Nexadata supports three Data Formats for file-based Datasets: Tabular, Spreadsheet, and PDF. You choose the format on the Connect Data step when creating or editing a Dataset, and your choice changes what the wizard asks you for: each format exposes its own settings, and PDF adds an extra step. This article explains each format, the file types it covers, and the conventions Nexadata expects so your data ingests cleanly. All three formats work with Nexadata's file-based connections, including Nexadata Hub, Amazon S3, and SFTP.
Every Dataset, whatever its format, is created the same way: go to Setup, select Datasets, and click Create New Dataset.
How Your Format Choice Changes the Setup
The Data Format selector sits above the source file fields on the Connect Data step. Selecting a different format updates the form immediately and, in the case of PDF, changes the steps shown in the progress bar at the top of the wizard.
Data Format | Steps in the wizard | What appears on Connect Data |
Tabular | Connect Data → Define Columns | An Auto Detect Delimiter toggle |
Spreadsheet | Connect Data → Define Columns | Spreadsheet options, unlocked once you select a source file |
Connect Data → Process PDF → Define Columns | No extra fields, configuration happens on the Process PDF step |
The source fields themselves vary by the Data Connection you picked, so an S3 connection asks for a bucket and path while other connections ask for their own equivalents. The Data Format settings below appear the same way regardless of which connection you use.
Tabular
Tabular data refers to delimited text files that organize records into rows and columns using a consistent character to separate fields. The most common tabular format is CSV (Comma-Separated Values), but Nexadata also supports tab-delimited and semicolon-delimited files under the same Tabular setting.
A proper tabular file includes:
Consistent Delimiters: Each field in a row is separated by the same delimiter (comma, tab, or semicolon in Nexadata).
Quoted Strings: If a field contains the delimiter character itself, that field should be enclosed in double quotes.
No Extraneous Characters: Proper tabular files do not include stray characters or line breaks within records unless handled correctly with quotes.
Auto Detect Delimiter
Selecting Tabular adds an Auto Detect Delimiter toggle below the source file fields. It is enabled by default, which lets Nexadata inspect the file and determine the separator for you. Turn it off when you want to state the delimiter explicitly, which is useful if a file contains characters that make detection ambiguous.
Supported Tabular Delimiters
Nexadata supports the following delimiters:
Comma ( , )
Tab
Semicolon ( ; )
Note: Additional delimiter options are planned for future updates.
Example of Proper Tabular Format
With a comma delimiter:
Name,Age,City
"John Doe",29,"New York"
"Jane Smith",34,"Los Angeles"
Spreadsheet
Spreadsheet format refers to Excel-style workbook files (.xlsx, .xls, .xlsm). Unlike a flat tabular file, a workbook can contain multiple sheets, formatting, formulas, banner rows, title blocks, and other non-tabular content. Nexadata's Spreadsheet ingestion is built to handle that complexity by letting you specify which sheet to read, where the data region begins on that sheet, and whether to auto-detect or hard-code the size of the data block.
Common use cases include:
Monthly or quarterly reports exported from BI tools, ERPs, or planning platforms that include a logo and title rows above the data
Multi-sheet workbooks where only one tab contains the data you want to load
Files with subheaders, merged cells, or notes between the header row and the first data row
Spreadsheet Options Appear After You Select a File
Selecting Spreadsheet does not immediately show the sheet and layout settings. Because those settings describe the contents of a specific workbook, Nexadata displays a notice telling you to select your source file first. Once the file is selected, the spreadsheet options replace the notice and you can configure Sheet Name, Anchor Cell, Header Offset, Dynamic Range, and fixed Rows and Columns.
For step-by-step instructions on configuring those settings, see Setting Up a Spreadsheet Dataset.
Example Spreadsheet Layout
A typical workbook sheet looks like this when opened in Excel:
| A | B | C |
1 | (company logo) |
|
|
2 | Monthly Sales Report |
|
|
3 | November 2024 |
|
|
4 |
|
|
|
5 | Name | Age | City |
6 | John Doe | 29 | New York |
7 | Jane Smith | 34 | Los Angeles |
In this example, you would set the Anchor Cell to A5 so Nexadata begins reading from the header row, ignoring the logo and title rows above.
PDF format covers document files that hold their data in printed tables rather than in rows and columns a system can read directly: invoices, statements, billing detail, board reports, and similar documents. Because a PDF has to be interpreted before its data can be defined, selecting this format adds a Process PDF step to the wizard, giving you three steps instead of two: Connect Data → Process PDF → Define Columns.
You create a PDF Dataset exactly as you create any other Dataset, from Setup → Datasets → Create New Dataset. Name the Dataset, choose your connection and source file, select PDF as the Data Format, and click Submit. Selecting PDF adds no extra fields to the Connect Data step itself. Nexadata reads the document and moves you to Process PDF, where you work with the tables it found before continuing to Define Columns.
What Happens on the Process PDF Step
Nexadata identifies the tables inside the document and lets you configure each one:
Multi-page tables are stitched back into a single continuous table, so a billing detail table that runs across several pages loads as one dataset
Header blocks without column headers, such as an invoice reference block, are pivoted so their row values become columns you can carry into the main table
Supplemental tables, such as a rate card on the final page, can be joined to the main table to enrich it
Column types (text, number, currency, date) are set per table, and any table you do not need can be discarded
When the tables are configured, you continue to Define Columns and finish the Dataset the same way you would for any other format.
Example PDF Layout
A typical consulting invoice contains three distinct tables that Nexadata identifies separately:
Invoice Details: a header block carrying Invoice #, Project #, PO #, and Invoice Date, pivoted so those values become columns
Detailed Billing: the core line-item table, spanning two pages, designated as the Main Table
Rate Card: a summary table on the final page listing hours and billable amounts by consultant, joined to the Main Table
The finished Dataset combines all three: every billing line carries its invoice reference fields and can be costed against the matching consultant rate.
Allow Any File Type
By default, Nexadata uses the file extension (such as .csv, .xlsx, or .pdf) to validate that a file matches the selected Data Format. The Allow Any File Type toggle on the Connect Data step lets you bypass this check so you can load files that have no extension or an unexpected one. Turn this on only when your source system produces files without recognizable extensions, since it disables the safety check that prevents format mismatches.