Appending Records to a Database

To append records from an existing text file, click the Append Records from Text File icon or choose File | Append Records from Text File from the Database Records Management screen.

This function allows you to add records from a standard text file to the database currently selected, such as records that are resident on a host computer system.

Before appending any records, you must first create a database in the software to accept the data. Make sure that this new database structure is exactly the same as the one you are appending from. It should contain the same number of fields, name of fields, field types and field lengths so that no data is lost.

When selected, you will be instructed to enter the name of the file that contains the records to be read. At the same time, the software displays a list of currently defined .TXT files in alphabetical order. When entering the file name, you may include a drive designator, a path and file extension.

For example: C:\datafile.dat. You may select the desired file. Then click OK or press ENTER when done.

The text file must contain one line for each database record. See Writing Database Records to a Text File. Within the record, each field should occupy a fixed number of columns equal to the field length in the database. There should be no separators between fields. A carriage return - line feed sequence must terminate each record. If a record contains more data than can fit in a database record, then data beyond the columns for the last database field will be ignored. If a record contains less data than required for the database record, then the record beyond will be padded with blanks to fill the remainder of the database record.

Sample text file to be appended to a database:

John Smith	1234 Main Street	Chicago	Illinois
Bill Jones	810 West Blvd.	Detroit	Michigan
Bob Cooper	1112 Euclid Avenue	Cleveland	Ohio
Michael Goldsmith	123 North LorainAve.	GrandHaven	New York

The last record in the text file above illustrates the point that the append function works on columns with no separators between fields.