exporting text is NOT tab delimited (A97 sr2)

[ankenman]

I have a database for our purebred cattle. Periodically I save (export) the report as text and import it as tabular data into Dreamweaver for a sale page.

One month ago it worked fine. Today I can't get Access to export it properly. It's doing complete lines of the report. I need it to do multiple columns. I have tried as .txt as .rtf. The baffling part is that the .txt file saved from one month ago imports into Dreamweaver correctly. So I am leaning towards an export problem.

I exported a query. That worked but gave me lots of unneeded info and unformatted text.

Did I 'erase' part of the Access 97 program? Do I need to reinstall something? Any suggestions.

[charlotte]

If you want tab-delimited text, you need to export to the Word merge format. Is that what you're doing?

[ankenman]

I have not been, but don't remember using it in the past either. I tested it just now. I don't have that 'option' from a report, just a query. Is that correct? I would prefer the report.

[WendellB]

It does sound as though you have lost something, but when I export a report to a text file, it doesn't put any delimiter characters in the file. To see that, load your file into Notepad or Wordpad and check for either a comma or a tab character between columns in your report. If you aren't getting them in your latest attempts, but you were getting in them from last month's text file, then something is definitely amiss. A note on the bottom of the export dialog suggests you may have to install some types of files converters, so you could try reinstalling the text file converter. On the other hand, if you want to have formatted text, exporting to a text file won't really do that. RTF files work much better, and if you have columns in reports, it will put in tab characters to correctly position characters. Hope this helps.

[ankenman]

Thank you. But I am still trying with no luck.

The previous file had did have tabs and I can tell is was a report by the title of the file rptSaleBulls and will import into Dreamweaver with columns.

I have tried in both Ac97 and AC 2000

The rtf file does not import as tabular data correctly. Sample:

AA LITTLE ROCKplaintabfs18f4cf0cb1
4/1/2001plaintabfs18f4cf0cb1 D23plaintabfs18f4cf0cb1 AA JETSET
(J703C)plaintabfs18f4cf0cb1 80plaintabfs18f4cf0cb1 671plaintabfs18f4cf0cb1
735 (10/30/2001)plaintabfs18f4cf0cb1 3.4plaintabfs18f4cf0cb1
21.8plaintabfs18f4cf0cb1 $1,250.00

The txt file imports like this: But all in one column, and this file had spaces not tabs

AA Little ROCK 4/1/2001D23 AA JETSET (J703C) 80 671 735 (10/30/2001) 3.4 21.8
$1,250.00

I am going to try the text file converter next, but I have to go out in this cold first and get some cattle in on horseback. Brrr!!!

[WendellB]

Ah, yes - I remember that. My family has raised purebred Herefords for nearly a century. Those cold mornings are why I have a desk job playing with computers. <img src=/S/grin.gif border=0 alt=grin width=15 height=15>

It does appear that the rtf process did not work correctly either. If you get really stuck, you can export the results of a query to a delimited text file and specify tab as the delimiter. That would get you the data in a delimited format that should have the basics, but you won't get any report headers, footers, or labels. If the addition of text converters doesn't fix the problem, you way want to reinstall Access. Good luck.

[WendellB]

Hi Sandy,

Curious if you ever solved your text conversion problem?

[ankenman]

Good Morning Wendell,

Yes and no. I ended up doing the following. I really wanted to export the report format instead of the query format. My report had rounded numbers and less fields than the query.

So...I analyzed in Excel
From Excel, saved as Tab delimited text (of which there is a specific item for saving)
Imported into Dreamweaver.

Couple of problems...
It may be Dreamweaver that is not converting correctly, because I reinstalled Ac 2000 and Ac97 and the Ac97 value pack. And Charlotte said that Access would not save a report as Text as delimited.
I need to document how I get from A to B, because of way I function, I often can't remember how I did it. I am one of those who tries a problem from many different angles.
The analyze into Excel eliminated my report headers and footers. Not a problem for this particular application, but something to consider.

In the meantime...DW has a Developer Edition that uses Databases. I'm not sure that we handle enough pure data like that to justify its use on the Net, but I may look into it.

I just totally redid our ranch home page. New pictures of branding and tagging newborns, may bring back some memories. http://www.ankenmanranch.com

Sandy

[WendellB]

Hi Sandy,
If you've just redone your entire web page, you've been BUSY! I'll have to check it out.

As to your questions/problems: You can format numbers in queries just like you can in reports - use the format or format$ functions to change precision or round. Also, in Excel 2000, you can save a spreadsheet in HTML format, which may be about as pretty as what DreamWeaver comes up with.

Actually, Access will save a report as Text, though it isn't delimited in general - I was surprised when it worked, but it does. They do look a fair bit prettier if you specify RTF, but then you get all the font junk and what not. And I understand the problem of trying to remember how to do something you did six weeks ago! Only problem is the time span seems to get shorter as I get older. Now it's down to about 2 days sometimes! <img src=/S/bummer.gif border=0 alt=bummer width=15 height=15>

I haven't used DW to work with databases - though I know some people who do. We normally use ASP, though we do use DAPs in A2K if we know that our users are all running IE rather than Netscape. Have a good weekend - calving season should be right around the corner. After the Stock Show hopefully.