Losing leading zeros!!!

[Bonnie]

Hi there! Using E02. Have a file with a text field
containing social security numbers. (I use text fields for
SSN's as you may have leading zeros.) I need to save the
file as a comma delimited (.csv) to load into our system
and even though I format the column to text, I lose my
leading zeros!!! HELP!?!?!?! Is there an easy answer to
this or am I stuck?

Thanks in advance for any help or advice!

 

[Frank Kabel]

Hi
you could use a helper column with a formula like
=TEXT(A1,"000000000")

 

[Bonnie]

Your formula works fine until I save as comma delimited
and lose my formatting. When I reopen, I have the value
rather than the formula and no leading zeros. Ugh!!!

I don't work in Excel alot. I'm sure it's something simple
I'm missing. I'll be - Still looking.......

Thanks for the help. I do appreciate it.

 

[Frank Kabel]

Hi
after using the formula try the following:
- select this helper column and copy it
- goto 'Edit - Paste Special' and choose 'Values'
- now save as *.csv file

 

[Dave Peterson]

When you used Notepad (or your favorite text editor), where those leading 0's
there?

My bet is that they disappeared when you re-imported them into excel.

If you need to re-import into excel, change the extension from .csv to .txt and
then do file|open.

You can specify each field (this would be text).

(or import it as General and use a format (special or custom) to change the
display.)

If you need to import it to a different program, maybe you're done!)

 

[JE McGimpsey]

Bonnie, you say you need to "load the value into your system", but your
saying that the problem occurs when you load the data back into XL.
There seems to be a disconnect there.

Does it matter what values XL parses the csv file into, or is the csv
file adequate for loading into your system?

If you need to load it back into XL, change the file extension to .txt
and use the Text wizard to import the column as text.

 

[Bonnie]

Bingo! I just felt the need to open it again to make sure
it was right. Yes, it is wrapped in quote marks as text in
notepad. And yes, the zeros are there until I open them in
Excel again to check the results. Thanks to all of you
guys for the advice here.

 

[Bonnie]

Bingo! I just felt the need to open it again to make sure
it was right. Yes, it is wrapped in quote marks as text in
notepad. And yes, the zeros are there until I open them in
Excel again to check the results. Thanks to all of you
guys for the advice here.