Transforming a text file to a database

[adjacent]

I have a list of contacts like this:

Name ,Address:House ,Island ,Atoll 	7777777
Name ,Address:House ,Island ,Atoll 	7777777
Name ,Address:House ,Island ,Atoll 	7777777

I have a large number of these and I want the details to be separated to different columns. Is there any program which will do this for me?

I tried searching google and got nothing.

 

[jtbell]

Microsoft Excel's "import wizard" (which you get automatically when you open a text file in Excel) can be used to remove the commas and the colon, and open the file as a spreadsheet. Then you can save it as a tab-delimited text file if that's more suitable for you than an Excel spreadsheet.

The Open Office clone of Excel might have a similar import wizard.

 

[TurtleMeister]

Yes, you can do it with Open Office. Open a new spreadsheet and on the main menu click "Insert". Then click "Sheet From File". A dialog box will appear where you can select what delimiters you want to use.

 

[Borg]

I have a list of contacts like this:

Name ,Address:House ,Island ,Atoll 	7777777
Name ,Address:House ,Island ,Atoll 	7777777
Name ,Address:House ,Island ,Atoll 	7777777

I have a large number of these and I want the details to be separated to different columns. Is there any program which will do this for me?

I tried searching google and got nothing.

If you include the word 'parse' in your search, you will get lots of hits - how to parse a text file.
But, as posted, Excel is quick and easy.

 

[adjacent]

Oh, I didn't know Excel was that great . I think I should learn MS office products more.

Thanks guys.

 

[jtbell]

I was able to open and fix up your small sample (after copy-and-pasting it into a text file) as I described it, using Excel for Mac 2011. The details may differ for you depending on which version you have, but it took me only a couple of minutes to figure it out in the "wizard."

 

[adjacent]

I was able to open and fix up your small sample (after copy-and-pasting it into a text file) as I described it, using Excel for Mac 2011. The details may differ for you depending on which version you have, but it took me only a couple of minutes to figure it out in the "wizard."

Yeah, I got it done too.I opened the text file in excel and the wizard opened