Searching a File for a Value

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There will be times when you do not require the entire text file contents to be copied. You can specify your search to determine which text you are looking for. When the text is found, you can then determine which actions to take.

The following procedure uses two text files at the same time. The FilterFile procedure reads the text from textfile.txt and copies only rows that contain a specific text string to a second output.txt file.

Sub FilterFile()
Open "c:\textfile.txt" For Input As #1
Open "c:\output.txt" For Output As #2
TextToFind = "January"
Do Until EOF(1)
Line Input #1, Data
If InStr(1, Data, TextToFind) Then
Print #2, Data
End If
Loop
Close
End Sub

The FileSearch and FileDialog objects provide useful tools when programming VBA procedures. Because these objects are part of the Office object model, they have the advantage of being available to all Office VBA applications.

The FileSearch object is used to locate files with common characteristics, such as file names or similar locations, so that they can be processed in subsequent code. The FileDialog object is used to display the File Open and File Save As dialog boxes to allow the user to browse the folders. It provides a more powerful tool than the GetOpenFileName and GetSaveAsFileName functions used in previous versions of Excel.

The file search capabilities reviewed in this chapter can enhance the projects that you work with. Limit your searches using the criteria discussed, such as a specific file extension or a value within the file. These search techniques can be incorporated in your future projects to enhance your results. Once the desired files have been located, remember that you can read the contents of the file and then write the contents into new files when appropriate.



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Microsoft Excel 2003 Programming Inside Out
Microsoft Office Excel 2003 Programming Inside Out (Inside Out (Microsoft))
ISBN: 0735619859
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2006
Pages: 161

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