Converting Q&A to Access

[Jack Leflar]

We have a Q&A application that will not run in our new environment of
NT NTFS. Therefore I am told I need to convert this application to
ACCESS.

I understand converting the data may be as simple as creating a comma
delimited file to import to ACCESS. Can you suggest any other ways?

Also is there a simple way to convert the scripts or language of the
application from Q&A to ACCESS?

Thanks you in advance for your help.

[Jim Turner]

I have the exact same question.

Pls help!

Jim Turner

[John Donnelly]

You can easily Export the Q&A file to and ASCII file by going to (in
the DOS version) F (file), U (utilities), Export file. Select the
type of file, ASCII, dBase, or Paradox. Remember to put the correct
extension on the save as file name, e.g., filename.txt for ASCII,
filename.dbf for dBase.

Then in Access right click on the tables tab (or go to File | Get
External Data | Import...), select import, chose the type of file in
the file type combo box (i.e., .txt, .dbf, or .db) and you can import
your file into access.

If you have memo type fields, I recommend exporting to an ASCII comma
deliminated type file and creating an import spec in Access that will
import that memo field into a memo type field in Access, other wise
the default is text field and only 255 charaters will be imported in
Access. You will get this problem by exporting to a Paradox type
file and importing into Access. Memo fields will be truncated to 255
characters maximum.

[Lance Jacobs [Symantec]]

Jack,

The best way to exchange data between Q&A and Access is to use a comma
delimited ASCII text file. This file format can be used to import into
virtually any database software.

In Q&A, this is referred to as the STANDARD ASCII TEXT option. If you use
that option, that will output your data to a comma delimited ASCII text
file with quotes around the text fields. Virtually all other applications,
including Access, can easily import such a data file. Using other formats
such as dBASE and Paradox can run into restrictions that are imposed by
those file formats.

To do the export from Q&A, go to the FILE menu and choose UTILITIES,
EXPORT, and then select STANDARD ASCII as the file type. Then select the
database you want to export, and then enter the name for the exported text
file. It is generally best that you make sure you use a file extension of
.TXT on this text file, so Access will automatically recognize it as being
text.

When you get to the Q&A RETRIEVE and MERGE SPEC screens, just leave them
empty and press F10 to continue if you want to export all of your records
and all of your fields. If you want not get all of these, you can press F1
on either screen for help on how to be selective. At the ASCII options
screen, just press F10 there so select the default settings. The export
will then begin.

If you look in HELP in Access 97, check out IMPORT DATA, then under that
IMPORTING DATA, and then TRANSFER TEXT ACTION. The screen that comes up
will contain help on how to import text files like this into Access. When
Access asks you if the file contains the field names, choose the NO option
on that, as Q&A does not export these with the data.

NOTE: If you don't have a copy of the Q&A program to work with, Symantec
does have a DOS utility called QEXTRACT that can be very easily used to
extract the data from a Q&A database and convert it into a comma delimited
ASCII text file with quotes around text. Access, or any other database
application, can very easily import such a file. QEXTRACT is simple to
use, and comes with a documentation file on how to use it. You can
download it from this address at:

ftp://ftp.symantec.com/public/english_us_canada/products/q&a/ver4_dos/updates/qextra.exe

Just run the file after you download it to unzip the utility and the doc
file. And you can then import the file just fine just as if it had been
exported by Q&A itself.

Best regards,

Lance Jacobs Senior Product Support Analyst [Symantec Corp.]

Please continue to post your messages to the public discussion groups as
Symantec does not provide support via private e-mail. If you have
difficulty getting a response or using our online support services, please
read the following article:

http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPORT/sharedtech.nsf/docid/1998527114414

For Knowledge Base support articles, File Libraries, and FAQs, visit our
Q&A support page:

http://www.symantec.com/techsupp/qa.html

[Lance Jacobs [Symantec]]

>I have the exact same question.

Jim,

[Heather Malloy]

I tried importing Q&A in Access by exporting as an ASCII file as I
have a memo field. The problem is that the information was still cut
off. I can't see any reason for this as even the longest field that I
am trying to import into Access is only about 400 characters.