Prepating text files for import

[furghella]

I need to import a text file that includes, among other things, one field that contains a small table. In this text file, the table if formatted using blanks and line breaks (^l). As usual, records are separated by carriage returns (^p in Word), and fields are separated by a tab (^t).

Now, if I save this document as a text file, Word turns ALL line breaks into carriage returns. I know for a fact that FileMaker does recognize line breaks in a text field, but how do I represent them in Word text document? (I have already tried the "save as text with line breaks" option - it doesn't work)

FileMaker Version: 5

Platform: Mac OS X Panther

[Lee Smith]

Hi Furghella,

I'm not quite sure what is or isn't happening, but I use Bare Bones BBEdit for manipulating text files (there is a BBEdit Lite that is free), and a new product TextWrangler that is a super product for the price. You can download full working demos of BBEdit 7.x and TextWrangler from their site:

http://www.barebones.com/index.shtml

and BBEdit Lite;

http://www.barebones.com/products/bblite/index.shtml

No matter which one you choose, you will find the tools far more helpful than Word when it comes manipulating your text files, and preparing them for import into FileMaker.

If you have problems with doing what you want with them, just send me an email and I'll do what I can to assist you.

No, I do not work or have ownership interest in with Bare Bones, I'm just a very satisfied user.

Lee