How do I import a comma delimited textfile into ArcMap?
ArcMap will allow you to import a comma delimited text (.csv) file for joining to a spatial dataset, geocoding, or adding as XY data. Unfortunately it will read any fields with numbers as numbers rather than text. This is a problem if you have fields with leading zeros such as ZIP codes or IDs. The trick is to edit the schema.ini file that resides in the same folder as your csv file as follows: [Yourfile.csv] Format=CSVDelimited Col1=Attribute1 Text Width 10 Col2=Attribute2 Double Col3= Attribute3 Text Width 32 etc… Col1 refers to field 1, Attribute1 will display as the name of the field, Text Width 10 will create a string field 10 characters wide.
