Common Data Loading Issues

 

Example from Fixed Width article.

These are the default settings in the Text Tab for Fixed Width data. Note that the 'Left aligned' setting is initially determined by the system. Also note that the 'File viewer' is enabled because this viewer shows the column widths as coloured bands (see screenshots below).

Fixed width format can be more challenging to get right, especially if the column header has column names with spaces, or if there are consecutive column names without a space. As we shall see, there are ways to deal with this.

 

The file as shown above appears initially as:

 

The system has picked up that the columns are right-aligned. Everything is ok, except that the 2 columns SIO2 and AL2O3 have been lumped together. To separate these 2 simply type in the offset at which they should be split in the 'Split column at' entry, using the character ruler in the File Viewer. Once you have typed in 61 and pressed return this window looks like this:

 

Fixed_Text_Window_2

 

You're now ready to press the 'Load Data' button.

 

 

If you have a column header with a column name that has an embedded space like so in "FE %":

 

X Y Z DOMAIN HOLE FE % SIO2 AL2O3

1482.172932 385.5593659 -156.7930162 1 BH0A02637.7 29 9.15

1482.172932 385.9899401 -158.7404459 1 BH0A02638.6 26.3 11.1

1482.172932 386.4205144 -160.6878762 1 BH0A02641.9 19.2 12.1

1482.172932 386.8510887 -162.6353071 7 BH0A02653.2 7.4 5.41

 

Then you must select the consecutive data columns that you want to combine and click the 'Combine columns' button:

 

Fixed_Text_Window_3

 

After doing this the column definitions are all lined up and you are ready to load the data.

 

Fixed_Text_Window_4