Pierre wrote:
I'm back again, more confused than before.
Drew Jensen wrote:
When you launch the Import wizard, per the help file information, you
I'm seeing an "IMPORT TEXT" dialog that lets me set column delimiters,
character sets etc.
1) Ensure that the target table name is the name of the Existing table
you want the data to go into.
I don't see an option to specify a table. If I import a CSV formatted
file, it opens in the a spreadsheet. From there I know I can export as a
dbf, but it insists on opening in a new database.
2) On the first page of the wizard select to "Append data"
Again, can't see it
Am I using the wrong functions?
First of all: *Base never opens any data files*. In Base you always open
a configuration file, the so called "Base document" [*.odt]. It is never
a dBase file, a csv file or any file created from some database
application. The configuration contains the specification how to connect
to some external source of data, so your queries, forms, reports or
other office documents have something to show off.
Excursion: Even if the Base document happens to contain the data:
Whenever you open such a document, the contained tables are extracted to
a temporary directory before a hidden database server (HSQLDB) starts
serving the extracted files as external data to the user interface. The
self-contained database document behaves exactly like any other
connection to some database server.
*Pseudo-databases from text files:*
- Put all your similarly structured text tables sharing the same
delimiters, same encoding, same name suffix, into one directory.
- Connect a "Base document" (configuration) to the _directory of text files_
This is the most convenient way to specify all the csv-import details
for all office documents (Calc, Writer, Impress, whatever).
Since plain text does not provide any database features, this type of
database is not editable in Base, nevertheless very useful.
Tutorial for Calc, which handles imported Base data in a far more
convenient way than csv data directly loaded into the amorph grid of a
sheet:
http://user.services.openoffice.org/en/forum/viewtopic.php?f=75&t=18511
Having the csv data connected to one "Base document" and some other full
featured, writable database connected to another "Base document", you
can drag table icons (not the opened table grids) from one database into
the other database's tables section. Copy and paste works likewise.
Instead of a database table you can also copy a range of spreadsheet
cells into the tables section. The range has to include column labels.
And for those who need to edit equally structured csv files (same
structure, same amount and same order of columns): The HSQLDB engine
that is shipped with Base provides powerful means to link the fields of
a csv file to one of its own data tables with indices, primary key and
everything. Then you can use Base to create queries, forms and reports
based on the editable text file.
[Tutorial] Using csv/text files as editable data source:
http://user.services.openoffice.org/en/forum/viewtopic.php?f=83&t=23260
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