Question

I’m trying to parse a text document using VBA and return the path given in the text file. For example, the text file would look like:

*Blah blah instructions
*Blah blah instructions on line 2
G:\\Folder\...\data.xls
D:\\AnotherFolder\...\moredata.xls

I want the VBA to load 1 line at a time, and if it starts with a * then move to the next line (similar to that line being commented). For the lines with a file path, I want to write that path to cell, say A2 for the first path, B2 for the next, etc.

The main things I was hoping to have answered were:

1. What is the best/simple way to read through a text file using VBA?
2. How can I do that line by line?

Answer 1

for the most basic read of a text file, use open

example:

Dim FileNum As Integer
Dim DataLine As String

FileNum = FreeFile()
Open "Filename" For Input As #FileNum

While Not EOF(FileNum)
    Line Input #FileNum, DataLine ' read in data 1 line at a time
    ' decide what to do with dataline, 
    ' depending on what processing you need to do for each case
Wend

#Author note – Please stop adding in close #FileNum – it’s addressed in the comments, and it’s not needed as an improvement to this answer