udougc@ecsvax.UUCP (Douglas Cutler) (07/18/85)
< - - - - - - >
A while ago there was a request for information on reading
ASCII files with dBASE. I have the brother/sister to that
request, how do you output a database in an ASCII format that
is compatible with ASCII input to a wordprocessor?
Doug. C.
UNC Chapel Hill.
Thanks........ncahec@ecsvax.UUCP (Jim Gogan) (07/19/85)
Three ways you can output an ASCII file of your dBASE file:
1) use the command: COPY TO <filename> SDF
This will output your entire database (specific fields can be
selected) in ASCII format to the file <filename>.TXT. There will be no
delimiters between the fields; each field takes up as many columns as
its width in the database. (SDF stands for "System Data Format".)
2) use the command: COPY TO <filename> DELIMITED
This will output your database (again, specific fields can be
selected) in ASCII format to the file <filename>.TXT. In this case, all
fields are separated by commas, and the default delimited will be double
quotation marks for character fields.
3) if neither of these alternatives appeal to you or you want more
of a formatted output (e.g., the results of a REPORT FORM, LABEL FORM,
or a program using the "?" command), try this approach:
a) enter command: SET ALTERNATE TO <filename>
This will create a text file with the name <filename>.TXT.
b) enter command: SET ALTERNATE ON
This will write all keyboard entries and all screen displays to
the file <filename>.TXT. Note that with this approach full screen
operations (e.g. @...SAY) are not output to this file. The results
contained in the file can then be edited by your word processsing
program.
c) before "quitting" dBASE, be sure you enter the command:
SET ALTERNATE OFF to close the file.
Good luck!
--
Jim Gogan
N.C. AHEC Program
UNC-CH School of Medicine
Chapel Hill, NC 27514
919-966-2461
...!{decvax,akgua}!mcnc!ecsvax!ncahec