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Delimited files separate the content of columns and rows using special delimiter characters. These are commonly used by relational databases and other data-related tools as a standard, portable data format. Tabs and commas are the most common delimiters between columns, and linefeeds are the most common delimiters between rows. Delimited files always store data in character format, though they can correlate to binary datatypes in a table definition.

Omnidex supports a wide variety of delimited files including the standard tab-delimited and comma-delimited formats, but also allows any combination of one or two characters for delimiters. This allows greater flexibility when receiving data from other sources, and also allows administrators to create delimited files based on their specific needs. Omnidex also allows configuration options specifying how quotation marks are handled, how escape characters are used, and whether header rows are present.

In the example below, each row consumes a variable amount of space, based on the actual length of the data. Columns are separated by commas and rows are separated by linefeeds, so Omnidex will parse the file to read it as a table. All data is stored in character format, including binary data.

AK,Alaska,02,PC,US,0.000000                  
AL,Alabama,01,ES,US,4.000000                 
AR,Arkansas,05,WS,US,4.625000                
AZ,Arizona,04,MT,US,5.000000                 
CA,California,06,PC,US,6.000000              
CO,Colorado,08,MT,US,3.000000                
CT,Connecticut,09,NE,US,6.000000             
DC,District of Columbia,11,SA,US,5.750000    
DE,Delaware,10,SA,US,0.000000                
FL,Florida,12,SA,US,6.000000                 
GA,Georgia,13,SA,US,4.000000                 
HI,Hawaii,15,PC,US,4.000000                  
IA,Iowa,19,WN,US,5.000000                    
ID,Idaho,16,MT,US,5.000000                   
IL,Illinois,17,EN,US,6.250000                
IN,Indiana,18,EN,US,5.000000                 
KS,Kansas,20,WN,US,4.900000                  
KY,Kentucky,21,ES,US,6.000000                
LA,Louisiana,22,WS,US,4.000000               
MA,Massachusetts,25,NE,US,5.000000           
MD,Maryland,24,SA,US,5.000000                
ME,Maine,23,NE,US,6.000000                   
MI,Michigan,26,EN,US,6.000000                
MN,Minnesota,27,WN,US,6.500000               
MO,Missouri,29,WN,US,4.225000                
MS,Mississippi,28,ES,US,7.000000             
MT,Montana,30,MT,US,0.000000                 
NC,North Carolina,37,SA,US,4.000000          
ND,North Dakota,38,WN,US,5.000000            
NE,Nebraska,31,WN,US,5.000000                
NH,New Hampshire,33,NE,US,0.000000           
NJ,New Jersey,34,MA,US,6.000000              
NM,New Mexico,35,MT,US,5.000000              
NV,Nevada,32,MT,US,6.500000                  
NY,New York,36,MA,US,4.000000                
OH,Ohio,39,EN,US,5.000000                    
OK,Oklahoma,40,WS,US,4.500000                
OR,Oregon,41,PC,US,0.000000                  
PA,Pennsylvania,42,MA,US,6.000000            
RI,Rhode Island,44,NE,US,7.000000            
SC,South Carolina,45,SA,US,5.000000          
SD,South Dakota,46,WN,US,4.000000            
TN,Tennessee,47,ES,US,6.000000               
TX,Texas,48,WS,US,6.250000                   
UT,Utah,49,MT,US,4.750000                    
VA,Virginia,51,SA,US,3.500000                
VT,Vermont,50,NE,US,5.000000                 
WA,Washington,53,PC,US,6.500000              
WI,Wisconsin,55,EN,US,5.000000               
WV,West Virginia,54,SA,US,6.000000           
WY,Wyoming,56,MT,US,4.000000                 

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