Open CSV file by double-click on explorer all data in one column

[evadell]

Hi, I have a Windows NT with Excel 97. I have a very simple csv file
containing:

1;2;3

When I open this test.csv file from File->Open in Excel it renders the
data in three different columns. If I open the file by double-clicking
in explorer it launches Excel and the data if confined in the first
column. It seems as if it doesn't do the same when opening in both
ways.

Any hint?

 

[Dave Peterson]

What do you have for your windows list separator?

Close excel
windows start button|settings|control panel|Regional and language options

Click the customize button
Numbers Tab
List separator

Make sure it matches your data.

Alternatively, you could always select that column and do data|text to columns.
Choose delimited by a semicolon.

 

[evadell]

My list separator is the ; char.

It seems to be a bug in Excel.

I can't execute the do data text to columns because the excel cvs files
are downloaded from our web server by our customers and the file is
automatically opened by Excel at their homes and some of them exhibit
this problem (the ones having NT + Excel 97).

If there could be a way to solve this issue it would be very
interesting to me.

Thnx a lot.

 

[Dave Peterson]

I could change that list separator and excel would make the adjustment. I don't
use xl97 anymore, but that's the way I recall it working, too.

But why can't the customer select column A and do data|text to columns? It's a
little bit of a training issue, but it's not too difficult.

 

[evadell]

I can't force any customer neither to change his list separator nor to
have to use data->text to columns (they r too lazy).

If there is no way of making Excel 97 open *.csv properly I will have
to change to xls (sigh!). I don't like closed formats, but there will
be no other way.

Plz, if anyone kwnow how to make Excel 97 open csv files properly I beg
your help.

 

[Dave Peterson]

Good luck.

I can't force any customer neither to change his list separator nor to
have to use data->text to columns (they r too lazy).

If there is no way of making Excel 97 open *.csv properly I will have
to change to xls (sigh!). I don't like closed formats, but there will
be no other way.

Plz, if anyone kwnow how to make Excel 97 open csv files properly I beg
your help.

 

[::CORY::]

We were dealing with a very similar issue here.

How we overcame our issue was to change the name format of the CSV file. The
name we had been using had underscores in it. We took them out and IE then
did the normal Save As stuff with the CSV file instead of Excel
automatically just opening the file with all the data in the one column
and/or cell.

Trying renaming the file to be downloaded to something very simple (ex:
a.csv) to test.

::CORY::