Comma-delimited text format

  • Thread starter Thread starter Nancy
  • Start date Start date
N

Nancy

I have a listing of names & addresses, etc, in a comma-delimited text format.
I have tried to convert the listing to a table in Word, and then
transferring the data to Excel. I think I'm trying to do the impossible, but
this list consists of 3,000 names and I want to be able to sort by State,
either in Word or Excel. I don't have the programming knowledge to do this.
Can anyone help, please??????
 
Nancy said:
I have a listing of names & addresses, etc, in a comma-delimited text
format.
I have tried to convert the listing to a table in Word, and then
transferring the data to Excel. I think I'm trying to do the impossible,
but
this list consists of 3,000 names and I want to be able to sort by State,
either in Word or Excel. I don't have the programming knowledge to do
this.
Can anyone help, please??????
Click to expand...


Hi Nancy,

If it's a comma delimited text file, Excel has a wizard that takes you
through all the steps.

Just try to open the text file in Excel... Have you tried it?
It's probably much easier than going through Word.

Klaus
 
Hello Klaus,
Thank you for responding. I received the listing as an e-mail and have just
re-saved it as a .txt file. I did open it in Excel, but the information runs
together, not each comma-delimited field in a separate cell. Is there a way
for me to format the spreadsheet?
Thanks again,
Nancy
 
Dan Freeman said:
Change the file's extension from .txt to .csv
Click to expand...

Maybe that'll do the trick, though the text conversion wizard kicks in any
time I try to open a text file, no matter what the extension.

If it doesn't for Nancy, maybe someone in the Excel groups knows what
option(s) to change...

Regards,
Klaus
 
Klaus said:
Maybe that'll do the trick, though the text conversion wizard kicks
in any time I try to open a text file, no matter what the extension.

If it doesn't for Nancy, maybe someone in the Excel groups knows what
option(s) to change...
Click to expand...

I've never actually seen that wizard. <g> When I double-click a CSV file,
Excel jumps up and properly parses it.

Dan
 
My bad... you're right!
I don't know why Nancy didn't see the wizard for her *.txt file though...
But then I don't know much of anything about Excel.

Klaus
 
I actually try to avoid Excel <g>, but I've been using it lately to check
CSV output from an application.

Dan
 
Klaus & Dan,
I so appreciate your input. I cannot seem to get this to work. Dan, you
mentioned that when you double-click a CSV file, excel jumps up and properly
parses it. I'm not sure if I'm doing this right....I saved the e-mail as a
..txt file then opened it in Excel, and re-saved it as a CSV file with the
same results. I don't know what "parses" means. Perhaps I need a "computing
for dummies" - I'm blonde, but .......
Nancy
 
Just rename the original file using Windows Explorer. Once you've renamed
it, double click on it (again, in Windows explorer). If it was already
comma-delimited, there's not need to re-save it. Just rename it. Might be a
good idea at this point and go back to the original Email, and this time
when you save the attachment give it the .csv extension instead of .txt.

Parsing just means that Excel properly puts the values between each comma in
a column of its own.

Dan
 
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