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Tab separated file

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balajee

Programmer
Jun 29, 2000
134
NZ
Hi

Can anybody let me know how to read a tab separated file. I mean how do you detect a tab character in a textline?

Thanks

 
Hello;

a tab is just chr(9). So assuming a record with several fields;

beggining of line?
yes then find a tab
put text from beginning of line to tabposition-1 into a string

no then find a tab, find next tab(or end of line), put text between the two into a string.

easy enough?

 
you could use the instr() function to find a Tab

dim n as long

n = InStr(1, strYourLine, vbtab)

you may also want to look at the Split() function (if you have VB6)

from MSDN:

InStr Function


Returns a Variant (Long) specifying the position of the first occurrence of one string within another.

Syntax

InStr([start, ]string1, string2[, compare])

The InStr function syntax has these arguments:

Part Description
start Optional. Numeric expression that sets the starting position for each search. If omitted, search begins at the first character position. If start contains Null, an error occurs. The start argument is required if compare is specified.
string1 Required. String expression being searched.
string2 Required. String expression sought.
compare Optional. Specifies the type of string comparison. If compare is Null, an error occurs. If compare is omitted, the Option Compare setting determines the type of comparison. Specify a valid LCID (LocaleID) to use locale-specific rules in the comparison.


Settings

The compare argument settings are:

Constant Value Description
vbUseCompareOption -1 Performs a comparison using the setting of the Option Compare statement.
vbBinaryCompare 0 Performs a binary comparison.
vbTextCompare 1 Performs a textual comparison.
vbDatabaseCompare 2 Microsoft Access only. Performs a comparison based on information in your database.


Return Values

If InStr returns
string1 is zero-length 0
string1 is Null Null
string2 is zero-length start
string2 is Null Null
string2 is not found 0
string2 is found within string1 Position at which match is found
start > string2 0


Remarks

The InStrB function is used with byte data contained in a string. Instead of returning the character position of the first occurrence of one string within another, InStrB returns the byte position.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Split Function


Description

Returns a zero-based, one-dimensional array containing a specified number of substrings.

Syntax

Split(expression[, delimiter[, limit[, compare]]])

The Split function syntax has these named arguments:

Part Description
expression Required. String expression containing substrings and delimiters. If expression is a zero-length string(""), Split returns an empty array, that is, an array with no elements and no data.
delimiter Optional. String character used to identify substring limits. If omitted, the space character (" ") is assumed to be the delimiter. If delimiter is a zero-length string, a single-element array containing the entire expression string is returned.
limit Optional. Number of substrings to be returned; –1 indicates that all substrings are returned.
compare Optional. Numeric value indicating the kind of comparison to use when evaluating substrings. See Settings section for values.


Settings

The compare argument can have the following values:

Constant Value Description
vbUseCompareOption –1 Performs a comparison using the setting of the Option Compare statement.
vbBinaryCompare 0 Performs a binary comparison.
vbTextCompare 1 Performs a textual comparison.
vbDatabaseCompare 2 Microsoft Access only. Performs a comparison based on information in your database.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Thanks guys. I got it going using the chr(9) function.
 
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