Microsoft Access 2010 Bible

Chapter 17: Importing and Exporting Data

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7. Click the Advanced button at the bottom of the wizard.

The Import Specification dialog box (shown in Figure 17.16) appears.

FIGURE 17.16

The Import Specification dialog box for importing a fixed-width text file

The Import Specification dialog box lets you specify formats for dates, times, field names,
indexing, and data types. (For detailed information on this dialog box, see the nearby
sidebar.)

8. Ensure that the Date Order is set to MDY and the Four Digit Years check box is selected.


9. Select the Leading Zeros in Dates check box.


10. Click OK to dismiss the Import Specification dialog box.


11. Walk through the remaining Import Text Wizard screens.

Importing an XML document

Importing XML documents is easy with Microsoft Access. XML is often used to transfer informa-

tion between disparate platforms, databases, operating systems, applications, companies, planets,

universes — you name it! XML is used for raw data, metadata (data descriptions), and even pro-

cessing data. It’s safe to say that most Access developers eventually import or export data in XML

format.

Presenting XML in Access needs to be done in an odd way. You could easily import a simple XML

document in your Access database. But the best way to find out how well Access uses XML is to

begin by exporting something into XML.