Determining field positions for fixed files

  1. If the file is Fixed, you need to count the number of character spaces from the left margin of the file in the text-reading program to the first character of the particular field.
  2. Choose a field and then choose a particular row in the sample file in the program that you are using to view it.
  3. Position the mouse cursor at the beginning of that row.
  4. Press the Images/SA80000090000.gif arrow key on the keyboard and count the number of times that you have to press it until you arrive at the first character of the record for the particular field.
  5. Enter this number in the appropriate box in the Start column in the Field positions section of the Import Template Editor window.
  6. Work through the list of fields in the Field positions section of the Import Template Editor, starting with Code and finishing with Date. If no information is present in the sample file for a particular field, leave the Start and Length boxes blank for that field.
  1. In addition to determining the field positions, you also need to correctly identify how many characters each field in the sample file contains. In a fixed width file by definition all instances of each field have the same width.
  2. Find the longest example for each field using the program with which you are viewing the file. Count the number of characters, including spaces and punctuation, and enter it in the appropriate box in the Length column in the Field positions section of the Import Template Editor window.