Originally Posted by
dhicks 
Learn to program, then you could fix problems like this easily. In your favourite scripting language (if you don't already have one, it's now Python) read each line of text, split it on the "," character, open a new file and write the details to it. Something like:
Couldn't agree more. For this kind of job knowing a scripting language is a must. My own choice for this kind of job is Ruby, not that I have anything against Python I hasten to add! If you're still having problems with getting these files created this would be my take on it using Ruby:
Code:
#!/usr/bin/env ruby
# user settings
source_file = '/Users/Dan/Desktop/Student Email/emails.csv'
output_base_directory = '/Users/Dan/Desktop/Student Email/'
output_file = 'Email Username & Password.txt'
# set the following variable to 'true' if you want the script to remove any
# non alphanumeric characters from theuser's name before creating the output
# directory for that user
clean_up_name = false
# the block of text we will later save to
# a file, replacing some items, eg %Password%
# with actual values
text = '
Your new Student email address is %EmailAddress% and your password is %Password% you will be required to change you password the first time you login.
Student email is now located at http://studentemail.domain.com
'
# - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
# ensure the output directory has a trailing '/' on it
output_base_directory = "#{output_directory}/" unless output_base_directory[-1,1] == '/'
# ensure the output directory exists
unless File.exists?(output_base_directory) && File.directory?(output_base_directory)
puts "Output directory: '#{output_base_directory}' does not appear to exist"
exit
end
# ensure the source file exists
unless File.exists?(source_file)
puts "Source file: '#{source_file}' does not appear to exist"
exit
end
# open the source file
File.open(source_file) do |f|
# process each line
f.each_with_index do |line, index|
# split the line by commas
email, password, name = line.split(',')
# trim any whitespace or carriage
# returns from the variables
email.strip!
password.strip!
name.strip!
# set the name for the file we will create. For safety
# we will replace any odd characters in the user name
# with underscores. We will also need to create the
# directory for it.
output = clean_up_name ? output_base_directory + name.gsub(/[^a-zA-Z0-9]/, '_') + '/' : output_base_directory + name + '/'
Dir.mkdir(output) unless File.exists?(output)
output = output + output_file
# take a copy of our text and replace the placeholders
# in the block of text with the real name, email, etc
mytext = String.new(text)
mytext.gsub!('%EmailAddress%', email)
mytext.gsub!('%Password%', password)
mytext.gsub!('%Name%', name)
# write the new file
File.open(output, 'w') { |o| o.write(mytext) }
# just some output to the console so we can see what
# is happening
if File.exists? output
puts "Processed line: #{index} (#{name}) and saved file as: #{output}"
else
puts "Failed to process line: #{index} (#{name})."
end
end
end
puts "All done" Save that lot as a text file (if you're feeling neat and tidy with a '.rb' extension), eg email.rb. Edit the variables at the top of the file to point at your actual file and a suitable output directory. Then open up a terminal prompt and run the ruby script. Either make the '.rb' file executable (chmod 700 email.rb) or run it explicitly with the ruby interpreter like this: ruby email.rb.
Ruby comes bundled (as does Python) with the Mac (noticing you appear to be using one from error messages posted) so the script should run without a hitch.
I've tried to comment it so you can see what's happening.
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