Object Reference : Object View and Procedure Reference : Vector
  
 
read
Import data from a foreign disk file into a vector.
(This is a deprecated method of importing into a vector. See Vector::import for the supported method.)
May be used to import data into an existing workfile from a text, Excel, or Lotus file on disk.
Syntax
vector_name.read(options) [path\]file_name
You must supply the name of the source file. If you do not include the optional path specification, EViews will look for the file in the default directory. Path specifications may point to local or network drives. If the path specification contains a space, you may enclose the entire expression in double quotation marks.
Options
 
prompt
Force the dialog to appear from within a program.
File type options
:
t=dat, txt
ASCII (plain text) files.
t=wk1, wk3
Lotus spreadsheet files.
t=xls
Excel spreadsheet files.
If you do not specify the “t” option, EViews uses the file name extension to determine the file type. If you specify the “t” option, the file name extension will not be used to determine the file type.
Options for ASCII text files
 
na=text
Specify text for NAs. Default is “NA”.
d=t
Treat tab as delimiter (note: you may specify multiple delimiter options). The default is “d=c” only.
d=c
Treat comma as delimiter.
d=s
Treat space as delimiter.
d=a
Treat alpha numeric characters as delimiter.
custom = symbol
Specify symbol/character to treat as delimiter.
mult
Treat multiple delimiters as one.
rect (default) / norect
[Treat / Do not treat] file layout as rectangular.
skipcol = integer
Number of columns to skip. Must be used with the “rect” option.
skiprow = integer
Number of rows to skip. Must be used with the “rect” option.
comment= symbol
Specify character/symbol to treat as comment sign. Everything to the right of the comment sign is ignored. Must be used with the “rect” option.
singlequote
Strings are in single quotes, not double quotes.
dropstrings
Do not treat strings as NA; simply drop them.
negparen
Treat numbers in parentheses as negative numbers.
allowcomma
Allow commas in numbers (note that using commas as a delimiter takes precedence over this option).
Options for spreadsheet (Lotus, Excel) files
 
letter_number (default=“b2”)
Coordinate of the upper-left cell containing data.
s=sheet_name
Sheet name for Excel 5–8 Workbooks.
Examples
v1.read(t=dat,na=.) a:\mydat.raw
reads data into vector V1 from an ASCII file MYDAT.RAW in the A: drive. The missing value NA is coded as a “.” (dot or period).
v1.read(s=sheet2) "\\network\dr 1\cps91.xls"
reads the Excel file CPS91 into vector V1 from the network drive specified in the path.
Cross-references
See “Importing Data” for a discussion and examples of importing data from external files.
See also Vector::export.