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Accessing Table Data in Screen Display Possible?



 
 
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  #1  
Old November 14th 04, 10:03 AM
VHarris001
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Posts: n/a
Default Accessing Table Data in Screen Display Possible?

I use a mapping program put out by the local county GIS department that allows
me to select a large number of properties in a particular order and display the
property data in a table on the screen. I can then print the screen, but there
is no feature to 'export' the data to a file.

I have tried to find a newly created file on the hard disk that might be
temporarily storing the data while it is being displayed, but there doesn't
seem to be a file, so the data must be stored in memory while being displayed.

I'm wondering if there is some way to capture the data that is diplayed on the
screen -- not as a graphics file, but as the actual ascii code that is being
displayed.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated, as there are many records that
need to be taken from the display in display order and put into a text file.
If I can just capture the data in the order it is displayed on the screen, that
would mean I could build the new database in short order. But if not, I'll
have to manually key in the data in display order into the database.

Thanks,

V Harris

  #2  
Old November 14th 04, 03:07 PM
Bill Starbuck
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Posts: n/a
Default

I'm wondering if there is some way to capture the data that is diplayed on the
screen -- not as a graphics file, but as the actual ascii code that is being
displayed.


Your description does not include evidence that any ASCii code is
transmitted to your computer. What the web site sends and your
computer receives may be only graphics data.

It is certainly possible for you to capture the image that is on the
computer screen as a bitmap. Various free programs are available for
that purpose. I personally use a program named "Capture" to do such
things.

It is probably also possible for you to capture the actual files in
the website that you access, including the file that contains the
image you see. I personally use a program named "SiteSnag" to do
this. What SiteSnag yields varies a lot depending on how the website
is organized. However, there is a good chance that the file that
contains the image you see is merely a bitmap, tif, gif, etc.

If you can get the data as a tif file, you may be able to translate it
to ASCii with an Optical Character Recognition (OCR) program.


Bill Starbuck (MVP)
  #3  
Old November 14th 04, 03:30 PM
Brian A.
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Posts: n/a
Default

What happens if you try copy/paste?

Sometimes yet not always, it can be copied into a spreadsheet program =
such as Excel and each section of data will be entered into its own =
cell. The downfall is when it won't work, all the data enters into a =
single cell.
When copying into such an app, you need to hilite as many cells in the =
app as there are in what's being copied before pasting, otherwise they =
will all be entered into a single cell.
If it were to be an app such as Access, then the data would need to be =
copied/pasted into it's respective table, query, and/or form.

If selecting all doesn't work properly when pasting, then you can trim =
down the amount copied until it works properly. The worst that can come =
of it would be an individual copy/paste, which is still better than =
typing although tedious with a large amount of data.

FYI if you do not already know the many ways of copy/paste:
#1 is the quickest:=20
Press CTRL+A------This will hilite all=20
Press CTRL+C------This will copy all that's hilit=20
Press CTRL+V------This will paste all that was copied=20
#2:=20
Press the left mouse button once at the beginning of the text to be =
copied.-----This places the blinking cursor at the beginning of the text =
to be copied.=20
Move the mouse pointer to the end of the text to be copied, press/hold =
down the Shift key and left click.-----This will hilite all the selected =
text to be copied.=20
Use CTRL+C to copy=20
Use CTRL+V to paste=20
#3:=20
Press/hold down the left mouse button and drag it over the text to be =
copied.-----This will hilite all selected text to be copied.=20
Use CTRL+C to copy=20
Use CTRL+V to paste=20
#4:=20
Press/hold down the CTRL key and click on a line or paragraph of =
text.-----This will hilite the line or paragraph of text to be copied. =
It only hilites to the point where the Enter key was used to begin a new =
line or paragraph.=20
Use CTRL+C to copy=20
Use CTRL+V to paste=20
#5:=20
Hilite the text to be copied in any of the 4 ways explained above.=20
Right click once on the page.=20
Click on Copy in the popup menu.=20
In the program/application you want to copy the text, right click and =
click on Paste in the popup menu.=20
#6:=20
In the program/application you want to copy the text from, hilite the =
text to be copied in any of the 4 ways explained above.=20
Go to Edit on the menu bar at the top of the program/app and click on =
Copy.=20
In the program/application you want to paste the text into.=20
Go to Edit on the menu bar at the top of the program/app and click on =
Paste.=20
Pictures/graphics can all be copied/pasted in the same manner. If you =
ever need to move text or a graphic in an program/app/document that you =
created. Cut instead of Copy. The hotkeys for cut are CTRL+X. Cut is =
also in the right click popup menu and in the edit menu. Once Cut, Paste =
where needed.



Depending on the configuration of some apps, double clicking at the =
beginning of a line will select the entire line or the entire paragraph.


--=20

Brian A.

Conflicts start where information lacks.
http://www.dts-l.org/goodpost.htm


"VHarris001" wrote in message =
...
I use a mapping program put out by the local county GIS department that =

allows
me to select a large number of properties in a particular order and =

display the
property data in a table on the screen. I can then print the screen, =

but there
is no feature to 'export' the data to a file.
=20
I have tried to find a newly created file on the hard disk that might =

be
temporarily storing the data while it is being displayed, but there =

doesn't
seem to be a file, so the data must be stored in memory while being =

displayed.
=20
I'm wondering if there is some way to capture the data that is =

diplayed on the
screen -- not as a graphics file, but as the actual ascii code that is =

being
displayed.
=20
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated, as there are many =

records that
need to be taken from the display in display order and put into a text =

file.=20
If I can just capture the data in the order it is displayed on the =

screen, that
would mean I could build the new database in short order. But if not, =

I'll
have to manually key in the data in display order into the database.
=20
Thanks,
=20
V Harris

  #4  
Old November 14th 04, 08:32 PM
VHarris001
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

Bill Starbuck wrote:
Your description does not include evidence that any ASCii code is
transmitted to your computer. What the web site sends and your
computer receives may be only graphics data.


I should have made clear that the GIS program is installed on my local hard
drive, and the data is read from my local CD drive -- so accessing the actual
data (stored in .dbf file format) is not a problem.

The problem is that the GIS program displays a map and allows me to select
properties in walk-order simply by dragging a line over all the properties.
The program then displays a data table of the addresses of the properties in
that walk-order.

I'm pretty sure that the screen is displaying text in the table because I can
highlight any field and copy and paste it as text. When I click on the heading
of a column, the entire column will highlight, but when I try copy and paste,
only the first data point will paste. There seems to be no way to copy and
paste an entire column (just one column from the display is all I need).

So what I need to be able to do is grab the data from that one column in the
order it is being displayed on screen. It seems a shame to have to capture the
screen as bmp then use OCR to change it back to text. Any suggestions?

Thanks,

V Harris

  #5  
Old November 14th 04, 08:54 PM
VHarris001
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

Brian A wrote:
What happens if you try copy/paste?


I tried all the copy/paste methods but the program won't allow me to select
more than just one cell at a time.

When I click on a column heading, the entire column is highlighted, but the
program uses that column selection as the criteria to display a map, and the
column actually is not being highlighted for copy/paste purposes.

You mentioned copy and paste one row at a time. If I can't capture the entire
column in text format, that might be what I have to do. I read once that it is
possible to use the Windows clipboard in a way that each time you ctrl c,
it adds the new copy to the bottom of the clipboard rather than replacing the
clipboard contents. Do you happen to know how to do that?

Like you say, it would still be a lot of work (the database is ~20,000
records), but copy/paste one cell at a time would be much better than one
keystroke at a time!

Or any other suggestions would be appreciated!

Thanks

V Harris

  #6  
Old November 14th 04, 09:32 PM
Brian A.
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

I know you can perform multiple copy/paste with the Office clipboard =
but I don't think it's possible with the standard Windows clipboard.
You could try a search on the net for Clipboard, Windows clipboard or =
whatever else you can think of to see what may be offered either free, =
share or paid.

--=20

Brian A.

Conflicts start where information lacks.
http://www.dts-l.org/goodpost.htm


"VHarris001" wrote in message =
...
Brian A wrote:
What happens if you try copy/paste?

=20
I tried all the copy/paste methods but the program won't allow me to =

select
more than just one cell at a time.
=20
When I click on a column heading, the entire column is highlighted, =

but the
program uses that column selection as the criteria to display a map, =

and the
column actually is not being highlighted for copy/paste purposes.
=20
You mentioned copy and paste one row at a time. If I can't capture =

the entire
column in text format, that might be what I have to do. I read once =

that it is
possible to use the Windows clipboard in a way that each time you =

ctrl c,
it adds the new copy to the bottom of the clipboard rather than =

replacing the
clipboard contents. Do you happen to know how to do that?
=20
Like you say, it would still be a lot of work (the database is ~20,000
records), but copy/paste one cell at a time would be much better than =

one
keystroke at a time!
=20
Or any other suggestions would be appreciated!
=20
Thanks
=20
V Harris

  #7  
Old November 17th 04, 06:17 PM
VHarris001
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

Does anyone know if there is a way to access, view and capture the data that is
being stored in memory?

Thanks

V Harris


The program then displays a data table of the addresses of the properties in
that walk-order.

I'm pretty sure that the screen is displaying text in the table because I can
highlight any field and copy and paste it as text. When I click on the
heading
of a column, the entire column will highlight, but when I try copy and paste,
only the first data point will paste. There seems to be no way to copy and
paste an entire column (just one column from the display is all I need).

So what I need to be able to do is grab the data from that one column in the
order it is being displayed on screen.



  #8  
Old November 18th 04, 12:56 PM
Bill Starbuck
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

Does anyone know if there is a way to access, view and capture the data that is
being stored in memory?


Have you asked the people who wrote the program? The odds are that the
data you want are in a file and so you should be able to examine that
file.


Bill Starbuck (MVP)
  #9  
Old November 19th 04, 05:56 AM
RobertVA
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

Have you tried adding a "printer" in Windows configured to send ASCII
text to a file? That often gets the output in a file, but if the program
was coded to use tabs or a proportional font the columns might not line
up. Make sure you set a ".TXT" extension when you are prompted for the
file name.

Sometimes Installing an Apple Laserwriter set to "print to file" can
even produce files you can access with a vector graphics program like
Corel Draw. There's probably a way some applications could block these
tricks though.

VHarris001 wrote:

I use a mapping program put out by the local county GIS department that allows
me to select a large number of properties in a particular order and display the
property data in a table on the screen. I can then print the screen, but there
is no feature to 'export' the data to a file.

I have tried to find a newly created file on the hard disk that might be
temporarily storing the data while it is being displayed, but there doesn't
seem to be a file, so the data must be stored in memory while being displayed.

I'm wondering if there is some way to capture the data that is diplayed on the
screen -- not as a graphics file, but as the actual ascii code that is being
displayed.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated, as there are many records that
need to be taken from the display in display order and put into a text file.
If I can just capture the data in the order it is displayed on the screen, that
would mean I could build the new database in short order. But if not, I'll
have to manually key in the data in display order into the database.

Thanks,

V Harris


  #10  
Old November 19th 04, 06:25 PM
VHarris001
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

I had searched the hard disk for any new files created when the table was
created and displayed on the screen, but there were no new files. Today I
called the programmer and he confirmed that there is no table created on the
hard disk when the table is displayed on the screen, that the table data is
generated on the fly and the text is stored only in memory.

It seems such a shame that the exact ASCII data I need is being displayed on
the screen but there is no way to capture it as ASCII data and save it in a
file.

Any other thoughts?

V Harris

Does anyone know if there is a way to access, view and capture the data that

is
being stored in memory?


Have you asked the people who wrote the program? The odds are that the
data you want are in a file and so you should be able to examine that
file.


Bill Starbuck (MVP)


 




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