Question

I have the following code that I am using to parse out a test file. I am getting variable conversion error in Sub Main() when I assign file = Read(). The return value of Read() is a TextFieldParser type. How do I assign the proper variable type to “file” so I can write the output to a text file?

Thanks!

Module Module1

Function Read()
    Using MyReader As New FileIO.TextFieldParser("C:\Users\Colin\Desktop\Parse_Me.txt")
        Dim currentRow As String
        While Not MyReader.EndOfData
            Try
                currentRow = MyReader.ReadLine()
                Console.WriteLine(Parse_me(currentRow))
            Catch ex As FileIO.MalformedLineException
                MsgBox("Line " & ex.Message &
                       " is invalid. Skipping")
            End Try
        End While
        Return MyReader
        MyReader.Close()
    End Using
End Function

Function Parse_me(ByVal test As String)
    Dim Set_1, Set_2, Set_3, Set_4, Set_5 As String
    Dim new_string As String
    Set_1 = test.Substring(0, 4)
    Set_2 = test.Substring(7, 2)
    Set_3 = test.Substring(11, 1)
    Set_4 = test.Substring(14, 4)
    Set_5 = test.Substring(20, 4)
    new_string = Set_1 & " " & Set_2 & " " & Set_3 & " " & Set_4 & " " & Set_5
    Return new_string
End Function


Sub Main()
    Dim file As Object
    file = Read()
    FilePutObject("C:\Users\Colin\Desktop\Parse_Meoutput.txt", file)
End Sub

End Module

Answer 1

Change the definition of the function “read” to:

Function Read() as FileIO.TextFieldParser

and change the declaration of “file” in sub main to:

Dim file as FileIO.TextFieldParser

That way the data type of the function and assignment match.