CONC@DE™
A Tool for Merging Delimited ASCII Files

Purpose:

Combine two or more identically formatted delimited ASCII data files into one.

Description

OLDFILE.EXT is the name of a file that is to be imported into a data base application such as DataEase™ or Microsoft® Access.

• The file must contain delimited ASCII records separated by a carriage return and line feed.
• The first record must be a field name list, which is compared to all subsequent records. Identical records are assumed to be duplicate headers and are discarded,

NEWFILE.EXT is the name of a file to be appended to OLDFILE.EXT, discarding the first record if it is identical with the first record of OLDFILE.EXT.

The program handles four cases.

1. Both OLDFILE.EXT and NEWFILE.EXT exist. NEWFILE.EXT is appended to OLDFILE.EXT except for the first record, which is discarded, then NEWFILE.EXT is deleted.
2. NEWFILE.EXT exists but OLDFILE.EXT does not. NEWFILE.EXT is renamed to OLDFILE.EXT. This works if both files are in the same directory or if NEWFILE.EXT is in a subdirectory of the directory that contains OLDFILE.EXT and is specified as ../NEWFILE.EXT. For example, if the first file is specified as ../MyExport.TXT and the second file is specified as MyExport.TXT, then MyExport.TXT will be moved to its parent directory.
3. OLDFILE.EXT exists but NEWFILE.EXT does not. This is a degenerate case; nothing happens.
4. Neither OLDFILE.EXT nor NEWFILE.EXT exists. This is the null case; nothing happens because there isn't even a prototype from which to create an empty import file.

CONC@DE.EXE is a 16 bit MS-DOS application, written in Microsoft QuickBasic 4.0 and last modified in September 1990. Therefore, all file and path names must be specified in short (8.3) format. Since it was developed for use with DataEase™ 4.5 before the advent of Windows 95, we have never tested the program with long file names, long directory names, or file and path names containing spaces. In that regard, you are on your own.

Contents of This Package

The table below lists all the files that come in this package.

You may run CONC@DE.EXE from anywhere, though placing it in a directory that is on your MS-DOS PATH greatly simplifies its use.

Note: Unless explicitly stated otherwise in the documentation, we recommend that you install of our utilities into the same directory because they use a common set of DLLs and other auxilliary files. When you install more of our utilities, you may be prompted for permission to overwite one or more files, and two images that accompany all of our program documentation. Please allow the updates; like named DLLs and other support files have been tested with the entire collection and found to work correctly.

Development History

The table below gives a brief development history of this program.

Date	Who	Version	Remarks
01/13/1990	DAG	1.1	Re-compiled and re-linked to include the new version of the GETPARM subroutine that is modified to accomodate two or more spaces between command line arguments. This permits a series of program calls to be displayed in a visually appealing manner in a batch file by making the program as forgiving as the DOS COPY command.
06/06/1990	DAG	1.2	Re-compile and re-link to include the new version of the GETPARM subroutine that is modified to accomodate TAB characters as white space characters, to accomodate text editors that generate them for long extents of white space. Modify to accomodate full DOS path names.
09/22/1990	DAG	1.3	Add the capability to strip out blank records and make a report of lines removed.
08/24/2005	DAG	1.3	This event is a name change only. Please see the next section for details.

A Spiffy New Name for A Sturdy Stalwart

Thanks to Jim Brosnam, of EZ Storage®, we changed the program name from CONCATDE, the name it bore from its inception in 1989 until now, to CONC@DE™.

Jim was so inspired by the solution for a problem that arose last week that we initially thought was caused by this simple stalwart program. Today, we confirmed that the culprit was actually the "@" symbol in an email address that appeared in a data file that it was asked to process at one of their offices. The file was created by a new version of their DataEase™ application that had just gone into production. The way it output the email address appears to have caused the DataEase™ application to create incorrect output files that confused CONC@DE™. When the DataEase™ procedure was changed, CONC@DE™ resumed its normal dependable behavior.

Support

This software is freeware. However, in the unlikely event that you need support, you may make your request by email, using this form. Your inquiry will be handled on a best efforts basis, and any information you send us about your specific situation will be treated as confidential. We do, however, reserve the right to incorporate any ideas we get from our correspondence with you into future versions of CONC@DE™ or other software either for internal use or for sale. Should we do so, we shall give full credit to its source in the accompanying documentation.

Author

David Gray, MBA, of Simple Soft Services, Inc., d/b/a WizardWrx

Copyright

Program © 1990, Simple Soft Services, Inc. All rights reserved world wide.

Documentation © 2006, Simple Soft Services, Inc., d/b/a WizardWrx. All rights reserved world wide.

---

Download your free copy here.

The MD5 digest of this file is dcec1de3cab0e24b139b36a0e7adbe3f. You can use MD5WIN to verify the MD5 digest of this and other files.

WizardWrx Home page www.wizardwrx.com.

CONC@DE™ Home Page

Other Free Stuff

Program and documentation ©1989-2005, Simple Soft Services, Inc., d/b/a WizardWrx All rights reserved world wide.

---

Copyright and Legal Notice

Last Updated 19 August 2006

© 2006, WizardWrx. All rights reserved world wide.