Custom number format

[Dave]

Hello.

At work we have an application that creates .csv files that we open with
Excel. This list icludes product nubers that are ten digits long, many of
which start with one or more zeros. For legibility I would like all of the
numbers to show leading zeros if they have them. So I create a custom format
of ten zeros (i.e. 0000000000). This works great, but the format is only in
that workbook. Is there a way to create this custom format and have it
always be available even when a new notebook is opened insted of having to
re-create it every time?
If so, can it be assigned to a new toolbutton on the toolbar with the other
formatting buttons (eg. $ , % ,etc.) ? That would be even better.

TIA
Dave

 

[Dave]

Hello.

At work we have an application that creates .csv files that we open with
Excel. This list icludes product nubers that are ten digits long, many of
which start with one or more zeros. For legibility I would like all of the
numbers to show leading zeros if they have them. So I create a custom format
of ten zeros (i.e. 0000000000). This works great, but the format is only in
that workbook. Is there a way to create this custom format and have it
always be available even when a new notebook is opened insted of having to
re-create it every time?
If so, can it be assigned to a new toolbutton on the toolbar with the other
formatting buttons (eg. $ , % ,etc.) ? That would be even better.

TIA
Dave

Sorry, I forgot to mention....
Excel 2000
Microsoft Office
WinNT 4

 

[J.E. McGimpsey]

Create a clean workbook the way you want it, including the custom
format. Save it as a template in your XLStart directory with the
name "Book.xlt". From then on, all new workbooks will use that as
their template, and will include the custom format.

You can add a button to a toolbar using Tools/Customize. Assign a
macro to it that you store in your Personal.xls workbook:

Public Sub TenDigits()
Selection.NumberFormat = "0000000000"
End Sub


Alternatively, unless you're doing math on your product numbers, you
could use the Text wizard to bring the file in with the product
number field as text (to do this, you may need to give your files a
..txt extension rather than .csv). And of course, that could also be
automated using a macro.

 

[Dave]

Thank you. I will try this next week when I get back to work.
Dave

 

[Dave]

Added the button to the toolbar today. It works great. Much quicker than
going through the dialogue box and entering the format each time.

Thanks again.
Dave