Kinesis Consumer

The Kinesis Consumer source reads data from Amazon Kinesis Streams, Amazon DynamoDB, and Amazon CloudWatch. For information about supported versions, see Supported systems and versions.

When you configure the Kinesis Consumer source, you specify the region to use and the format of the data. You can configure the source to use a VPC interface endpoint.

You can configure additional Kinesis configuration properties that you require.

The Kinesis Consumer source can use multiple threads to enable parallel processing of data from the cluster.

The Kinesis Consumer source stores offsets in DynamoDB lease tables. You can optionally define tags to apply to a lease table created by the source. When necessary, you can reset the source for Kinesis Consumer flows, but be sure to review the requirements and guidelines before doing so.

Multithreaded processing

The Kinesis Consumer source can perform parallel processing and enables the creation of a multithreaded flow. The source uses multiple concurrent threads based on the Max Threads property.

When you start the flow, each thread connects to the source system, creates a batch of data, and passes the batch to an available flow runner. A flow runner is a sourceless flow instance - an instance of the flow that includes all of the processors, executors, and targets in the flow and handles all flow processing after the source.

Each flow runner processes one batch at a time, just like a flow that runs on a single thread. When the flow of data slows, the flow runners wait idly until they are needed, generating an empty batch at regular intervals. You can configure the Runner Idle Time flow property to specify the interval or to opt out of empty batch generation.

Multithreaded flows preserve the order of records within each batch, just like a single-threaded flow. But since batches are processed by different flow runners, the order that batches are written to targets is not ensured.

For example, say you set the Max Threads property to 5. When you start the flow, the source creates five threads, and Data Collector creates a matching number of flow runners. Upon receiving data, the source passes a batch to each of the flow runners for processing.

Each flow runner performs the processing associated with the rest of the flow. After a batch is written to flow targets, the flow runner becomes available for another batch of data. Each batch is processed and written as quickly as possible, independent from other batches processed by other flow runners, so batches may be written differently from the read order.

At any given moment, the five flow runners can each process a batch, so this multithreaded flow processes up to five batches at a time. When incoming data slows, the flow runners sit idle, available for use as soon as the data flow increases.

For more information about multithreaded flows, see Multithreaded flow overview.

Authentication method

You can configure the Kinesis Consumer source to authenticate with Amazon Web Services (AWS) using an instance profile, environment variables, credential process profile, or AWS access keys.

For more information about the authentication methods and details on how to configure each method, see Security in Amazon stages.

Additional Kinesis properties

You can add additional custom Kinesis configuration properties to the Kinesis Consumer source.

When you add a Kinesis configuration property, enter the exact property name and the value. The source does not validate the property names or values.

You can add the following custom Kinesis configuration properties to the source:

billingMode
cleanupLeasesUponShardCompletion
clientExecutionTimeout
connectionMaxIdleMillis
failoverTimeMillis
listShardsBackoffTimeInMillis
logWarningForTaskAfterMillis
maxConnections
maxConsecutiveRetriesBeforeThrottling
maxGetRecordsThreadPool
maxLeaseRenewalThreads
maxListShardsRetryAttempts
metricsBufferTimeMillis
metricsMaxQueueSize
requestTimeout
retryGetRecordsInSeconds
retryMode
shutdownGraceMillis
taskBackoffTimeMillis
throttleRetries
timeoutInSeconds
useExpectContinue
userAgentPrefix
userAgentSuffix
validateAfterInactivityMillis
validateSequenceNumberBeforeCheckpointing

For a description of each property, see the Amazon Kinesis Streams documentation.

Read interval

You can configure the read interval for the Kinesis Consumer. The read interval determines how long Kinesis Consumer waits before requesting additional data from Kinesis shards. By default, the Kinesis Consumer waits one second between requests.

Adjust the read interval to adapt to the Kinesis data load. For example, you might reduce the wait time to enable higher throughput or increase the wait time when the stream of data slows.

Amazon recommends 1 second read intervals. The minimum read interval for the Kinesis Consumer is 200 milliseconds which enables polling five times a second. To increase total capacity, you can create additional shards for the cluster.

Lease table tags

The Kinesis Consumer source stores offsets - the location where the source stops reading - in DynamoDB lease tables. You can optionally define tags to apply to a lease table created by the source. The source cannot add tags to existing lease tables.

Tags allow you to categorize DynamoDB resources by purpose, owner, environment, or any other categorization.

Each Kinesis application uses one DynamoDB lease table. If you have multiple Kinesis Consumer sources that use the same application, then all the sources use the same DynamoDB lease table. The source creates a DynamoDB lease table for the application if one doesn't already exist.

The source assigns the configured tags only when it creates the lease table. If a lease table already exists for the application, the source uses the existing table and does not assign any configured tags to the existing table.

Define tags on the Lease Table tab when you configure the source. To add tags, click Add and define the tag name and value. DynamoDB tag names and values are case-sensitive.

For more information about tagging for DynamoDB, see the Amazon Web Services documentation.

Resetting the Kinesis Consumer source

You can reset the Kinesis Consumer source to process all available data instead of continuing from the last-saved offset. For general information about resetting the source, see Managing job offsets.

When you reset the source for a Kinesis Consumer flow, Data Collector resets the source for every Kinesis Consumer flow that uses the same application name.

Note the following requirement and guidelines before resetting the source:

Requirement: Delete table permission on DynamoDB

Because Kinesis Streams stores offsets in DynamoDB, the IAM user or instance profile associated with the flow must have delete table permissions for tables matching the application name used in your flows, as follows:

If you use access keys to authenticate with Amazon Web Services, the IAM user associated with the access keys must have delete table permission.
If Data Collector uses instance profiles to authenticate, the instance profile for the EC2 instance must have delete permission.

Guidelines for resetting the source

To reset the source for a Kinesis Consumer flow, perform the following steps:

Stop the flow that you want to reset.
If other flows use the same application name, stop all of the flows.
Reset the source: In the flow canvas or from the Home page, click the More icon , then click Reset Origin.
When working with multiple flows that use the same application name, you can use any of the flows. You only need to reset one of them.
Start the flow with the reset source.
If you stopped any related flows, restart those flows.

For example, say you have three flows that read from Kinesis Streams using the Sales application name: NorthSales, CentralSales, and SouthSales. To reset the source for all flows, stop all three flows, reset the source for one of the flows, say SouthSales. Then restart the SouthSales flow, and then you can restart the other flows.

Data formats

The Kinesis Consumer source processes data differently based on the data format. Kinesis Consumer can process the following types of data:

Avro

Generates a record for every message. Includes a precision and scale field attribute for each Decimal field.

The stage includes the Avro schema in an avroSchema record header attribute. You can use one of the following methods to specify the location of the Avro schema definition:

Message/Data Includes Schema - Use the schema in the message.
In Flow Configuration - Use the schema that you provide in the stage configuration.
Confluent Schema Registry - Retrieve the schema from Confluent Schema Registry. Confluent Schema Registry is a distributed storage layer for Avro schemas. You can configure the stage to look up the schema in Confluent Schema Registry by the schema ID embedded in the message or by the schema ID or subject specified in the stage configuration.

Using a schema in the stage configuration or retrieving a schema from Confluent Schema Registry overrides any schema that might be included in the message and can improve performance.

Binary

Generates a record with a single byte array field at the root of the record.

When the data exceeds the user-defined maximum data size, the source cannot process the data. Because the record is not created, the source cannot pass the record to the flow to be written as an error record. Instead, the source generates a stage error.

Delimited

Generates a record for each delimited line.

The CSV parser that you choose determines the delimiter properties that you configure and how the stage handles parsing errors. You can specify if the data includes a header line and whether to use it. You can define the number of lines to skip before reading, the character set of the data, and the root field type to use for the generated record.

You can also configure the stage to replace a string constant with null values and to ignore control characters.

For more information about reading delimited data, see Reading delimited data.

JSON

Generates a record for each JSON object. You can process JSON files that include multiple JSON objects or a single JSON array.

When an object exceeds the maximum object length defined for the source, the source processes the object based on the error handling configured for the stage.

Log

Generates a record for every log line.

When a line exceeds the user-defined maximum line length, the source truncates longer lines.

You can include the processed log line as a field in the record. If the log line is truncated, and you request the log line in the record, the source includes the truncated line.

You can define the log format or type to be read.

Protobuf

Generates a record for every protobuf message. By default, the source assumes messages contain multiple protobuf messages.

Protobuf messages must match the specified message type and be described in the descriptor file.

When the data for a record exceeds 1 MB, the source cannot continue processing data in the message. The source handles the message based on the stage error handling property and continues reading the next message.

For information about generating the descriptor file, see Protobuf data format prerequisites.

SDC Record

Generates a record for every record. Use to process records generated by a Data Collector flow using the SDC Record data format.

For error records, the source provides the original record as read from the source in the original flow, as well as error information that you can use to correct the record.

When processing error records, the source expects the error file names and contents as generated by the original flow.

Text

Generates a record for each line of text or for each section of text based on a custom delimiter.

When a line or section exceeds the maximum line length defined for the source, the source truncates it. The source adds a boolean field named Truncated to indicate if the line was truncated.

For more information about processing text with a custom delimiter, see Text data format with custom delimiters.

XML

Generates records based on a user-defined delimiter element. Use an XML element directly under the root element or define a simplified XPath expression. If you do not define a delimiter element, the source treats the XML file as a single record.

Generated records include XML attributes and namespace declarations as fields in the record by default. You can configure the stage to include them in the record as field attributes.

You can include XPath information for each parsed XML element and XML attribute in field attributes. This also places each namespace in an xmlns record header attribute.

When a record exceeds the user-defined maximum record length, the source skips the record and continues processing with the next record. It sends the skipped record to the flow for error handling.

Use the XML data format to process valid XML documents. For more information about XML processing, see Reading and processing XML data.

Tip: If you want to process invalid XML documents, you can try using the text data format with custom delimiters. For more information, see Processing XML data with custom delimiters.

Reading from DynamoDB or CloudWatch

About this task

To read from DynamoDB or CloudWatch, you must use a VPC interface endpoint to connect to Kinesis. Then, you specify DynamoDB or CloudWatch regions or VPC interface endpoints to connect.

Use the following steps to specify the connection details, then configure the rest of the source as appropriate.

Procedure

On the Kinesis tab, for the Region property, select Other.
For the Endpoint property, specify the Kinesis VPC interface endpoint to use.
To connect to DynamoDB, enable the Use a different connection for DynamoDB property. Then, for the DynamoDB Region property, select the region to use.

To specify an endpoint to connect to, select Other. Then, for the DynamoDB Endpoint property, specify the DynamoDB interface endpoint to use.
To connect to CloudWatch, enable the Use a different connection for CloudWatch property. Then, for the CloudWatch Region property, select the region to use.

To specify an endpoint to connect to, select Other. Then, for the CloudWatch Endpoint property, specify the CloudWatch interface endpoint to use.

Configuring a Kinesis Consumer source

About this task

Configure a Kinesis Consumer source to read data from Amazon Kinesis Streams.

Procedure

In the Properties panel, on the General tab, configure the following properties:

General Property	Description
Name	Stage name.
Description	Optional description.
On Record Error	Error record handling for the stage: Discard - Discards the record. Send to Error - Sends the record to the flow for error handling. Stop Flow - Stops the flow.

On the Kinesis tab, configure the following properties:

Kinesis Property	Description
Authentication Method	Authentication method used to connect to Amazon Web Services (AWS): AWS Keys - Authenticates using an AWS access key pair. Instance Profile - Authenticates using an instance profile associated with the Data Collector EC2 instance.
Access Key ID	AWS access key ID. Required when using AWS keys to authenticate with AWS.
Secret Access Key	AWS secret access key. Required when using AWS keys to authenticate with AWS. Tip: To secure sensitive information such as access key pairs, you can use runtime resources or credential stores.
Assume Role	Temporarily assumes another role to authenticate with AWS.
Role ARN	Amazon resource name (ARN) of the role to assume, entered in the following format: `arn:aws:iam::<account_id>:role/<role_name>` Where `<account_id>` is the ID of your AWS account and `<role_name>` is the name of the role to assume. You must create and attach an IAM trust policy to this role that allows the role to be assumed. Available when assuming another role.
Role Session Name	Optional name for the session created by assuming a role. Overrides the default unique identifier for the session. Available when assuming another role.
Session Timeout	Maximum number of seconds for each session created by assuming a role. The session is refreshed if the flow continues to run for longer than this amount of time. Set to a value between 3,600 seconds and 43,200 seconds. Available when assuming another role.
Set Session Tags	Sets a session tag to record the name of the currently logged in user that starts the flow or the job for the flow. AWS IAM verifies that the user account set in the session tag can assume the specified role. Select only when the IAM trust policy attached to the role to be assumed uses session tags and restricts the session tag values to specific user accounts. When cleared, the connection does not set a session tag. Available when assuming another role.
Region	AWS region to connect to. Select one of the available regions. To specify an endpoint to connect to, select Other.
Endpoint	Endpoint to connect to when you select Other for the region. Enter the endpoint name.
Use a Different Connection for DynamoDB	Enables reading from Amazon DynamoDB.
DynamoDB Region	DynamoDB region to connect to. Select one of the available regions. To specify an endpoint to connect to, select Other.
DynamoDB Endpoint	DynamoDB interface endpoint to connect to. Available when you select Other for the DynamoDB region.
Use a Different Connection for CloudWatch	Enables reading from Amazon CloudWatch.
CloudWatch Region	CloudWatch region to connect to. Select one of the available regions. To specify an endpoint to connect to, select Other.
CloudWatch Endpoint	CloudWatch interface endpoint to connect to. Available when you select Other for the CloudWatch region.
Stream Name	Kinesis stream name.
Application Name	Kinesis application name. The application name is the equivalent to a Kafka consumer group.
Initial Position	Determines where the Data Collector starts reading when there is no previously stored offset in DynamoDB for the application name. Use one of the following options: LATEST - Starts reading messages that arrive after the flow starts. TRIM_HORIZON - Starts reading messages from the beginning of the stream. AT_TIMESTAMP - Starts reading messages from the specified timestamp.
Initial Timestamp	Timestamp in milliseconds since epoch to start reading messages from when the initial position is set to AT_TIMESTAMP.
Kinesis Configuration	Additional Kinesis properties to use. Using simple or bulk edit mode, click the Add icon to add properties. Define the Kinesis property name and value. When you add a configuration property, enter the exact property name and the value. The stage does not validate the property names or values.
Max Batch Size (messages)	Maximum amount of messages to include in a batch. Honors values up to the Data Collector maximum batch size. Default is 1000. The Data Collector default is 1000.
Read Interval (ms)	Milliseconds to wait before requesting additional data from a shard. Amazon recommends 1,000. The minimum is 200. Default is 1,000.
Max Threads	The number of threads that the source generates and uses for multithreaded processing. Enter a positive integer or an expression that evaluates to a positive integer. By default, the source uses the following expression to configure the property based on the number of available CPU cores on the Data Collector machine: `${runtime:availableProcessors()}` This expression is evaluated when you start the flow.

On the Lease Table tab, optionally configure tags to apply to the DynamoDB lease table created by the source.
Using simple or bulk edit mode, click the Add icon to add additional tags.

For more information about tags, see Lease table tags.

On the Advanced tab, optionally configure advanced properties.

The defaults for these properties should work in most cases:

Advanced Property	Description
Connection Timeout	Seconds to wait for a response before closing the connection.
Socket Timeout	Seconds to wait for a response to a query.
Retry Count	Maximum number of times to retry requests.
Use Proxy	Specifies whether to use a proxy to connect.
Proxy Host	Proxy host.
Proxy Port	Proxy port.
Proxy User	User name for proxy credentials.
Proxy Password	Password for proxy credentials. Tip: To secure sensitive information such as user names and passwords, you can use runtime resources or credential stores.
Proxy Domain	Optional domain name for the proxy server.
Proxy Workstation	Optional workstation for the proxy server.
Throttle Wait Time	Milliseconds to wait after Kinesis throttles the read before attempting to checkpoint again.
Throttle Max Retries	Maximum number of times to retry checkpointing after Kinesis throttles the read.

On the Data Format tab, configure the following property:

Data Format Property	Description
Data Format	Type of data to be read. Use one of the following options: Avro Binary Delimited JSON Log Protobuf SDC Record Text XML

For Avro data, on the Data Format tab, configure the following properties:

Avro Property	Description
Avro Schema Location	Location of the Avro schema definition to use when processing data: Message/Data Includes Schema - Use the schema in the message. In Flow Configuration - Use the schema provided in the stage configuration. Confluent Schema Registry - Retrieve the schema from Confluent Schema Registry. Using a schema in the stage configuration or in Confluent Schema Registry can improve performance.
Avro Schema	Avro schema definition used to process the data. Overrides any existing schema definitions associated with the data. You can optionally use the `runtime:loadResource` function to load a schema definition stored in a runtime resource file.
Schema Registry URLs	Confluent Schema Registry URLs used to look up the schema. To add a URL, click Add and then enter the URL in the following format: `http://<host name>:<port number>`
Basic Auth User Info	User information needed to connect to Confluent Schema Registry when using basic authentication. Enter the key and secret from the `schema.registry.basic.auth.user.info` setting in Schema Registry using the following format: `<key>:<secret>` Tip: To secure sensitive information such as user names and passwords, you can use runtime resources or credential stores.
Lookup Schema By	Method used to look up the schema in Confluent Schema Registry: Subject - Look up the specified Avro schema subject. Schema ID - Look up the specified Avro schema ID. Embedded Schema ID - Look up the Avro schema ID embedded in each message. Overrides any existing schema definitions associated with the message.
Schema Subject	Avro schema subject to look up in Confluent Schema Registry. If the specified subject has multiple schema versions, the stage uses the latest schema version for that subject. To use an older version, find the corresponding schema ID, and then set the Look Up Schema By property to Schema ID.
Schema ID	Avro schema ID to look up in Confluent Schema Registry.

For binary data, on the Data Format tab, configure the following properties:

Binary Property	Description
Compression Format	The compression format of the files: None - Processes only uncompressed files. Compressed File - Processes files that are compressed by the supported compression formats. Archive - Processes files that are archived by the supported archive formats. Compressed Archive - Processes files that are archived and compressed by the supported archive and compression formats.
File Name Pattern within Compressed Directory	For archive and compressed archive files, file name pattern that represents the files to process within the compressed directory. You can use UNIX-style wildcards, such as an asterisk or question mark. For example, .json. Default is , which processes all files.
Max Data Size (bytes)	Maximum number of bytes in the message. Larger messages cannot be processed or written to error.

For delimited data, on the Data Format tab, configure the following properties:

Delimited Property	Description
Header Line	Indicates whether a file contains a header line, and whether to use the header line.
Delimiter Format Type	Delimiter format type. Use one of the following options: Default CSV - File that includes comma-separated values. Ignores empty lines in the file. RFC4180 CSV - Comma-separated file that strictly follows RFC4180 guidelines. MS Excel CSV - Microsoft Excel comma-separated file. MySQL CSV - MySQL comma-separated file. Tab-Separated Values - File that includes tab-separated values. PostgreSQL CSV - PostgreSQL comma-separated file. PostgreSQL Text - PostgreSQL text file. Custom - File that uses user-defined delimiter, escape, and quote characters. Multi Character Delimited - File that uses multiple user-defined characters to delimit fields and lines, and single user-defined escape and quote characters. Available when using the Apache Commons parser type.
Multi Character Field Delimiter	Characters that delimit fields. Default is two pipe characters (\|\|). Available when using the Apache Commons parser with the multi-character delimiter format.
Multi Character Line Delimiter	Characters that delimit lines or records. Default is the newline character (\n). Available when using the Apache Commons parser with the multi-character delimiter format.
Delimiter Character	Delimiter character. Select one of the available options or use Other to enter a custom character. You can enter a Unicode control character using the format `\uNNNN`, where N is a hexadecimal digit from the numbers 0-9 or the letters A-F. For example, enter `\u0000` to use the null character as the delimiter or `\u2028` to use a line separator as the delimiter. Default is the pipe character ( \| ). Available when using the Apache Commons parser with a custom delimiter format.
Field Separator	One or more characters to use as delimiter characters between columns. Available when using the Univocity parser.
Escape Character	Escape character. Available when using the Apache Commons parser with the custom or multi-character delimiter format. Also available when using the Univocity parser.
Quote Character	Quote character. Available when using the Apache Commons parser with the custom or multi-character delimiter format. Also available when using the Univocity parser.
Line Separator	Line separator. Available when using the Univocity parser.
Allow Comments	Allows commented data to be ignored for custom delimiter format. Available when using the Univocity parser.
Comment Character	Character that marks a comment when comments are enabled for custom delimiter format. Available when using the Univocity parser.
Enable Comments	Allows commented data to be ignored for custom delimiter format. Available when using the Apache Commons parser.
Comment Marker	Character that marks a comment when comments are enabled for custom delimiter format. Available when using the Apache Commons parser.
Lines to Skip	Number of lines to skip before reading data.
Compression Format	The compression format of the files: None - Processes only uncompressed files. Compressed File - Processes files that are compressed by the supported compression formats. Archive - Processes files that are archived by the supported archive formats. Compressed Archive - Processes files that are archived and compressed by the supported archive and compression formats.
File Name Pattern within Compressed Directory	For archive and compressed archive files, file name pattern that represents the files to process within the compressed directory. You can use UNIX-style wildcards, such as an asterisk or question mark. For example, .json. Default is , which processes all files.
CSV Parser	Parser to use to process delimited data: Apache Commons - Provides robust parsing and a wide range of delimited format types. Univocity - Can provide faster processing for wide delimited files, such as those with over 200 columns. Default is Apache Commons.
Max Columns	Maximum number of columns to process per record. Available when using the Univocity parser.
Max Character per Column	Maximum number of characters to process in each column. Available when using the Univocity parser.
Skip Empty Lines	Allows skipping empty lines. Available when using the Univocity parser.
Allow Extra Columns	Allows processing records with more columns than exist in the header line. Available when using the Apache Commons parser to process data with a header line.
Extra Column Prefix	Prefix to use for any additional columns. Extra columns are named using the prefix and sequential increasing integers as follows: `<prefix><integer>`. For example, `_extra_1`. Default is `_extra_`. Available when using the Apache Commons parser to process data with a header line while allowing extra columns.
Max Record Length (chars)	Maximum length of a record in characters. Longer records are not read. This property can be limited by the Data Collector parser buffer size. For more information, see Maximum record size. Available when using the Apache Commons parser.
Ignore Empty Lines	Allows empty lines to be ignored. Available when using the Apache Commons parser with the custom delimiter format.
Root Field Type	Root field type to use: List-Map - Generates an indexed list of data. Enables you to use standard functions to process data. Use for new flows. List - Generates a record with an indexed list with a map for header and value. Requires the use of delimited data functions to process data. Use only to maintain flows created before 1.1.0.
Parse NULLs	Replaces the specified string constant with null values.
NULL Constant	String constant to replace with null values.
Charset	Character encoding of the files to be processed.
Ignore Control Characters	Removes all ASCII control characters except for the tab, line feed, and carriage return characters.

For JSON data, on the Data Format tab, configure the following properties:

JSON Property	Description
JSON Content	Type of JSON content. Use one of the following options: JSON array of objects Multiple JSON objects
Compression Format	The compression format of the files: None - Processes only uncompressed files. Compressed File - Processes files that are compressed by the supported compression formats. Archive - Processes files that are archived by the supported archive formats. Compressed Archive - Processes files that are archived and compressed by the supported archive and compression formats.
File Name Pattern within Compressed Directory	For archive and compressed archive files, file name pattern that represents the files to process within the compressed directory. You can use UNIX-style wildcards, such as an asterisk or question mark. For example, .json. Default is , which processes all files.
Max Object Length (chars)	Maximum number of characters in a JSON object. Longer objects are diverted to the flow for error handling. This property can be limited by the Data Collector parser buffer size. For more information, see Maximum record size.
Charset	Character encoding of the files to be processed.
Ignore Control Characters	Removes all ASCII control characters except for the tab, line feed, and carriage return characters.

For log data, on the Data Format tab, configure the following properties:

Log Property	Description
Log Format	Format of the log files. Use one of the following options: Common Log Format Combined Log Format Apache Error Log Format Apache Access Log Custom Format Regular Expression Grok Pattern Log4j Common Event Format (CEF) Log Event Extended Format (LEEF)
Compression Format	The compression format of the files: None - Processes only uncompressed files. Compressed File - Processes files that are compressed by the supported compression formats. Archive - Processes files that are archived by the supported archive formats. Compressed Archive - Processes files that are archived and compressed by the supported archive and compression formats.
File Name Pattern within Compressed Directory	For archive and compressed archive files, file name pattern that represents the files to process within the compressed directory. You can use UNIX-style wildcards, such as an asterisk or question mark. For example, .json. Default is , which processes all files.
Max Line Length	Maximum length of a log line. The source truncates longer lines. This property can be limited by the Data Collector parser buffer size. For more information, see Maximum record size.
Retain Original Line	Determines how to treat the original log line. Select to include the original log line as a field in the resulting record. By default, the original line is discarded.
Charset	Character encoding of the files to be processed.
Ignore Control Characters	Removes all ASCII control characters except for the tab, line feed, and carriage return characters.

When you select Apache Access Log Custom Format, use Apache log format strings to define the Custom Log Format.
When you select Regular Expression, enter the regular expression that describes the log format, and then map the fields that you want to include to each regular expression group.
When you select Grok Pattern, you can use the Grok Pattern Definition field to define custom grok patterns. You can define a pattern on each line.
In the Grok Pattern field, enter the pattern to use to parse the log. You can use a predefined grok patterns or create a custom grok pattern using patterns defined in Grok Pattern Definition.

For more information about defining grok patterns and supported grok patterns, see Defining grok patterns.

When you select Log4j, define the following properties:

Log4j Property	Description
On Parse Error	Determines how to handle information that cannot be parsed: Skip and Log Error - Skips reading the line and logs a stage error. Skip, No Error - Skips reading the line and does not log an error. Include as Stack Trace - Includes information that cannot be parsed as a stack trace to the previously-read log line. The information is added to the message field for the last valid log line.
Use Custom Log Format	Allows you to define a custom log format.
Custom Log4J Format	Use log4j variables to define a custom log format.

For protobuf data, on the Data Format tab, configure the following properties:

Protobuf Property	Description
Protobuf Descriptor File	Descriptor file (.desc) to use. The descriptor file must be in the Data Collector resources directory, `$SDC_RESOURCES`. For information about generating the descriptor file, see Protobuf data format prerequisites.
Message Type	The fully-qualified name for the message type to use when reading data. Use the following format: `<package name>.<message type>`. Use a message type defined in the descriptor file.
Delimited Messages	Indicates if a message might include more than one protobuf message.
Compression Format	The compression format of the files: None - Processes only uncompressed files. Compressed File - Processes files that are compressed by the supported compression formats. Archive - Processes files that are archived by the supported archive formats. Compressed Archive - Processes files that are archived and compressed by the supported archive and compression formats.
File Name Pattern within Compressed Directory	For archive and compressed archive files, file name pattern that represents the files to process within the compressed directory. You can use UNIX-style wildcards, such as an asterisk or question mark. For example, .json. Default is , which processes all files.

For SDC Record data, on the Data Format tab, configure the following properties:

SDC Record Property	Description
Compression Format	The compression format of the files: None - Processes only uncompressed files. Compressed File - Processes files that are compressed by the supported compression formats. Archive - Processes files that are archived by the supported archive formats. Compressed Archive - Processes files that are archived and compressed by the supported archive and compression formats.
File Name Pattern within Compressed Directory	For archive and compressed archive files, file name pattern that represents the files to process within the compressed directory. You can use UNIX-style wildcards, such as an asterisk or question mark. For example, .json. Default is , which processes all files.

For text data, on the Data Format tab, configure the following properties:

Text Property	Description
Compression Format	The compression format of the files: None - Processes only uncompressed files. Compressed File - Processes files that are compressed by the supported compression formats. Archive - Processes files that are archived by the supported archive formats. Compressed Archive - Processes files that are archived and compressed by the supported archive and compression formats.
File Name Pattern within Compressed Directory	For archive and compressed archive files, file name pattern that represents the files to process within the compressed directory. You can use UNIX-style wildcards, such as an asterisk or question mark. For example, .json. Default is , which processes all files.
Max Line Length	Maximum number of characters allowed for a line. Longer lines are truncated. Adds a boolean field to the record to indicate if it was truncated. The field name is Truncated. This property can be limited by the Data Collector parser buffer size. For more information, see Maximum record size.
Use Custom Delimiter	Uses custom delimiters to define records instead of line breaks.
Custom Delimiter	One or more characters to use to define records.
Include Custom Delimiter	Includes delimiter characters in the record.
Charset	Character encoding of the files to be processed.
Ignore Control Characters	Removes all ASCII control characters except for the tab, line feed, and carriage return characters.

For XML data, on the Data Format tab, configure the following properties:

XML Property	Description
Delimiter Element	Delimiter to use to generate records. Omit a delimiter to treat the entire XML document as one record. Use one of the following: An XML element directly under the root element. Use the XML element name without surrounding angle brackets ( < > ) . For example, msg instead of <msg>. A simplified XPath expression that specifies the data to use. Use a simplified XPath expression to access data deeper in the XML document or data that requires a more complex access method. For more information about valid syntax, see Simplified XPath syntax.
Compression Format	The compression format of the files: None - Processes only uncompressed files. Compressed File - Processes files that are compressed by the supported compression formats. Archive - Processes files that are archived by the supported archive formats. Compressed Archive - Processes files that are archived and compressed by the supported archive and compression formats.
File Name Pattern within Compressed Directory	For archive and compressed archive files, file name pattern that represents the files to process within the compressed directory. You can use UNIX-style wildcards, such as an asterisk or question mark. For example, .json. Default is , which processes all files.
Preserve Root Element	Includes the root element in the generated records. When omitting a delimiter to generate a single record, the root element is the root element of the XML document. When specifying a delimiter to generate multiple records, the root element is the XML element specified as the delimiter element or is the last XML element in the simplified XPath expression specified as the delimiter element.
Include Field XPaths	Includes the XPath to each parsed XML element and XML attribute in field attributes. Also includes each namespace in an xmlns record header attribute. When not selected, this information is not included in the record. By default, the property is not selected.
Namespaces	Namespace prefix and URI to use when parsing the XML document. Define namespaces when the XML element being used includes a namespace prefix or when the XPath expression includes namespaces. For information about using namespaces with an XML element, see Using XML elements with namespaces. For information about using namespaces with XPath expressions, see Using XPath expressions with namespaces. Using simple or bulk edit mode, click the Add icon to add additional namespaces.
Output Field Attributes	Includes XML attributes and namespace declarations in the record as field attributes. When not selected, XML attributes and namespace declarations are included in the record as fields. By default, the property is not selected.
Max Record Length (chars)	The maximum number of characters in a record. Longer records are diverted to the flow for error handling. This property can be limited by the Data Collector parser buffer size. For more information, see Maximum record size.
Charset	Character encoding of the files to be processed.
Ignore Control Characters	Removes all ASCII control characters except for the tab, line feed, and carriage return characters.