Importing data regularly

[Andy Roberts]

I want to import data regularly (the import format will always be the same)
and there are 2 things I wish to do as part of the process:-

First I want to hit an "Import button" on a form which then displays the
standard browse dialogue to allow the user to select the file.
Secondly I want the system to display a message of confirmation with the
number of records imported displayed in the message.

I have got it to work using an import specification (on the click event of
the command button) :

DoCmd.TransferText acImportFixed, "importcoords", "tblSecCoords",
"C:\import.txt", False

which works fine except for the two issues raised above. Can anyone help?

Andy

 

[Douglas J. Steele]

For 1, see http://www.mvps.org/access/api/api0001.htm at "The Access Web"

For 2, use DCount("*", "tblSecCoords") before and after the import.

 

[Andy Roberts]

Thanks Doug for the quick response. I'm not really that up with VBA. I
kind of understand the process.

I presume I need to place the code on the click event of the button? Where
does the import code go?
As for number 2 you have certainly lost me there!

Andy

 

[Douglas J. Steele]

Copy all of the shaded code (what's between Code Start and Code End), and
paste it into a new module. When you save the module, name it something like
"mdlFileDialog" (the name of the module isn't really critical, other than
the fact that you cannot name the module the same as any of the functions or
subs within it)

Rather than simply having:

DoCmd.TransferText acImportFixed, "importcoords", "tblSecCoords",
"C:\import.txt", False

you'll want something like:

Dim lngAfter As Long
Dim lngBefore As Long
Dim strFilter As String
Dim strInputFileName as string

strFilter = ahtAddFilterItem(strFilter, "Text Files (*.TXT)", "*.TXT")
strInputFileName = ahtCommonFileOpenSave( _
Filter:=strFilter, OpenFile:=True, _
DialogTitle:="Please select an input file...", _
Flags:=ahtOFN_HIDEREADONLY)
lngBefore = DCount("*", "tblSecCoords")

DoCmd.TransferText acImportFixed, "importcoords", _
strInputFIleName, "C:\import.txt", False

lngAfter = DCount("*", "tblSecCoords")

Msgbox "You imported " & (lngAfter - lngBefore) & " records."

 

[Andy Roberts]

Thanks Doug

That works a treat - well nearly!

Everything works, except the resulting data is different from that
cointained in the incoming file. The data coming in is as follows (they are
co-ordinates):-

0001,652.8655,349.5133,689.3182,468.6107
0002,822.5105,468.6107,861.7672,336.9030
0003,1020.1960,336.9030,1051.0406,505.0405
0004,1154.7904,505.0405,1330.0435,356.5190
0005,1531.9351,440.5878,1426.7832,573.6967
0006,1505.2966,743.2354,1799.7218,419.5706
0007,1913.2858,619.9345,1530.5330,928.1867
0008,1913.2858,619.9345,1530.5330,928.1867

It is REF, StartX, StartY, End X, EndY and saved in a txt file

On import an autonumber is assigned as a unique reference. No problem,
however when I import the file the message I receive is correct with the
number of entries, but the table looks like this:-

http://www.blue-bean.co.uk/images/screen.jpg

The numbers aren't formatted correctly - I thinks it must have something to
do with number of decimal places. Any clues? It also imports the first
comma (but the field type is text in this case)

 

[Douglas J. Steele]

"acImportFixed" says that the columns are a fixed width. You want
"acImportDelim"

 

[Andy Roberts]

Thanks yet again Doug,

Thats sorted that problem.

However... then numbers are coming in as whole numbers (missing the 4
decimal places) for each value.

Each field is set as a Long Integer and the decimal places are set to 4, but
it doesn't seem to work, even if I change the type to decimal.

Andy

 

[Douglas J. Steele]

Long Integers are integers. Integers do not have decimal value: they're,
well, um, integers! <g>

Try changing the fields to Singles or Doubles or Decimals.

 

[Andy Roberts]

Oops - Sorry Doug!

My mistake (of course integers are whole numbers duh!) The way I meant to
word it was that it doesn't matter which filed type I use, the import get
condensed to whole numbers and misses the decimal places.

Andy

 

[Douglas J. Steele]

I've never heard of that before.

Look in the folder where the text file exists to see whether there's a file
schema.ini. If there is, look inside it to see whether it's got incorrect
definitions.

 

[Andy Roberts]

Doug,

I've changed the structure of theDB tables a little and now wish to import
the same file (see attached) into a table which has more field than which
I'm importing.

I get an error now when I use the following code:

Private Sub Command34_Click()
Dim lngAfter As Long
Dim lngBefore As Long
Dim strFilter As String
Dim strInputFileName As String

strFilter = ahtAddFilterItem(strFilter, "Text Files (*.TXT)", "*.TXT")
strInputFileName = ahtCommonFileOpenSave( _
Filter:=strFilter, OpenFile:=True, _
DialogTitle:="Please select an input file...", _
Flags:=ahtOFN_HIDEREADONLY)
lngBefore = DCount("*", "tblSections")

DoCmd.TransferText acImportDelim, "import", "tblSections", strInputFileName,
False

lngAfter = DCount("*", "tblSections")

MsgBox "You imported " & (lngAfter - lngBefore) & " sections."
End Sub

Is this because the number of fields are different. The txtfile has the
first 5 fields which correspond to the first 5 in the table. However the
table has a further 7 fields which can't come from the import. What I want
to do is import the 5 fields into the table and then add the remaining
fields manually.

Is this possible.

(The error I get is Runtime Error 3001, Invalid Argument)

Regards Andy Andy Roberts BSc (Hons) Senior Consultant (e-mail address removed)
www.blue-bean.co.uk M +44 (0)7970 255 156 T +44 (0)151 428 6838 240 Mackets
Lane Woolton Liverpool L25 9NH United Kingdom

 

[Douglas J. Steele]

As long as your import specification (the 2nd argument in your TransferText:
"import" in your example) is correct, the import should work fine.

Try importing manually (through File | Get External Data) and click on the
Advanced button when the wizard appears. Click on the Specs button and
select "import". Correct it as required, and click on the Save As button to
replace the old version.

 

[Andy Roberts]

Thanks Doug

Saved the day again - your approach seems so logical now - I'll try and work
these things out with that outlook.

Managed to get the co-ordinates in as decimals by setting the field type to
Double. However, the number of decimal places differs depending on the
trailing zeros e.g.456.700 shows as 456.7 and 456.760 shows as 456.76.

I've tried setting the dec places to 3 but doesn't make any difference. Not
too worried how they are stored in the tables, but the form displaying the
values should be to 3 decimal places. I've tried using the ROUND function
as part of the control source on of the textbox on the form, but this
doesn't work. Am I on the right path?

Andy

 

[Douglas J. Steele]

Set the Format property to #.000

 

[Andy Roberts]

Thanks yet again Doug - Genius,

I'd actually tried this but didn't know to use the # as a wildcard. The
only problem with this is that it doesn't work on the form. In the table if
I use #.000 it works fine. I would expect the data to be displayed
identically on the form but it isn't, so I used the #.000 for the format of
the text box but it doesn't work.

Does the form not just display what the table tells it?

Andy


Regards Andy Andy Roberts BSc (Hons) Senior Consultant (e-mail address removed)
www.blue-bean.co.uk M +44 (0)7970 255 156 T +44 (0)151 428 6838 240 Mackets
Lane Woolton Liverpool L25 9NH United Kingdom

 

[Douglas J. Steele]

In the absence of specific formatting in the text box, I would have expected
it to display the same as what's defined for the field in the table.
However, on testing just now, I see that isn't the case.

What happened when you used #.000 as the Format property for the text box? I
just tried it, and it worked fine for me.

 

[Andy Roberts]

If I use #.000 as the format on the text box it just displays without the
trailing zeros as it was in the table.

Does it make a difference if the text boxes are as a result of picking a
refernce from a cbo? i.e. I pick a reference from a cbo and it displays the
x&y of the start point and the x&y of the endpoint in 4 separate text boxes.
I also have an unbound txt box which calculates the distance bewteen the two
coordinates and this wont display to 3dp either irrespective of the format
used.

Andy

 

[Douglas J. Steele]

I'm at a loss for suggestions. I just tested an unbound text box, and had no
problems.

 

[Andy Roberts]

Thanks for all your help on this one - seems I have something unusual set up
somewhere. Just for your info it Access 2003 saving as Access 2000 format.

Andy

 

[Douglas J. Steele]

I only have Access 97 installed here, so it'll have to wait until I get home
to see whether Access 2003 changed anything.