* **Back** - return to the previous step
* **Cancel** - exit the import process
* **Import** - once enough information has been specified to
  begin importing data, the **Import** button will become active

## Setup

In this step, the file to import from *KiFS* is selected.

* **File** - click the control to open the *KiFS* file selector,
  which shows a list of the *KiFS* directories, and as each is clicked, the
  files contained within that directory; click any file to select for import

Once the file to upload has been specified, click **Next** to
proceed to the **Source** selection page to configure the file
parser for the file selected.

## Source

In this step, the parser is configured for the selected *KiFS* file.

* **Source** - pre-selected as *Kinetica Filesystem*
* **File Path** - pre-selected as a *KiFS* reference to the file
  chosen in the previous step
* **Format** - select the format of the *KiFS* file from the
  drop-down

If the source data is in a delimited text file, options for parsing the file can
be specified (see [Delimited Text Options](/content/sql/load#sql-load-file-server-delim-opt) for details):

* **Delimiter** - select the character that delimits field values
  in the source file:

  * `|` - default delimiter for <Badge color="gray">.psv</Badge> (pipe-separated value)
    files
  * `\t` - (tab) default delimiter for <Badge color="gray">.tsv</Badge>
    (tab-separated value) files
  * `,` - default delimiter for <Badge color="gray">.csv</Badge> (comma-separated value)
    files and all other types of text files

* **Escape Character** - select the character used to escape
  special characters (like the field delimiter) found within field values; e.g.,
  a `\` might be used to escape commas within field values in a
  <Badge color="gray">.csv</Badge> file

* **Comment Identifier** - select the character(s) with which
  comment lines within the source file begin

* **Quote Character** - select the character used to quote field
  values; e.g., a `"` might be used to quote field values containing commas in
  a <Badge color="gray">.csv</Badge> file

* **Null Identifier** - select the character(s) used to identify
  *null* field values

* **Has Header** - check the box if the source file contains a
  header row at the top

Once the source file and parameters have been selected, click
**Next** to proceed to the **Destination**
selection page.

## Destination

In this step, the target table to import into is selected.

* **Schema** - name of the schema containing the target table;
  if blank, the user's [default schema](/content/concepts/schemas#schema-default) will be
  used
* **Table** - name of the target table, which must meet
  [table naming criteria](/content/concepts/tables#table-naming-criteria); *Workbench* will
  suggest a table name here, if possible
* **Batch Size** - number of records from the source to
  insert into the database at a time; this can be used to tune the ingest speed
  for source data with many records or wide columns
* **Abort on Error** - check, to have the import stop at the
  first record import failure; any records imported by this point will remain in
  the target table
* **Bad Records Table** - when **Abort on Error**
  is unchecked, the errant records will be written to the specified table

  * **Schema** - schema in which the bad records table should
    reside
  * **Table** - name for the bad records table

Once the destination has been specified, click **Next** to
proceed to the **Configure** page.

## Configure

In this step, the target table's structure can be specified, if the table does
not exist.  Not specifying any structure will cause the import process to infer
the table's structure from the source data.

To specify a table structure, click **+ Add Column** once for
each field in the source data, then enter the specification for each column,
including:

* **Name** - name of the column, which must meet the standard
  [naming criteria](/content/concepts/tables#table-naming-criteria)
* **Type** - type of the column, and sub-type, if applicable
* **Nullable** - check the box if the column should allow *null*
  values
* **Properties** - check any properties that should apply to this
  column:

  * **Primary Key** - make this column the
    [primary key](/content/concepts/tables#primary-key) or part of a
    *composite primary key*
  * **Shard Key** - make this column the
    [shard key](/content/concepts/tables#shard-key) or part of a
    *composite shard key*
  * **Dict. Encoded** - apply
    [dictionary encoding](/content/concepts/dictionary_encoding) to the
    column's values, reducing storage used for columns with more often repeated
    data
  * **Init. with Now** - replace empty or invalid values inserted
    into this column with the current date/time
  * **Init. with UUID** - replace empty values inserted into this
    column with a universally unique identifier (UUID)
  * **Text Search** - make this column
    [full-text searchable](/content/concepts/full_text_search), using
    [FILTER\_BY\_STRING](/content/sql/query#sql-string-functions-fts) in *search* mode

To remove a column from the proposed target table, click the trash can icon at
the far right of the column's definition.

Once the table configuration has been established, click **Next**
to proceed to the **Summary** page.

## Summary

In this step, the import configuration will be displayed.

All **Source**, **Destination**, &
**Error Handling** configuration will be displayed in their
respective sections.

The **Generated SQL** section will contain the SQL
[LOAD INTO](/content/sql/load#sql-load-into) command corresponding to the import
operation that will take place.  The copy-to-clipboard icon can be used to copy
the SQL statement for subsequent use, to re-import data from the same file into
the same table.

Once the import configuration has been confirmed, click
**Import** to import the file's data.
