Import-Text better? Excel better?

K

KT

I am setting up an export and import function to export and import
tables. I notice that text file is almost half the size of excel. Is
there any known issues about importing text or excel file? Which
format do you think is better?
 
R

RobFMS

I am not aware of any major differences.

With Excel as a source file, you have better functionality at your finger
tips if you need to review the data or perform some maintenance on the data.
Whereas, a text file you are left with bouncing around row by row doing
editing like a Word Processor.


--
Rob

FMS Professional Solutions Group
http://www.fmsinc.com/consulting

Software Tools for .NET, SQL Server, Visual Basic & Access
http://www.fmsinc.com

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A

Arvin Meyer

KT said:
I am setting up an export and import function to export and import
tables. I notice that text file is almost half the size of excel. Is
there any known issues about importing text or excel file? Which
format do you think is better?
Click to expand...

I don't think anyone can say which is better, but reading and writing to a
text file is certainly simpler, and can be done across most platforms (with
some formatting changes). The Excel file is limited to those with Excel.
--
Arvin Meyer, MCP, MVP
Microsoft Access
Free Access downloads:
http://www.datastrat.com
http://www.mvps.org/access
 
K

KT

Thanks everyone for the advices. One more question. What about in
terms of time? My database has some memo fields and it will get
pretty big, would one file format import faster than the other?
 
C

Chuck Wood

I recommend .CSV (comma separated value) files. They read and write like
text and are just text files with comma-delimted fields. BUT, they will
automatically open in Excel if you have Excel and have all the advantages of
working in Excel. And, you can open them in Notepad (right-click open with).
They have couple of problems however. When you save a .CSV file, you get
annoying messages. When you close a changed .CSV file, you are asked to save
it, even if you have already saved it. I use them a lot in spite of the
annoyances.
 
J

Jamie Collins

[email protected] (KT) wrote ...
My database has some memo fields
Click to expand...

I'd go with a text file. With Excel, Jet tells *you* what the data
type is; if jet says a column is Text rather than Memo it will curtail
your data at 255 characters. With a text file, you tell Jet what the
data type is.

Jamie.

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