' This line is comment
' Field Structure
'  0 - 3  Id
'  4 - 23 Name
' 24 - 31 Date Of Birth
'         1         2         3
'1234567890123456789012345678901
4567John Doe            02181999
8901Jane Smith Doe      03041972

' This line is comment
' Field Structure
' Id, Name , Date of Birth
' Note: I treat them as strings
"4567","John Doe","02/18/1999"
"8901","Jane Smith Doe","03/04/1972"

Public Class person
Private m_ID As String
Public Property ID() As String
  Get
   Return m_ID
  End Get
  Set(ByVal value As String)
   m_ID = value
  End Set
End Property
Private m_Name As String
Public Property Name() As String
  Get
   Return m_Name
  End Get
  Set(ByVal value As String)
   m_Name = value
  End Set
End Property
Private m_DOB As String
Public Property DOB() As String
  Get
   Return m_DOB
  End Get
  Set(ByVal value As String)
   m_DOB = value
  End Set
End Property
End Class

Public Class Form1
Dim A_List As New List(Of person)
Dim B_List As New List(Of person)
End Class

From_FixedLengthFile()
  AddPersonsToListview(A_List, Me.ListView1)
  From_DelimitedFile()
  AddPersonsToListview(B_List, Me.ListView2)

Private Sub AddPersonsToListview(ByRef pl As List(Of person), ByRef lv As ListView)
  lv.Items.Clear()
  Dim clv As ListViewItem
  For Each p As person In pl
   clv = lv.Items.Add(p.ID)
   clv.SubItems.Add(p.Name)
   clv.SubItems.Add(p.DOB)
  Next
End Sub
Public Function ToDate(ByVal d As String) As Date
  Dim rm As System.Text.RegularExpressions.Match = System.Text.RegularExpressions.Regex.Match(d, "([0-9]{2})([0-9]{2})([0-9]{4})")
  If rm.Success = False Then Return Nothing
  Dim dr As New Date(CInt(rm.Groups(3).Value), CInt(rm.Groups(1).Value), CInt(rm.Groups(2).Value))
  Return dr
End Function

Private Sub From_FixedLengthFile()
  ' Define a new TextFieldParser, passing it our file
  Dim tfp As New FileIO.TextFieldParser(My.Application.Info.DirectoryPath & "\Files\TestFile01.txt")
  ' Tell the TextFieldParse to expect a FixedWidth file (By Default it Delimited)
  tfp.TextFieldType = FileIO.FieldType.FixedWidth
  ' Define an array containing the length of each field, in the order they appear
  Dim FieldLengths() As Integer = {4, 20, 8}
  ' Define an array containing the token to indicate what follows next (to the line end) is a comment
  Dim Comments() As String = {"'"}
  ' Tell our TextFieldParser what the parameters are.
  tfp.FieldWidths = FieldLengths
  tfp.CommentTokens = Comments
' Empty the collection of people
  A_List.Clear()
  Dim p As person
  ' Read the file in Try-Catch Block in case of file problems
  Try
   ' Have we read to the end of the file?
   While tfp.EndOfData = False
    ' Get the fields of the current line, it automatically moves to the next position.
    Dim FoundField() As String = tfp.ReadFields
    ' Does it contain the expected number of fields?
    If FoundField.Count <> 3 Then
     ' Nope, Display a message.
     MessageBox.Show(String.Format("Incorrect Number field on line {0}", tfp.LineNumber), "", MessageBoxButtons.OK)
    Else
     ' Yes, Create a new person object and fill in the details
     p = New person
     p.ID = FoundField(0)
     p.Name = FoundField(1)
     p.DOB = ToDate(FoundField(2))
     ' Add the person to our collection of people.
     A_List.Add(p)
    End If
   End While
  Catch ex As Exception
   Throw ex
  End Try
  ' Remember to close the parser.
  tfp.Close()
End Sub

Private Sub From_FixedLengthFile()
  ' Define a new TextFieldParser, passing it our file
  Dim tfp As New FileIO.TextFieldParser(My.Application.Info.DirectoryPath & "\Files\TestFile01.txt")
  ' Tell the TextFieldParse to expect a FixedWidth file (By Default it Delimited)
  tfp.TextFieldType = FileIO.FieldType.FixedWidth
  ' Define an array containing the length of each field, in the order they appear
  Dim FieldLengths() As Integer = {4, 20, 8}
  ' Define an array containing the token to indicate what follows next (to the line end) is a comment
  Dim Comments() As String = {"'"}
  ' Tell our TextFieldParser what the parameters are.
  tfp.FieldWidths = FieldLengths
  tfp.CommentTokens = Comments
  ' Empty the collection of people
  A_List.Clear()
  Dim p As person
  ' Read the file in Try-Catch Block in case of file problems
  Try
   ' Have we read to the end of the file?
   While tfp.EndOfData = False
    ' Get the fields of the current line, it automatically moves to the next position.
    Dim FoundField() As String = tfp.ReadFields
    ' Does it contain the expected number of fields?
    If FoundField.Count <> 3 Then
     ' Nope, Display a message.
     MessageBox.Show(String.Format("Incorrect Number field on line {0}", tfp.LineNumber), "", MessageBoxButtons.OK)
    Else
     ' Yes, Create a new person object and fill in the details
     p = New person
     p.ID = FoundField(0)
     p.Name = FoundField(1)
     p.DOB = ToDate(FoundField(2))
     ' Add the person to our collection of people.
     A_List.Add(p)
    End If
   End While
  Catch ex As Exception
   Throw ex
  End Try
  ' Remember to close the parser.
  tfp.Close()
End Sub