GET DATA

GET DATA reads data from ODBC and OLE DB data sources (databases), Excel files (release 5 or later), and text data files.

GET DATA
  /TYPE = {ODBC }
          {OLEDB}
          {XLS  }
          {XLSX }
          {XLSM }
          {TXT  }


  /FILE = ’filename’


Subcommands for TYPE = ODBC and OLEDB
  /CONNECT=’connection string’
  [{/ENCRYPTED  }]
   {/UNENCRYPTED}
  /SQL ’select statement’
      [’select statement continued’]


Subcommands for TYPE=ODBC, TYPE=OLEDB, XLS, XLSX, and XLSM
 [/ASSUMEDSTRWIDTH={255**}]
                    {n    }


Subcommands for TYPE = XLS, XLSX, and XLSM*
  [/SHEET = {INDEX**} {sheet number}]
            {NAME   } {’sheet name’}
  [/CELLRANGE = {RANGE }  {’start point:end point’ }]
                {FULL**}
  [/READNAMES = {on** }]
                 {off  }
  [/DATATYPEMIN PERCENTAGE=value]
  [/HIDDEN IGNORE=(NO**}]
                  {YES }
  [/LEADINGSPACES IGNORE={NO**}]
                         {YES }
  [/TRAILINGSPACES IGNORE={NO**}]
                          {YES }
  
Subcommands for TYPE = TXT
  [/ENCODING = {'UTF8'   }]
               {'UTF16'  }
               {'UTF16BE'}
               {'UTF16LE'}               
               {'LOCALE' }
  [/ARRANGEMENT = {FIXED      }]
                  {DELIMITED**}
  [/FIRSTCASE = {n}]
  [/DELCASE = {LINE**     }]1
              {VARIABLES n} 
  [/FIXCASE = n]
  [/DELIMITERS = {"delimiters"}]
  [/QUALIFIER = "qualifier"]
  [/IMPORTCASE {ALL**}
               {FIRST n}
  [/DATATYPEMIN PERCENTAGE=value]
  [/LEADINGSPACES IGNORE={NO**}]
                         {YES }
  [/MULTIPLESPACES IGNORE={NO**}]
                          {YES }

VARIABLES subcommand for ARRANGEMENT = DELIMITED
  /VARIABLES = varname  {AUTO  }
                        {format} 

VARIABLES subcommand for ARRANGEMENT = FIXED
  /VARIABLES varname {startcol - endcol} {AUTO | format}
     {/rec#} varname {startcol - endcol} {AUTO | format} 

  [/MAP]

*For Excel 4.0 or earlier files, use GET TRANSLATE.

**Default if the subcommand is omitted.

Syntax for the GET DATA command can be generated from the Database Wizard, the Text Import Wizard, or the Open File dialog (for Excel files).

Release history

Release 13.0

  • ASSUMEDSTRWIDTH subcommand introduced for TYPE=ODBC.

Release 14.0

  • ASSUMEDSTRWIDTH subcommand extended to TYPE=XLS.
  • TYPE=OLEDB introduced.

Release 15.0

  • ASSUMEDSTRWIDTH subcommand extended to TYPE=OLEDB.

Release 16.0

  • TYPE=XLSX and TYPE=XLSM introduced.

Release 17.0

  • ENCRYPTED subcommand introduced.

Release 21.0

  • ENCODING subcommand introduced.

Release 23.0

  • UTF16, UTF16BE, and UTF16LE keywords added to ENCODING subcommand.

Release 24.0

  • AUTO keyword introduced.
  • DATATYPEMIN subcommand introduced.
  • HIDDEN subcommand introduced.
  • LEADINGSPACES subcommand introduced.
  • MAP subcommand introduced.
  • MULTIPLESPACES subcommand introduced.
  • TRAILINGSPACES subcommand introduced.

Example

GET DATA 
   /TYPE=XLS
   /FILE='/PlanningDocs/files10.xls'
   /SHEET=name 'First Quarter'
   /CELLRANGE=full
   /READNAMES=on.