Definition of a new data project is carried out as follows:
1. Create and save a new data project.
2. Invoke Upload and Analyze File in the Definition tab’s Acquisition panel to identify a delimited or fixed-width file upon which to base the new data project.
3. View a sample of the file’s contents and verify that it is accordant with expectations in the File Upload Preview dialog.
4. In Definition.Acquisition, watch as RPI uploads the file to the RPI server and then analyzes its contents.
5. If the file is delimited:
a. In the Definition tab’s File Analysis panel, specify the data project’s high-level properties.
b. In the Definition tab’s Field Analysis panel, verify RPI’s analysis of the file’s field structure, making any changes as necessary, and specify any required field-level properties.
6. If the file is fixed-width:
a. In the Definition tab’s File Analysis panel, specify the data project’s high-level properties.
b. Invoke Preview to view a preview of RPI’s automatic determination of the file’s field boundaries in the Preview dialog and make manual adjustments as required.
c. Invoke Re-analyze to allow RPI to reflect the defined field boundaries by populating the Definition tab’s Field Analysis panel’s Fields grid.
d. In Definition.Field Analysis, specify any required field-level properties.
7. Invoke Validate and Load to ensure that all rows within the file are accordant with its defined structure, and to initiate loading of the data project’s initial file into the database.