Each data column in a fixed-width table contains a specific, predefined number of characters—and always that number of characters. This means that the meaningful data in fixed-width files are often padded with extra characters, such as spaces or zeroes.
ACW00011604 17.1167 -61.7833 10.1 ST JOHNS COOLIDGE FLD
ACW00011647 17.1333 -61.7833 19.2 ST JOHNS
AE000041196 25.3330 55.5170 34.0 SHARJAH INTER. AIRP GSN 41196
AEM00041194 25.2550 55.3640 10.4 DUBAI INTL 41194
AEM00041217 24.4330 54.6510 26.8 ABU DHABI INTL 41217
AEM00041218 24.2620 55.6090 264.9 AL AIN INTL 41218
AF000040930 35.3170 69.0170 3366.0 NORTH-SALANG GSN 40930
AFM00040938 34.2100 62.2280 977.2 HERAT 40938
AFM00040948 34.5660 69.2120 1791.3 KABUL INTL 40948
AFM00040990 31.5000 65.8500 1010.0 KANDAHAR AIRPORT 40990
AG000060390 36.7167 3.2500 24.0 ALGER-DAR EL BEIDA GSN 60390
AG000060590 30.5667 2.8667 397.0 EL-GOLEA GSN 60590
AG000060611 28.0500 9.6331 561.0 IN-AMENAS GSN 60611
AG000060680 22.8000 5.4331 1362.0 TAMANRASSET GSN 60680
AGE00135039 35.7297 0.6500 50.0 ORAN-HOPITAL MILITAIRE
AGE00147704 36.9700 7.7900 161.0 ANNABA-CAP DE GARDE
AGE00147705 36.7800 3.0700 59.0 ALGIERS-VILLE/UNIVERSITE
AGE00147706 36.8000 3.0300 344.0 ALGIERS-BOUZAREAH
AGE00147707 36.8000 3.0400 38.0 ALGIERS-CAP CAXINE
AGE00147708 36.7200 4.0500 222.0 TIZI OUZOU 60395
AGE00147709 36.6300 4.2000 942.0 FORT NATIONAL
AGE00147710 36.7500 5.1000 9.0 BEJAIA-BOUGIE (PORT) 60401
Example of a fixed-width data file
It is pretty clear that each column represents some kind of data. However, to precisely identify the delimiter is quite challenging without metadata, you can guess and try until you figure it out.
With metadata:
III. FORMAT OF DATA FILES (".dly" FILES)
Each ".dly" file contains data for one station. The name of the file
corresponds to a station's identification code. For example, "USC00026481.dly"
contains the data for the station with the identification code USC00026481).
Each record in a file contains one month of daily data. The variables on each
line include the following:
------------------------------
Variable Columns Type
------------------------------
ID 1-11 Character
YEAR 12-15 Integer
MONTH 16-17 Integer
ELEMENT 18-21 Character
VALUE1 22-26 Integer
MFLAG1 27-27 Character
QFLAG1 28-28 Character
SFLAG1 29-29 Character
VALUE2 30-34 Integer
MFLAG2 35-35 Character
QFLAG2 36-36 Character
SFLAG2 37-37 Character
. . .
. . .
. . .
VALUE31 262-266 Integer
MFLAG31 267-267 Character
QFLAG31 268-268 Character
SFLAG31 269-269 Character
------------------------------
This is followed by a detailed description of what each field contains or means, including information like units.