# Text File Read
The **TextFileRead** function reads the contents of text files.
It can read delimited files, such as CSV files, to return file content field-by-field.
***
### Properties
#### File path
The path to the file to be read.
#### Encoding
The encoding type to use when reading from the file.
Options:
* **Default**
* **ANSI**
* **ASCII**
* **EBCDIC**
* **Mac**
* **OEM**
* **Unicode**
* **UTF8**
The 'Default' option is the encoding used in your operating system.
#### Return options
The way to read the file and return the content.
Options:
* **Line by line**: Returns each line's contents in a loop. If you have defined fields, each field is returned by the function and can be accessed in the loop.
* **List of lines**: Returns the entire file, but as a list. Each list member represents one line from the file. If you use a [ForEach](https://docs.linx.software/reference/plugins/linx/content/foreach) function to loop the list, you can access all fields separately in the loop.
* **Complete**: Reads the entire file and returns it as one string.
#### Fields
Only displayed if **Return options** is set to 'Line by line'. This property allows for importing of delimited files.
You can define the fields manually or by importing a sample file.
If you define fields, the function can return each field separately.
Click **...** to open the **Fields Editor**.
#### Fields Editor
**File Format**
Select one of:
* Comma Delimited
* Tab Delimited
* Custom Delimited - when selected, add the delimiter in the provided field
* Fixed length
**Text Qualifier**
Select one of:
* "
* '
* None
**Lines to skip**
**Header**
The number of header lines to ignore in the file.
**Footer**
The number of footer lines to ignore in the file.
**Define Fields**
Click **LOAD FIELDS FROM FILE** to load the fields from a file, which you can then define:\
provide the **Name**, **Type** and **Current Format** (for 'DateTime' type) of each field.\
If you selected 'Fixed length' as the **File format**, enter the **Length** for each field.
Select **Skip** for fields that you don't want to use.
**Review configuration**
Click **LOAD SAMPLE DATA** to load data from a file:
* Under the **Text** tab, the original content will display.
* Under the **Formatted** tab, the content will display as per the **Defined fields** configuration.
***
## Links
[Code page](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Code_page)
[Transformations of Unicode Code Points](https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/globalization/encoding/transformations-of-unicode-code-points)
