Comma delimiter

[Jon Quixley]

Hi,

When I copy a spreadsheet-like table that contains numbers with commas
separating the thousands from the hundreds, pasting the data into Excel
(2003 SP2) results in Excel "seeing" the commas and pasting the number
into adjacent cells so that (eg) 5,453 ends up with the 5 in one cell
and 453 in the next.
When I try to copy the same data and paste it into WORD first, then
copy it again and paste into Excel, the problem vanishes. Copying the
data and saving it as a text file and importing it into Excel works OK
as long as the default setting on the ASCII import screen is changed so
that Comma is deselected (unchecked)
Q1: I suspect that the problem is a Settings one, either within Excel
or Windows (or a conflict between them). We have tried various
combinations with no success. leads to...>
Q2: The default for the ASCII import is Tabs and Commas - can this
default be changed? if so, how?

Any help appreciated

 

[Pierre]

Hi,

When I copy a spreadsheet-like table that contains numbers with commas
separating the thousands from the hundreds, pasting the data into Excel
(2003 SP2) results in Excel "seeing" the commas and pasting the number
into adjacent cells so that (eg) 5,453 ends up with the 5 in one cell
and 453 in the next.
When I try to copy the same data and paste it into WORD first, then
copy it again and paste into Excel, the problem vanishes. Copying the
data and saving it as a text file and importing it into Excel works OK
as long as the default setting on the ASCII import screen is changed so
that Comma is deselected (unchecked)
Q1: I suspect that the problem is a Settings one, either within Excel
or Windows (or a conflict between them). We have tried various
combinations with no success. leads to...>
Q2: The default for the ASCII import is Tabs and Commas - can this
default be changed? if so, how?

Any help appreciated

Jon, trick is to remove the commas before doing your export and
avoiding the MS Office Gymnastics. Find/replace doesn't work. Try
this:
In an unformatted empty cell, type in any five numbers (12345) with no
commas. Using your format painter, click this cell, and paint the
other cells with numerical values containing commas. This will
effectively remove the commas. Go ahead and do your export, and
reformat the resulting data with commas if you want them.

Pierre