TextFieldParser.FieldWidths Property 

Denotes the width of each column in the text file being parsed.

' Usage
Dim value As Integer() = TextFieldParserObject.FieldWidths
' Declaration
Public Property FieldWidths As Integer()

Return Value

Integer ().

Exceptions

The following condition may produce an exception:

• A width value in any place other than the last entry of the array is less than or equal to zero (ArgumentException).

Remarks

This property is meaningful only if TextFieldParser.TextFieldType Property = FieldType.FixedWidth. If the last entry in the array is less than or equal to zero, the field is assumed to be of variable width.

The SetFieldWidths method can also be used to set field widths. For more information, see TextFieldParser.SetFieldWidths Method.

Tasks

The following table lists examples of tasks involving the FieldWidths property.

Example

This example reads the file ParserText.txt, specifying the widths; the first column is 5 characters wide, the second is 10, the third is 11, and the fourth is of variable width

Using MyReader As New _
Microsoft.VisualBasic.FileIO.TextFieldParser("C:\ParserText.txt")
    MyReader.TextFieldType = Microsoft.VisualBasic.FileIO.FieldType.FixedWidth
    MyReader.FieldWidths = New Integer() {5, 10, 11, -1}
    Dim currentRow As String()
    While Not MyReader.EndOfData
        Try
            currentRow = MyReader.ReadFields()
            Dim currentField As String
            For Each currentField In currentRow
                MsgBox(currentField)
            Next
        Catch ex As Microsoft.VisualBasic.FileIO.MalformedLineException
            MsgBox("Line " & ex.Message & _
            "is not valid and will be skipped.")
        End Try
    End While
End Using

Requirements

Namespace: Microsoft.VisualBasic.FileIO

Class: TextFieldParser

Assembly: Visual Basic Runtime Library (in Microsoft.VisualBasic.dll)

Permissions

No permissions are required.

See Also

Tasks

How to: Read From Fixed-width Text Files in Visual Basic
How to: Read From Comma-Delimited Text Files in Visual Basic
How to: Read From Text Files with Multiple Formats in Visual Basic
Troubleshooting Exceptions: Microsoft.VisualBasic.FileIO.TextFieldParser.MalformedLineException

Reference

TextFieldParser Object
FieldType Enumeration
Microsoft.VisualBasic.FileIO.TextFieldParser.FieldWidths

Concepts

Parsing Text Files with the TextFieldParser Object