using access to archive and access approx 15,000 .crd or .txt files

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_Bigred

I have approx 15,000 guitar related files that are in .crd or .txt format
(both these can be opened with your run of the mill notepad etc..)

Is there a way in access to create a query of these 15,000, and create links
to the files. (so i can put the files in the database directory and access
them through access).

I would hate to have to input 15,000 file names into the database. But would
like to be able to have a database that allows easy search, archive & access
to these files.

TIA,
_Bigred
 
Look in VBA Help for the Dir function. It has some good examples there and
it will help you with what you want to do.
 
If these are unstructured or loosely structured text files, and you want
in effect to index them, a relational database such as Access is not the
most convenient tool for the job. Specialist "text database" software
such as Bekon Idealist (which I've been using for more than 12 years),
InfoSelect or AskSam will make it much easier to do powerful searches.

Or you could leave the files as they are, and learn to use text-file
search tools such as 'grep' to quickly find the one(s) you want. 'grep'
and other classic text file tools are a free download from
http://unxutils.sourceforge.net/

But if you do need to use Access, here's how to get started:

Assuming that all the files are in a convenient and sensible structure
of folders (e.g. a top-level folder "C:\Documents and Settings\Bigred\My
Documents\GuitarInfo" and maybe subfolders below it) I'd probably
proceed as follows:

1) Open a Windows command prompt, use the CD command to navigate to the
"GuitarInfo" folder, and then use a pair of commands like this

DIR *.TXT /S /B > C:\FileList.txt
DIR *.CRD /S /B >> C:\FileList.txt

(note > in the first and >> in the second.)

This creates a textfile containing a list of all the files.

2) Import the list of files into Access.

3) OPen the table in design view, rename the existing field to FileSpec
and add a memo field (let's call it Contents).

4) Get the FileContents() function from
http://www.j.nurick.dial.pipex.com/Code/VBA/FileContents.htm and paste
it into a module.

5) Create and run an update query that uses FileContents() to populate
the Contents field, i.e. updating Contents to something like this:

FileContents("C:\Documents and Settings\Bigred\My Documents\GuitarInfo\"
& [FileSpec], -1)

With 15,000 files this could take hours to run, so while you're testing
be sure to put a criterion on the query that will just select a few
files (e.g. a criterion on [FileSpec] of
Like "Strings\[AB]*"
will get you only the files in the Strings subfolder that begin with A
or B.)
 
I am not familiar with the other programs you are speaking of, I will have
research those avenues to determine if they would work better for my
intended goals.

Ultimately the system I'm brainstorming, might work best in access. Because
I will also have some other stuff that will be incorporated into whatever
database is created.

Thanks for your feedback, I'll check those suggestions out. And post back if
needed.
_Bigred


John Nurick said:
If these are unstructured or loosely structured text files, and you want
in effect to index them, a relational database such as Access is not the
most convenient tool for the job. Specialist "text database" software
such as Bekon Idealist (which I've been using for more than 12 years),
InfoSelect or AskSam will make it much easier to do powerful searches.

Or you could leave the files as they are, and learn to use text-file
search tools such as 'grep' to quickly find the one(s) you want. 'grep'
and other classic text file tools are a free download from
http://unxutils.sourceforge.net/

But if you do need to use Access, here's how to get started:

Assuming that all the files are in a convenient and sensible structure
of folders (e.g. a top-level folder "C:\Documents and Settings\Bigred\My
Documents\GuitarInfo" and maybe subfolders below it) I'd probably
proceed as follows:

1) Open a Windows command prompt, use the CD command to navigate to the
"GuitarInfo" folder, and then use a pair of commands like this

DIR *.TXT /S /B > C:\FileList.txt
DIR *.CRD /S /B >> C:\FileList.txt

(note > in the first and >> in the second.)

This creates a textfile containing a list of all the files.

2) Import the list of files into Access.

3) OPen the table in design view, rename the existing field to FileSpec
and add a memo field (let's call it Contents).

4) Get the FileContents() function from
http://www.j.nurick.dial.pipex.com/Code/VBA/FileContents.htm and paste
it into a module.

5) Create and run an update query that uses FileContents() to populate
the Contents field, i.e. updating Contents to something like this:

FileContents("C:\Documents and Settings\Bigred\My Documents\GuitarInfo\"
& [FileSpec], -1)

With 15,000 files this could take hours to run, so while you're testing
be sure to put a criterion on the query that will just select a few
files (e.g. a criterion on [FileSpec] of
Like "Strings\[AB]*"
will get you only the files in the Strings subfolder that begin with A
or B.)




I have approx 15,000 guitar related files that are in .crd or .txt format
(both these can be opened with your run of the mill notepad etc..)

Is there a way in access to create a query of these 15,000, and create
links
to the files. (so i can put the files in the database directory and access
them through access).

I would hate to have to input 15,000 file names into the database. But
would
like to be able to have a database that allows easy search, archive &
access
to these files.

TIA,
_Bigred
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
Something I forgot to suggest: free tools such as Copernic Desktop
Search or Google Desktop Search.
 
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