Importing data into RevDB

David Coker davidocoker at gmail.com
Tue Dec 8 07:53:42 EST 2009


Hello folks,

While this message isn't specifically about a Rev solution per se, I think that some of you may still find it helpful. After a lot of research on the net, I finally found a "one-two punch" to help clean up this large mass of CSV data that I've been working with. As always, I recommend that you work with a copy of your data file, just to be on the safe side.

To rid yourself of embedded line feeds and carriage returns using Excel (untested on Mac):
1. Select the data you want to clean, then open up the "Find and Replace" dialog.
2. While holding down the ALT key, type in the ASCII equivalent for the character you want to replace. (e.g. Tab = 009, LF = 010, CR = 013)
3. Replace with whatever you wish or nothing.

The second thing I found after a lot of research is a very inexpensive program for the PC, called CSV Easy, which will clearly flag problematic data rows, identifying each of the problems.

http://www.tizma.com/csveasy

Using both of the above, I was able to locate and repair over 8000 problems in a file with 87000+ records (10%), which previously I have been unable to do otherwise. Hopefully I will now be able to convert the data into tabbed format for use in Rev for additional processing.

Best regards,
David C.



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