ADO ConnectionString TextFile
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Text files accessed via ADO will be read only. ADO does not have a driver that supports writing to or creating text files.
Providers
Microsoft ACE OLEDB
Provider=Microsoft.ACE.OLEDB.12.0
With Office 2010, there are new drivers, the 2010 Office System Driver, which will be provided in both 32-bit and 64-bit versions. You can use these drivers to let your application connect to Access, Excel and text files in a 64 bit environment utilizing the new 64-bit drivers.
You don't need to buy or install the Office suite, the components are available as a separate download.
Microsoft Jet OLEDB
Provider=Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0
Arguments
Both providers supports the following arguments:
- Data Source=
- Path to the directory where the text file to be processed is stored
- Extended Properties="x"
- "x" stands for one or multiple of the following extended properties separated by a semicolon:
- Text
- Specifies that a text file is to be processed
- FMT=
- This argument tells ADO which delimiter is used for the file. Although the comma is probably the most widely-used delimiter for text files, it's not the only one. Another popular delimiter is the TAB.
Format Description Schema.ini Syntax Connection String Syntax Tab Delimited Fields in the file are separated by tabs Format=TabDelimited FMT=TabDelimited CSV Delimited Fields in the file are separated by commas (note that there should not be a space between the comma and the start of the next field name or value) Format=CSVDelimited FMT=CSVDelimited Custom Delimited Fields in the file are separated by some character other than a tab or a comma (with one exception: you can't use the double-quote as a delimiter). For example, the asterisk is used as the delimiter Format=Delimited(*) FMT=Delimited(*) Fixed-Length Fields in a file take up a specific number of characters. If a value is too long, "extra" characters are chopped off the end. If a value is too short, blank spaces are appended to it to make it fill out the requisite number of characters.
The columns (fields) of the file need to be defined in a file named Schema.ini.Format=FixedLength FMT=FixedLength
- HDR=
- Specifying HDR=YES means that the text file contains a header row. A header row simply means that the first row in the text file is a list of fields, with all subsequent rows containing the actual data.