Link text files with VBA (2000)

[rhanz]

I currently have a routine that loops through a series of text files (csv) by importing the text file with the DoCmd.TransferText command using a predefined file specification. After each file is imported into the current database, the procedure extracts the data and deletes the imported table. The problem I have is it takes awhile to import each file and the size of the database grows rather large. Is there a way to just link the text files using VBA instead of importing the file as a table?

[HansV]

You could open a csv file, loop through its lines and process the data, then close the csv file. Fictitious example:

Dim txtLastName As String
Dim lngQuantity As Long
Dim dtmOrderDate As Date
Open "C:TestMyFile.csv" For Input As #1 ' Open file for input.
Do While Not EOF(1) ' Loop until end of file.
Input #1, txtLastName, lngQuantity, dtmOrderDate ' Read data into variables.
' Instructions to process data go here
...
Loop
Close #1 ' Close file.

Depending on the size of the file, this could be much slower than importing it. Another possibility is to open an ADO recordset on the csv file, and loop through its records.

[patt]

Another option is to use the option Compact on Close.