matching with notepad as database

Joy Albert de Jesus

we are developing an app that uses "notepad1.txt" and "notepad2.txt" as our databases. we used a schema (.ini file) to manipulate the data inside. our tasks are the following:

FILTERING:
- be able to filter each notepad according to their fields (completed) :)

SUBTRACTING: (completed) :)
- subtract the "amount" of some certain entries with the same "transaction number" in notepad2.txt

MATCHING: (not completed) :(
- create a dataset which contains filtered entries from each notepad. (ds1,ds2)
- match the 2 datasets which have some similar fields
- display the entries that are found in notepad1.txt that is not found in notepad2.txt in a separate datagridview
- display the entries that are found in notepad2.txt that is not found in notepad1.txt in a separate datagridview
- view the matched entries in a separate datagridview.

kindly help us with the syntax that will be useful for us in matching

thank you for helping
:D WE ARE DESPERATE

3 Replies

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Sam Hobbs16y ago
Notepad is not a database. Notepad is a text editor. You probably mean that your are using text as a database, but even if you were to say that, people won't be able to help you much. You can use a Comma-Separated Values (CSV) text file or you could use a tab-delimited file; both of those types of files can be easily imported into and from Excel, but I am not suggesting you use Excel for this. My article Using CSV and Other Delimited Files in C# might help with the use of text files, but there are many ways to read and write delimited files.

Another option would be to store the data as XML. That could work quite well but I do not suggest doing that; I don't think it is easier for you to do that, but my article XmlSerializer class for reading and writing XML would help.

My suggestion is to use SQL Server. You can get SQL Server Express for free; you probably have a copy that was installed with Visual Studio. My article Database Table Update in a DataGridView without Writing Code can get you started.

There are many other useful articles in this web site. If you are sure you want to use a text file, then I will try to help with that but are you interested in considering one of the alternatives?
Joy Albert de Jesus16y ago
we are developing this for an organization, it is just a simple program to make their work faster. we are just trainees and it is that we encountered using notepad as database.
:D

We would like to have a better understanding of "merge" in c# because the error always says that our dataset is null. we are still trying to work with the project and try to research =)

thank you for your help =)
Sam Hobbs16y ago
If you are develping this for an organization, then there are better ways to do what you are doing. The requirements that you state here however are not enough to adequately communicate what needs to be done, therefore I cannot help.

Since the requirements are as impractical as they are, I assume this is actually a class assignment of some type. The best way to help a student is to help them learn. What part of the matching do you need help with?