Member Avatar for xcarbonx

Hello,

As of now I am trying to read in a text file that is tab delimited with uneven columns. My problem is that when I try to split the file into respective lines, I get an "out of array bound" error. I know this is due to have a NULL value in certain row/columns places. Is there a way to just read through each row instead of relying on each column to have a value in it? I have attached my input file for easy viewing.

Here is my code thus far:

        Dim infile As IO.StreamReader = IO.File.OpenText("input.txt")
        Dim lines() As String
        Dim outFile As IO.StreamWriter = IO.File.CreateText("out.txt")

        Dim col1 As Char
        Dim col2 As String
        Dim col3 As String
        Dim col4 As String
        Dim col5 As String

        For Each line In IO.File.ReadAllLines("input.txt")

            lines = infile.ReadLine.Split(vbTab)

            col1 = lines(0)
            col2 = lines(1)
            col3 = lines(2)
            col4 = lines(3)
            col5 = lines(4)     'Error here

            With outFile
                .WriteLine(col1)
                .WriteLine(col2)
                .WriteLine(col3)
                .WriteLine(col4)
                .WriteLine(col5)
            End With

        Next

P	Joe Smith	123-4567	BCBS
P	Bollo Naboo	867-5309	APE
P	Howard Moon	123-1234	BCBS
P	Vince Noir	432-4321	BCBS
A	123-4567	A	D Stantz	45
A	123-4567	A	T M 12:00	30
A	123-4567	A	N	30
A	123-4567	D	M 12:00
  • 3 Contributors
  • 6 Replies
  • 321 Views
  • 2 Days Discussion Span
  • Latest Post Latest Post by xcarbonx
Member Avatar for Reverend Jim

You could try

For Each line As String In System.IO.File.ReadAllLines("d:\temp\test.txt")

    Dim col() As String = {"", "", "", "", ""}
    Dim fld() As String = line.Split(vbTab)

    For i As Integer = 0 To UBound(fld)
        col(i) = fld(i)
    Next

    For i As Integer = 0 To UBound(col)
        Debug.WriteLine(" field " & i & " = " & col(i))
    Next

Next
Member Avatar for Begginnerdev

Could also do something like this:

For Each line As String in System.IO.File.RealAllLines("input.txt")
    Dim lstData As New List of String
    lstData = line.Split(vbTab).ToList

    For i = 0 To lstData.Count - 1
        outFile.WriteLine(lstData(i))
    Next
Next
Edited by Begginnerdev
Member Avatar for Reverend Jim

I think the problem is that he wants to define a field value for each field (null if the field is not present). One obvious problem is what happens when it's not the last field that is missing.

Member Avatar for xcarbonx

Yes I would like each column assigned to a variable, because i plan to use a switch statement for some of them. Ex- Switch (col1) case "a" case "p". Is there a way to get around some records being null in certain columns? Is it possible just to read by row instead of column since there are uneven columns?

Member Avatar for Reverend Jim

Is there a way to get around some records being null in certain columns?

As long as the fields (including missing ones) are delimited by tabs then my code will work.

Member Avatar for xcarbonx

Thanks for your help Jim!

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