pfx-filepreview Component | Pricefx Knowledge Base

Overview

The pfx-filepreview component generates structured previews of CSV and XLSX files. It reads a configurable number of rows, auto-detects column types (STRING, NUMBER, INTEGER, BOOLEAN, DATE, DATE_TIME), and returns a JSON preview. Supports compressed (ZIP), base64-encoded, and plain inputs.

URI pattern: pfx-filepreview:preview[?options]

Method

Method	Description
`preview`	Generate a JSON column/row preview from the input file

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
`fileType`	String	—	Required. `CSV` or `XLSX` (case-insensitive)
`maxRecords`	Integer	`3`	Max data rows to include in preview (header excluded)
`specifiedCharset`	String	—	Character encoding for CSV (`UTF-8`, `windows-1250`, `ISO-8859-1`, …). Auto-detected if not set.
`separator`	String	`,`	CSV column delimiter (practical default from parser)
`quoteChar`	String	`"`	CSV quote character (practical default from parser)
`escapeChar`	String	`\\`	CSV escape character (practical default from parser)
`useVirtualHeader`	boolean	`false`	Generate virtual headers (`column1`, `column2`, …) when file has no header row
`decimalSeparator`	String	`.`	Decimal separator for number parsing (practical default from parser; use `,` for European format)
`dateFormat`	String	`yyyy-MM-dd`	Java DateTimeFormatter pattern for date parsing (practical default from parser)
`inputBase64Encoded`	boolean	`false`	Decode body from base64 before processing
`resultAsBase64`	boolean	`false`	Return the preview JSON (or raw CSV lines) as base64
`storeResultTo`	String	`body`	Where to store result: `body`, `header`, or `property`
`storeResultToName`	String	—	Header/property name when `storeResultTo` is `header` or `property`

Output Headers

Header	Type	Description
`FilePreviewType`	String	File type processed (`CSV` or `XLSX`)
`FilePreviewNumberOfRecords`	Integer	Actual number of records in the preview

Output Format

JSON

{
  "fileName": "products.csv",
  "columns": [
    {
      "name": "sku",
      "type": "STRING",
      "order": 0,
      "parsedValues": ["SKU001", "SKU002", "SKU003"],
      "originalValues": ["SKU001", "SKU002", "SKU003"]
    },
    {
      "name": "price",
      "type": "NUMBER",
      "order": 1,
      "parsedValues": [29.99, 149.50, 89.00],
      "originalValues": ["29.99", "149.50", "89.00"]
    }
  ]
}

Examples

Preview CSV from inbound directory

XML

<routes xmlns="http://camel.apache.org/schema/spring">
    <route id="previewCsv">
        <from uri="file:{{inbound.path}}?noop=true&amp;include=.*\.csv"/>
        <to uri="pfx-filepreview:preview?fileType=CSV&amp;maxRecords=5"/>
        <log message="Preview: ${body}"/>
    </route>
</routes>

Preview XLSX, store result in header (preserve body)

XML

<to uri="pfx-filepreview:preview?fileType=XLSX&amp;maxRecords=3&amp;storeResultTo=header&amp;storeResultToName=previewJson"/>
<!-- body still contains original file; header.previewJson has the JSON -->

European CSV (semicolon delimiter, comma decimal)

XML

<to uri="pfx-filepreview:preview?fileType=CSV&amp;separator=;&amp;decimalSeparator=,&amp;dateFormat=dd.MM.yyyy"/>

Base64 input/output (for API transport)

XML

<to uri="pfx-filepreview:preview?fileType=CSV&amp;inputBase64Encoded=true&amp;resultAsBase64=true"/>

Column Type Detection

Types are detected in this precedence order (first match wins):

Type	Rule
`DATE_TIME`	All non-empty values parse as LocalDateTime
`DATE`	All non-empty values parse as LocalDate
`BOOLEAN`	All non-empty values are `true` or `false`
`NUMBER`	All non-empty values parse as decimal
`STRING`	Default fallback

Empty values are ignored during type detection. A column with all-empty values defaults to STRING.

Common Pitfalls

fileType is required — the component does not auto-detect file format.
ZIP-compressed files are decompressed automatically — no special configuration needed.
When storeResultTo=header, you must also set storeResultToName.
Keep maxRecords low (≤20) for preview use cases — the component reads the full file for type detection but stops collecting rows after maxRecords.
For XLSX, the first sheet (index 0) is always used.
specifiedCharset is optional — the component will attempt charset auto-detection if not provided. Set it explicitly when you know the encoding to avoid misdetection.