Query OUTPUT FORMAT TEXT

[Former Member]

One of our systems was using an older version of SQL Anywhere and when I would run a query with the FORMAT TEXT option like this

select * from tblmed; output to e:\\temp\\med.txt format text

I would get a fixed width file with headers and ------'s under the headers indicating the column width. I also wrote a script to use those output files in a custom reporting system.

After a recent upgrade that same query producing a comma separated file with no headers. Is there a way to get the old fixed with output back?

I know I can rewrite the script but I would like to avoid that if possible.

Thanks in advance,

Mike

[johnsmirnios]

Interesting... we had a request for that old format recently and issued a fix. If you're not the one who requested the fix, it's another case of the phenomenon where requests or bug reports tend to come in groups 🙂 Note that the fix below addresses dbisqlc -- I'm not sure what the java dbisql does.

SA Bug Fix: QTS 692617(OTW): fixed-width output with column headings was lost when ASCII renamed to TEXT

Versions Affected: 11.0.0.1150 and later
Modules Affected: dbisqlc

Fixed In: 11.0.1.2725, 12.0.1.3522

Description:

When we renamed 'ASCII' to 'TEXT' for the dbisqlc OUTPUT_FORMAT option, we lost the ability to generate the old format that dbisqlc called 'TEXT' which was fixed-width with column headers. Now, setting the OUTPUT_FORMAT to 'COLUMNS' will generate the old TEXT format.

[Former Member]

No, I didn't submit a different request...glad I'm not alone though. When I use 'COLUMNS' i get an error that that format is not valid. Like dbisqlc 11.0.1 build 2467 - I presume an upgrade is in order?

[johnsmirnios]

Yes, an upgrade is in order: "Fixed In: 11.0.1.2725, 12.0.1.3522"