Importing Text File - Worked in 97!

[Guest]

One of my team members is having an issue post 2000 upgrade with her
converted Access 97 file. She has a file exported from EasyTreve (sp?)
changed to a text file that she has been importing without any problems in
Access 97... when we try to import in the converted version of the app... we
get question marks!! Wonder why... I attempted to import to another 2000 app
that was created in 2000 - still ?????? are everywhere. Any suggestions as
to what is wrong?

 

[John Nurick]

One possibility is that this text file doesn't contain the standard
Windows line breaks, which consist of the two characters CR and LF in
that order. (Linux, Unix and Apple computers do it differently.) Accsss
97 didn't mind, but more recent versions are fussier. There are lots of
downloadable utilities which can adjust the line endings.

The other obvious possibility is a code page issue. In the Text Import
Wizard, click the Advanced... button and try other likely encodings.

 

[Guest]

"other likely encodings "

could you be more specific? how to?

Also, what about the utilities? Can they be built into code so that they'd
be automatic? or would this have to be run post dL from the host program?

 

[John Nurick]

"other likely encodings "

could you be more specific? how to?

Click the Advanced button in the text import wizard. Experiment with
different code page settings in the resulting dialog. Start with the
more likely ones (e.g. not with oriental scripts.

Also, what about the utilities? Can they be built into code so that they'd
be automatic? or would this have to be run post dL from the host program?

First you need to find out whether the line breaks are the source of the
problem. Using one of the line-break utilities will reveal this. If this
is the cause, it may be possible to change the way EasyTrieve exports
the data; if not, it is possible to write Access VBA code that handles
the situation.