CSV files and having numbers and strings in there...

[sonnichjensen]

Hi

I am saving CSV files from a PHP app, but I face 2 problems:
1. stock numbers are sometimes just numbers, but I'd like to keep them as strings
2. prices are e.g. 5.2 which Excel translates as a date.

Say:

Item;Name;Price;Amount;Total
123;Test;5.2;1;5.2
124;Test2;1.2;2;2.4
Total;;;;=sum(e2:e3)

Just copy this into notepad and save with csv extension and you will see.

I'd like to have 123 and 124 as strings, and eg 5.2 as a float.
Can I format it better than this?

WBR
Sonnich

 

[Claus Busch]

Hi,

Am Tue, 22 Apr 2014 11:41:58 -0700 (PDT) schrieb
(e-mail address removed):

I am saving CSV files from a PHP app, but I face 2 problems:
1. stock numbers are sometimes just numbers, but I'd like to keep them as strings
2. prices are e.g. 5.2 which Excel translates as a date.

change the CSV file to txt file and then open Excel and import from the
txt file. In the import assistent you can format each column as you
want.


Regards
Claus B.

 

[joeu2004]

I am saving CSV files from a PHP app, but I face 2 problems:
1. stock numbers are sometimes just numbers, but I'd like to
keep them as strings
2. prices are e.g. 5.2 which Excel translates as a date.
Say:
Item;Name;Price;Amount;Total
123;Test;5.2;1;5.2
124;Test2;1.2;2;2.4
Total;;;;=sum(e2:e3)

Look at your Regional and Language Options control panel. Is the "decimal
separator" really a period (.), not a comma (,)?

I assume your date separator is a period (.).

If the decimal separator is a comma (,), Excel always interprets 5.2 as a
date as long the component parts (5 and 2) are valid day and month numbers.

The only work-around I know is to input the column as Text (see below), then
enter formulas in a parallel column to interpret the text as numbers. Lots
of work!

If the decimal separator is a period (.), my version of Excel interprets 5.2
as a number, despite the ambiguity with the date syntax.

As for interpreting 123 and 124 as text, I think the best thing is not to
open the CSV file directly in Excel, but instead to import it as a text
file. In Excel 2007 and later, click on Data, Get External Data, From Text.

Click on Next repeatedly, changing the separator as needed. When you get
Step 3, select the first column, and click on Text for the column data
format.

PS: I am surprised that Excel interprets =sum(e2:e3) as a formula, not
simple text. Caveat: the reference to e2:e3 works only if the entire data
is imported into the correct range, starting with A1 in the upper-left in
this case.

 

[joeu2004]

change the CSV file to txt file and then open Excel
and import from the txt file.

FYI, it is not necessary to change the extension to ".txt".

However, it might be prudent to do so because that really is not a CSV file,
AFAIK.

In __Comma__Separator_Values file, the separator is a comma (,).

Excel does permit the separator to be the List Separator specified in the
Regional and Language Options control panel.

But in countries where semicolon ( is the usual List Separator, is it
common for the CSV file to use a semicolon instead of a comma as the
separator?

(Just for my edification.)

 

[GS]

Another way...

Read the CSV into a string variable array using standard VB[A] I/O
functions, then parse it into an array and 'dump' it into the
worksheet. Since the data in the array is text, there should be no
conflict of 'type format'.

--
Garry

Free usenet access at http://www.eternal-september.org
Classic VB Users Regroup!
comp.lang.basic.visual.misc
microsoft.public.vb.general.discussion

 

[Claus Busch]

Hi Joe,

Am Tue, 22 Apr 2014 12:23:37 -0700 schrieb joeu2004:

But in countries where semicolon ( is the usual List Separator, is it
common for the CSV file to use a semicolon instead of a comma as the
separator?

yes, in Germany e.g. the semicolon is the separator for CSV files


Regards
Claus B.

 

[GS]

Typo...

Another way...

Read the CSV into a string variable using standard VB[A] I/O

functions, then parse it into an array and 'dump' it into the
worksheet. Since the data in the array is text, there should be no
conflict of 'type format'.

--
Garry

Free usenet access at http://www.eternal-september.org
Classic VB Users Regroup!
comp.lang.basic.visual.misc
microsoft.public.vb.general.discussion

 

[sonnichjensen]

That seems to be it

People say I should use , (COMMA separated....) - however the separator here is ; (semicolon), the comma is not a separator, so it will read , as a part of a field

Therefore - you are right - using , as a decimal separator here will work as . seems to be for dates (unless the values are out of range then they are floats just to make it more fun)

Now I only need to store data as strings - currently by adding ' in front of them

 

[sonnichjensen]

Say, the customer wants a system that just opens - they will forget instructions after the next coffee break....

 

[GS]

<FWIW>
I use the pipe character ("|") as a default delimiter so there's no
conflict with content containing normal punctuation. Optional default
delimiter is the tilde character ("~") where I use paired values...

Const sMyVar$ = "prop1~val1|prop2~val2"

...that may contain paths. Otherwise...

Const sMyVar$ = "prop1:val1|prop2:val2"

...just because it's easier to type.<g> There are times when I use all 3
but this is rare...

--
Garry

Free usenet access at http://www.eternal-september.org
Classic VB Users Regroup!
comp.lang.basic.visual.misc
microsoft.public.vb.general.discussion