reading multiple text files

[simon]

Hello Everybody,

I am a beginner in XML. All I know right now is to create a simple,
hard-coded XML file, validate with DTD and display using DOM. Now, I have a
question for the group.

I am working on a VB app that will go thru a whole bunch of fixed-length
text files to look for a specific text string, and I believe XML is the best
way to handle this task. However, I don't know enough of XML (esp within
VB) to get started. Can anyone give me some help?

Thank you very much.

[Russell Jones]

Unless you're planning to search the text files repeatedly for information,
I don't think you're going to get much benefit from XML based on the
description you gave here. Also, bear in mind that XML is case-sensitive,
and performing non-case-sensitive searches is not intuitive (but it's
possible). However, if you *are* planning to search the files repeatedly,
post a sample of the file, state the type of search you need to perform and
someone here will help. Also, you should read Kurt Cagle's XML 10-Minute Pro
article on transforming flat files to XML (link below).
http://gethelp.devx.com/techtips/xml...kc060501-1.asp

Russell Jones
Sr. Web Development Editor,
DevX.com


"simon" <substring0@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:3b5f4697@news.devx.com...
> Hello Everybody,
>
> I am a beginner in XML. All I know right now is to create a simple,
> hard-coded XML file, validate with DTD and display using DOM. Now, I have
a
> question for the group.
>
> I am working on a VB app that will go thru a whole bunch of fixed-length
> text files to look for a specific text string, and I believe XML is the
best
> way to handle this task. However, I don't know enough of XML (esp within
> VB) to get started. Can anyone give me some help?
>
> Thank you very much.
>
>

[simon]

Thank you very much for the response. Yes, the text file search is
performed on a regular basis throughout the day. The case-sensitivity is
not an issue because the search string is always numeric.

Furthermore, this text search is just the tip of an iceberg. We receive
these fixed-length text files from external sources, and the information
will be processed across multiple databases and multiple platforms. That is
the primary reason why I think we should convert the text files into XML. I
also envision that the users from different locations can run their queries
and view the results on our intranet. But feel free to correct me if I am
wrong on this assessment.

The following is a small sample of the fixed-length text file. The customer
names are replaced with Xs, and some of the numbers are altered because of
the NDA issue.
S0008000013215A51686 E XXXXXXXXXX 1238259241000
10000N000000YND000N0911
S0008000013215755572 B XXXXXXXXXX 1235756870000
10000N000000YYA000N0911
S0008000013216278236 Z XXXXXXXXXX 1239243277000
10000N000000YND000N0911

Any help or suggestion will be very much appreciated.

simon.


"Russell Jones" <arj1@northstate.net> wrote in message
news:3b5fa13c$1@news.devx.com...
> Unless you're planning to search the text files repeatedly for
information,
> I don't think you're going to get much benefit from XML based on the
> description you gave here. Also, bear in mind that XML is case-sensitive,
> and performing non-case-sensitive searches is not intuitive (but it's
> possible). However, if you *are* planning to search the files repeatedly,
> post a sample of the file, state the type of search you need to perform
and
> someone here will help. Also, you should read Kurt Cagle's XML 10-Minute
Pro
> article on transforming flat files to XML (link below).
> http://gethelp.devx.com/techtips/xml...kc060501-1.asp
>
> Russell Jones
> Sr. Web Development Editor,
> DevX.com
>
>
> "simon" <substring0@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:3b5f4697@news.devx.com...
> > Hello Everybody,
> >
> > I am a beginner in XML. All I know right now is to create a simple,
> > hard-coded XML file, validate with DTD and display using DOM. Now, I
have
> a
> > question for the group.
> >
> > I am working on a VB app that will go thru a whole bunch of fixed-length
> > text files to look for a specific text string, and I believe XML is the
> best
> > way to handle this task. However, I don't know enough of XML (esp
within
> > VB) to get started. Can anyone give me some help?
> >
> > Thank you very much.
> >
> >
>
>

[Russell Jones]

Simon:

What you'll need to do is create the XML document, wrapping the data in xml
tags. Obviously, the tag names I've used are just for example purposes--you
should use meaningful tag names:
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<customers>
<customer>
<field1>S0008000013215A51686</field1>
<field2>E</field2>
<name>XXXXXXXXXX</name>
<id>1238259241000</id>
<field4>10000N000000YND000N0911</field4>
</customer>
<customer>
<field1>S0008000013215755572</field1>
<field2>B</field2>
<name>XXXXXXXXXX</name>
<id>1235756870000</id>
<field4>10000N000000YYA000N0911</field4>
</customer>
</customers>


Save the result as an XML file. You should be able to process the text files
relatively easily with any programming language.

Here's a small demo. Save the sample XML file in this message as
c:\customers.xml.
Create a new VB project and paste this code into the form. If you don't have
VB, you may still be able to glean something useful from the example.

Option Explicit

Private Sub Form_Load()
Dim xml As DOMDocument
Dim N As IXMLDOMNode
Set xml = New DOMDocument
xml.async = False
xml.Load "c:\customers.xml"
Set N = findCustomerByID("1235756870000", xml)
Call showCustomer(N)
End Sub

Function findCustomerByID(id As String, xml As DOMDocument) As IXMLDOMNode
Dim N As IXMLDOMNode
Set N = xml.selectSingleNode("customers/customer[id='" & id & "']")
Set findCustomerByID = N
End Function
Sub showCustomer(N As IXMLDOMNode)
Dim NChild As IXMLDOMNode
If Not N Is Nothing Then
If N.hasChildNodes Then
For Each NChild In N.childNodes
Debug.Print NChild.nodeName, NChild.Text
Next
End If
End If
End Sub




"simon" <substring0@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:3b60227e$1@news.devx.com...
> Thank you very much for the response. Yes, the text file search is
> performed on a regular basis throughout the day. The case-sensitivity is
> not an issue because the search string is always numeric.
>
> Furthermore, this text search is just the tip of an iceberg. We receive
> these fixed-length text files from external sources, and the information
> will be processed across multiple databases and multiple platforms. That
is
> the primary reason why I think we should convert the text files into XML.
I
> also envision that the users from different locations can run their
queries
> and view the results on our intranet. But feel free to correct me if I am
> wrong on this assessment.
>
> The following is a small sample of the fixed-length text file. The
customer
> names are replaced with Xs, and some of the numbers are altered because of
> the NDA issue.
> S0008000013215A51686 E XXXXXXXXXX 1238259241000
> 10000N000000YND000N0911
> S0008000013215755572 B XXXXXXXXXX 1235756870000
> 10000N000000YYA000N0911
> S0008000013216278236 Z XXXXXXXXXX 1239243277000
> 10000N000000YND000N0911
>
> Any help or suggestion will be very much appreciated.
>
> simon.
>
>
> "Russell Jones" <arj1@northstate.net> wrote in message
> news:3b5fa13c$1@news.devx.com...
> > Unless you're planning to search the text files repeatedly for
> information,
> > I don't think you're going to get much benefit from XML based on the
> > description you gave here. Also, bear in mind that XML is
case-sensitive,
> > and performing non-case-sensitive searches is not intuitive (but it's
> > possible). However, if you *are* planning to search the files
repeatedly,
> > post a sample of the file, state the type of search you need to perform
> and
> > someone here will help. Also, you should read Kurt Cagle's XML 10-Minute
> Pro
> > article on transforming flat files to XML (link below).
> > http://gethelp.devx.com/techtips/xml...kc060501-1.asp
> >
> > Russell Jones
> > Sr. Web Development Editor,
> > DevX.com
> >
> >
> > "simon" <substring0@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> > news:3b5f4697@news.devx.com...
> > > Hello Everybody,
> > >
> > > I am a beginner in XML. All I know right now is to create a simple,
> > > hard-coded XML file, validate with DTD and display using DOM. Now, I
> have
> > a
> > > question for the group.
> > >
> > > I am working on a VB app that will go thru a whole bunch of
fixed-length
> > > text files to look for a specific text string, and I believe XML is
the
> > best
> > > way to handle this task. However, I don't know enough of XML (esp
> within
> > > VB) to get started. Can anyone give me some help?
> > >
> > > Thank you very much.
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
>
>

[simon]

Russell,

Thank you for the example. It will help me trememdously. Now, I have a
couple questions on that.

From the XML class I took (I was disappointed because the class was too
basic), I learned to put values between the user-defined tags (or elements)
to create the XML document. However, those values will change from text
file to text file. How can I pass variables to those spaces instead? I
guess my question is that how can I "reuse" the XML document as a template
for other text files if the values are already on it? Or am I totally
misunderstood XML document?

Secondly, do I need to add any reference in order to dimension a variable as
DOMDocument? Is it an Add-in that I need to download from Microsoft or
something? I am using VB6 SP5, on WindowsNT4.0.

Again, thank you very much for your help.

simon.


"Russell Jones" <arj1@northstate.net> wrote in message
news:3b603b79$1@news.devx.com...
> Simon:
>
> What you'll need to do is create the XML document, wrapping the data in
xml
> tags. Obviously, the tag names I've used are just for example
purposes--you
> should use meaningful tag names:
> <?xml version="1.0"?>
> <customers>
> <customer>
> <field1>S0008000013215A51686</field1>
> <field2>E</field2>
> <name>XXXXXXXXXX</name>
> <id>1238259241000</id>
> <field4>10000N000000YND000N0911</field4>
> </customer>
> <customer>
> <field1>S0008000013215755572</field1>
> <field2>B</field2>
> <name>XXXXXXXXXX</name>
> <id>1235756870000</id>
> <field4>10000N000000YYA000N0911</field4>
> </customer>
> </customers>
>
>
> Save the result as an XML file. You should be able to process the text
files
> relatively easily with any programming language.
>
> Here's a small demo. Save the sample XML file in this message as
> c:\customers.xml.
> Create a new VB project and paste this code into the form. If you don't
have
> VB, you may still be able to glean something useful from the example.
>
> Option Explicit
>
> Private Sub Form_Load()
> Dim xml As DOMDocument
> Dim N As IXMLDOMNode
> Set xml = New DOMDocument
> xml.async = False
> xml.Load "c:\customers.xml"
> Set N = findCustomerByID("1235756870000", xml)
> Call showCustomer(N)
> End Sub
>
> Function findCustomerByID(id As String, xml As DOMDocument) As IXMLDOMNode
> Dim N As IXMLDOMNode
> Set N = xml.selectSingleNode("customers/customer[id='" & id & "']")
> Set findCustomerByID = N
> End Function
> Sub showCustomer(N As IXMLDOMNode)
> Dim NChild As IXMLDOMNode
> If Not N Is Nothing Then
> If N.hasChildNodes Then
> For Each NChild In N.childNodes
> Debug.Print NChild.nodeName, NChild.Text
> Next
> End If
> End If
> End Sub
>
>
>
>
> "simon" <substring0@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:3b60227e$1@news.devx.com...
> > Thank you very much for the response. Yes, the text file search is
> > performed on a regular basis throughout the day. The case-sensitivity
is
> > not an issue because the search string is always numeric.
> >
> > Furthermore, this text search is just the tip of an iceberg. We receive
> > these fixed-length text files from external sources, and the information
> > will be processed across multiple databases and multiple platforms.
That
> is
> > the primary reason why I think we should convert the text files into
XML.
> I
> > also envision that the users from different locations can run their
> queries
> > and view the results on our intranet. But feel free to correct me if I
am
> > wrong on this assessment.
> >
> > The following is a small sample of the fixed-length text file. The
> customer
> > names are replaced with Xs, and some of the numbers are altered because
of
> > the NDA issue.
> > S0008000013215A51686 E XXXXXXXXXX 1238259241000
> > 10000N000000YND000N0911
> > S0008000013215755572 B XXXXXXXXXX 1235756870000
> > 10000N000000YYA000N0911
> > S0008000013216278236 Z XXXXXXXXXX 1239243277000
> > 10000N000000YND000N0911
> >
> > Any help or suggestion will be very much appreciated.
> >
> > simon.
> >
> >
> > "Russell Jones" <arj1@northstate.net> wrote in message
> > news:3b5fa13c$1@news.devx.com...
> > > Unless you're planning to search the text files repeatedly for
> > information,
> > > I don't think you're going to get much benefit from XML based on the
> > > description you gave here. Also, bear in mind that XML is
> case-sensitive,
> > > and performing non-case-sensitive searches is not intuitive (but it's
> > > possible). However, if you *are* planning to search the files
> repeatedly,
> > > post a sample of the file, state the type of search you need to
perform
> > and
> > > someone here will help. Also, you should read Kurt Cagle's XML
10-Minute
> > Pro
> > > article on transforming flat files to XML (link below).
> > >
http://gethelp.devx.com/techtips/xml...kc060501-1.asp
> > >
> > > Russell Jones
> > > Sr. Web Development Editor,
> > > DevX.com
> > >
> > >
> > > "simon" <substring0@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> > > news:3b5f4697@news.devx.com...
> > > > Hello Everybody,
> > > >
> > > > I am a beginner in XML. All I know right now is to create a simple,
> > > > hard-coded XML file, validate with DTD and display using DOM. Now,
I
> > have
> > > a
> > > > question for the group.
> > > >
> > > > I am working on a VB app that will go thru a whole bunch of
> fixed-length
> > > > text files to look for a specific text string, and I believe XML is
> the
> > > best
> > > > way to handle this task. However, I don't know enough of XML (esp
> > within
> > > > VB) to get started. Can anyone give me some help?
> > > >
> > > > Thank you very much.
> > > >
> > > >
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
>
>

[Russell Jones]

You should download the release version (v3) of the msxml parser from
Microsoft (MSDN). There is an as yet unreleased version 4 that is
significantly faster, expecially for SAX programming. Download the SDK as
well and read through it. There's an msxsl utility that lets you run
transforms from the command line--very convenient for quick testing. There
are multiple examples, and many more in this newsgroups and in the Microsoft
XML and XSLT newsgroups that will help.


"simon" <substring0@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:3b606862$1@news.devx.com...
> Russell,
>
> Thank you for the example. It will help me trememdously. Now, I have a
> couple questions on that.
>
> From the XML class I took (I was disappointed because the class was too
> basic), I learned to put values between the user-defined tags (or
elements)
> to create the XML document. However, those values will change from text
> file to text file. How can I pass variables to those spaces instead? I
> guess my question is that how can I "reuse" the XML document as a template
> for other text files if the values are already on it? Or am I totally
> misunderstood XML document?
>
> Secondly, do I need to add any reference in order to dimension a variable
as
> DOMDocument? Is it an Add-in that I need to download from Microsoft or
> something? I am using VB6 SP5, on WindowsNT4.0.
>
> Again, thank you very much for your help.
>
> simon.
>
>
> "Russell Jones" <arj1@northstate.net> wrote in message
> news:3b603b79$1@news.devx.com...
> > Simon:
> >
> > What you'll need to do is create the XML document, wrapping the data in
> xml
> > tags. Obviously, the tag names I've used are just for example
> purposes--you
> > should use meaningful tag names:
> > <?xml version="1.0"?>
> > <customers>
> > <customer>
> > <field1>S0008000013215A51686</field1>
> > <field2>E</field2>
> > <name>XXXXXXXXXX</name>
> > <id>1238259241000</id>
> > <field4>10000N000000YND000N0911</field4>
> > </customer>
> > <customer>
> > <field1>S0008000013215755572</field1>
> > <field2>B</field2>
> > <name>XXXXXXXXXX</name>
> > <id>1235756870000</id>
> > <field4>10000N000000YYA000N0911</field4>
> > </customer>
> > </customers>
> >
> >
> > Save the result as an XML file. You should be able to process the text
> files
> > relatively easily with any programming language.
> >
> > Here's a small demo. Save the sample XML file in this message as
> > c:\customers.xml.
> > Create a new VB project and paste this code into the form. If you don't
> have
> > VB, you may still be able to glean something useful from the example.
> >
> > Option Explicit
> >
> > Private Sub Form_Load()
> > Dim xml As DOMDocument
> > Dim N As IXMLDOMNode
> > Set xml = New DOMDocument
> > xml.async = False
> > xml.Load "c:\customers.xml"
> > Set N = findCustomerByID("1235756870000", xml)
> > Call showCustomer(N)
> > End Sub
> >
> > Function findCustomerByID(id As String, xml As DOMDocument) As
IXMLDOMNode
> > Dim N As IXMLDOMNode
> > Set N = xml.selectSingleNode("customers/customer[id='" & id & "']")
> > Set findCustomerByID = N
> > End Function
> > Sub showCustomer(N As IXMLDOMNode)
> > Dim NChild As IXMLDOMNode
> > If Not N Is Nothing Then
> > If N.hasChildNodes Then
> > For Each NChild In N.childNodes
> > Debug.Print NChild.nodeName, NChild.Text
> > Next
> > End If
> > End If
> > End Sub
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > "simon" <substring0@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> > news:3b60227e$1@news.devx.com...
> > > Thank you very much for the response. Yes, the text file search is
> > > performed on a regular basis throughout the day. The case-sensitivity
> is
> > > not an issue because the search string is always numeric.
> > >
> > > Furthermore, this text search is just the tip of an iceberg. We
receive
> > > these fixed-length text files from external sources, and the
information
> > > will be processed across multiple databases and multiple platforms.
> That
> > is
> > > the primary reason why I think we should convert the text files into
> XML.
> > I
> > > also envision that the users from different locations can run their
> > queries
> > > and view the results on our intranet. But feel free to correct me if
I
> am
> > > wrong on this assessment.
> > >
> > > The following is a small sample of the fixed-length text file. The
> > customer
> > > names are replaced with Xs, and some of the numbers are altered
because
> of
> > > the NDA issue.
> > > S0008000013215A51686 E XXXXXXXXXX 1238259241000
> > > 10000N000000YND000N0911
> > > S0008000013215755572 B XXXXXXXXXX 1235756870000
> > > 10000N000000YYA000N0911
> > > S0008000013216278236 Z XXXXXXXXXX 1239243277000
> > > 10000N000000YND000N0911
> > >
> > > Any help or suggestion will be very much appreciated.
> > >
> > > simon.
> > >
> > >
> > > "Russell Jones" <arj1@northstate.net> wrote in message
> > > news:3b5fa13c$1@news.devx.com...
> > > > Unless you're planning to search the text files repeatedly for
> > > information,
> > > > I don't think you're going to get much benefit from XML based on the
> > > > description you gave here. Also, bear in mind that XML is
> > case-sensitive,
> > > > and performing non-case-sensitive searches is not intuitive (but
it's
> > > > possible). However, if you *are* planning to search the files
> > repeatedly,
> > > > post a sample of the file, state the type of search you need to
> perform
> > > and
> > > > someone here will help. Also, you should read Kurt Cagle's XML
> 10-Minute
> > > Pro
> > > > article on transforming flat files to XML (link below).
> > > >
> http://gethelp.devx.com/techtips/xml...kc060501-1.asp
> > > >
> > > > Russell Jones
> > > > Sr. Web Development Editor,
> > > > DevX.com
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > "simon" <substring0@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> > > > news:3b5f4697@news.devx.com...
> > > > > Hello Everybody,
> > > > >
> > > > > I am a beginner in XML. All I know right now is to create a
simple,
> > > > > hard-coded XML file, validate with DTD and display using DOM.
Now,
> I
> > > have
> > > > a
> > > > > question for the group.
> > > > >
> > > > > I am working on a VB app that will go thru a whole bunch of
> > fixed-length
> > > > > text files to look for a specific text string, and I believe XML
is
> > the
> > > > best
> > > > > way to handle this task. However, I don't know enough of XML (esp
> > > within
> > > > > VB) to get started. Can anyone give me some help?
> > > > >
> > > > > Thank you very much.
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
>
>

[simon]

Again, thanks for your help. I guess you want me to read the examples to
solve my puzzle on passing variables huh =). However, I downloaded the 3.0
Release and the 3.0 SDK. It seems that they have removed the VB examples,
contrary to what they said on the web page (typical Microsoft, haha). All I
got from the SDK are a few C++ header files. Anyway, I guess I just have to
search around for examples of XML on VB.

Funny thing, most of the articles/web pages/online discussions I came across
on XML are related to JavaScript and web page development. But I believe
XML can also be used on the n-tier enterprise environment also, not just for
web development. For example, if you have a COM component and you want to
add new parameter, you have to recompile and fight with the version
compatibility problem. That is a real pain. But if your parameter is
simply an XML string, you can add as much as your heart desires without
recompiling..... which is a huge plus to software development.

Well, enough of the nagging, ha. If you know any good link with examples
that are close to what I want to do, please let me know. Again, thank you
very much for your help and your time.

simon.


"Russell Jones" <arj1@northstate.net> wrote in message
news:3b60d346$1@news.devx.com...
> You should download the release version (v3) of the msxml parser from
> Microsoft (MSDN). There is an as yet unreleased version 4 that is
> significantly faster, expecially for SAX programming. Download the SDK as
> well and read through it. There's an msxsl utility that lets you run
> transforms from the command line--very convenient for quick testing. There
> are multiple examples, and many more in this newsgroups and in the
Microsoft
> XML and XSLT newsgroups that will help.
>
>
> "simon" <substring0@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:3b606862$1@news.devx.com...
> > Russell,
> >
> > Thank you for the example. It will help me trememdously. Now, I have a
> > couple questions on that.
> >
> > From the XML class I took (I was disappointed because the class was too
> > basic), I learned to put values between the user-defined tags (or
> elements)
> > to create the XML document. However, those values will change from text
> > file to text file. How can I pass variables to those spaces instead? I
> > guess my question is that how can I "reuse" the XML document as a
template
> > for other text files if the values are already on it? Or am I totally
> > misunderstood XML document?
> >
> > Secondly, do I need to add any reference in order to dimension a
variable
> as
> > DOMDocument? Is it an Add-in that I need to download from Microsoft or
> > something? I am using VB6 SP5, on WindowsNT4.0.
> >
> > Again, thank you very much for your help.
> >
> > simon.
> >
> >
> > "Russell Jones" <arj1@northstate.net> wrote in message
> > news:3b603b79$1@news.devx.com...
> > > Simon:
> > >
> > > What you'll need to do is create the XML document, wrapping the data
in
> > xml
> > > tags. Obviously, the tag names I've used are just for example
> > purposes--you
> > > should use meaningful tag names:
> > > <?xml version="1.0"?>
> > > <customers>
> > > <customer>
> > > <field1>S0008000013215A51686</field1>
> > > <field2>E</field2>
> > > <name>XXXXXXXXXX</name>
> > > <id>1238259241000</id>
> > > <field4>10000N000000YND000N0911</field4>
> > > </customer>
> > > <customer>
> > > <field1>S0008000013215755572</field1>
> > > <field2>B</field2>
> > > <name>XXXXXXXXXX</name>
> > > <id>1235756870000</id>
> > > <field4>10000N000000YYA000N0911</field4>
> > > </customer>
> > > </customers>
> > >
> > >
> > > Save the result as an XML file. You should be able to process the text
> > files
> > > relatively easily with any programming language.
> > >
> > > Here's a small demo. Save the sample XML file in this message as
> > > c:\customers.xml.
> > > Create a new VB project and paste this code into the form. If you
don't
> > have
> > > VB, you may still be able to glean something useful from the example.
> > >
> > > Option Explicit
> > >
> > > Private Sub Form_Load()
> > > Dim xml As DOMDocument
> > > Dim N As IXMLDOMNode
> > > Set xml = New DOMDocument
> > > xml.async = False
> > > xml.Load "c:\customers.xml"
> > > Set N = findCustomerByID("1235756870000", xml)
> > > Call showCustomer(N)
> > > End Sub
> > >
> > > Function findCustomerByID(id As String, xml As DOMDocument) As
> IXMLDOMNode
> > > Dim N As IXMLDOMNode
> > > Set N = xml.selectSingleNode("customers/customer[id='" & id &
"']")
> > > Set findCustomerByID = N
> > > End Function
> > > Sub showCustomer(N As IXMLDOMNode)
> > > Dim NChild As IXMLDOMNode
> > > If Not N Is Nothing Then
> > > If N.hasChildNodes Then
> > > For Each NChild In N.childNodes
> > > Debug.Print NChild.nodeName, NChild.Text
> > > Next
> > > End If
> > > End If
> > > End Sub
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > "simon" <substring0@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> > > news:3b60227e$1@news.devx.com...
> > > > Thank you very much for the response. Yes, the text file search is
> > > > performed on a regular basis throughout the day. The
case-sensitivity
> > is
> > > > not an issue because the search string is always numeric.
> > > >
> > > > Furthermore, this text search is just the tip of an iceberg. We
> receive
> > > > these fixed-length text files from external sources, and the
> information
> > > > will be processed across multiple databases and multiple platforms.
> > That
> > > is
> > > > the primary reason why I think we should convert the text files into
> > XML.
> > > I
> > > > also envision that the users from different locations can run their
> > > queries
> > > > and view the results on our intranet. But feel free to correct me
if
> I
> > am
> > > > wrong on this assessment.
> > > >
> > > > The following is a small sample of the fixed-length text file. The
> > > customer
> > > > names are replaced with Xs, and some of the numbers are altered
> because
> > of
> > > > the NDA issue.
> > > > S0008000013215A51686 E XXXXXXXXXX 1238259241000
> > > > 10000N000000YND000N0911
> > > > S0008000013215755572 B XXXXXXXXXX 1235756870000
> > > > 10000N000000YYA000N0911
> > > > S0008000013216278236 Z XXXXXXXXXX 1239243277000
> > > > 10000N000000YND000N0911
> > > >
> > > > Any help or suggestion will be very much appreciated.
> > > >
> > > > simon.
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > "Russell Jones" <arj1@northstate.net> wrote in message
> > > > news:3b5fa13c$1@news.devx.com...
> > > > > Unless you're planning to search the text files repeatedly for
> > > > information,
> > > > > I don't think you're going to get much benefit from XML based on
the
> > > > > description you gave here. Also, bear in mind that XML is
> > > case-sensitive,
> > > > > and performing non-case-sensitive searches is not intuitive (but
> it's
> > > > > possible). However, if you *are* planning to search the files
> > > repeatedly,
> > > > > post a sample of the file, state the type of search you need to
> > perform
> > > > and
> > > > > someone here will help. Also, you should read Kurt Cagle's XML
> > 10-Minute
> > > > Pro
> > > > > article on transforming flat files to XML (link below).
> > > > >
> > http://gethelp.devx.com/techtips/xml...kc060501-1.asp
> > > > >
> > > > > Russell Jones
> > > > > Sr. Web Development Editor,
> > > > > DevX.com
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > > "simon" <substring0@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> > > > > news:3b5f4697@news.devx.com...
> > > > > > Hello Everybody,
> > > > > >
> > > > > > I am a beginner in XML. All I know right now is to create a
> simple,
> > > > > > hard-coded XML file, validate with DTD and display using DOM.
> Now,
> > I
> > > > have
> > > > > a
> > > > > > question for the group.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > I am working on a VB app that will go thru a whole bunch of
> > > fixed-length
> > > > > > text files to look for a specific text string, and I believe XML
> is
> > > the
> > > > > best
> > > > > > way to handle this task. However, I don't know enough of XML
(esp
> > > > within
> > > > > > VB) to get started. Can anyone give me some help?
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Thank you very much.
> > > > > >
> > > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
>
>