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1990-08-26
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53 lines
This program converts quickly and easily any ASCII file into a comma
delimited file.
The program is used to help move data among software packages,
particularly databases.
It is highly dependant upon the user to first put data into a form in
which it can convert.
All you need to do to use the program is to arrange your data so that
one field is on each line. For example, a mailing list might look like this:
Smith
Joe
123 Anywhere St.
Major City
ST
00000
I recommend you do NOT put spaces between records. If you do, you must
tell the program it is a field and you will end up with one extra field in
your database. Instead, multiple records should look like this:
Smith
Joe
123 Anywhere St.
Major City
ST
00000
Jones
Mary
987 Main Rd.
Smalltown
ST
11111
In the above examples, you have two records, each with six fields --
last name, first name, street, city, state and zip.
The format is important -- the program will not work correctly without
it. I suggest a good word processor with macro capability to help you get the
data in the proper form.
When you start the program, it will prompt you for the name of the file
you wish to convert. It will then check to see that the file exists. If it
does, you will be asked what name you wish to give to the new file to be
created. If the name is valid, you will be asked how many fields are in each
record. In the above example, you would answer 6. Once you give this answer,
the program will begin its work.
As the program reads each line of your ASCII file, it will trim the
leading and trailing spaces from your data, then write it to a delimited file.
At any of the prompts, ESC will end the program.
Good luck and I hope this takes as much pain out of data entry for you
as it has for me.