Process a text file before import - which language to use?
 

Somewhat off-track ... I don't know where else to post this.

I need to pre-process a potentially many-row text file before importing it.

The text file has 2 header rows, followed by X-values, a line containing " "
(hex 20) and then Y-values.

I only need the header rows plus X-values. The first header row contains an
integer representing the number of X-values.

Can someone tell me the appropriate programming language to use to strip the
blank line and the lines below it, then save the file with its original
name?

The pseudo code would look something like:

count lines in file = result1
result2 = result1 - 3 (2 header lines plus blank line (contains hex20)
between x and y values)
result3 = result2/2
result4 = result3 + 2
delete rows whose number is result4
save file under original name

I assume I can code VBA to pass the file name I am importing to this new
program and then continue the import when done.

This process will help until the count of X-values exceeds 65,534, at which
time I will have to move the database to ACCESS or SQL Server.

Thanks for any help.

Larry Mehl





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Process a text file before import - which language to use?
 

Larry -

I just use VBA for this. I open the file from within VBA, read it line
by line, look for whatever patterns I know or suspect exist, and parse
the lines into usable data, which gets dumped into the worksheet.

- Jon
-------
Jon Peltier, Microsoft Excel MVP
Peltier Technical Services
http://PeltierTech.com/Excel/Charts/
_______

L Mehl wrote:

Somewhat off-track ... I don't know where else to post this.

I need to pre-process a potentially many-row text file before importing it.

The text file has 2 header rows, followed by X-values, a line containing " "
(hex 20) and then Y-values.

I only need the header rows plus X-values. The first header row contains an
integer representing the number of X-values.

Can someone tell me the appropriate programming language to use to strip the
blank line and the lines below it, then save the file with its original
name?

The pseudo code would look something like:

count lines in file = result1
result2 = result1 - 3 (2 header lines plus blank line (contains hex20)
between x and y values)
result3 = result2/2
result4 = result3 + 2
delete rows whose number is result4
save file under original name

I assume I can code VBA to pass the file name I am importing to this new
program and then continue the import when done.

This process will help until the count of X-values exceeds 65,534, at which
time I will have to move the database to ACCESS or SQL Server.

Thanks for any help.

Larry Mehl





---
Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.600 / Virus Database: 381 - Release Date: 2/28/2004

Process a text file before import - which language to use?
 

Hi Jon --

Thanks for responding.

I used the line-by-line method successfully, but the president of the
company, whose laptop is newer/faster than mine, says the processing is too
slow.

And, since the customer is always right ....

Larry




"Jon Peltier" wrote in message
...
Larry -

I just use VBA for this. I open the file from within VBA, read it line
by line, look for whatever patterns I know or suspect exist, and parse
the lines into usable data, which gets dumped into the worksheet.

- Jon
-------
Jon Peltier, Microsoft Excel MVP
Peltier Technical Services
http://PeltierTech.com/Excel/Charts/
_______

L Mehl wrote:

Somewhat off-track ... I don't know where else to post this.

I need to pre-process a potentially many-row text file before importing
it.

The text file has 2 header rows, followed by X-values, a line containing
" "
(hex 20) and then Y-values.

I only need the header rows plus X-values. The first header row
contains an
integer representing the number of X-values.

Can someone tell me the appropriate programming language to use to strip
the
blank line and the lines below it, then save the file with its original
name?

The pseudo code would look something like:

count lines in file = result1
result2 = result1 - 3 (2 header lines plus blank line (contains hex20)
between x and y values)
result3 = result2/2
result4 = result3 + 2
delete rows whose number is result4
save file under original name

I assume I can code VBA to pass the file name I am importing to this new
program and then continue the import when done.

This process will help until the count of X-values exceeds 65,534, at
which
time I will have to move the database to ACCESS or SQL Server.

Thanks for any help.

Larry Mehl





---
Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.600 / Virus Database: 381 - Release Date: 2/28/2004





---
Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.600 / Virus Database: 381 - Release Date: 2/28/2004

Process a text file before import - which language to use?
 

You can read it all in or either in chunks into a huge string, then parse it
in memory then write it out.

http://support.microsoft.com/support...eio/fileio.asp
File Access with Visual Basic® for Applications

--
regards,
Tom Ogilvy


"L Mehl" wrote in message
...
Hi Jon --

Thanks for responding.

I used the line-by-line method successfully, but the president of the
company, whose laptop is newer/faster than mine, says the processing is
too
slow.

And, since the customer is always right ....

Larry




"Jon Peltier" wrote in message
...
Larry -

I just use VBA for this. I open the file from within VBA, read it line
by line, look for whatever patterns I know or suspect exist, and parse
the lines into usable data, which gets dumped into the worksheet.

- Jon
-------
Jon Peltier, Microsoft Excel MVP
Peltier Technical Services
http://PeltierTech.com/Excel/Charts/
_______

L Mehl wrote:

Somewhat off-track ... I don't know where else to post this.

I need to pre-process a potentially many-row text file before
importing
it.

The text file has 2 header rows, followed by X-values, a line
containing
" "
(hex 20) and then Y-values.

I only need the header rows plus X-values. The first header row
contains an
integer representing the number of X-values.

Can someone tell me the appropriate programming language to use to
strip
the
blank line and the lines below it, then save the file with its
original
name?

The pseudo code would look something like:

count lines in file = result1
result2 = result1 - 3 (2 header lines plus blank line (contains hex20)
between x and y values)
result3 = result2/2
result4 = result3 + 2
delete rows whose number is result4
save file under original name

I assume I can code VBA to pass the file name I am importing to this
new
program and then continue the import when done.

This process will help until the count of X-values exceeds 65,534, at
which
time I will have to move the database to ACCESS or SQL Server.

Thanks for any help.

Larry Mehl





---
Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.600 / Virus Database: 381 - Release Date: 2/28/2004





---
Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.600 / Virus Database: 381 - Release Date: 2/28/2004