File format connector

The CSV data catalog your whole team can trust.

The Dawiso CSV connector turns standalone CSV files into searchable, governed metadata: column headers, structure and ownership your teams can document in Dawiso.

Read the docs

Live connector Stable connector

CSV

Dawiso

Metadata-only · your data never leaves the source

Type: Tabular file format
Auth: DIR-reachable file path
Sync: Scheduled, file-path driven
Direction: Read-only · metadata

First things first

What is a data connector?

Metadata-only Read-only access Incremental sync Cross-system lineage

A data connector is the bridge between a tool in your stack and the catalog that gives you a unified view of it. Once a connector is configured, it reaches into the source system on a schedule, reads out the metadata - schemas, tables, dashboards, jobs, ownership, lineage - and represents it inside the catalog. Your actual rows and values stay where they are.

Connectors are the reason a data catalog can answer questions like "which Power BI dashboard depends on this Snowflake table?" or "who owns the orders topic in Kafka?" - automatically, without anyone keeping a spreadsheet up to date.

Three properties separate a good connector from a brittle one: it should be read-only and safe, it should be incremental so a full re-scan isn't required for every refresh, and it should resolve lineage across system boundaries, not just inside one tool.

About the platform

What is CSV?

CSV is the tabular file format that refuses to die. It predates the personal computer, it is older than every cloud warehouse, and it still moves more business-critical data than most ETL tools. Finance hands off month-end CSV exports; marketing drops campaign files into SharePoint; data engineering schedules SFTP pulls overnight.

Files like these usually sit outside the catalog. No one owns them, no one knows how they get into the warehouse, and when one breaks the impact analysis starts in someone's mailbox. That's where the Dawiso CSV data catalog joins the picture: read-only, metadata-only, and cross-platform.

Architecture

How Dawiso connects to CSV

A small read-only role on the CSV side. The Dawiso scanner pulls metadata on a schedule. Everything ends up in your catalog, business-readable.

Source

CSV file path

Files & folders
Header rows
Column types
Owner & steward tags

REST · JDBC

Dawiso scanner

Read-only metadata

Schema & object discovery
Dependency resolution
SQL flow parsing (optional)
Sampling on opt-in

Internal

Catalog

Dawiso platform

Searchable metadata
Lineage & ownership
Business glossary
Policy & classifications

Connection details

Protocol: File-path scan via Dawiso Integration Runtime (DIR)
Authentication: Private connection only · DIR with read permission to the file path
Lineage: CSV files become catalog assets with their columns, structure and ownership documented in Dawiso

Setup

Connect CSV in 4 steps

01

Pick the file path

Identify the network share, SFTP location or mounted cloud storage path where the CSV files live. DIR must have read access to that path.
02

Create a Private connection

Only private connections are supported for this provider. Enter the full file path; DIR validates that the path is reachable from the runtime host.
03

Set the Headers option

If your files have a header row, tick Headers and Dawiso uses row 1 as column names. If not, columns are referenced as column1, column2 and so on.
04

Run ingestion

Scheduled sync keeps the catalog current as files come and go. Owners, descriptions and tags stay attached across re-ingestions.

Capabilities

What you get with the CSV connector

File & column catalog

Every CSV file on the configured path is searchable in Dawiso. Column names from the header row carry into the catalog as first-class attributes.
Headers become attributes

Column names from the header row carry into the catalog as first-class attributes with inferred types. No more 'what does column 7 mean'.
Ownership for files

Assign owners and stewards to files the same way as tables. The team that drops the file is the team accountable for its contents.
Metadata-only by DIR

Files never leave your network. DIR reads metadata and sample structure locally; only catalog records reach the Dawiso tenant.
Scheduled file scans

Configure ingestion frequency. New files appear in the catalog on the next run; missing files surface as deprecated rather than silently disappearing.
AI-generated descriptions

Opt in and Dawiso drafts column and file descriptions from inferred types and naming. A reviewer approves before anything is published in the catalog.

Business value

Why teams turn on the CSV connector

Visible
Files stop hiding from the catalog

Month-end exports, SFTP drops and marketing CSVs become first-class assets. The catalog reflects how data actually enters the warehouse.
0 copies
No data leaves your network

DIR scans locally and sends only metadata to Dawiso. Sensitive flat files stay where they are and audit teams stay happy.
Audit-ready
Ownership and structure on record

Every CSV source has a documented owner, steward and column structure in the catalog. No more guesswork about who maintains a file or what it contains.

Ready to catalog your CSV?

Set up the connector in an afternoon. See your first lineage graph the same day.

Read the docs

Frequently asked questions

Still curious? Talk to our team ->

What is metadata in a CSV file?

A CSV carries no built-in metadata beyond its header row. Dawiso infers and stores column names, types, descriptions and ownership for each CSV source, turning loose files into catalogued, searchable assets.

What is a CSV catalog?

A CSV catalog documents your CSV datasets - their columns, meaning and owners. Dawiso reads CSV structure read-only and adds them to one searchable catalog alongside the rest of your data.

What is a data catalog used for?

A data catalog makes every dataset discoverable, documented and trustworthy. Dawiso brings CSV files into the same catalog as your databases and BI, with ownership and classification.

Where do my CSV files actually live?

Wherever you keep them. Dawiso reads files from any path the Dawiso Integration Runtime can reach: network shares, SFTP mounts, on-prem file systems, mounted object storage. Files never leave your network.

Does Dawiso copy our CSV data?

No. DIR reads structural metadata (file name, headers, inferred types). Row content stays in the file. Column profiling is opt-in per data source and never runs automatically.

What if my files do not have a header row?

Untick the Headers option in the data source. Dawiso will reference columns positionally as column1, column2, and so on. Add descriptions in the catalog to label them with human-readable names.

How often does Dawiso scan my CSV files?

On the schedule you configure. New files appear in the catalog on the next run, and files that disappear surface as deprecated rather than vanishing silently. Owners, descriptions and tags stay attached across re-ingestions.