Some things to consider
Deciding which files to use
Uncompressing the data files
Using Microsoft Access (tm)
SAS program
(converts ASCII text data files to SAS datasets) 3/02/2001
Technical
documentation [3994 KB]
Some things to consider
The geographic file is fixed width with no field delimiters; Both data files are comma delimited. None of the files contain header records (a first record with field names).
The only relationship between any one file (geographic or data) and another is the field LOGRECNO (logical record number). This field is a unique key. There is a one to one correspondence based on LOGRECNO between the geographic file and both data files.
The directions for unzipping the data files given below apply only to PKZIP for Windows 4.0 or higher (available from pkware.com).
Some data files are too large to import into Access 97. More recent versions of Access can be used for these cases.
Access 2000 does not recognize the "uf1" file name extension (not related to file format). Change the file name extensions of the uncompressed ASCII text data files from "uf1" to "txt". This must be done from a DOS prompt (using the rename command) for most versions of Windows.
Deciding which files to use
A data set for a state consists of a geographic file and two data files. The data was split into multiple files due to a limit in the number of fields allowed per record in most popular database and spreadsheet programs.
All geographic data identifiers (area names, FIPS codes, etc.) are in the geographic file only. See chapter 3: Subject Locator in the technical documentation to identify tables you want. Go to Chapter 2: How to Use This File to identify the data files(s) that contain these tables. Also, see file layouts ( in ASCII format).
Technical documentation
[3994 KB]
Uncompressing the data files
The data files contain a line feed character only at the end of each record. For successful use with many programs running in a Windows environment 1, these files need to be modified to use the ASCII carriage return/line feed sequence, chr(13) + chr(10), as a record terminator. PKZIP for Windows version 4.00 instructions appear below.
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Select "None - no conversion" under the Miscellaneous section to unzip file structures downloaded from this page.
1. Your normal unzipping program and procedures can be used if using SAS (see SAS program) instead of database software like Access or spreadsheet software like Excel.
Using Microsoft Access (tm)
Download Redistricting Data (Public Law 94-171) database (Access 97 format) and then open it in Microsoft Access. Follow procedure to use this database with the ASCII text data files.
Technical Support
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