Access 2007 Importing .csv Text as Numbers?

[Hakala]

Hi, Tek-Tippers! My Access 2007 database insists on importing text columns from a .csv import as numbers, causing much of my import to fail. I have tried creating a specification file but I'm only allowed fieldname and skip Y/N. I've never seen this limitation before. The table I'm importing to clearly has TEXT as the data type.

I cannot sort the .csv to put the alpha characters first because I have this issue with several columns; the one I sort imports fine and the other ones fail.

I read thread181-1492957 but didn't see anything in it that would help, and it's from 2008. Have there been any breakthroughs on this issue? Any assistance appreciated!

Michelle Hakala

http://www.winebird.com/

 

[PHV]

but didn't see anything in it that would help
Really ?
What about the saved import specifications ?

Hope This Helps, PH.
FAQ219-2884
FAQ181-2886

 

[Hakala]

There isn't a saved import spec and while trying to build one I am not allowed to add the data type. Only fieldname and skip Y/N are showing up. Adding this spec doesn't change the results - the columns are still importing as numbers.

Michelle Hakala

http://www.winebird.com/

 

[PHV]

What are you using ?
TransferSpreadsheet or TransferText ?

Hope This Helps, PH.
FAQ219-2884
FAQ181-2886

 

[Hakala]

The import text wizard, just like I was doing in Access 2003.


Michelle Hakala

http://www.winebird.com/

 

[dhookom]

I think this is similar to an issue I faced this morning. I created a temporary Access table that I imported into. This allowed me to create some fields as text that previously had been "guessed" to be numeric.

Duane
Hook'D on Access
MS Access MVP

 

[Hakala]

I am importing into an existing table and those fields are text. Could my old Access 2003 tables be the issue?


Michelle Hakala

http://www.winebird.com/

 

[PHV]

And what about the import excel wizard ?

Hope This Helps, PH.
FAQ219-2884
FAQ181-2886

 

[Hakala]

I'm not importing Excel. It's a .csv and the Excel wizard doesn't even see the file. :-(

Michelle Hakala

http://www.winebird.com/

 

[dhookom]

You can manually update the import specs by creating a query like:

SELECT * FROM MSysIMEXColumns

Use caution since this is a system table.

Duane
Hook'D on Access
MS Access MVP

 

[PHV]

Anyway, in my ac2017 db I can freely change the data type of any column during the import text wizard process.

Hope This Helps, PH.
FAQ219-2884
FAQ181-2886