Bruce,
Although I don’t have the data file to play with, Excel’s import wizard should allow for placement the delimiter markers for the entire file. At least, that is what it does for me. I can’t even import the text file without the wizard popping up and asking first for the row number of the first data set, perhaps because it is fixed width? My import is around 2,000 rows. It is curious that there is a consistent 8 spaces between data characters, I presume that is the result of the original database, but apparently still fixed width. After I import, I have to adjust several large text columns to reveal all the characters. If I don’t, the import into Rbase truncates the data in the columns not set wide enough. So, if the markers can be placed using the wizard, seems like it would be easier. Steve J From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Bruce Chitiea Sent: Tuesday, November 17, 2020 6:19 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re[2]: [RBASE-L] - Import File In a nutshell, the sample text file contains a consistent eight (8) spaces between data characters. I suggest a semi-manual process for your first time out of the gate: (a) open the .txt file in Excel (b) Search/Replace the eight-space blocks with '|' (c) save the file as a .txt file (d) open Excel and import the file with Data/TXT/CSV (the recent version of Excel will automatically sense the '|' as a custom delimiter; with older versions, you declare '|' as the delimiter) (e) [Load] the delimiter-parsed data into Excel (f) do whatever cleanup you need to do (g) save as an .xlsx file (h) use Gateway to import the .xlsx file, indicating line #2 as the first line. The virtue to this approach is that you have an opportunity (step "f") to review and cleanup the data before attempting input ------ Original Message ------ From: "Steve Johnson" <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: 11/17/2020 3:10:02 PM Subject: RE: [RBASE-L] - Import File Jim, My first thought would be to import the file into Excel as a text file and see what happens. If it is a fixed width file, Excel will show it. I routinely import a fixed width text file with about 12 columns from the City into Excel where one has to mark the width points so the file will import correctly into individual cells. The markers (vertical lines) can be tricky to place if the file contains numbers, which will look like a run-on sentence. So you kind of have to know what the data is. In my case, markers are placed between the second and third character to the right of a decimal point, indicating a dollar amount. If a space is present following the second character, that is usually reserved for the ‘minus’ symbol, then the marker goes between the blank and the next character. Yes, the minus symbol is to the right of the dollar amount in this system. To make this even more interesting, 4 columns are related to the City property identifier (district, ward, block, lot numbers) which are literally run on. I know the format, so I can place the markers correctly. The City originally sent me a layout file indicating the column widths and their headers. But just easier to mark in Excel during import. After my import, I clean up the data a little then import it into Rbase as an Excel file. Apparently, Baltimore still manages property taxes on an old IBM mainframe. The only point to the above is to see what you have, which may be of some help if you have not figured it out already. Steve J From: 'jim schmitt' via RBASE-L [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Tuesday, November 17, 2020 1:01 PM To: rbase group Subject: [RBASE-L] - Import File Hi, Group: Need some assistance today. I have worked previously with Exporting files, but have not worked with Importing files. Now I have a potential new customer who wants me to Import data from another system. I have enclosed the tab delimited test file (only two records), but cannot get it to load. Using RBX5E. Test File attached. Do I need to set up a table in the database with the same names as in the test file ? Is this truly a tab delimited file ? Nothing seems to be working ? Maybe the file has Covid.... Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance, Jim -- For group guidelines, visit http://www.rbase.com/support/usersgroup_guidelines.php --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBASE-L" group. 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