Getting (undated) string data from table

[Danxxx]

I will have a table (or excel file) with mostly text data, which looks like

BANK OLD_NAME NEW_NAME
global a542xx x_kor
intl a111ggg gdp_usa
[these are supposed to line up in 3 columns]

I want to get this data into usable form, then make a loop that imports data from different databanks (e.g. first I'll get a542xx from the global bank and rename it as x_kor; etc)

All I've come up with is to make string vectors (probably named BANK, OLD_NAME, NEW_NAME) and fill them up one cell at a time
bank(1) = dattab(2,1)
bank(2) = dattab(3,1)
[of course I'd do this with a loop]

Are there any more-direct methods I could use?
Thanks,
Dan
PS: how would Eviews know when the loop reaches the end of the table?