Exporting a database as text

Question

Level 1

25 points

Exporting a database as text

When I export a database from Appleworks as a text file then import it into Excel there are hundreds of entries missing. I need a CSV file to import it into Bento.

I have found that opening the file in a text editor and looking at the invisibles there are some entries where a tab and return are outside the margins of the document. I'm not sure what causes this or if this is the problem.

Any ideas why the complete file isn't being imported?

Thx

Mac mini, Mac OS X (10.6.8)

Posted on Dec 4, 2012 4:10 PM

Reply

Answer 1

Peggy

Level 8

41,859 points

Dec 4, 2012 4:37 PM in response to werdup

The last I checked since I don't use Bento, Bento can import tab-delimited files which is what AppleWorks exports. I think that was added way back with Bento 2. No need to use Excel or Numbers in between although I would probably copy & paste the contents of the AppleWorks database from list view into an AppleWorks spreadsheet, save that & then open it in Numbers. That is what I did with my AppleWorks databases.

Here is a link to Filemaker's info on Bento & AppleWorks.

Reply

Answer 2

werdup Author

Level 1

25 points

Dec 4, 2012 5:10 PM in response to Peggy

Hi Peggy,

I cannot save the data into an Appleworks spreadsheet as some of the info in the fields is too long and it truncates the data.

I don't have Numbers but I use Open Office where I can import the delimited text file into a spreadsheet but it drops hundreds of entries just like Excel does when importing the delimited text file.

If you know how to import a tab-delimited file into Bento, let me know. It doesn't recognize the text file as a delimited file. Changing the suffix from .txt to .tsv doesn't work either. [I've read the info in the link you provided]

Another issue is the date field in Appleworks shows the full date include the day. [Sat, Nov 10, 2012 as an example.] Bento doesn't like this and won't import it. I can't remember how to change the date back to 11/10/2012. Any ideas?

Thanks for your suggestions and if you have any other ideas, I would love to hear them. In the meantime, I'll keep pluggin' away at it.

werdup

Reply

Answer 3

Peggy

Level 8

41,859 points

Dec 4, 2012 8:12 PM in response to werdup

I would try manipulating the file in AppleWorks before exporting. Try changing the date to a format you can import in the AW DB. Also, try exporting as text from an AW SS. And, instead of using Excel, try opening the .txt file in TextEdit.

I don't use Bento although I did buy the iPad version to try. So I'm just trying to give you some ideas.

Reply

Answer 4

werdup Author

Level 1

25 points

Dec 9, 2012 5:14 PM in response to Peggy

I got most of the data out by changing the date format in excel. I don't remember how to change the date format in Appleworks. I change it a long time ago so that it would show the day as well as the date but can't figure out how to change it back.

Looking at the data imported into Bento there are errors where data has gone into the wrong field. I can't figure out what is causing it as I made sure there were no extraneous 'returns' in the Appleworks db before exporting.

I found one entry that was duplicated and I know that Bento can be set to exclude duplicates so this might explain some of the problem ** not all of it.

By the time I figure this out I should be an expert at converting Appleworks into Bento! :-)

Thanks.

Reply