Converting text cells to another format

[Mike Feeney]

I have a spreadsheet with about 700 names in a single column. Each
cell contains a name in "LastName, FirstName" format. I need to merge
this data into a form letter. So if I were to attempt to address a
letter using this cell merge field, it would appear something like
"Dear Smith, John," instead of "Dear John Smith," ...

Is there a way using a Macro in Excel to convert these cells to
"FirstName LastName" format? The names are all separated by a comma
and a space. Even better, is it possible to extract this data and put
it into two columns, with the LastName in one column, and FirstName in
another? Sadly I don't have much knowledge about how to use the VB
stuff in Excel, so I'm hoping someone can show me the way...

Thanks!

 

[Bernard Rey]

Mike Feeney wrote :

I have a spreadsheet with about 700 names in a single column. Each
cell contains a name in "LastName, FirstName" format.

Is there a way using a Macro in Excel to convert these cells to
"FirstName LastName" format? The names are all separated by a comma
and a space. Even better, is it possible to extract this data and put
it into two columns, with the LastName in one column, and FirstName in
another?

Select the concerned cells. Then, pick the "Convert..." item from the "Data"
menu and things should run as expected. Tip: check Comma AND Space as
delimiters, that'll take off the space following the comma...

 

[Mike Feeney]

That's neat. I found it under Data > Text to columns though. ( My Exel X
doesn't have 'convert')

Perfect! Thanks for the help, worked like a charm. (I found it under
Data / Text to Columns as well).