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Using Text File Wizard
Text File Wizard
WhentheinputdatabasefileisaplainASCIItextfileorformattedCSV(CommaSeparated
Values),Text File WizardwillbestartedwithinDatabaseWizardanditwillguideyouthrough
quickandeasystepsoftextdataacquire.Themaindifferencebetweenrealdatabaseandtextfileis
intheirdatastructureinformation.Databasesincludethewholeinformationabouttheirfields
(names,dataformat,length)andcanbeautomaticallyusedwiththeapplication.Textfiles,onthe
otherhand,donothavestoredsuchinformationandyouwillhavetoinstructtheapplicationhowthe
dataisencoded.
WhenTextFileWizardfinishes,itwillreturncontrolbacktoDatabaseWizard,thatwillguidethe
restoftheway.
Choosing Data Type
Beforeyoucanusetextfile,youwillhavetodefineitsdatastructure.Fieldscanbedelimitedby
somesortofaseparator(tab,semicolon,commaorsomeentirelyuser-definedseparator)orcanbe
ofafixedlength.
DatabaseWizard–ChoosingDataType
ChooseDelimited,ifyouknowthatdatafieldsareseparatedwithsomespecialcharacter.Filepre-
viewatthebottomofthedialogboxcanbehelpful,ifyoudonotknowexactlyhowthedataisorgan-
ized.
ChooseFixedifyouknow,thatyourdatafieldsalwaysoccupythesamenumberofcharacters.
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