File Types for Exporting

Supported File Types for Exporting

The file types supported for Export include the following:

Comma Delimited Files

A Comma Delimited (or Comma Separated) file consists of fields, each of which are surrounded by quotation marks and separated by a comma. The standard extension given to such files is .txt or .csv. Some software program will refer to comma delimited files as "text" files.

In a Comma Delimited file, each different record is separated by a carriage return ( ¶ - the same as pressing Enter on your keyboard). This is a look at what three records would look in a Comma Delimited file:

"Mary Johnson","Box 404","Wilson","WY" ¶

"George Walter","123 Main Street","Plainfield","NJ" ¶

"Joshua Jenkins","48 Linden Street","Billings","MT" ¶

Note that for importing purposes in AnyPO, there should not be any space between the quote marks and the comma, i.e. " , " is not correct. This is not a concern if you are producing Comma Delimited files from database, accounting and spreadsheet software. However, you should be aware of this if you are using a word processor to create a file or make alterations to an existing file.

Tab Delimited Files

This the best format to use when sending your data to Excel or a spreadsheet of your choice. A Tab Delimited (or Tab Separated) file consists of fields, each of which is separated by a tab. Each different record is separated by a carriage return (¶). Most spreadsheet programs place copied cells into the clipboard in a Tab Delimited format.

Here's an example of a Tab Delimited file:

Mary Johnson(TAB)345 Johnson Ave(TAB)Wilson(TAB)WY ¶

George Walter(TAB)123 Main Street(TAB)Plainfield(TAB)NJ ¶

Joshua Jenkins(TAB)48 Linden Street(TAB)Billings(TAB)MT ¶

When a Tab Delimited File is moved into Excel or other spreadsheet programs, the fields become the columns. The above looks like:

TabDelim

dBase Files

The dBase file format is a widely used format that many software products support. There are several versions of dBase files. AnyPO supports the most common: dBase IV.

Use the file extension .dbf when using dBase files, i.e. Sample.dbf. Since the dBase file structure is a time-tested, stable structure for database files, it's the native format that AnyPO uses to store its own data.