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Merge - ASCII Delimited Text File
DocumentID: 653128
Revision Date: 29-Feb-96 8:29:21 PM

The information in this document applies to:
WordPerfect® 5.1 for DOS

Problem

Symptoms: The customer is using a DOS text file that is ASCII delimited with quotation marks (") surrounding fields and a comma separating the fields. When merging, using the DOS Delimited option, not all of the records are merged. The setup for the Merge DOS Text File menu is as follows:

1.      Field Delimiters
            - Begin "
            End ",
2.      Record Delimiters
            - Begin (Is Blank)
            End "[CR]

A DOS text file was skipping every other record during a merge for another customer. The delimiters were set up as shown above and the original file appeared as follows:
"field one", "two", "three" [HRt]
"field one", "two", "three" [HRt] Solutions: Depending on the date of WP 5.1 DOS, the answer is different. Before 12/31/90, the correct delimiters were as follows: (Because WP wouldn't ignore characters between delimiters.)

1.      Field Delimiters
            Begin Field "
            End Field ",
2.      Record Delimiters
            Begin Record (blank)
            End Record [CR]

There were a couple of problems with this.

First, it would merge without an End Field following the last field because there was not a comma following the last field. This can cause problems when referencing earlier fields.

This could also cause a skipping record problem, because the last field would begin, but the End Field delimiter wouldn't be found until the end of the first field in the next record. Then, it finds the End Record an the end of the next record. Much the same as if the user has {END FIELD}{END RECORD} on the same line in a standard WP secondary file.

With the 12/31/90 release, a change was made that makes the program ignore characters between delimiters. This makes the proper and recommended delimiters as follows: (Note: These delimiters also apply to WPWin.)

1.      Field Delimiters
            - Begin "
            End "
2.      Record Delimiters
            - Begin (Blank)
            End [CR]

With these delimiters all fields get opened and closed properly. The End Record is found and the commas are ignored when using a standard ASCII delimited format such as the one that follows:

"John","Doe","Company","Department","Group"[CR]
"Jane","Doe","Company","Department","Group"[CR]

Answer:

Details:


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