DOCUMENT:Q143245 11-FEB-2000 [foxpro] TITLE :How to Strip Quotation Marks from an ASCII Delimited Text File PRODUCT :Microsoft FoxPro PROD/VER:MACINTOSH:2.6a; MS-DOS:2.6a; WINDOWS:2.6a,3.0,3.0b OPER/SYS: KEYWORDS:kbcode ====================================================================== ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The information in this article applies to: - Microsoft FoxPro for Macintosh, version 2.6a - Microsoft FoxPro for Windows, version 2.6a - Microsoft FoxPro for MS-DOS, version 2.6a - Microsoft Visual FoxPro for Windows, versions 3.0, 3.0b ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY ======= Typical methods of generating ASCII text files place double quotation marks around character fields. Sometimes these quotation marks aren't wanted. This article presents a way to remove the quotation marks programmatically. If there are double quotation marks embedded in the data itself, however, this method cannot be used. MORE INFORMATION ================ To remove quotation marks from an ASCII text file programmatically, you must first place the file in a memo field. Then the STRTRAN() function can be used to replace each instance of double quotations with a blank space. The corrected contents of the memo field can then be copied to an ASCII text file. To demonstrate this technique, type and run the following program named Myprog.prg. * myprog.prg SET SAFETY OFF * Create a table named "mymemo" with one memo field named "notes" * Append a blank record to the table CREATE TABLE mymemo ( notes M(10)) APPEND BLANK IF !USED("mymemo") USE mymemo IN 0 ENDIF IF !USED("customer") USE customer IN 0 ENDIF * copy the company and CONTACT fields to an ASCII tab-delimited text * file SELECT CUSTOMER COPY TO mytext.txt FIELDS company, contact TYPE DELIMITED WITH TAB * Place the ASCII file, Mytext.txt, into the memo field notes in the * mymemo table SELECT mymemo APPEND MEMO mymemo.notes FROM mytext.txt OVERWRITE * Replace each instance of double quotes with a blank REPLACE notes WITH STRTRAN(notes,'"',"") * Copy the corrected quoteless text back into another ASCII text file COPY MEMO notes TO quoteles.txt * Close tables USE SELECT customer USE * end program Using any text editor, open Mytext.txt and observe the double quotation marks around the character fields. Then open Quoteles.txt to confirm that the quotation marks have been removed. Additional query words: FoxWin FoxDos FoxMac VFoxWin quotes ====================================================================== Keywords : kbcode Technology : kbHWMAC kbOSMAC kbVFPsearch kbAudDeveloper kbFoxproSearch kbZNotKeyword3 kbFoxPro260aMac kbFoxPro260aDOS kbFoxPro260a kbVFP300 kbVFP300b Version : MACINTOSH:2.6a; MS-DOS:2.6a; WINDOWS:2.6a,3.0,3.0b ============================================================================= THE INFORMATION PROVIDED IN THE MICROSOFT KNOWLEDGE BASE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND. MICROSOFT DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. IN NO EVENT SHALL MICROSOFT CORPORATION OR ITS SUPPLIERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER INCLUDING DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, LOSS OF BUSINESS PROFITS OR SPECIAL DAMAGES, EVEN IF MICROSOFT CORPORATION OR ITS SUPPLIERS HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. SOME STATES DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF LIABILITY FOR CONSEQUENTIAL OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES SO THE FOREGOING LIMITATION MAY NOT APPLY. Copyright Microsoft Corporation 2000.