SSIS write DT_NTEXT into an UTF-8 csv file - csv

Question

I need to write the result of an SQL query into a CSV file (UTF-8 (I need this encoding as there are French letters)). One of the columns is too large (more than 20000 char) so I can't use DT_WSTR for it. The type that is inputted is DT_TEXT so I use a Data Conversion to change it to DT_NTEXT. But then when I want to write it to the file I have this error message :
Error 2 Validation error. The data type for "input column" is
DT_NTEXT, which is not supported with ANSI files. Use DT_TEXT instead
and convert the data to DT_NTEXT using the data conversion component
Is there a way I can write the data to my file?
Thank you

Answer 1

I had this kind of issues also sometimes. When working with data larger than 255 characters SSIS sees it as blob data and will always handle this as such.
I then converted this blob stream data to a readable text with a script component. Then other transformation should be possible.
This was the case in ssis that came with sql server 2008 but I believe this isn't changed yet.

Answer 2

I ended up doing just like Samyne says, I used a script.
First I've modified my SQL SP, instead of having several columns I put all the info in one single column like follows :
Select Column1 + '^' + Column2 + '^' + Column3 ...
Then I used this code in a script
string fileName = Dts.Variables["SLTemplateFilePath"].Value.ToString();
using (var stream = new FileStream(fileName, FileMode.Truncate))
{
using (var sw = new StreamWriter(stream, Encoding.UTF8))
{
OleDbDataAdapter oleDA = new OleDbDataAdapter();
DataTable dt = new DataTable();
oleDA.Fill(dt, Dts.Variables["FileData"].Value);
foreach (DataRow row in dt.Rows)
{
foreach (DataColumn column in dt.Columns)
{
sw.WriteLine(row[column]);
}
}
sw.WriteLine();
}
}
Putting all the info in one column is optional, I just wanted to avoid handling it in the script, this way if my SP is changed I don't need to modify the SSIS.