inputting from a data file

[tim123]

Hey.
I'm having some issues reading in data from a tab delimited text file. I only want to input numbers, and ideally I'd like it to be able to cope with a line or 2 of text at the top in case someone leaves the file headings on when exporting the data from the spreadsheet.
My code is

dim data(,) as double
dim lines, i as integer
dim s as string
 
fileopen(1,"c:\mydatafile.txt", openmode.input)
 
lines=0
while not (EOF(1))
  input (1,s)
  lines=lines+1
  'counts no of lines in data
 
  fileclose(1)
  fileopen(1,"c:\mydatafile.txt", openmode.input)
 
  redim data(lines,1)
 
  i=0
  try
    while not (EOF(1))
      input (1,data(i,0))
      input (1,data(i,1))
      i=i+1
    end while
  catch ex as exception
    input (1,s)
    lines=lines-1
  end try
 
  fileclose(1)
 

This should read any non-numeric data into a string (lines=lines-1 per error to make looping easier later) and keep it out of my array. However, this seems to just make the entire array just a massive collection of 0s! Any ideas why?

[tim123]

sorry, was i unclear about something or do people just not know?

[werks]

sorry, was i unclear about something or do people just not know?

Hi there tim123,

Sorry but i don't understand. could you just simplify it?


Better Than Yesterday ^^

[Killer42]

sorry, was i unclear about something or do people just not know?

The basic problem here is impatience. This site brings together people all over the world, in different timezones, who volunteer what time they can spare to help out other programmers. In these circumstances, you can't expect an instant answer.

[Killer42]

Ok, I've had a look at the code. I'm a VB6 developer, so the syntax is slightly unfamiliar. But off-hand, I'd guess the ReDim is erasing all your values. In VB6 at least, you have to say Redim Preserve to "preserve" the existing values in the array.

This may work differently in your version, of course.

[Killer42]

Ok, my goof. I see the ReDim is only intended to be done once before populating the array, so shouldn't be an issue. But I think the structure, with nested loops, is all wrong. Maybe try something a bit more like this...

Dim data(,) As Double
Dim lines, i As Integer
Dim s As String
 
fileopen(1,"c:\mydatafile.txt", openmode.input)
 
' Count no of lines in data
While Not (EOF(1))
  input (1,s)
  lines = lines + 1
End While
 
' Reopen file to reposition at start.
fileclose(1)
fileopen(1,"c:\mydatafile.txt", openmode.input)
 
' Set array to appropriate size.
ReDim data(lines,1)
 
' Read values into array, hopefully skipping non-numeric lines.
While Not(EOF(1))
  Try
    Input (1,data(i,0))
    Input (1,data(i,1))
    i = i + 1
  Catch ex As Exception
    Input (1,s)
    lines = lines - 1
  End Try
End While
 
fileclose(1)
 

If you still have problems, remember to use the debugging tools built into VB - they're your best friend in these situations. You can step through the execution one statement at a time, and find out what is really happening.

Oh, and one more thing. If you're going to post code here, please copy and paste it from your program. Typing it in here usually introduces too many errors, making the whole process that much harder for everyone.