Importing large text files

[Joe Haynes]

I am in the process of gearing up my campaign for Florida
Senate and have received a copy of the voters in my
district on a CD in a comma delimited format from the
supervisor of elections.
Unfortunately, the file is well over 100,000 lines long.
Is there any way to import this data in parts and make
each importation its own worksheet? Can it be done without
macros or if not, does anyone have a macro or Apple script
that would handle an import of this size?
Using the import wizard was not much help- its an all or
nothing scenario with the wizard.

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[JE McGimpsey]

I am in the process of gearing up my campaign for Florida
Senate and have received a copy of the voters in my
district on a CD in a comma delimited format from the
supervisor of elections.
Unfortunately, the file is well over 100,000 lines long.
Is there any way to import this data in parts and make
each importation its own worksheet? Can it be done without
macros or if not, does anyone have a macro or Apple script
that would handle an import of this size?
Using the import wizard was not much help- its an all or
nothing scenario with the wizard.

Any help would be appreciated.

First, I'd suggest that your campaign use a database rather than XL.
FileMaker Pro and 4D are two excellent products that, in addition to
allowing more than 65536 records, have much better/faster data handling
and data security features. A free alternative, though with a steep
learning curve, is to use something like MySQL.

Having said that, if you still want to use XL, you have two options. The
first, and fastest, is to pull your CSV file into a text editor and
split it into two or more parts (separate files) which can then be read
into XL via the Import Text wizard (to separate sheets).

The second method is to read each record one-at-a-time using VBA. This
provides some flexibility (e.g., you can read a record in, then assign
it to a sheet based on any number of criteria), but it is very slow.
Post back if you're interested in pursuing that option.