Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. If you are using a later version (Excel 2007 or later), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for later versions of Excel, click here: Getting Input from a Text File.
Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated October 19, 2024)
This tip applies to Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003
True to its BASIC roots, VBA allows you to do file input on sequential files. This means you can open and read a sequential text file, loading the information from the file into string variables. The steps are simple. You only have to open the file, get the input, and then close the file. The following code is a common example of reading from a sequential file:
Please Note:
This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. If you are using a later version (Excel 2007 or later), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for later versions of Excel, click here:
Dim Raw As String
Dim NumValues As Integer, J As Integer
Dim UserVals() As String
Open "MyFile.Dat" For Input As #1
Line Input #1, Raw
NumValues = Val(Raw)
ReDim UserVals(NumValues)
For J = 1 to NumValues
Line Input #1, UserVals(J)
Next J
Close #1
In this example you should note that the first line read from the text file (MyFile.Dat) is assumed to contain a value that indicates how many items are to be read in from the file.
Note:
ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (2227) applies to Microsoft Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. You can find a version of this tip for the ribbon interface of Excel (Excel 2007 and later) here: Getting Input from a Text File.
Excel Smarts for Beginners! Featuring the friendly and trusted For Dummies style, this popular guide shows beginners how to get up and running with Excel while also helping more experienced users get comfortable with the newest features. Check out Excel 2013 For Dummies today!
When you double-click on a workbook in Windows, the Excel program should be started and the workbook loaded. When this ...
Discover MoreWhen you save a workbook to disk, you may want to automatically save a duplicate workbook in a separate location. This ...
Discover MoreDoes your macro need to add information to the end of a text file? This is called appending, and is done using the ...
Discover MoreFREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."
There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)
Got a version of Excel that uses the menu interface (Excel 97, Excel 2000, Excel 2002, or Excel 2003)? This site is for you! If you use a later version of Excel, visit our ExcelTips site focusing on the ribbon interface.
FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."
Copyright © 2025 Sharon Parq Associates, Inc.
Comments