> Agreed. For the record, it looks like Excell (I'm using 2003) does > indeed allow carriage returns. I just ran a quick test (when in the > cell, hit Alt+Enter to start a new line within it) and it saved out > with the carriage return.
Good to know. Thanks for testing. > That wasn't my point at all. I was actually pointing out the opposite > -- that there were too many different ways to parse CSV files, so the > usually common ColdFusion suggestion of looping over rows and looking > for carriage returns won't necessarily suffice. I understood your point and was generally agreeing. I was just trying to clarify because I thought it might be confusing. In other words, I could see how someone would read your message and think that, if they added support for embedded carriage returns and line breaks, they would somehow have a "valid" CSV parser. > I use Oracle here at work, and my experience with SQLLDR is that, > while it's an extremely powerful way of bulk loading data, the format > of the file needs to be perfect for it to succeed. Hence the > suggestion of going through the different steps to verify that you > have a validly structured CSV file (with the Ostermiller utilities, > etc.), particularly when I have external clients who will mess up > their files from time to time. I've not used DTS personally, but by > many accounts, it's an invaluable part of the SQL Server product and > is a great fit for this sort of work. I have very little experience with Oracle and none (directly) with SQLLDR. I *ass*umed it was similar to DTS. :) DTS, though awkward in many ways, is a pretty incredible piece of technology. I've seen sites that use thousands of DTS packages and a simple VB scheduler to manage all sorts of operations (data migration, work flow, data management, data validation, etc). It surprises me how many of the daily operations at several Fortune 500 companies are handled this way. Ben Rogers http://www.c4.net v.508.240.0051 f.508.240.0057 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Sams Teach Yourself Regular Expressions in 10 Minutes by Ben Forta http://www.houseoffusion.com/banners/view.cfm?bannerid=40 Message: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=i:4:189939 Archives: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/threads.cfm/4 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=s:4 Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.4 Donations & Support: http://www.houseoffusion.com/tiny.cfm/54
