Delimiters

Tab

Recognizes a tab as a delimiter in the file that you are importing.

Semicolon

Recognizes a semicolon (;) as a delimiter in the file that you are importing.

Space

Recognizes a space as a delimiter in the file that you are importing.

Comma

Recognizes a comma (,) as a delimiter in the file that you are importing.

Other

Lets you specify any single character as a recognized delimiter in the file that you are importing.

Ignore Consecutive Delimiters

Ignores consecutive occurrences of any of the recognized delimiters in the file that you are importing. For example, if you have defined a space as a delimiter, the wizard will ignore consecutive spaces in the file that you are importing so that two or more consecutive spaces will be treated as a single space. When Ignore Consecutive Delimiters is selected, the wizard essentially treats consecutive delimiters as a single delimiter.

Text Qualifier

Ignores delimiters that occur within pairs of the character defined as Text Qualifier. For example, assume that you have defined a space as a delimiter. Whereas the string |Point Number 1| would normally be imported as three values, |Point and Number and 1| (the space being recognized as a delimiter), it would be imported as Point Number 1 if the pipe character (|) were defined as the text qualifier.

The Text Import Wizard applies the Text Qualifier option (if one is defined), then the Start of Line Column option, then the Start of Field Column option.

Start of Line Column

Specifies the character (of each line in the file) at which the wizard shall begin to read data. For example, if you specify a value of 6, the wizard seeks data beginning at the sixth character of the line. In this example, the first five characters of the line would be ignored.

The Text Import Wizard applies the Text Qualifier option (if one is defined), then the Start of Line Column option, then the Start of Field Column option.

Start of Field Column

Specifies the character (of each field in each line in the file) at which the wizard shall begin to read data. For example, if you specify a value of 4, the wizard seeks data beginning at the fourth character of the each field in each line. In this example, the first three characters of each field in each the line would be ignored.

A field in this context refers to a single value designated by delimiters. A single line of data contains several fields.

The Text Import Wizard applies the Text Qualifier option (if one is defined), then the Start of Line Column option, then the Start of Field Column option.

(file name)

Displays the name of the file being imported.

(file preview)

Displays a preview of the file being imported. The preview is updated to reflect the current settings of the filter that you are defining.

The preview on this dialog box shows a maximum of 1000 lines. However, the 1000-line limit applies only to the preview, not to the actual import. The entire file is processed when you import a file with the Text Import Wizard.

If you are importing a non-uniform file (refer to the Record Format option on the Text Import Wizard - Step 1 dialog), the preview shows only lines that satisfy the Include settings from the Text Import Wizard - Non-Uniform Record Information dialog.

If you are importing a uniform file (refer to the Record Format option), the preview shows 1000 consecutive lines of the file, beginning at the row specified in the Start Import at Row option on the Text Import Wizard - Step 1 dialog.