Exporting Data

This facility allows you to export data in either ASCII or dBase III file format for use by other applications or for processing by another CAPITAL Visual Builder form.

Output Format

• dBase III Select to export the data in dBase III file format.

• ASCII Fixed Width Select to export data in ASCII using fixed field lengths. This format is also called SDF or standard data format. This type of file is an ASCII text file in which the records have a fixed length and end with a carriage return and line feed.

• ASCII Comma Delimited Select to export data in comma delimited format. This is perhaps the most common format for exporting and importing data. A delimited file is an ASCII text file in which each record ends with a carriage return and line feed. Fields are normally separated by commas, and character fields are additionally delimited by double quotation marks. The main problem with double quote delimited ASCII files is that some data import programs may be confused by the use of the double quote mark if the exported data already contains embedded double-quotes. A delimiter character is often selected that is less likely to appear within the data being exported. A common choice is to use the tab (ASCII character 9) character in place of the double-quote.

• ASCII Tab Delimited Select to export data using tab (ASCII character 9) field separators.

• ASCII User Delimited. Select to export data using user defined delimiter and/or "quote" fields.

Delimiter

If you have selected ASCII User Delimited as the output format you should specify one or more delimiter characters here. Any characters except blank spaces are acceptable. A delimiter should always be specified.

Quote

If you have selected ASCII User Delimited as the output format you can optionally specify a character or set of characters that surround each field. For example, if you wanted to place the symbols ~ ... ~ around each field as it is written to the ASCII file, ~ would be entered here.

Body Field List

The list of fields that will be output to the export file.

File - Overwrite

If the output file is ASCII, you can indicate whether you wish to overwrite the contents of the output file if it already exists. If this option is selected, the contents of output file is erased (if it exists) before data contained in the current body is written.

File - Append

If the output file is ASCII, you can indicate whether you wish to append to the contents of the output file if it already exists. Any data already in the file will be retained and data exported from the current body will be added to the end of the file.

Filename

Click on the button to select a file name and destination for the output file.

You can also click on to clear the output file name.

If you embed a $ (dollar sign) anywhere within the file name, Visual Builder will place the generated file into the current default company data directory. It also removes the $ symbol from the file name. This is useful if you want to create a generic report that will create a data file that can be read by another form, regardless of which company the form is executed in.

For example, if you specify the destination directory as:

C:\CAPITAL\DATA\$MYDATA.DBF

and run this form from the company directory ACME, then CAPITAL will actually create the file:

C:\CAPITAL\ACME\MYDATA.DBF

Index On

If you have selected to output a file in dBase III format, you may also optionally specify an index file. This would be useful if you wanted to access the generated data file in another Visual Builder form and have the data pre-sorted.

Date Format

Choose to select the formatting for date field output. This selection is only relevant when the data file being exported contains date information. dBase III data files are always exported in dd/mm/yy format.

Overwrite Warning

If the export file already exists, CAPITAL will generate a warning message and ask you to proceed with the overwriting of the file. If you wish to overwrite the file without a warning untick this check box.

Exported data obeys the Type setting of each alpha-numeric (character) field. For example, if you wished to output a transaction field in "raw" form (i.e., 000000001) instead of "1", then set the Type to "normal" instead of "transaction". This can be done by double-clicking on the field you wish to change and changing the Type selection to "normal". The Type setting has no effect on transaction amount fields.

Exported data does not obey the Alignment, Show, Trim Field, Suppress If Zero, Suppress Duplicates or 000,000 Separator field options.

Be Careful: The Decimal Places setting for numeric (transaction amount) fields and the Display Length setting for all fields except date fields is used. If field data is being truncated or you have too much white-space between fields, adjust the value in the Display Length field. In the case of date fields, the length of the field is determined by the date format used. The default date format generates an 8 character field. Date fields are always padded with zeros, so the date 1/5/03 is output as 01/05/03.