Import Fixed Text Files

Select the Fixed option button in the Importing File dialog box or the Text File Import Type dialog box and click OK  to display the Import Fixed Text Files dialog box.

Option Description
Import Options In the Import Options group box, specify options related to row and data handling.
Take variable names from first row in the file Select this check box in order to create variable names from the first row in the text file.
Number of leading cases to skip Specifies which row of the text file to begin the import.
Maximum number of cases to import Specifies the number of rows of the text file to import.
Missing data text string Specifies a custom character or string that you want to be imported as missing data.
Decimal separator Specifies the character used as the decimal separator in the text file (such as, '.' or ',').
Escape Character Select this check box when you wish to allow a character, or string of characters, to be included as literal values of spreadsheet cells and not interpreted as a case delimiter.

 A case delimiter preceded by this character is not interpreted as a delimiter. Instead, the escape character is removed and the delimiter character/string itself is included in the value to be written in the spreadsheet cell. Enter the escape character you want to use in the text box next to the Escape Character check box.
Skip blank lines Does not import rows that are empty.
V7 Fixed Import Displays the Text Fixed Import Options dialog box.
Variable Options (click below to enable) In the Variable Options group box, enter the specifications for the variables.
Note: Click on a column in the preview window to first select a variable to edit.

To create separate columns, for example to create variables with fixed widths, click on the ruler above the data view, which adds variable delimiters.

Name Enter the name to be used as the variable name for the selected column in the preview window.
Number Enter the variable order of the selected column as it would appear in the spreadsheet.

For example, if you select the first column and enter 2 in this field, then the column is imported as the second variable.

Missing data value Enter the value to be used as missing data for the variable.
Data type Select from this drop-down list the data type of the selected column.
Input format Specifies the date format of the column (for example: DD/MM/YYYY). Note that the data type of the column must be set to Date to enable this option.
Remove non-numeric characters Select this option to remove any text values from the column. Values that are entirely textual are imported as missing data, and values that contain both numbers and text have all text characters removed.
Omit Does not import the selected column.
Split Displays the Split Variables dialog box, where you can specify the width of the data defining each auto-created variable.
Formatting Displays the Input Date Formatting dialog box.
Case Delimiting In this group box, specify the custom characters (or string) used as the input file's row delimiter.
Carriage return Considers a carriage return as the end-of-line character.
Line feed Considers a line feed as the end-of-line character.
Fixed Length Select this option when the record size is a fixed length of characters that is usually not delimited by any line break characters. Enter the number of characters for the fixed length of your records in the text box to the right of this option.
Others Specifies a custom character or string as the end-of-line delimiter.
Match all When the Others option is selected, select this check box to specify that Statistica should use the text in the Others edit field as a single string representing a row delimiter. Otherwise, each character in this edit field is seen as separate delimiters. 

For example, if you enter ENDL in the Others edit field and select this option, then any occurrence of the word ENDL in the file is seen as the end of current row of text.

Cases to Preview You can enter the number of rows that you want to show in the preview window below.
Preview all Select this check box to preview all rows from the file in the preview window below.
Format String Displays the parsing string currently being used by the text importer.
Text File The text to be imported can be viewed in the Text File group box. By default, when using the fixed text file import type, no separate variables are detected. To create separate columns, (to create variables with fixed widths) clicking on the ruler above the data view adds variable delimiters.
Auto refresh Select this check box to refresh the preview whenever an option is changed.
Refresh View Updates the text file view in order to see how the options and variable settings affect the input. If the Auto Refresh check box is selected, this button is disabled.
OK Accepts the options selected and imports the text file.
Cancel Closes the dialog box without importing the text file.