file transfer between Mac and PC

[Barb]

Am experiencing file changes when sending a Mac built .csv file to PC
users.
The formatting changes. MY file has data neatly in columns. What
arrives , apparently, is my spreadsheet with my data typed across
column borders and in the wrong columns.

The significance to me is that I am trying to upload a .csv page into a
remote database. The database has a built in import mechanism but the
data MUST come in a specific structure: i.e. excel .csv format with
data in mandated columns.
When I could not successfully upload the .csv file I had created, I
sent it to a chief techie for the database who wrote that my file did
not upload as it was not formatted properly and he sent me back my
file.
What I got back has the spilled data, what I sent was perfect

NOTE: I do not have to email my .csv sheet; database software
(application resting on my computer) imports the data .... and I get an
error message so that the import does not even complete.So this is not
just a problem of sending data over the wires as with email. Locally,
the import software application is finding a problem with files which
LOOK perfect when I open them

Question: what in excel might cause this change in data ? Is it my
Excel?
Because the file also changes when I email it, via Eudora, I cannot say
the problem lies with the import software .

What can I do ? Are there settings somewhere which are the problem?

 

[CyberTaz]

Sorry if this is too obvious, but are you aware of the fact that there is a
distinction between .csv format for Mac & .csv format for Windows? If you
are selecting the CSV listing in the top section of the Save As File Type
list (CSV Comma Delimited), that could be the problem - it is the Mac .csv
format.

Further down in the list is the choice for CSV (Windows) as well as CSV (MS
DOS). Have you tried either of them?

HTH |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

 

[Phillip M. Jones, CE.T.]

Also you must include the column Titles (and row Titles if you have any)
as well If none it will arbitrarily start using just any word for a column.

I like to make my column/Row Titles (headers) Bold and slightly larger
font than the actual data if possible.

Sorry if this is too obvious, but are you aware of the fact that there is a
distinction between .csv format for Mac & .csv format for Windows? If you
are selecting the CSV listing in the top section of the Save As File Type
list (CSV Comma Delimited), that could be the problem - it is the Mac .csv
format.

Further down in the list is the choice for CSV (Windows) as well as CSV (MS
DOS). Have you tried either of them?

HTH |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

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[Barb]

Yes,
I tried all three versions.
Thank you
Barbara

 

[CyberTaz]

Well, here are a few other thoughts;

First - make sure the is nothing on the sheet to be exported other than the
record data itself,

Second - when you save the .csv, make sure to check the box for "Append file
extension"... Windows apps are quite particular in that regard,

Third - make sure there are no cells that contain line breaks
(Cmd+Option+Return or Ctrl+Option+Return)... That will truly scramble a .csv
file,

Fourth - be certain that no cells contain more characters than the fields in
the DB are designed to accommodate,

Fifth - the Merge & Center alignment feature is a definite no-no.

The issue of column captions (field names) also comes in to play, but that
is [usually] determined by the recipient. Some insist that captions *not* be
included, and if they are to be included they may have to identically match
the field names in the database. Likewise, any formatting you do/don't apply
in the worksheet (currency, percentage, etc.) may be defining the data as a
different type than what the DB fields are designed to accept. I don't mean
to be sarcastic, but if the 'chief techie' can tell you the file is "not
formatted properly" he/she should also be able (and willing) to to tell you
what was wrong & what need be done to correct it.

I'm not finding anything in your posts that suggest there is anything wrong
being done by XL - outputting .csvs is just as effective in Mac XL as PC XL,
so there must be something about the nature of the content or the manner in
which it is being interpreted. When you save as a .csv, open it in TextEdit
& see how it looks there. What happens if you give someone a copy of it &
they open it in PC XL?

HTH |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

 

[Barb]

Cyber Taz,
You may have come up with some answers for me.
Your first four points are not applicable for me as I used a template
downloaded from the software and all I did was type in data in two
ready -made and titled fields for some records.Nothing I typed exceed
the space and I had not line breaks

HOWEVER-
Point Five: I may have centered the data I typed in the columns. I
do it routinely in my .xls spreadsheets- force of habit, for
legibility.
Did not know not to do that.
The other thing I did , given the plethora of columns, and the columns
I needed to fill were, naturally way over from the first left hand to
the columns which identified each record. So, I inserted two columns
next to the column which contained the ID number for each record (row).
typed in my data.
Then, I copied the data and pasted into the actual distant column where
it belongs.
Deleted the two new columns I had made so that the template sheet's
order of columns was identical to what had been downloaded.
That might have caused a problem

Yet when I simply copied and pasted my data into a pristine template (
did not add any temp columns), I still had trouble.
But perhaps the issue was centering the data which I had pasted into
the pristine template.

I will see if the software chief techie can clarify if that was the
problem
Barbara

Well, here are a few other thoughts;

First - make sure the is nothing on the sheet to be exported other than the
record data itself,

Second - when you save the .csv, make sure to check the box for "Append file
extension"... Windows apps are quite particular in that regard,

Third - make sure there are no cells that contain line breaks
(Cmd+Option+Return or Ctrl+Option+Return)... That will truly scramble a .csv
file,

Fourth - be certain that no cells contain more characters than the fields in
the DB are designed to accommodate,

Fifth - the Merge & Center alignment feature is a definite no-no.

The issue of column captions (field names) also comes in to play, but that
is [usually] determined by the recipient. Some insist that captions *not* be
included, and if they are to be included they may have to identically match
the field names in the database. Likewise, any formatting you do/don't apply
in the worksheet (currency, percentage, etc.) may be defining the data as a
different type than what the DB fields are designed to accept. I don't mean
to be sarcastic, but if the 'chief techie' can tell you the file is "not
formatted properly" he/she should also be able (and willing) to to tell you
what was wrong & what need be done to correct it.

I'm not finding anything in your posts that suggest there is anything wrong
being done by XL - outputting .csvs is just as effective in Mac XL as PC XL,
so there must be something about the nature of the content or the manner in
which it is being interpreted. When you save as a .csv, open it in TextEdit
& see how it looks there. What happens if you give someone a copy of it &
they open it in PC XL?

HTH |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

Yes,
I tried all three versions.
Thank you
Barbara