How do you know where the account number is in a given file? If you have a header row, then the solution is easy, so I assume you don't. If that's the case, you will have to determine some way to tell where the account number is in a given file. For example, it sounds like your fields are fixed length. Are you guaranteed that the account number field will be the only field that is 9 characters long?

If you have to manually inspect each file to find the account number field, then I am not sure how you would expect to solve the problem progamatically.

In reply to Re: retrieving information from a set of files by duckyd
in thread retrieving information from a set of files by Anonymous Monk

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