CICA 1995 August/CICA - The Ultimate Collection of Shareware for Windows (Disc 2) (August 1995).iso/disc2/excel/we0801.exe/WE0801.TXT

Text File | 1993-06-08 | 23KB | 508 lines

======================================================================
  Microsoft(R) Product Support Services Application Note (Text File)
                 WE0801: OPENING AND SAVING TEXT FILES
======================================================================
                                                   Revision Date: 5/93
                                                                1 Disk

The following information applies to Microsoft(R) Excel for
Windows(TM), version 4.0.

  --------------------------------------------------------------------
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OVERVIEW
========

This Application Note discusses how Microsoft Excel parses text and
formats numbers and alphanumeric characters in text files. In
addition, it includes the Text Reader add-in macro (TXTRDR.XLA), which
you can use to import text files. This macro parses your text
according to a delimiter you select and prevents Microsoft Excel from
applying automatic number formatting to the entries in your file.



INTRODUCTION
============

In Microsoft Excel version 4.0, you can open and save files in text
file format. Your text file can consist of rows of text in a single
column or rows and columns of text. When you open a text file in
Microsoft Excel, the way the text is broken into columns depends on
the character you choose to delimit your fields or columns of text.
You can also choose no delimiter and parse your text after the file is
opened. The most common column delimiters are commas, tabs, and
spaces.

When you open or save text files in Microsoft Excel, you may find that
some of the text entries in your file do not appear as expected. These
unexpected results may occur because of the way Microsoft Excel parses
text and applies formatting to numbers and alphanumeric characters.



OPENING AND PARSING TEXT FILES
==============================

How Text Is Parsed
------------------

When you open a text file, Microsoft Excel checks the file for the
column delimiter you selected in the Text File Options dialog box
(from the File menu, choose Open and then choose the Text button). In
this dialog box, the default Column Delimiter option is Tab; you can
also select the Comma, Space, Semicolon, None, or Custom option (when
you select Custom, you can specify a custom delimiter). Once you
choose a column delimiter, Microsoft Excel places the text following
each instance of the specified delimiter in a separate cell. For
example, if your text is delimited by spaces and if you select the
Space delimiter, Microsoft Excel places the text following each space
in a separate cell. This process is called parsing and occurs
automatically when you specify a delimiter for your text file.

If you do not select the Space delimiter before you open this space-
delimited file, or if you select the None (no delimiter) option, the
text in your file will not be parsed; that is, each line of text will
appear in a separate row in column A only. In this case, after you
open the file in Microsoft Excel, you can break the text into separate
columns using one of the parsing commands.

The parsing commands, located on the Data menu, are:

 - Parse - This command parses text based on a fixed length or number
   of characters per column, rather than parsing your text based on a
   specified character.

   -and-

 - Smart Parse - This command is added to the Data menu when you load
   the Flat File add-in macro. Smart Parse gives you the option of
   parsing your data based on a specified delimiter; this is similar
   to specifying a delimiter in the Text File Options dialog box, with
   the exception that the parsing is done after you've opened the text
   file and there is not an option to parse based on a tab delimiter.

  NOTE: When you open a file with a .CSV extension, Microsoft Excel
  for Windows will always assume that this file is a comma-separated
  value (CSV) file regardless of the selected column delimiter. For
  files with any other filename extension, for example, .TXT,
  Microsoft Excel will use the delimiter you specify in the Text File
  Options dialog box.

How Text Entries Are Formatted
------------------------------

The following example illustrates how Microsoft Excel treats different
types of entries when you open a text file with a specified delimiter
or when you parse a text file after it's been opened. If you have a
text file containing the following data, where each entry is separated
by a tab

   09876     00000001  1/93  12-31-92 2E9
   12345     67-890    01234-5678     alpha     text string

and you select the Tab delimiter in the Text File Options dialog box,
the entry following each tab is placed in a separate column and each
line is placed on a separate row. Each text string is evaluated when
it is placed in its respective cell. If the contents can be
interpreted as a value, Microsoft Excel will attempt to apply a built-
in number format to that value. If there is no corresponding number
format, the contents will be interpreted as text and placed in the
cell as is.

When you open this file in Microsoft Excel, it will resemble the
following example:

      |    A   |     B     |      C      |       D   |       E
   ---|------- |-----------|-------------|-----------|---------------
   1  |   9876 |         1 |      Jan-93 |  12/31/92 |        2.00E+09
   ---|--------|-----------|-------------|-----------|----------------
   2  | 12345  | 67-890    | 01234-5678  |  alpha    |    text string

Note that the appearance of some text entries changes. Entries that
are interpreted as values are right-aligned and those that are
interpreted as text are left-aligned -- these are the alignment
defaults for Microsoft Excel.

The following table explains how each entry from the sample data is
   formatted in Microsoft Excel.

   Original     In Microsoft   How entry is formatted in
   entry        Excel          Microsoft Excel
   -------------------------------------------------------------------
   09876 and    9876 and 1     These entries are interpreted as
   00000001                    values in the General number format.
                               Because leading zeros in a number are
                               insignificant, Microsoft Excel drops
                               the zeros.


   1/93         Jan-93         If there are any hyphens or slashes
                               separating values, Microsoft Excel
                               will examine the individual values to
                               see if they can be construed as a day
                               and/or a month and/or a year. If so, a
                               date format is applied. Because the 1
                               can be interpreted as a month value
                               and 93 is a valid year, this entry
                               matches the mmm-yy built-in number
                               format.

   12-31-92     12/31/92       Because the individual values
                               separated by the hyphens can be
                               interpreted as a valid month, day, and
                               year, Microsoft Excel applies the
                               closest matching date format, m/d/yy.
                               Note that when the format is applied,
                               the hyphens are replaced with slashes.
   2E9          2.00E+09       This entry is interpreted to match the
                               0.00E+00 built-in number format.

                                 NOTE: If the item had been 2x9,
                                 where x is any letter other than e
                                 or E, the item would have remained a
                                 text string and would not have
                                 changed.

   12345        12345          This entry matches the General built-
                               in number format. The application of
                               this format does not alter the value's
                               appearance because there are no
                               leading zeros.

   67-890 and   67-890 and     These entries
   01234-5678   01234-5678     are interpreted as text because
                               hyphens separate the numbers and
                               because the numbers on either side of
                               the hyphens cannot be interpreted as a
                               month, day, or year.

   alpha and    alpha and      These entries are not changed because
   text string  text string    they are text.

Using Custom Number Formats to Change Text Entries
---------------------------------------------------

You can use custom number formats to return entries to their original
appearance (that is, the way they looked before you opened the text
file in Microsoft Excel). For example, to change 9876 to 09876, do the
following:

1. Select cell A1 (the cell where the value is located).

2. From the Format menu, choose Number.

3. In the Code box, type 00000. This formats the number to always have
   5 digits, displaying leading zeros even when you've entered a
   single digit value. For example, with this number format applied, 1
   will be displayed as 00001, and 25 will be displayed as 00025.

4. Choose OK to accept the number format. 9876 is now displayed as
   09876.

In date formats in Microsoft Excel, hyphens and slashes are
interchangeable. If you would rather use hyphens than slashes (or vice
versa), apply a custom number format that uses the desired character.
For example, to change the value 12/31/92 to 12-31-92, apply a m-d-yy
custom number format .

    Important: If you apply custom number formats or make other
    formatting changes to font size, borders, shading, row height, or
    column width, you must save the file in the Normal file format to
    retain the formatting. (From the File menu, choose Save As and
    under Save File As Type, select the Normal format.)

Some entries cannot be returned to their original appearance with a
custom number format. For example, there is no custom number format
that will restore 2.00E+09 to 2E9. To retain the format 2E9, you can
either add a text character to the string using a word processor or
other text editor, or you can use the Text Reader add-in macro to
import the file. For information on how to use the Text Reader add-in
macro, see "Importing Text Files with the Text Reader Add-in Macro" in
this Application Note.

For more information about custom number formats, see pages 221-227 of
"User's Guide 1" or see the "Creating or Deleting Custom Number
Formats" topic under "Number Formats" in Microsoft Excel Help.



SAVING AND EXPORTING TEXT FILES
===============================

In Microsoft Excel, you can save worksheets as text files in a comma-
delimited (CSV) or tab-delimited (Text) text format. You can select
either one of these options by choosing Save As from the File menu and
selecting the desired format from the Save File As Type list. You can
also export data from your worksheet to a text file that is space
delimited using the Flat File add-in macro discussed in this
Application Note. After you load this add-in macro, the Export command
will be available on the Data menu. For additional information on
using the Flat File add-in macro, see pages 151-152 of the "User's
Guide 2".


How Text Entries Are Formatted
-------------------------------

In Microsoft Excel, when you save a file in CSV or Text file format,
each entry in the file retains its number format.

  NOTE: In the following example, the value 2E9 in cell E1 must be
  entered as a text value (by preceding the entry with an apostrophe)
  to prevent it from being converted to the scientific notation
  format.

For example, if you have a worksheet that resembles the following

      |    A   |       B     |      C      |      D      |      E
   ---|------- |-------------|-------------|-------------|----------
   1  |   9876 |    00000001 |        1/93 |    12/31/92 | 2E9
   ---|--------|-------------|-------------|-------------|----------
   2  | 12345  | 67-890      | 01234-5678  | alpha       | text string

when you open the file in a text editor, the table will resemble one
of the following examples depending on how you saved the file in
Microsoft Excel:

 - If you saved the file in the CSV file format, the file will
   resemble the following:

         09876,00000001,1/93,12-31-92,2E9
         12345,67-890,01234-5678,alpha,text string

 - If you saved the file in the Text file format, the file will
   resemble the following:

         09876     00000001  1/93  12-31-92      2E9
         12345     67-890    01234-5678  alpha   text string

Using the Flat File Add-in Macro to Export Data
-----------------------------------------------

When you export a text file, you can use the export feature of the
Flat File add-in macro to retain not only the built-in and custom
number formats of your selection, but the alignment of the cell
contents as well. The resulting text file will contain evenly aligned
columns.

When you load the Flat File add-in macro, two commands are added to
the Data menu:

 - SMART PARSE - Use this command to parse a text file after it is
   opened.

   -and-

 - EXPORT - Use this command to export selected data to a space-
   delimited text file.

To retain custom number formats and the alignment of the cell
contents, choose Export from the Data menu and select the Retain Cell
Formats option in the Export dialog box. The Retain Cell Formats
option allows you to retain number formats and alignments in the cell
entries.

If you export the sample data with the Retain Cell Formats option
enabled, the result will be:

   09876  00000001        1/93  12-31-92  2E9
   12345  67-890    01234-5678  alpha     text string

If you want evenly aligned output, where number formats are retained
and alignments are the same, do the following before you export your
data:

1. Select the cells you want to export.

2. From the Format menu, choose Alignment.

3. Under Horizontal, select the Left or Right option (instead of the
   General option).

If you then export this sample data with the Retain Cell Formats
option enabled, your data will resemble the following (assuming that
you choose the Left option in the previous procedure):

   09876  00000001  1/93     12-31-92  2E9
   12345  67-890    01234-5678  alpha     text string

If you do not retain cell formats, the numbers will revert to the
General number format; for example, dates will be converted to their
appropriate serial numbers and all entries will be left-aligned --
regardless of whether a cell contains text or numbers.

For example, if you export this sample data when the Retain Formats
option is not enabled, your data will resemble the following:

   9876   1       33970          33969     2E9
   12345  67-890  01234-5678   alpha  text string

  NOTE: When cells are formatted using the Justify, Fill, or Center
  Across Selection alignment options, choosing the Export command will
  result in the error message, "Error writing to disk."

For more information about the Flat File add-in macro, see pages 151-
152 of "User's Guide 2".


IMPORTING TEXT FILES WITH THE TEXT READER ADD-IN MACRO
=======================================================

You can use the Text Reader (TXTRDR.XLA) add-in macro, provided with
this Application Note, to import a delimited text file into Microsoft
Excel version 4.0 without changing the format or appearance of any
entries in the file. For example, 09876 will still appear as 09876, 12-
31-92 will still appear as 12-31-92, and so on.

When you import a file using the Text Reader add-in macro, the file
itself is not opened. Instead, the data is imported and each entry is
read from the source file and placed in a new worksheet. The Text
Reader add-in macro reads in each text entry individually and adds an
apostrophe to the beginning of the entry. For example, the Text Reader
add-in macro turns 09876 into '09876. Microsoft Excel interprets any
value that is preceded by an apostrophe as a text value. As a result,
when the entry is placed in a cell, it is displayed as it appeared in
the original text file. Once the data has been imported, you can save
the new worksheet in any available file format.

  NOTE: This method of importing a text file may take longer than
  opening the file by choosing the Open command from the File menu.

To use the Text Reader add-in macro with Microsoft Excel:

1. In File Manager, copy the TXTRDR.XLA file from the enclosed WE0801
   disk to the LIBRARY directory on your hard disk (this directory
   should be located in the same directory where Microsoft Excel is
   installed).

2. Start Microsoft Excel.

3. From the File menu, choose Open. Change to the LIBRARY directory,
   select TXTRDR.XLA from the list of files, and choose OK.

To import your text file, do the following:

1. From the File menu, choose Open Text (this command is added to the
   File menu by the Text Reader add-in macro).

2. Select the text file you want to import and choose OK.

3. Specify the appropriate column delimiter. The default delimiter is
   Tab; however, you also have the option to select Comma, Space, or
   Other (if you select Other, you can specify any keyboard character
   to be the delimiter).

4. Choose OK to import the file.

Converting Text Entries to Values
----------------------------------

When you use the Text Reader add-in macro, each imported entry is
formatted in text format and placed in a cell. If some of the columns
contain entries that you want to use in calculations, you must convert
these text entries to values. If you attempt to perform calculations
on these cells without first converting them to values, you will
receive a 0 (zero) or a #VALUE! error value.

For example, if you import the following text

  |       A      |      B     |      C     |     D
--|--------------|------------|------------|---------
1 | Product No.  | Month-Year | Units Sold | Revenue
--|--------------|------------|------------|---------
2 | 2e190        | 1-93       | 1000       | 5000
--|--------------|------------|------------|---------
3 | 2e190        | 2-93       | 2000       | 10000
--|--------------|------------|------------|---------
4 | 2e190        | 3-93       | 3000       | 15000

and want to calculate totals for the entries in the Units Sold and
Revenue columns, do the following to convert these entries to values:

1. In cell E1 (or any blank cell), type  1.

2. With cell E1 selected, choose Copy from the Edit menu.

3. Select cells C2:D4 (the range of cells you want  to convert).

4. From the Edit menu, choose Paste Special. Under Operation, select
   the Multiply option and choose OK.

Multiplying each text entry by the number 1 will convert it to a
value. You can then apply number formats and perform calculations.

Converting Fractions to Values
------------------------------

The exception to using the method described in the previous section is
when you have fractions that could be interpreted as dates. For
example, if you import the following fractions

  |  A
--|------
1 | 1/4
--|------
2 | 1/3
--|------
3 | 1/2
--|------
4 | 3/4

you need to format a blank range of cells with a Fraction number
format and then use a formula to correctly convert them. If you use
the procedure outlined in the previous section (choosing the Paste
Special command and selecting the Multiply option), these fractions
would be converted to dates.

To convert these text-formatted fractions to values:

1. Select cells B1:B4 (or a range of blank cells equal in size to the
   range you want to convert to values). This range should remain
   selected through step 7.

2. From the Format menu, choose Number. Under Category, select
   Fraction. Under Format Codes, select  # ?/?. Choose OK.

3. Type the following formula

      =VALUE(0&" "&A1)

   where A1 is the first cell in the range you want to convert.

4. Hold down the CTRL key and press ENTER. This will automatically
   copy the formula to all cells in the selected range, B1:B4.

5. From the Edit menu, choose Copy.

6. From the Edit menu, choose Paste Special. In the Paste box, select
   the Values option and choose OK. This converts each of the VALUE()
   formulas to their underlying values.

7. From the Edit menu, choose Cut.

8. Select cells A1:A4. From the Edit menu, choose Paste. This replaces
   the text fractions with values.

You can now perform calculations using the fractional values.