Importing CSV Problem

[ribitcroak]

Hi,

I have a function on our site whereby people can download report data
as a .CSV file, which if they have Excel installed, will open
automatically in Excel.

I have found out recently that some people have a problem viewing these
downloads. I.e. the data pops into one cell automatically. I have
checked the raw data of these downloads, and it seems to be fine -
field1, field2, field3, field4<CRLF>data, data, data, etc. Also, I have
no problem importing into certain copies of Excel, while others repeat
the symptoms.

Is there any location within excel where a default parameter may have
been changed, eg. comma separated to tab separated?

Any help would be much appreciated.

-R

 

[Dan E]

Ribitcroak,

As I understand it, the regional settings can affect this. Some regions
use a semicolon( instead of comma(,). This can be found in the
control panel under Regional Settings. Next time you come accross
a computer that cannot open your CSV properly, check to see that
the list separator (under the Number tab of the Regional Settings) is
a , and not a ;

One thing that users who have the file opening improperly can do is:
Rename the file to .txt instead of .csv
From inside excel choose file open and change the type to text files
Find and Open the file, this should open the text file import wizard
where they can set it up to open properly.

OR

Rename the file to .txt instead of .csv
From inside excel choose Data -> Get External Data -> Import Text
File, find the file and Import (again opens the text file import wizard)

OR

You could:
Write a macro to import the file properly, and offer it on your website

OR

Offer the data in either comma or semi-colon delimited files.

Dan E