Re: Read comma-delimited [Long]

From: JerryMouse (nospam_at_bisusa.com)
Date: 11/13/04 

Date: Fri, 12 Nov 2004 18:12:48 -0600

James J. Gavan wrote:
>
> Can't help wondering are we making a dog's breakfast of this ? I do
> use ACCESS but as yet not EXCEL, (although OO-wise the latter will
> give me the opportunity of simple charting - using OLE class support).
>
> I just pulled up EXCEL giving it a 'foreign' file and it prompted for
> how records were delimited.
>
> 1) Delimiter - Tab, Semi-colon, Comma, Space and Other ( you specify
> what you want)
> 2) Text qualifier (a) " or (b) ' or (c) <none>

Which may not work if the delimiter is a combination of quotes and commas,
especially if the comma is contained within a quote-delimited field.

>
> If you are the recipient of a CSV from another source, it doesn't seem
> unreasonable to me that you should be able to request the delimiting
> character you want to overcome the comma problem.
> Me - I'd go for Tilde (~) using 'Other' in # 1 ??????
>
> Jimmy, Calgary AB

Why? CSV is a "semi-standard" and any shop should be able to handle it
straightaway. Good luck on convincing a government agency to provide you
with a unique file.

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