c# - Reading A Fixed Format Text File - Part 2

Question

This is a followup question to the question:

I am attempting to read a Fixed Format Text file using the Microsoft.ACE.OLEDB.12.0 Provider. I have a half dozen different ways to setup the driver and/or provider and pretty much run into the same problem every time. I am for some reason unable to even "get started" because of "Could not find installable ISAM" exceptions or errors and exceptions with the driver.

The system has Office 2007 installed so the "Could not find installable ISAM" does not make a great deal of sense.

Does anyone see the problem with the following code?

string DATABASE_PROVIDER = "Provider=Microsoft.ACE.OLEDB.12.0";
string CVS = Application.StartupPath + @"Data.txt";
string connectionString = DATABASE_PROVIDER = ";Data Source=" + CVS +";Extended Properties=text;HDR=Yes;FMT=Fixed";
string field ="*";
string table ="Data";
string StringQueryCMD = "SELECT" + field+" FROM " + table;
OleDbConnection myConnection = new OleDbConnection( connectionString );
OleDbCommand cmd = myConnection.CreateCommand();
cmd.CommandText = StringQueryCmd;
myConnection.Open(); // <---- "Could not find installable ISAM" exception here
OleDataAdapter myDataAdapter = new OleDbDataAdapter(cmd);
DataTable Table = new DataTable("Data");// <---- "Could not find installable ISAM" exception here

myDataAdapter.Fill(Table);

Answer 1

I would use the FileHelpers library to read the fixed length file, rather than ADO.Net.

update In that case I think you need an ini file along side the txt file which defines the txt file. column widths, names, etc.

another option is to forgo ado.net altogether and create a simple fixed length file reader.

var file = new FileInfo("path");
using(var reader = file.Open())
while(reader.Read())
{
   //parse the line
   yield return the object representing the parsed line.
}