Hi all,
I searched the archives but didn't come up with anything. It there a way to convert a
msaccess to dbman format??
Thanks.
PB

Well... I just spent 12hrs last night working on the same problem. I am in the process of adding fields and rearranging our databases and went on the search to fine something I could use to edit the data files locally.

Here is where I am at now... So far I think Excel sucks at it, you can import the DBMan data file no problem but when you go to save the file, Excel insists on adding double quotes to text data. I looked but never found a switch to turn off double quotes in the output.

I then tried Access and couldn't figure out how to merge two data files into one. So I ventured on to Lotus Approach which ended up being another disaster. For some reason Approach wants to add carriage returns at inappropriate places in a large text fields.

I thought I would try Access again after my failed attempts with the above. I never did figure out how to merge two files but I did experiment with one data file and have had good results.

Here is what worked for me, create a blank database in Access then go to File/(Get External Data)/Import, chose file type Text Files, locate the data file. You will then be asked to choose a delimiter character and what to use as a text qualifier, choose NONE for the text qualifier. The rest is pretty self explanatory.

I know this is the reverse of your situation, but I am hoping it turns on a light for your export. As long as your Access database is composed of number, text, and memo fields you should be ok. I am not sure what will happen with date, time, and special formatted fields.

I can say that I am now working with a DBMan data file that was imported and then exported with Access. Everything seems to be working fine, although it took me to damn long to get to this point. Just be thankful that you have Access, because it may well be the only one that can handle DBMan data files. I just wish Access merged files as easy as Lotus Approach does.

Hope this helps.

------------------
Larry "NgtCrwlr" Mingus
www.makeitsimple.com

We use Object Access with MS Access to convert data cleanly from our College database into the flat file format.

Regards,

------------------
Eliot Lee
Anthro TECH,L.L.C
www.anthrotech.com
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I have so far found one problem with Access. If a field contains lots of data (I think 255 characters is the cutoff) then it gives you a field import error, and you'll be missing data.

I can't seem to find where to increase this number.

 
Hell Eliot

I work with Access, and maybe I refer to it in a differant way, but what is:

Object Access with MS Access

I would like to look learn about it. IF it is something I don't already use.

David

Hi,

Here is what you do if you're field is too long, and you're trying to import the database into Access.

When you're importing the database, If you're field is too long, change the "Data Type" from "Text" to "Memo". This will allow you to have as many characters as you like.

Eli

Katana Man -- JFrost is right, I had to play quite a bit to finally get Access to import a 10k character "Text" field.

One word of warning, you need to manually set each field type through the advanced import settings. Access tries to figure out each field, but usually sets long text fields to "Text" instead of "Memo".

I am now on my fourth import export of a DBMan data file that has a 10k character
"Text" field and it is working great. The key is to manually set any field that has more than 255 characters to "Memo" before you hit the finish button in the import section.

------------------
Larry "NgtCrwlr" Mingus
www.makeitsimple.com

Object Access is NOT MS Access. Object Access is a separate program that allows you to insert Visual Basic and Visual C codes to translate data between different database styles and structures.

Regards,

------------------
Eliot Lee
Anthro TECH,L.L.C
www.anthrotech.com
----------------------

Hi All,
Thanks for all the responses.
I was able to covert the access db usng
Office 2000. I then ported it unix to number it using cat -n filename > output.txt
I then loaded the file into dbman and did
a list all. It loaded perfectly. It's a simple name & address file. Last, First, etc.
But when I attempt to sort the file in alphabetical order, using the view screen,
the file sorts okay up until the 101 record,
then it shifts the id# into the last name field, the last name is shifted to the first
and so on. Is there sonething I'm doing wrong
or is this a bug in the sort routine. Please help if you know. I would hate to have to type in 228 records:-) Thanks for all the help.
PB

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Sounds like a corrupted data file. Try viewing the DBMan data file in Wordpad, you should be able to spot any field problems that slipped in during the conversion.

Make sure you turn off word wrap in the options section of Wordpad. If you do find errors I would recommend editing the file with something other than Wordpad. I use UltraEdit-32 and HomeSite. I can't remember which text editor Eliot uses, I have heard him talk highly of it though.

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Larry "NgtCrwlr" Mingus
www.makeitsimple.com

Hi Larry,
You were right, one bad record will spoil the
whole bunch... Sorry got carried away:-)
The file works fine now.
But I was wondering if there was a way not
display the id#? I'm using the long and short display, it looks terrible when I sort
the file alphabetically, all the #'s are
out of whack. What I would like to do is use
the last name to link to the long display.
Is that possible?? Thanks for all the help.
Take care.
PB:-)

bellap -- Not quite sure what you are asking?

If the problem is that you don't want the ID field to be displayed, just look at the record sub's record and record_long, remove the ID field from the output.

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Larry "NgtCrwlr" Mingus
www.makeitsimple.com

Hi Larry,
Thanks for the reply. I had a feeling I wasn't really clear, let me try again.
I have name & address db. I display the
records in rows in a table. Just the name &
address. If want more info I click on the
id# and it displays the full record. Phone#
work#,etc. What I would like to do,instead
of using the id# to display the full record
I would like to use the last name, it looks cleaner that way, eliminating the id#. If I
just eliminate the ID#, I have no way of
displaying the full record. I hope that's clearer, thanks for taking the time to respond. Take care.
PB:-)