Converting a Microsoft Access Spreadsheet to a Text File

 

 

For this example, we will use a Microsoft Access spreadsheet to demonstrate how to convert it into a usable text file.  From there we will use the Copy Input feature in XGW32 to add the text file to our layout.

 

  1. Open the spreadsheet.  You will notice that there are 15 rows of names and in each row there are four columns of information.

 

 

  1. Select File | Export…

 

 

  1. Give the file a name and in the Save as type field, choose “Microsoft Word Merge *.txt)”

  2. Click the Save All button when finished.

 

 

  1. Close out Microsoft Access and open Microsoft Word.

  1. Our document will look something like this:

 

When we saved the file in Microsoft Access, it placed a tab between entries in each row as well as putting quotes around each text block in the document.  At the top of the document, the F1-F4 keys were saved as well.  Before we go further, delete these from the top of the document.

 

  1. In Microsoft Word, select Edit | Replace…

 

 

  1. In the Find and Replace dialog, click on the More button to display the rest of the window.

 

           

 

  1. Place the cursor in the Find what field and click on the Special button.

  2. From the menu, choose “Tab Character”.

 

 

  1. Place the cursor in the Replace with field and click on the Special button.

  2. Choose “Manual Line Break”.

 

 

  1. Click on the Replace All button.

  2. Microsoft Word will replace all of the tabs with carriage returns and will display a dialog box showing how many were replaced.  Click on OK to close the box.

 

 

  1. Place the cursor in the Find what field and type a “

  2. Remove any characters from the Replace with field.

  3. Click on the Replace All Button.

 

 

  1. Microsoft Word will remove all of the parentheses from the document and will display a dialog box showing how many were deleted.  Click on OK to close the box.

 

 

  1. Click on the Close button to exit the Find and Replace dialog.

  2. Now our document will look like this.

 

 

  1. Select File | Save as…

  2. For the Save as type, select “Plain Text (*.txt)”

  3. Name the file and click the Save button.

 

 

  1. Now open Xenetech and select File | New…

  2. We will set our single plate size to 1” high and 3” wide.

  3. We will set our multiple plate size to 12” high and 24” wide.

  4. Click the OK button when finished.

 

 

Our screen will look something like this:

 

 

 

  1. Place four “X’s” on the screen and even space them.  Each of the X’s will represent one line of text.  (Remember from our Microsoft Access spreadsheet that we had four columns of information).

 

 

  1. Select Misc | Copy input…

  2. Use the Look in field to locate the text file we saved from Microsoft Word.

  3. Select the text file and click the Open button.

 

 

  1. The text file will be imported into our layout and will look something like this:

 

               

       

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