Sequential File errors in DataStage

In IBM Data Stage (DS) jobs, Sequential File stage errors are very common in real projects. Below are the most frequently encountered errors, with causes and fixes.

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1️. File Not Found / Cannot Open File

Error message:

Error opening file

No such file or directory

Cause:

·        Incorrect file path

·        File not available on all nodes (parallel job)

·        Permission issue

Fix:

·        Verify file path and filename

·        Ensure file exists on all nodes or use shared filesystem

·        Check permissions:

• ls -l filename
• chmod 755 filename

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2️. Permission Denied

Error message:

Permission denied

Cause:

·        Read/write permission missing

·        File owned by another user

Fix:

·        Grant permission:

·        chmod 664 filename

• Check directory permission

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3️. Schema Mismatch Error

Error message:

Column does not exist

Schema mismatch

Cause:

·        File layout does not match DataStage metadata

·        Column count or datatype mismatch

Fix:

·        Validate file structure

·        Update metadata in Sequential File stage

·        Re-import file definition

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4️.  Delimiter or Format Issues

Error message:

Record delimiter not found

Unexpected end of record

Cause:

·        Wrong field delimiter

·        Wrong record delimiter (CR/LF vs LF)

·        Extra or missing delimiters

Fix:

·        Check delimiter settings

·        Use:

·        cat -A filename

• Correct format in stage properties

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5️.  Fixed-Width Length Mismatch

Error message:

Field length mismatch

Data truncated

Cause:

·        Actual field length is greater than defined length

Fix:

·        Increase column length

·        Validate fixed-width positions

·        Check file using:

·        wc -L filename

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6️.  Parallel Job – Part File Issues

Error message:

Cannot open part file

Combine part files failed

Cause:

·        Missing .0, .1 part files

·        Incorrect Combine Part Files option

·        Job aborted earlier

Fix:

·        Check all part files exist

·        Enable/disable Combine part files correctly

·        Clean old part files before rerun

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7️.  Incorrect Read Method (Sequential vs Parallel)

Error message:

     File exists but no data read

Cause:

·        Read method set to Sequential when multiple partitions exist

·        Partitioning mismatch

Fix:

·        Set correct Read Method

·        Align partitioning strategy

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8️.  Header / Trailer Record Errors

Error message:

Non-numeric data found

Invalid record format

Cause:

Header or trailer rows treated as data

Fix:

·        Use Skip first row

·        Or filter header/trailer using Transformer

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9️.   Encoding Issues

Error message:

Invalid multibyte character

Character conversion failed

Cause:

·        File encoding mismatch (UTF-8 vs ASCII)

Fix:

·        Set correct Code Page

·        Convert file encoding:

·        iconv -f UTF-8 -t ASCII filename

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🔟 Empty or Zero-byte File

Error message:

No records read

Cause:

·        File is empty

·        Upstream process failed

Fix:

·        Validate file size:

·        ls -lh filename

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Common Sequential File errors in DataStage include file not found, permission issues, schema mismatch, delimiter or fixed-width errors, part file issues in parallel jobs, encoding problems, and header or trailer record issues.