If I export a table as a tab delimited file some, but not all, of the text
values for a common field are embraced with quotation marks. I'm curious as
to why this is so and how they can be prevented. As things now stand I have
to open the exported file in Word and eliminate the quotation marks via a
search and replace action.

Also, is there a way to export tab delimited data such that the field
identifiers constitute the first row. Currently I have to export the same
data twice, once as a merge file and once as a tab delimited file and then
cut and paste the appropriate parts so that the result can be opened in a
spreadsheet with the top row containing the field identifiers and the
remaining rows the field values.



-- James L. Ryan -- TaliesinSoft

"My dog never came across a bush he didn't like!"

TaliesinSoft wrote:

I think quotation marks are either:
- inserted for fields that have spaces or tabs in the text
or
- inserted for all text fields.

I forget which.

Not sure, but you could have a script create a dummy record with the
field names for values, export the data, and then delete the dummy
record. You'd have to make sure it is sorted to the top, but it should
be possible.

"TaliesinSoft" <taliesinsoft (AT) mac (DOT) com> wrote

Fields themselves have tabs in them in my guess - so they get escaped out in
the quote marks to prevent data misalignment in the target application.
..mer format has the field names on the first row

Webko

In article <0001HW.BD22BDD80004D96DF03055B0 (AT) news (DOT) dallas.sbcglobal.net>,
TaliesinSoft <taliesinsoft (AT) mac (DOT) com> wrote:

I've spent many a day bashing my head against a wall because I couldn't
figure out *why* this behavior was occurring!

What I finally did figure out was that either FileMaker or the
application you're using to open up the tab-delimited file (and I still
don't know which is the culprit) is doing our thinking for us.

In my case, I typically use MS Excel to process tab-delimited files
I've exported from FM6. Sure as anything, some of the company names
come out encased in quotes and some of the items we sell will do the
same thing. And here's why:

The company named ABC Company, Inc. will show up in the tab-delimited
file as "ABC Company, Inc." Same thing with an item description such
as: Pizza Box, 16" (that's the inches mark, not a quote mark). That
description shows up as "Pizza Box, 16""""

Notice that in both examples there are characters that are considered
delimiters themselves (the comma) or characters that have special
properties (the quote mark). The tab-separated text file is making
those fields that contain special characters/delimiters LITERAL text by
encasing these items in quote marks! Which is why I said that the
software is doing our thinking for us and assuming (heh) that's what we
want.

BTW, the only solution I've come up with so far is to open the text
file in a word processor and use the Find & Replace command to get rid
of those extra quote marks. If anyone else has a better solution, I'd
love to hear it!

On Wed, 21 Jul 2004 00:55:34 -0500, Billi wrote
(in article <200720042255331129%ever_wonder (AT) comcast (DOT) net>):

I've sent a request to FileMaker that they consider adding an option to the
export dialog allowing one to specifically state that they don't want quote
marks added. Until then I'm exploring writing an AppleScript to "cleanse" the
export. If I'm successful I'll be more than happy to post the solution.


-- James L. Ryan -- TaliesinSoft

"My dog never came across a bush he didn't like!"