The Column Separated Hourly Data... dialog is displayed when you attempt to open non-fixed-format ASCII weather data file in the Weather Tool. Separated Value Files contain data in which the individual components are separated on each line by a specific character - either a coma, space, semi-colon or tab. As such, the field length can vary without affecting the readability of the file. This requires a substantially different importing method that fixed format data.
Separator Characters
Use this edit box to enter the character or characters used within the file to delineate data values. By default comas, semicolons, vertical bars, full colons and tab characters are used though you can enter any character you can type or paste into the box.
Add Value to List
Use this button to add the currently selected item in the available value list on the left to the actual value list on the right. This will add the new item at the bottom of the right list.
You can also drag and drop values by clicking and dragging the available values from the left list to the right. This way you can insert items anywhere in the list. If you hold down the Control key doing this, the new item will replace the value onto which it is dropped instead of being inserted above it.
Delete Column Value
When you select an item in the right list, the above button changes to Delete Column Value. This allows you to remove items from the list.
Up and Down Arrows
These buttons are only active when the right list has the focus. Use these buttons to re-order items in the list by moving them up and down.
Save...
Saves the current column settings in this dialog box for use later as a Custom Column Data (CCF) file. Once you have worked out and entered the format of a separated value file, you can save it to disk and use it later on other files of the same format.
Load...
Loads in a previously saved Custom Column Format (CCF) file. This contains all the character and column settings, including multipliers for a particular file type.
A Simple Tuturial
The operation of this dialog box is best explained by example. Thus, you should use the Importing Column Separated Data tutorial to step you through the process of importing this type of data.