How to Create a Delimited Text File
- 1). Open your text editor. If there is an option for text wrapping in your editor, make sure that it is not enabled.
- 2). Choose which character you wish to act as the delimiter. The delimiter is a “signal” that marks the end of one data field and the beginning of another. Make sure to choose a delimiter that won’t be confused with characters in your data. The most common delimiter used is the comma. However, if your data contains commas, it is best to choose another character such as a semicolon.
- 3). Begin typing your data in the text editor. Enter each record on a new line, using your chosen delimiter to separate each piece of data. For example, suppose you want to create a delimited file that contains information about a person’s name, age, and favorite color. One record tells us that Chris is 29 and favors red. A second record states that Linda is 18 and prefers blue. If you are using a comma as your delimiter, you would type “Chris, 29, red” on the first line of your text file. Next, you would hit the “Enter” key to get to the second line. You would then type “Linda, 18, blue” on that line.
- 4). Finish entering all of your data. Remember to start each record on a new line. Also, don’t forget to include your delimiter between data elements of the record.
- 5). Save the file as a text file. Make sure that it has a .txt extension.
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