This is easier to do than you might think. Access lets you fumble your way through writing code, pointing out spelling errors and correcting capitalization as you go. Debugging is easy, because you can stop a running program, add a new line of instructions, then let the program carry on. Beyond accessing large network databases, you can use Access to connect to PC databases. Microsoft supplies ODBC drivers so you can connect to this data as well.
Access makes tills easy.
Simply run the cursor across the text and press the space bar where you want a new field. Then you can work with the text file like it was a database. Of course there is a down side to this analysis, but it is slight. Also, Access forces you to optimally tune your Windows software for the proper buffer size et al. This is not for the faint of heart.