Step 1: Importing and formatting delimited or fixed-width ASCII files

Your first step is to import and convert the tabular ASCII data. You can format the data the same way as when using a common spreadsheet application.

Note: Tabular ASCII data does not require georeferencing to be converted with the wizard. Degrees, minutes, and seconds are not imported as coordinates. They are imported only as fields. While the wizard imports only ASCII files, you can save the information in PCIDSK (.pix) format.

Under Data format, you can click Delimited to specify a formatting character for the table columns. You can either select a delimiter or specify another delimiter by enabling the Other check box and identifying the character in the Other box.

Under Data preview, updated version of information is displayed. The wizard detects delimiters and file formats when you open the text file. When you click Fixed Width, and then click Next, you can identify the number of characters in a column within a fixed-width formatted file.

To import and format delimited or fixed-width ASCII files

Under Input, in the File box, type the path and name of the file you want or, to select a file, click Browse.
After you type or select the input file, under Output, do one of the following:
- To view the information (without saving), click Display.
  The vector points of the input file you selected are displayed under Data preview.
- To save the information to a specific layer in the file, do the following:
  1. Click Save.
  2. To show the saved results in the Data preview box, make sure the Display saved results check box is selected.
  3. In the File box, type the path and name of the file you want or, to select a file, click Browse.
  4. After you type or select the output file, in the Layer list, select the layer you want.
Below Data format, click Delimited.
Note: To format in fixed widths, see Formating fixed-width files.
To display the first line of data as a header row, under Import Options, type or select a value of 1 or greater in the Header row box.
Click Next.
Step 2 of the wizard appears.
Proceed to Step 2: Selecting delimiters.