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How to: Read From Fixed-width Text Files in Visual Basic

The TextFieldParser object provides a way to easily and efficiently parse structured text files, such as logs.

The TextFieldType property defines whether the parsed file is a delimited file or one that has fixed-width fields of text. In a fixed-width text file, the field at the end can have a variable width. To specify that the field at the end has a variable width, define it to have a width less than or equal to zero.

To parse a fixed-width text file

  1. Create a new TextFieldParser. The following code creates the TextFieldParser named Reader and opens the file test.log.

    Using Reader As New Microsoft.VisualBasic.
        FileIO.TextFieldParser("C:\TestFolder\test.log")
    
  2. Define the TextFieldType property as FixedWidth, defining the width and format. The following code defines the columns of text; the first is 5 characters wide, the second 10, the third 11, and the fourth is of variable width.

    Reader.TextFieldType =
    Microsoft.VisualBasic.FileIO.FieldType.FixedWidth
    Reader.SetFieldWidths(5, 10, 11, -1)
    
  3. Loop through the fields in the file. If any lines are corrupted, report an error and continue parsing.

    Dim currentRow As String()
       While Not Reader.EndOfData
          Try
             currentRow = Reader.ReadFields()
             Dim currentField As String
             For Each currentField In currentRow
                MsgBox(currentField)
             Next
          Catch ex As Microsoft.VisualBasic.
                      FileIO.MalformedLineException
             MsgBox("Line " & ex.Message &
             "is not valid and will be skipped.")
     End Try
    
  4. Close the While and Using blocks with End While and End Using.

       End While
    End Using
    

Example

This example reads from the file test.log.

Using Reader As New Microsoft.VisualBasic.FileIO.
   TextFieldParser("C:\TestFolder\test.log")

   Reader.TextFieldType =
      Microsoft.VisualBasic.FileIO.FieldType.FixedWidth
   Reader.SetFieldWidths(5, 10, 11, -1)
   Dim currentRow As String()
   While Not Reader.EndOfData
      Try
         currentRow = Reader.ReadFields()
         Dim currentField As String
         For Each currentField In currentRow
            MsgBox(currentField)
         Next
      Catch ex As Microsoft.VisualBasic.FileIO.MalformedLineException
         MsgBox("Line " & ex.Message &
         "is not valid and will be skipped.")
      End Try
   End While
End Using

Robust Programming

The following conditions may cause an exception:

See Also

Tasks

How to: Read From Comma-Delimited Text Files in Visual Basic

How to: Read From Text Files with Multiple Formats in Visual Basic

Walkthrough: Manipulating Files and Directories in Visual Basic

Troubleshooting: Reading from and Writing to Text Files (Visual Basic)

Troubleshooting Exceptions: Microsoft.VisualBasic.FileIO.TextFieldParser.MalformedLineException

Reference

Microsoft.VisualBasic.FileIO.TextFieldParser

Concepts

Parsing Text Files with the TextFieldParser Object (Visual Basic)