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4D v14.3

Field, record, and file delimiters

End-of-field delimiters are placed between fields in a record and the end-of-record delimiter is placed after each record. End-of-file delimiters are placed at the end of the import or export file. They may be necessary when exchanging files with certain applications.

Delimiters are used only with the Text and Fixed Length Text formats. The Fixed Length Text format does not use Field delimiters and, generally, neither text format uses an explicit File delimite.

When importing data using the Text format, 4D uses the delimiters embedded in the file to determine where fields and records end. When exporting data, 4D automatically places these delimiters in the file for you.

Be certain that fields do not contain embedded characters that are also used as field or record delimiters. For example, if the Carriage return is used as the record delimiter, no field should contain a Carriage return. When importing data, 4D will interpret any Carriage return as a record delimiter. Thus, a Carriage return inside a field will be erroneously interpreted as the end of that record. An improperly placed Carriage return will disrupt the importing process. When you export data that includes a Text field, a Carriage return might be embedded within the Text field. If this is a possibility, choose another record delimiter or remove the embedded Carriage returns prior to exporting the data.