Uploading text files, reading them, and inserting into a database.

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Hi everyone,
I have a task where I have to upload a .txt file and then read from the file and insert the data into a database table. The file doesn't have delimiters, instead it has set lengths (eg. one field is 20 chars long, another is 2 chars long).
I don't have too much experience uploading/manipulating files like this, so any advice would be great. :)

Thanks in advance.

Posted 12-Jul-10 10:35am

toroole

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3 solutions

Solution 1

Why have you been given this task if you have no experience in doing it ? The part that always upsets me, is that most of the time, this means someone with no skills is being paid to do a job that should go to an experienced programmer.

If they are fixed size, then it's even easier. File.ReadAllLines will read your file into an array of strings. The Substring method of the string class will let you chop up your string into sections. Then you just take those variables and put them in the database.

Posted 12-Jul-10 10:42am

Christian Graus

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toroole 12-Jul-10 17:00pm

You're quick to assume I am getting paid. I am in fact a student just trying to learn from other's experiences.

Solution 2

Check out the SQL Zone[^] for some starter articles.

Posted 12-Jul-10 16:43pm

Chris Maunder774.4K

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shreyasn · Accepted Answer · 2010-07-12T22:23:00

Hi there,

In my personal opinion, the method that Christian suggested is absolutely fine for files which do not have a large number of records or you do not care much about performance.

Since you are a student, if you have time, I would suggest looking into bulk inserting data into database.

For example , if your database backend is SQL Server , have a look at SMO (2005/08) or DMO (2000)

Regards