Connections

A connection allows Minitab Connect to link with another application to transfer data back and forth. This differs from a regular import, which usually works with a file or another table instead of an application. You can add a new connection two different ways.

From the Home screen , select the Minitab Connect button to open the Navigation pane. Select System, then Connections, and then select Add New Connection.
From the Home screen , select the Add button under Tables. Then choose the application you want to connect.

Minitab Connect integrates with many popular types of connectors, such as Analytics and Optimization connectors, Big Data and Databases connectors, and dozens more. For an example of setting up a connection to Microsoft OneDrive®, go to Create a new table from a connection to Microsoft OneDrive®.

FTP and SFTP Connectors

Use a File Transfer Protocol (FTP) or a Secure File Transfer Protocol (SFTP) to communicate and transfer files between a server and Minitab Connect. You need the username and password for the server to access the files and import them into Connect. For a SFTP connector, you can alternatively use a Secure Shell (SSH) key instead of a username and password.

Both SFTP and FTP connectors interact with Connect the same way; however, the SFTP connection provides more security than the FTP connection.

Set up a new connection

Complete the following steps to set up a connection in Minitab Connect.

Select the Minitab Connect button to open the Navigation pane.
Select System > Connections and select Add New Connection.
Enter a Name that identifies the table and a Description for the table.
In Type, enter FTP or SFTP and select the appropriate connector from the results.
On the Setup tab, enter the following:
- Under Beacon, specify which beacon you want the connection to go through if you have multiple beacons. Usually, the default works best.
- Under FTP Host or SFTP Host, enter the host of the server.
- For a SFTP Port, you usually use port 22.
- If you use a FTP connection, you must enter the Username and Password for the sever. Contact your IT department if you do not know the database username and password.
Select Next.
For an SFTP connection, use Authentication Method to select whether to authenticate the server using a password or an SSH key. If you use an SSH key, Connect creates a unique public key that you must add to the authorized keys on your SFTP server.
Under FTP Path or SFTP Path, enter the path to the connection. The path name must end with a back slash (/). If you want to connect to a sub-folder, then enter the path to an existing sub-folder. Leave a single back slash to connect to the root folder.
Select Next.

After you complete the setup, Connect communicates with the server to ensure that the credentials and directories are valid. If the connection is successful, Connect displays a list of files and folders that are found on the server.

Export a file to a connection

Complete the following steps to export data from a Minitab Connect table.

Open the Outputs tab of the Flow Tool .
Select the plus sign beside Export to add a new export.
From Export, select New Export to set up an export to a server. If you select One Time Download, Connect downloads the file to your computer and does not create an export.
Enter a Name for the export.
Under View, select a saved view of the table. If you select None, Connect exports all the data from the table.
Under Delivery, select Connection.
Under Connection, select the FTP or SFTP connection that you previously set up.
Under FTP Path or SFTP Path in the Delivery column, enter the path to store the file. The path name must end with a back slash (/). If you want to export to a sub-folder, then enter the path to an existing sub-folder. Leave a single back slash to export to the root folder.

You can specify the file type and file name along with other options. After you save the export, Connect adds it to the list of exports in the Outputs tab. Select Run to run the export.

Create a table from a connection

Complete the following steps to import data from a file on a server and create a new table in Connect.

From the Home screen, select the Add button under Tables.
On the Dataset tab, enter the following:
- Under Name, enter the name that identifies the table.
- Under Folder, select the folder the stores the table or create a new folder.
Under Documents, Collaboration, File Sharing & Email, select either the FTP or SFTP connector.
Under Connection, select the FTP or SFTP connection that you have previously set up. If you have not previously set up a connection, select New Connection.
Under Update Frequency, specify how often you want Connect to update the table. You can import the data one time or have Connect continuously import the data at a set time interval. Connect automatically creates a flow for your import. If you select Once, you can use the flow at a later time to automatically run the import again.
Under FTP Path or SFTP Path, enter the path from which to import the file. The path name must end with a back slash (/). If you want to import from a sub-folder, then enter the path to an existing sub-folder. Leave a single back slash to import from the root folder.
Select Next.
Under File, select the files that you want to import. Connect displays a list of files and folders that are on the server. The list of folders is only for reference. If you select a folder, Connect does not import any files.
Under Delete Files, select to delete the file from the server, move it to the Historic folder, or do nothing. If a Historic folder does not exist on the server, Connect creates one.
Optionally, specify any of the following options.

Delivery

Select the delivery method. To export to a connection, select Connection.

Type of Import

If you import data into a table that already exists, you can choose to import only new records, or import new records and update existing records. If you choose either of these options, you must enter a value in the Key Field. This value is the numeral index of the column that Connect compares to the existing table to determine which rows are new. For example, if your ID column is in the first row of the spreadsheet, enter 1 for the Key Field.

Truncate Table Before Import

Select Yes to permanently delete all records in the Connect table before you import.

Skip Row

Enter the number of rows to skip. You want the first row that you import to be the header row. For example, if the header row is the 4th row in the spreadsheet, enter 3.

Column Adjustment Policy

Select Adjust field sizes for new files to allow the field sizes to expand. For example, if the longest text string on your first import is 5 characters, all future imports will truncate text after 5 characters unless you choose this option.

Select Add new columns that appear in new files to add new columns that were not in the first import as additional fields.

Skip Column

Enter the column number that you want the import to skip. Separate multiple numbers by commas.

Are there Custom Field types that need to be run

Select Yes to refresh custom fields after every import. Custom fields are fields that may have SQL or PHP code that you can run.

Force empty strings to NULL

Select Yes to have an empty string to have a null value in the table instead of a blank space.

File Pattern

Enter a string to match files for subsequent imports. Enter a percent symbol (%) before and after the string. For example, each day you import a file named "Measurements" that also has the date appended to it. You can enter %Measurements% to import any file name that has the word "Measurements" regardless of the date that is appended to it. If you leave this blank, subsequent imports look for files that are identical matches to the name of the original import.

When you save the import, Connect creates a flow with the settings that you selected. You can go to the Overview of the Flow Tool to set the flow to be a scheduled event and to add data processes to clean the data before you import it into the table.