Micro Focus Enterprise Developer 3.0 for Visual Studio 2013 > Programming > Mainframe Programming > SQL Option for DB2 > Reference > Batch Import Commands > FLD_DELIMITER (Free-format ASCII)

FLD_DELIMITER (Free-format ASCII)

Specifies the delimiter(s) that separate the fields in delimited, free-format ASCII files. You may specify the delimiter(s) as:

A Character String. Quotes are optional when specifying a character string for the delimiter If desired, you may enclose the string in double quotes (" "). Quotes in a delimiter specification are ignored by the Import program. For example, "@@" is the same as @@.
ASCII Decimal Notation. If you specify the delimiter in ASCII decimal notation, enclose each ASCII code in angle brackets. For example, to use the decimal notation for a semicolon (;), enter the string <059> either with or without quotes.
Combination Character String and ASCII Code. You can mix ASCII codes with keyboard characters to form a delimiter. For example: <59>ab<32>c would be a valid delimiter. See "ASCII Table" for a list of ASCII decimal codes.

The syntax of the FLD_DELIMITER command is:

FLD_DELIMITER = {xx|<ascii1>} [xx|<ascii2>] [...];

where :

`xx`	is one or more keyboard characters
`ascii`	is an ASCII decimal code. The angle brackets around the ASCII code are required. Quote marks around delimiters are optional.

For example, to instruct the SQLWizard Import utility that your file uses a comma as the delimiter, use the command:

FLD_DELIMITER = ,;

Note:

You must determine the field delimiter prior to executing the Import function. If you specify a field delimiter that is not found in the file, the Batch Import program will abort and an error message will be displayed.

Use the Source File command from the View menu (or a text editor) to examine the file. If the field delimiter is an invisible ASCII character, you may have to use a hexadecimal editor to examine the contents of the file.