Add a Data Viewer to a Data Flow

This topic describes how to add and configure a data viewer in a data flow. A data viewer displays data that is moving between two data flow components. For example, a data viewer can display the data that is extracted from a data source before a transformation in the data flow modifies the data.

A path connects components in a data flow by connecting the output of one data flow component to the input of another component.

Before you can add data viewers to a package, the package must include a Data Flow task and at least two data flow components that are connected.

To add a data viewer to a data flow

  1. In SQL Server Data Tools (SSDT), open the Integration Services project that contains the package you want.

  2. In Solution Explorer, double-click the package to open it.

  3. Click the Control Flow tab, if it is not already active.

  4. Click the Data Flow task to whose data flow you want to attach a data viewer and then click the Data Flow tab.

  5. Right-click a path between two data flow components, and click Edit.

  6. On the General page, you can view and edit path properties. For example, from the PathAnnotation drop-down list you can select the annotation that appears next to the path.

  7. On the Metadata page, you can view the column metadata and copy the metadata to the Clipboard.

  8. On the Data Viewer page, click Enable data viewer.

  9. In the Columns to display area, select the columns you want to display in the data viewer. By default, all the available columns are selected and listed in the Displayed Columns list. Move columns that you do not want to use to the Unused Column list by selecting them and then clicking the left arrow.

    Note

    In the grid, values that represent the DT_DATE, DT_DBTIME2, DT_FILETIME, DT_DBTIMESTAMP, DT_DBTIMESTAMP2, and DT_DBTIMESTAMPOFFSET data types appear as ISO 8601 formatted strings and a space separator replaces the T separator. Values that represent the DT_DATE and DT_FILETIME data types include seven digits for fractional seconds. Because the DT_FILETIME data type stores only three digits of fractional seconds, the grid displays zeros for the remaining four digits. Values that represent the DT_DBTIMESTAMP data type include three digits for fractional seconds. For values that represent the DT_DBTIME2, DT_DBTIMESTAMP2, and DT_DBTIMESTAMPOFFSET data types, the number of digits for fractional seconds corresponds to the scale specified for the column's data type. For more information about ISO 8601 formats, see Date and Time Formats. For more information about data types, see Integration Services Data Types.

  10. Click OK.

See Also

Tasks

Debugging Data Flow

Concepts

Integration Services Transformations

Integration Services Paths

Data Flow