convert all types of files to tabdelimited text files

[Ravi]

Hi

I m trying to build an access Database which imports the different
types of data files and validate data. I m seriously struggling to
understand how to determine type of text file and how to handle it. Is
there a way to convert any type of file into tab delimited and use them
by linking to access. It is very urgent pls help.

Many thanks in advance
Ravi

 

[John Nurick]

Hi Ravi,

Text data files come in lots of different basic formats with thousands
of variations (and that's not counting HTML and XML, which are also text
files). They can contain all sorts of different data, and it's not
always possible - even conceptually - to convert "any type of file" into
a file of the type commonly described as "tab delimited".

Access's standard text file linking facilities are pretty versatile in
dealing with the commonest text file formats used for transferring data
between systems. If the files you need to deal with are standard
delimited, csv, or fixed width files you're probably best to link
directly to them (using linked tables or queries).

If you have to deal with less common formats, it will probably come down
to writing code to read the data and either append it directly to an
Access table, or convert it to one of the formats Access can read. VBA
is not the best language for munging text files: if you can use a modern
scripting language such as Perl, Ruby or Python it's often a lot easier.

If you need more, post back with some examples of the kinds of data
you're having to deal with.