VBA Write Text File

Excel VBA Write Text File

In VBA we can open or read or write a text file, to write a text file means the data we have in an excel sheet and we want it to a text file or a notepad file, there are two methods to do, one is by using the File System object property of VBA and another is by using the Open and write method in VBA.

In most of the corporate companies, once the report is finalized, they look to upload the report to the database. To upload to the database they use “Text Files” format to update the database. We usually copy the data from excel and paste to a text file. The reason why we rely on text files because those are very easy to work with because of their lightweight and simpler ways. By using VBA coding we can automate the task of copying data from excel file to text file. In this article, we will show you how to copy or write data from excel file to text file using VBA Code.

How to Write Data to Text Files using VBA?

Writing data from excel to text is complex coding and requires very good knowledge of VBA coding. Follow the below steps to write the VBA code to copy data from excel to a text file.

Before I show you the way to write the code let me explain how to open the text file by using an open statement.

Syntax of Open Text File

Open [File Path], For [Mode], As [File Number]

File Path: The path of the file we are trying to open on the computer.

Mode: Mode is the control we can have over opening text files. We can have three types of control over the text file.

• Input Mode: This suggests “Read-only” control of the opening text file. If we use “Input Mode” we cannot do anything with the file. We can just read the contents of the text file.
• Output Mode: Using this option we can write the content on it. The point we need to remember here is all the existing data will be overwritten. So, we need to wary of the possible loss of old data.
• Append Mode: This mode is completely the opposite of the OutPut Mode. Using this method we can actually write the new data at the end of the existing data in the file.

File Number: This will count the text file number of all the opened text files. This will recognize the opened file numbers in integer values from 1 to 511. Assigning the file number is the tricky one and leads to a lot of confusion. For this, we can use the free File function.

Free File returns the unique number for the opened files. This way we can assign the unique file number without any kind of duplicate values.

Example #1

Follow the below steps to write the code to create a new text file.

Assume you have already had a text file named “Hello.txt” in your computer storage and we will show you how to write the data in it.

Step 1: Declare Variable

Declare the variable to hold the File path as String.

Code:

Sub TextFile_Example1()

  Dim Path As String

End Sub

Step 2: Determine File Number

To determine which file number we are referring to declare one more variable as Integer.

Code:

Sub TextFile_Example1()

  Dim Path As String
  Dim FileNumber As Integer

End Sub

Step 3: Assign File Path

Now for the Path variable assign the file path with a file name.

Code:

Sub TextFile_Example1()

  Dim Path As String
  Dim FileNumber As Integer

  Path = "D:\Excel Files\VBA File\Hello.txt"
     'Change the path as per your requirement

End Sub

Step 4: Assign Free File Function

Now for the File Number variable assign the function “Free File” to store unique file number.

Code:

Sub TextFile_Example1()

  Dim Path As String
  Dim FileNumber As Integer

  Path = "D:\Excel Files\VBA File\Hello.txt"
    'Change the path as per your requirement

  FileNumber = FreeFile

End Sub

Step 5: Open Text File

Now we need to open the text file to work with it. As I have explained we need to use the OPEN statement to open the text file.

Step 6: Use Print/Write Method

Once the File is opened we need to write something in it. To write in the text file we need to use either the “Write” or “Print” method.

Code:

Sub TextFile_Example1()

    Dim Path As String
    Dim FileNumber As Integer

    Path = "D:\Excel Files\VBA File\Hello.txt"
       'Change the path as per your requirement

    FileNumber = FreeFile

Open Path For Output As FileNumber

    Print #FileNumber, "Welcome"
    Print #FileNumber, "to"
    Print #FileNumber, "VBA"

End Sub

First, we need to mention the file number (here we have assigned the file through the “FileNumber” variable), then we need to add the content we want to add to a text file.

Step 7: Save and Close Text File

Once the content is written in a text file, we need to save and close the text file.

Code:

Sub TextFile_Example1()

  Dim Path As String
  Dim FileNumber As Integer

  Path = "D:\Excel Files\VBA File\Hello.txt"
     'Change the path as per your requirement

   FileNumber = FreeFile

Open Path For Output As FileNumber

   Print #FileNumber, "Welcome"
   Print #FileNumber, "to"
   Print #FileNumber, "VBA"

   Close FileNumber

End Sub

Now, run the code this manually or through shortcut excel key F5, it will write the mentioned content in the mentioned text file.

Example #2

Now we will see how to write the data of excel sheet to a text file.

For this example, I have created simple data in excel like below.

Step 1: With the continuation of the old example define two more variables as Integer to find the last row and last column.

Code:

Sub TextFile_Example2()

   Dim Path As String
   Dim FileNumber As Integer
   Dim LR As Integer
   Dim LC As Integer

End Sub

Step 2: Find the last used row and column in the worksheet.

Step 3: Now assign the file path and file number.

Step 4: Now use the OPEN statement to open the text file.

Step 5: We need to loop through rows and columns, so declare two more variables as Integer.

Step 6: Now open Loop to loop through the row (For next loop in VBA)

Step 7: Now to loop through columns open one more loop inside the existing loop.

Step 8: We need to write the same line of data until it reaches the last column. So for this apply IF statement in VBA.

Step 9: Now save and close the text file.

This code will write the details to a text file, but to open the text file after written we need to use the below code.

Code:

Sub TextFile_Example2()

    Dim Path As String
    Dim FileNumber As Integer
    Dim LR As Integer
    Dim LC As Integer

    Dim k As Integer
    Dim i As Integer

   LR = Worksheets("Text").Cells(Rows.Count, 1).End(xlUp).Row
   LC = Worksheets("Text").Cells(1, Columns.Count).End(xlToLeft).Column

   Path = "D:\Excel Files\VBA File\Hello.txt"
   FileNumber = FreeFile

   Open Path For Output As FileNumber

   For k = 1 To LR

       For i = 1 To LC
           If i <> LC Then
               Print #FileNumber, Cells(i, k),
           Else
              Print #FileNumber, Cells(i, k)
           End If
      Next i

   Next k

   Close FileNumber
 
   Shell "notepad.exe " & Path, vbNormalFocus

End Sub

So, run the code using the F5 key or manually then, it will copy the data like the below.

Recommended Articles

This has been a guide to VBA Write Text File. Here we learn how to copy/write data from a worksheet to text file with practical examples and a downloadable template. Below you can find some useful excel VBA articles –

• VBA Wait
• VBA FileDialog
• InStr VBA Function
• Free VBA Training