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Asked: 2026-06-03T00:18:05+00:00

I am currently experiencing difficulties when trying to append data to existing tables. I

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I am currently experiencing difficulties when trying to append data to existing tables.

I have about 100 CSV files that I would like to create a single table from; all the tables have different column structures but this isn’t really an issue as the associated field names are in the first row of each file.

First, I create a new table from one of the files indicating that my field names are in the first row. I change the particular fields that have more than 256 characters to memo fields and import the data.

I then add to the table the fields that are missing.

Now, when I try to append more data, I again select that my field names are in the first row, but now I receive a truncation error for data that is destined for the memo fields.

Why is this error occurring? Is there a workaround for this?

edit

Here is an update regarding what I’ve attempted to solve the problem:

  1. Importing and appending tables will not work unless they have the exact same structure. Moreover, you cannot create a Master table with all fields and properties set, then append all tables to the master. You still receive truncation errors.

  2. I took CodeSlave’s advice and attempted to upload the table, set the fields that I needed to be Memo fields, and then append the table. This worked, but again, the memo fields are not necessarily in the same order in every data file, and I have 1200 data files to import into 24 tables. Importing the data table by table is just NOT an option for this many tables.

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1 Answer

  1. Editorial Team

    I expect what you are experiencing is a mismatch between the source file (CSV) and the destination table (MS Access).

    MS Access will make some guesses about what the field types are in you CSV file when you are doing the import. However, it’s not perfect. Maybe it’s seeing a string as a memo or float as a real. It’s impossible for me to know without seeing the data.

    What I would normally do, is:

    1. Import the second CSV into it’s own (temporary) table
    2. Clean up the second table
    3. Then use an SQL query to append those records from the second table to the first table.
    4. Delete the second table

    (repeat for each CSV file you are loading).

    If I knew ahead of time that every CSV file was already identical in structure, I’d be inclined to instead concatenate them all together into one, and only have to do the import/clean-up once.

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