# 6612 - Converting a Secondary Merge File to an ASCII Delimited File

DocumentID: 10040
Revision Date: 27-Feb-97 1:19:42 PM

The information in this document applies to:
WordPerfect® 5.1 for DOS

Problem

This document describes how to convert a secondary merge file to an ASCII comma-delimited file.

Answer:

To convert a secondary merge file, begin by replacing the merge codes with ASCII field delimiters. 1. Retrieve the file to a blank screen. Your merge records might look like this: Bob Johnson{END FIELD} 123 Main Street{END FIELD} Orem{END FIELD} UT{END FIELD} 84057{END FIELD} {END RECORD} A [HPg] command would separate each record. 2. With the cursor at the top of the file, type the first " delimiter before the first field. 3. Press Replace (Alt+F2), then N to replace without confirmation. 4. Press End Field (F9) and Enter to define what you are searching for. Then press Search (F2). 5. Type "," and press Search (F2) to replace the merge codes with the delimiters. Now you need to replace the merge record codes with ASCII record delimiters. 1. Press Home, Home, then Up Arrow to go to the top of the file. 2. Press Replace (Alt+F2), then N to replace without confirmation. 3. Type ," and press Merge Codes (Shift+F9), End Record (2), then Ctrl+Enter. Then press Search (F2) to search for the merge and hard page codes. 4. Press Enter, then ". Then press Search (F2) to replace the codes with delimiters. 5. Press Delete to delete the last quotation mark at the bottom of the document. Your merge file will now appear in ASCII delimited format. The sample record shown above would now look like this: "Bob Johnson","123 Main Street","Orem","UT","84057" Now you need to save the file in ASCII delimited format. 1. Press Text In/Out (Ctrl+F5), Save As (3), then Generic (1). 2. Enter the name for your new file; then press Enter.

Details:

ASCII is short for American Standard Code for Information Interchange. ASCII is a standard format for representing characters in a document on a computer. An ASCII format is useful in files you want to share between applications. The DOS Text option in WordPerfect 5.1 is an ASCII format. The Text In/Out feature of WordPerfect 5.1 lets you save WordPerfect documents in DOS (ASCII) text format. There are two options for saving files in DOS text format. The DOS Text option converts the [SRt] codes to ASCII [HRt] codes, which will place carriage return and line feed codes at every point where a [SRt] code appears in your document. The Generic text option removes those [SRt] codes and leaves only the [HRt] and [HPg] codes in your document. Although you can create an ASCII delimited file using both of these features, the Generic text option is much easier to use. Therefore, we will deal with the Generic text option in this document. Delimiters are characters that mark the beginning or end of an item such as a record or field. Converting a secondary merge file to ASCII delimited format is the process of replacing WordPerfect merge codes with delimiters, the most common delimiters being the comma and quote. When you prepare a secondary merge file to be converted to ASCII delimited format, in most instances you will replace the {END FIELD}[HRt] merge codes with the ," delimiters. The ,"{END RECORD}[HPg]codes will be replaced with a hard return code [HRt]. In ASCII delimited format, information is divided into records marked at the end by [HRt]. See Also Text In/Out in the WordPerfect 5.1 for DOS reference manual

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