I started replying to your post by typing up a script that would import a text file then I realized that what you're saying is bigger than that.
Yes, I agree, a categorized guide on how to import file, however simple it, is in the WIKI would help. In the example I made for my J C# guide ... I actually had to put in a few converters particularly formatting date values coming in from text files. I could contribute some scripts to that guide if its on the WIKI. -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Bill Harris Sent: Thursday, February 15, 2007 10:10 AM To: J Programming Forum Subject: [Jprogramming] More on Guides -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 While I'm thinking about the Guides page in the Wiki, I have a suggestion, if someone has a good script they'd be willing to post. It seems to me that one of the challenges people face shortly after getting J is figuring out how to get data into J. If they have it in a spreadsheet, they may look on the Interfaces page to find the Excel link. While Tara, OLE, and the like may work well, there's still a bit of work to do. For example, the newcomer to J and CSV will have to figure out how to extract the numeric part, open (unbox) it, and convert it to J numbers properly. It'd be nice to have such sample scripts under the CSV section. More than that, a newcomer might not think of their data as being in spreadsheet format; it's just a text file with numbers. That may leave them wondering what to do. I wonder if the J as Client section of the Interfaces page might benefit either from making the first line "Excel, other spreadsheets, and plain text files" or, perhaps better, adding a second line "Text files" that links to an expanded section on CSV. I showed someone http://www.jeremymiles.co.uk/regressionbook/extras/appendix2/R/ today for R, and steps 4 and 5 make the whole process seem very easy. Thanks, Bill - -- Bill Harris http://facilitatedsystems.com/weblog/ Facilitated Systems Everett, WA 98208 USA http://facilitatedsystems.com/ phone: +1 425 337-5541 -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.4.3 (MingW32) Comment: For more information, see http://www.gnupg.org iD8DBQFF08EH3J3HaQTDvd8RAoOQAJ9l64AjAJq7MD1NPbDO64SNF9D6KACfXI/J RZK2HzXirffhJw/bz4sw03Q= =7nTl -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For information about J forums see http://www.jsoftware.com/forums.htm ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For information about J forums see http://www.jsoftware.com/forums.htm
