import text file

[dcasorso]

I have multiple text files I want to import into tables. They say it is ASCII format, but there are no delimiters. The way it was setup is the first row has a number dashes and then a space, the space indicates the number of characters for each column. My issue is I cannot figure out how to repeat this import without counting the columns each time and entering it in as a delimiter, for example - Csv.Document(File.Contents("C:\Users\Dean\Downloads\SPUD0507.txt"),null,{0, 20, 53, 63, 70, 100, 108, 132, 145, 151, 180, 194},null,1252).

Is there someone out there that has completed a task similar to this and is willing to show me how to do it? There is an example of the data

[Eric_Zhang]

@dcasorso

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@dcasorso wrote:

I have multiple text files I want to import into tables. They say it is ASCII format, but there are no delimiters. The way it was setup is the first row has a number dashes and then a space, the space indicates the number of characters for each column. My issue is I cannot figure out how to repeat this import without counting the columns each time and entering it in as a delimiter, for example - Csv.Document(File.Contents("C:\Users\Dean\Downloads\SPUD0507.txt"),null,{0, 20, 53, 63, 70, 100, 108, 132, 145, 151, 180, 194},null,1252).

Is there someone out there that has completed a task similar to this and is willing to show me how to do it? There is an example of the data

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I do think you should enter the {0, 20, 53, 63, 70, 100, 108, 132, 145, 151, 180, 194} to make things not complicated. However you don't have to count the columns. What you need is a good text editor, such as NotePad++. You'd get the position numbers when putting the input cursor before a space.

[ImkeF]

I'd try the following:

Select the first record (Source{0}) and add a column: Text.PositionOf([Column1], " ", Occurrence.All)

This should return a list with all positions of blanks. Fill in this stepname as a variable into the Csv.Document call (instead of the list with the hardcoded numbers)