Text Files

The TransferText method allows you to import from, link to, and export to text files. It has the following syntax:

DoCmd.TransferText TransferType, SpecificationName, TableName, FileName,
HasFieldNames, HTMLTableName, CodePage

As you would expect, various parameters can be used to specify how the method should execute. These parameters are similar to the TransferDatabase and TransferSpreadsheet methods you have already seen. The following table explains the use of each parameter.

Open table as spreadsheet

Parameter	Description
TransferType	Type of transfer to be performed. The default is acImportDelim. See the Access help documentation for a complete list and explanation.
SpecificationName	Name of import or export specification you have saved in the current database. This argument can be left blank for text files that are delimited with certain characters or spacing to indicate the location of the fields. The example text file in the next section is a comma-delimited file.
TableName	String expression that contains a table name you want to work with or a query you want to export.
FileName	File name and path of the text file you want to work with.
HasFieldNames	Use True to use the contents of first row of the spreadsheet as field names and False to treat the first row as data. False is the default.
HTMLTableName	Use with acImportHTML or acLinkHTML. Name of table or list in HTML file you want to work with. If blank, the first one is assumed.
CodePage	Long value indicating the character set of the code page.

Next, we’ll jump right into importing data from a text file.

Try It Out-Importing Data from a Text File

Now, you import data from a text file into a new table, called tblEmails, in your Access database.

Create a text file as shown in Figure 7-4 and save it in C:\temp.

Figure 7-4

Add the following procedure to the module in your database:


Sub TestTransferText()

DoCmd.TransferText acImportDelim, , _
    "tblEmails", "C:\Temp\emails.txt", True

End Sub

Run the procedure from the Immediate Window in Visual Basic Editor.
Return to the database window and you should see a screen similar to that shown in Figure 7-5.

Figure 7-5

How It Works

First, you created a text file that contained comma-delimited records. You then created a procedure to import the comma-delimited file to your database:

Sub TestTransferText()

DoCmd.TransferText acImportDelim, , _
    "tblEmails", "C:\Temp\emails.txt", True

End Sub

The TransferText method imported the comma-delimited file into a new table called tblEmails, as shown in Figure 7-5. Note that the parameter for the SpecificationName was left blank because it is not required when working with delimited files.