Import Data Formats

Import Format Options

You can import data from the following sources:

• A deliimited text file
• A fixed-length text file
• An ODBC-compliant source (Data Chameleon Edition)
• An XML file
• A dbf file

Importing from a Delimited Text File

A delimited text file is a file which contains data that has been separated into fields via a certain character. The two most common formats are tab-delimited and comma-delimited (also known as CSV).

Files like this are typically created by other databases and spreadsheets. For example, if your data is currently stored in a spreadsheet you can think of each row as a record and each column as a field. To save the data as a delimited text file from Excel, go the File menu and choose Save As … , then select Text (Tab delimited) or CSV (Comma delimited) from the Format pop-up menu. Once the file has been saved in the new format, if you open it up in a text editor or word processor it will look something like this:

Tab-delimited:

First Name <tab>Last Name<tab>City<tab>Telephone
Mohammed<tab>Abdul<tab>Casablanca<tab>123 45678
John<tab>Bird<tab>Cambridge<tab>01234 111111
Ferdinand<tab>Equus<tab>Birmingham<tab>0161 111-2222

CSV (Comma-delimited):

"First Name","Last Name","City","Telephone"
"Mohammed","Abdul","Casablanca","123 45678"
"John","Bird","Cambridge","01234 111111"
"Ferdinand","Equus","Birmingham","0161 111-2222"

(Note that some programs put double quote marks around every field, and some only put them around fields that contain a comma.)

Custom delimiters

Sometimes the standard field and/or record delimiters are not workable for one reason or another. For example, the source data may contain text in which tab or return characters are embedded; since the standard record delimiter is a return character, this would cause havoc when you tried to import the data as the proram would think that each return character signified the end of a record. CatBase let you choose any character for the fiel and record deliimiters. You might, for example, select the "pipe" character (looks like this: |) as the field delimiter and a tilde (~) as the record delimiter.

As an example, we will import a file in which the field delimiter is a pipe and the record delimiter is a tilde.

1. In the Import Styles window, choose Custom from the pop-up Format/source menu:

You can then choose your field and record delimiters in the Import Source area::

You can enter a character into the Character field, or an ASCII code into the ASCII field.

The Import Data Tutorial describes what to do after you've selected your import format.

ODBC Data source

If you are using the Data Chameleon Edition of CatBase you can import data directly from an ODBC-compliant data source such as Microsoft SqlServer, MySql, Excel, and more.

first of all you must set up a Database Conection – this tells cAtBase how to connect to your chosen data source. To set up a Dataabse Connection choose Database Connections from the Communications menu on the main window.

Nest, in your Import Style, select either MySql Database or ODBC Data Source from the pop-up Format/Source menu. The window changes somewhat: