Manipulating data via VBScript

Bob, take a look at the Edge Built in Scripting function FileReadFields()

The function FileReadFields reads values contained in the fields of a CSV file, and then it writes those values to a series of project tags or array elements

Hello Scott.

Looking at FileReadFields in the help.

Assuming I can use the command in VB, and not as a 'built-in language' function (I would run out of command lines). It seems I need to read each value individually and specify each tag for the destination (I am reading hundreds of values) 

The other difficulty I see is that some of these values are of variable length (being strings) so the offset for specific data would be impossible to calculate.

Ideally I need to assign the first value of each line as the destination tag for the second value in a program loop as shown above, until it runs out of lines to read.

Hi Bob, I don't know if you still need help with this, but I have a few thoughts to make.

First, when you need to interact with project tags in your script sheet, it is recommended to use the built-in "GetTagValue" and "SetTagValue" functions, as they increase readability and make it easier to understand whether we are using vbscript tags or project tags.

Second, you can use the built-in function "Trace" to trace your messages in the LogWin instead of using project tags like "Y" and "Z". It's possible to write any text and concatenate project and script tags. And you also don't spend tags just to "Trace", that can help.

Third, it's possible to use the Debug mode in VBScript, this can help you identify where your code is failing, it's also useful.

Now let's talk about the script you're using, if I understood correctly, your txt file has two values: The first string of the line is the project tag name, and the string after the semicolon is the value you want to assign to the tag.

I used this script in my application and it's working to achieve this goal:

Dim filePath
filePath = "your_path_here"

' Open the text file for reading
Dim fso, file, line, values, tagName, tagValue
Set fso = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")
Set file = fso.OpenTextFile(filePath, 1)

$Trace("txt open")

' Loop through each line in the file
Do Until file.AtEndOfStream
	line = file.ReadLine()
	$Trace("Line read")
    
    ' Split the line by the semicolon separator
	values = Split(line, ";")
    
    ' Ensure there are at least 2 parts (before and after the semicolon)
	If UBound(values) >= 1 Then
		tagName = Trim(values(0))  ' First value (before the semicolon)
		tagValue = Trim(values(1))  ' Second value (after the semicolon)
        
        ' Output the values enclosed in VBScript tags
        $Trace("The first value is" & tagName & " and the second value is" & tagValue)
        
        $SetTagValue(tagName, tagValue)
        $Trace("Tag value set")
    End If
Loop

' Close the file
file.Close
Set file = Nothing
Set fso = Nothing

$Trace("Finished process")

Also, remember that if you're reading and writing a huge number of data, you can use Python in AVEVA Edge 2023 R2. Using Python for data manipulation from and to a file is superior to VBScript due to Python's extensive libraries like pandas and csv, which provide optimized data structures and built-in functions for efficient file operations. Python also supports a wide range of file formats (CSV, JSON, XML, etc.), enables exception handling with try-except blocks, and offers better performance due to its modern execution engine. Additionally, Python's portability across different operating systems and its ability to handle large datasets efficiently make it more scalable than VBScript.

I hope that helps you!