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  /statelake/administering-statelake/designer/data-definitions/file-definitions/flat-file-definitions/design-flat-file-definitions/file-dataview-preview-tab-flat-file-definitions.md
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# File Dataview - Preview Tab - Flat File Definitions

The **Preview** tab for a **File Dataview** extracts and displays records that fit the query criteria.

Selecting **Preview** on its own will produce a blank **Preview**.

To populate the **Preview**, first click the **Test File Load** button on the **File Definition** screen.

Click this button to load a file into the definition. The associated **File Connection** will be used to find a file to load - ensure a file is sitting in the specified directory of this **File Connection** that matches the **File Search Pattern**.

A **Log** will display to show the results of loading the file.

After loading, you can close the **Log** window and open the **Designer** to preview the data itself.

Click on the **Preview** button to view the result of the query for that particular dataview. Where there is more than one dataview that may or may not be linked, click on the **Preview** button for each dataview to **Preview** the result for those individual dataview queries.

*Preview of the dataview NEIGHBOURS*

*Preview of the dataview FRIENDS*

Click **OK** to close each **Preview**.