Read Delimited Spreadsheet function

Object information
Owning palette(s)	File I/O palette
Type	VI
Requires	Basic Development Environment
Icon

The Read Delimited Spreadsheet function reads a specified number of lines or rows from a numeric text file beginning at a specified character offset and converts the data to a 2D, double-precision array of numbers, strings, or integers. You must manually select the polymorphic instance you want to use.

You optionally can transpose the array. The VI opens the file before reading from it and closes it afterwards. You can use this VI to read a spreadsheet file saved in text format. This VI calls the Spreadsheet String to Array function to convert the data.

Usage

This VI is polymorphic and has three instances:

Double Instance

Data Type	Name	Description
	format	format specifies how to convert the numbers to characters. If the format is %.3f (default), the VI creates a string long enough to contain the number, with three digits to the right of the decimal point. If format is %d, the VI converts the data to integer form using as many characters as necessary to contain the entire number. If format is %s, the VI copies the input string. Use the format string syntax.
	file path	file path is the path name of the file. If file path is empty (default) or is <Not A Path>, the VI displays a dialog box from which you can select a file. Error 43 occurs if you cancel the dialog box.
	number of rows	number of rows is the maximum number of rows or lines the VI reads. For this VI, a row is a character string ending with a carriage return, linefeed, or a carriage return followed by a linefeed; a string ending at the end of file; or a string that has the maximum line length specified by the max characters per row input. If number of rows is <0, the VI reads the entire file. The default is –1.
	start of read	start of read offset specifies the position in the file, in characters (bytes), at which the VI begins reading. The offset unit is bytes rather than numbers because byte stream files can contain segments of different types of data. Therefore, to read an array of 100 numbers that follows a header of 57 characters, set start of read offset to 57.
	max characters/row	max characters/row is the maximum number of characters the VI reads before ending the search for the end of a row or line. The default is 0, which means that there is no limit to the number of characters the VI reads.
	error in	error in describes error conditions that occur before this node runs. This input provides standard error in functionality.
	transpose?	transpose? specifies whether the VI transposes the data after converting it from a string. The default is FALSE ().
	delimiter	delimiter is the character or string of characters to use to separate fields in the spreadsheet file. For example, a value of , (comma) specifies a single comma as the delimiter. The default is \t, which specifies a single tab character as the delimiter.
	new file path	new file path returns the path to the file.
	all rows	all rows is the data read from the file.
	first row	first row is the first row of the all rows array. You can use this output when you want to read one row into a 1D array.
	mark after read	mark after read returns the character (byte) in the file following the last character read.
	error out	error out contains error information. This output provides standard error out functionality.
	EOF?	EOF? is TRUE () if you attempt to read past the end of file.

Integer Instance

Data Type	Name	Description
	format	format specifies how to convert the numbers to characters. If the format is %.3f (default), the VI creates a string long enough to contain the number, with three digits to the right of the decimal point. If format is %d, the VI converts the data to integer form using as many characters as necessary to contain the entire number. If format is %s, the VI copies the input string. Use the format string syntax.
	file path	file path is the path name of the file. If file path is empty (default) or is <Not A Path>, the VI displays a dialog box from which you can select a file. Error 43 occurs if you cancel the dialog box.
	number of rows	number of rows is the maximum number of rows or lines the VI reads. For this VI, a row is a character string ending with a carriage return, linefeed, or a carriage return followed by a linefeed; a string ending at the end of file; or a string that has the maximum line length specified by the max characters per row input. If number of rows is <0, the VI reads the entire file. The default is –1.
	start of read	start of read offset specifies the position in the file, in characters (bytes), at which the VI begins reading. The offset unit is bytes rather than numbers because byte stream files can contain segments of different types of data. Therefore, to read an array of 100 numbers that follows a header of 57 characters, set start of read offset to 57.
	max characters/row	max characters/row is the maximum number of characters the VI reads before ending the search for the end of a row or line. The default is 0, which means that there is no limit to the number of characters the VI reads.
	error in	error in describes error conditions that occur before this node runs. This input provides standard error in functionality.
	transpose?	transpose? specifies whether the VI transposes the data after converting it from a string. The default is FALSE ().
	delimiter	delimiter is the character or string of characters to use to separate fields in the spreadsheet file. For example, a value of , (comma) specifies a single comma as the delimiter. The default is \t, which specifies a single tab character as the delimiter.
	new file path	new file path returns the path to the file.
	all rows	all rows is the data read from the file.
	first row	first row is the first row of the all rows array. You can use this output when you want to read one row into a 1D array.
	mark after read	mark after read returns the character (byte) in the file following the last character read.
	error out	error out contains error information. This output provides standard error out functionality.
	EOF?	EOF? is TRUE () if you attempt to read past the end of file.

String Instance

Data Type	Name	Description
	format	format specifies how to convert the numbers to characters. If the format is %.3f (default), the VI creates a string long enough to contain the number, with three digits to the right of the decimal point. If format is %d, the VI converts the data to integer form using as many characters as necessary to contain the entire number. If format is %s, the VI copies the input string. Use the format string syntax.
	file path	file path is the path name of the file. If file path is empty (default) or is <Not A Path>, the VI displays a dialog box from which you can select a file. Error 43 occurs if you cancel the dialog box.
	number of rows	number of rows is the maximum number of rows or lines the VI reads. For this VI, a row is a character string ending with a carriage return, linefeed, or a carriage return followed by a linefeed; a string ending at the end of file; or a string that has the maximum line length specified by the max characters per row input. If number of rows is <0, the VI reads the entire file. The default is –1.
	start of read	start of read offset specifies the position in the file, in characters (bytes), at which the VI begins reading. The offset unit is bytes rather than numbers because byte stream files can contain segments of different types of data. Therefore, to read an array of 100 numbers that follows a header of 57 characters, set start of read offset to 57.
	max characters/row	max characters/row is the maximum number of characters the VI reads before ending the search for the end of a row or line. The default is 0, which means that there is no limit to the number of characters the VI reads.
	error in	error in describes error conditions that occur before this node runs. This input provides standard error in functionality.
	transpose?	transpose? specifies whether the VI transposes the data after converting it from a string. The default is FALSE ().
	delimiter	delimiter is the character or string of characters to use to separate fields in the spreadsheet file. For example, a value of , (comma) specifies a single comma as the delimiter. The default is \t, which specifies a single tab character as the delimiter.
	new file path	new file path returns the path to the file.
	all rows	all rows is the data read from the file.
	first row	first row is the first row of the all rows array. You can use this output when you want to read one row into a 1D array.
	mark after read	mark after read returns the character (byte) in the file following the last character read.
	error out	error out contains error information. This output provides standard error out functionality.
	EOF?	EOF? is TRUE () if you attempt to read past the end of file.

History

Version	Change(s)
	More info to come.

See Also

• Spreadsheet String To Array function
• Array To Spreadsheet String function