can't format for leading zeros

[Guest]

i'm importing data from excel. i need to have the data with 10 digits, so leading zeros must be added to some of the numbers, but not all. i have my table set as text, and the format is set as 0000000000. yet, when i save, the table doesn't convert to add the leading zeros. am i supposed to be writing a query to do this? or should i be changing the formatting in a different way

any help is much appreciated

 

[Frank Kabel]

Hi
format the cells as number and apply your format. This should do the
trick

--
Regards
Frank Kabel
Frankfurt, Germany

i'm importing data from excel. i need to have the data with 10

digits, so leading zeros must be added to some of the numbers, but not
all. i have my table set as text, and the format is set as 0000000000.
yet, when i save, the table doesn't convert to add the leading zeros.
am i supposed to be writing a query to do this? or should i be
changing the formatting in a different way?

 

[Guest]

yes, that works. but the problem is that i want to link to a table that has the data set as text. (They're primarily 10-digit numbers, but some of them have an occasional letter in them). So i did convert to numbers to run now -- and thanks SO much for that! -- but is there a way to store leading zeros in text for the future?

 

[Bill J]

try
=text(A1,"0000000000")in B1
this stores a number in A1 as a text with leading zeros

-----Original Message-----
yes, that works. but the problem is that i want to link

to a table that has the data set as text. (They're
primarily 10-digit numbers, but some of them have an
occasional letter in them). So i did convert to numbers
to run now -- and thanks SO much for that! -- but is there
a way to store leading zeros in text for the future?