"danmcgov" <danmcgov@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:9034BD8E-7880-477F-8055-F2EA7E107B94@microsoft.com...
> I'm looking for a way in Excel (even if I need to purchase an add-on) to
> import .txt files that have fixed record lengths (generally 101 bytes) but
> have multi-line records. The field lengths are variable and can sometimes
> carry into the next record. Something like this:

Because you said they "sometimes carry into the next record", I wonder why
ALL of them don't. You didn't mention where the files originated (what
software made them, in other words). Database report generators are pretty
orderly things, and generally do what they're told to. If they're told to
put each record on two lines, they'll do it all the time, not just some of
the time. If told to put them on one line, then that's what they do, unless
something fishy's going on.

So.....some questions:

1) Have you opened one of these text files in a straight text editor, and
checked to be absolutely sure that word wrap isn't turned on? By text
editor, I mean Notepad, or if the file's too large for Notepad, then
something like Wordpad or NoteTab (available for free at www.download.com)?

2) Do you have any control over how the original text files are created? If
not, can you communicate with the person who's creating them and find out
what software they originate with?