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Link Specification in ACCESS

To view the text link specification used in the program reading NIBRS data into ACCESS, please follow these steps.

 

A. On the menu bar click "File" then "Get External Data" then "Link Tables."

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 B. The "Link" window appears. Select "File Type" Text Files from the list box circled and choose any text file on your hard drive. Click "Link." (We won't link the file; we just need to select any text file to view the text link specification.)

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C. The "Link Text Wizard" window appears. Select button "Fixed Width" then click button "Advanced."

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D. The "Link Specification Window" appears. To view the predefined text link spec, press the "Specs" button to the right of the window (indicated by the arrow):

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E. The window "Import/Export Specifications" appears, showing a list box containing the highlighted name of the predefined specification. Click the "Open" button:

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F. A new window appears: "SEG Link Specification." This specification tells MS Access how to link the segment-level flat files to the database.

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G. To exit, click the "Cancel" button then click "Cancel" again when the "Link Text Wizard" window reappears.