Matt Hamilton - mhamilton@bunge.com.au

I've used this in my own projects a few times, and I thought it was worth sharing. It is a nice method to archive your database.

Often it is necessary to put in place some sort of backup or archive procedure. If you are unlucky and don't have 3rd-party backup programs, then you might want to build it into your app. I have done this in several apps by copying the necessary data to "CSV" (comma separated value) files.

Here is the idea: You collate all the fields you want to save into a query, then write the entire query off to a CSV file. At some later date you can 'pipe' the data back in either by using a TBatchMove component, or simply reversing the technique shown here.

Anyway, the code:

procedure TForm1.ArchiveToFile(AFilename: string);
var
   F: TextFile;
   FieldStrings: TStringList;
   i: Integer;
begin
   { Open the file to append data to, creating if necessary }
   AssignFile(F, AFilename);
   if FileExists(AFilename) then Append(F) else Rewrite(F);
   { ArchiveQry is the TQuery with all the info to archive }
   with ArchiveQry do
     begin
       Open;
       try
         { We use a TStringList for its nifty "CommaText" property }
         FieldStrings := TStringList.Create;
         try
           First;
           while not Eof do
             begin
               FieldStrings.Clear;
               for i := 0 to FieldCount - 1 do
                  FieldStrings.Add(Fields[i].AsString);
               WriteLn(F, FieldStrings.CommaText);
               Next;
             end;
         finally
           FieldStrings.Free;
         end;
       finally
         Close;
       end;
     end;
   CloseFile(F);
end;

Cheers!