# Hello the community,



I have several files deposited in GCS, the problem is that some have an additional column (example some 5 columns and others 6 columns). Please how to remove last column from 6 column files

**URL:** <https://matillioncommunity.discourse.group/t/hello-the-community-i-have-several-files-deposited-in-gcs-the-problem-is-that-some-have-an-additional-column-example-some-5-columns-and-others-6-columns-please-how-to-remove-last-column-from-6-column-files/1462>\
**Category:** Matillion ETL\
**Created:** [September 17, 2021, 7:02pm UTC](https://matillioncommunity.discourse.group/t/hello-the-community-i-have-several-files-deposited-in-gcs-the-problem-is-that-some-have-an-additional-column-example-some-5-columns-and-others-6-columns-please-how-to-remove-last-column-from-6-column-files/1462 "2021-09-17T19:02:19Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![tatus\_parker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/47e85d/32.png) [@tatus\_parker](https://matillioncommunity.discourse.group/u/tatus_parker)\
**Post date:** [September 17, 2021, 7:02pm UTC](https://matillioncommunity.discourse.group/t/hello-the-community-i-have-several-files-deposited-in-gcs-the-problem-is-that-some-have-an-additional-column-example-some-5-columns-and-others-6-columns-please-how-to-remove-last-column-from-6-column-files/1462/1 "2021-09-17T19:02:19Z")

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Hello the community,

&nbsp;

I have several files deposited in GCS, the problem is that some have an additional column (example some 5 columns and others 6 columns). The 6 column files, I would like to delete the last column

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i want to extract them from GCS and load them into a BigQuery database from cloud storage load component

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And when it loads a 6 column file, it must delete the last column to have the same structure corresponding to the table schema (5 columns)

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Please how to remove last column from 6 column files

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**Author:** ![ian.funnell](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/matillioncommunity.discourse.group/ian.funnell/32/605_2.png) [@ian.funnell](https://matillioncommunity.discourse.group/u/ian.funnell)\
**Post date:** [September 20, 2021, 7:25am UTC](https://matillioncommunity.discourse.group/t/hello-the-community-i-have-several-files-deposited-in-gcs-the-problem-is-that-some-have-an-additional-column-example-some-5-columns-and-others-6-columns-please-how-to-remove-last-column-from-6-column-files/1462/2 "2021-09-20T07:25:22Z")

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Hi [@tatus\_parker](https://matillioncommunity.discourse.group/u/tatus_parker)​,

Neither [Matillion ETL](https://www.matillion.com/products/etl-software/) nor [Matillion Data Loader](https://www.matillion.com/products/data-loader/) has components for altering source files. In fact the normal approach is the opposite: load source data as-is, and then perform integration and format unification using transformations inside the target database (i.e. BigQuery in your case). It's better for audit and traceability that way.

So I would recommend loading the files as they are, and then removing the extra column in a Transformation Job where necessary.

Best regards,

Ian

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**Author:** ![SDIMB](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/matillioncommunity.discourse.group/sdimb/32/726_2.png) [@SDIMB](https://matillioncommunity.discourse.group/u/SDIMB)\
**Post date:** [November 12, 2021, 9:44am UTC](https://matillioncommunity.discourse.group/t/hello-the-community-i-have-several-files-deposited-in-gcs-the-problem-is-that-some-have-an-additional-column-example-some-5-columns-and-others-6-columns-please-how-to-remove-last-column-from-6-column-files/1462/3 "2021-11-12T09:44:04Z")

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could you not load the files with 6 columns then load the files with 5 columns (you could then ignore the 6th column in the second load)

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**Author:** ![tatus\_parker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/47e85d/32.png) [@tatus\_parker](https://matillioncommunity.discourse.group/u/tatus_parker)\
**Post date:** [September 22, 2021, 6:22am UTC](https://matillioncommunity.discourse.group/t/hello-the-community-i-have-several-files-deposited-in-gcs-the-problem-is-that-some-have-an-additional-column-example-some-5-columns-and-others-6-columns-please-how-to-remove-last-column-from-6-column-files/1462/4 "2021-09-22T06:22:33Z")

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Hi [@ian.funnell](https://matillioncommunity.discourse.group/u/ian.funnell)​

I would like to load the source files as they are but the problem I have an error while loading the files because the files do not have the same structure.

How could I load these 2 types of files as they are in the same BigQuery table?

Best regards