ACC: How to Parse Comma-Separated Text into Multiple Fields

This article shows you two methods to parse comma-separated text in a Text field and to display the text in multiple Text fields.

You can use the first method for a Text field that contains two words separated by a comma, for example, a field that contains a last name followed by a first name (Smith, John). The method uses an expression in a query that includes three functions: the Instr() function to search for the comma in the Text field, and the Left$() and Right$() functions to extract the two parts of the Text field.

You can use the second method for a Text field that contains more than two words separated by commas, for example, a field that contains a city, a region, and a country (Toronto, Ontario, Canada). This method uses two user-defined functions: a function named CountCSWords() to count the number of comma-separated words in the Text field, and a function named GetCSWord() to return the nth word in the Text field.

Method 1

To parse a Text field that contains two words separated by a comma, follow these steps:

1. Open any existing database.
2. Create a table with the following structure:

         Table: Parse2Words
         ------------------
         Field Name: Empl
         Data Type:  Text
   					

3. View the Parse2Words table in Datasheet view and type the following three records in the Empl field:
   Smith, John
   Callahan, Laura
   Fuller, Andrew
4. Create the following query based on the Parse2Words table:

         Query: QueryTest
         ------------------------------------------------------------------
         Field: FirstName: Right$([Empl],Len([Empl])- InStr(1,[Empl],",")-1)
            Show: True
         Field: LastName: Left$([Empl],InStr(1,[Empl],",")-1)
            Show: True
   
   						

   NOTE: You can modify the QueryTest query to account for spaces between the two parts in the Empl field. For example, if the text in the Empl field is "Smith,John" without spaces, remove the -1 from the FirstName field expression.
5. Run the query. Note that the QueryTest query separates the text in the Empl field into the two fields below:

         FirstName   LastName
         --------------------
         John        Smith
         Laura       Callahan
         Andrew      Fuller
   					

Method 2

This part of the article assumes that you are familiar with Visual Basic for Applications and with creating Microsoft Access applications using the programming tools provided with Microsoft Access. For more information about Visual Basic for Applications, please refer to your version of the "Building Applications with Microsoft Access" manual.

NOTE: Visual Basic for Applications is called Access Basic in Microsoft Access versions 1.x and 2.0. For more information about Access Basic, please refer to the "Introduction to Programming" manual in Microsoft Access version 1.x or the "Building Applications" manual in Microsoft Access version 2.0.

To parse a Text field that contains more than two words separated by commas, follow these steps:

1. Open any database.
2. Create a table with the following structure:

         Table: ParseWords
         --------------------
         Field Name: Location
         Data Type:  Text
   					

3. View the ParseWords table in Datasheet view and type the following three records in the Location field:
   Toronto, Ontario, Canada Boston, Massachusetts, USA Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
4. Create a module and type the following line in the Declarations section if it is not already there:
   Option Explicit
5. Type the following procedures:

          Function CountCSWords (ByVal S) As Integer
         ' Counts the words in a string that are separated by commas.
   
         Dim WC As Integer, Pos As Integer
            If VarType(S) <> 8 Or Len(S) = 0 Then
              CountCSWords = 0
              Exit Function
            End If
            WC = 1
            Pos = InStr(S, ",")
            Do While Pos > 0
              WC = WC + 1
              Pos = InStr(Pos + 1, S, ",")
            Loop
            CountCSWords = WC
         End Function
   
         Function GetCSWord (ByVal S, Indx As Integer)
         ' Returns the nth word in a specific field.
   
         Dim WC As Integer, Count As Integer, SPos As Integer, EPos As Integer
            WC = CountCSWords(S)
            If Indx < 1 Or Indx > WC Then
              GetCSWord = Null
              Exit Function
            End If
            Count = 1
            SPos = 1
            For Count = 2 To Indx
              SPos = InStr(SPos, S, ",") + 1
            Next Count
            EPos = InStr(SPos, S, ",") - 1
            If EPos <= 0 Then EPos = Len(S)
            GetCSWord = Trim(Mid(S, SPos, EPos - SPos + 1))
         End Function
   					

6. Compile the module, save it as basParse, and close it.
7. Create the following query based on the ParseWords table:

         Query: QueryTest2
         ---------------------------------------
         Field: City: GetCSWord([Location],1)
            Show: True
         Field: Region: GetCSWord([Location],2)
            Show: True
         Field: Country: GetCSWord([Location],3)
            Show: True
   					

8. Run the query. Note that the QueryTest2 query separates the text in the Location field into the three fields below:

         City        Region             Country
         --------------------------------------
         Toronto     Ontario            Canada
         Boston      Massachusetts      USA
         Vancouver   British Columbia   Canada
   					

For more information about parsing text strings, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: For more sample expressions, see the Neatcode.mdb sample databases. For details on how to obtain these, please see the following articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: