re: Why you shouldn't open .csv files in Excel
Hey Cliff, what happens to your CSV date fields when you open them in Excel? The answer, "Lord only knows"!Occasionally I'll use Excel to view CSV files when I need to have it easily sorted into...
View Articlere: Why you shouldn't open .csv files in Excel
Additionally you are moving between having text delimiters in field 1 and not having them in field b, that's a much bigger problem when trying to load a raw file than anything Excel may have...
View Articlere: Why you shouldn't open .csv files in Excel
There are worse problems than this, due to how Excel does type inference. But the easy work around is to not "Open" the file, but rather "Import" it. Then you have options for configuring correct data...
View Articlere: Why you shouldn't open .csv files in Excel
I really didn't expect this one to create a debate :)No matter, if it informs people that there's a problem then its done its job!
View Articlere: Why you shouldn't open .csv files in Excel
"Is there a reason you'd need to keep the text delimiters in your original example?"Good god yes. The reason being that that file may be destined to be consumed by some other process and if you've...
View Articlere: Why you shouldn't open .csv files in Excel
Cliff,I'm of the opinion that you probably shouldn't run the risk (I admit to having hit CTRL-S through habit in my time when I really really shouldn't have done).Be safe. Use a text editor! :)
View Articlere: Why you shouldn't open .csv files in Excel
Jamie,I see the issue. Excel drops the text delimiters (guotes) from the first record. But I'm not sure exactly why it's an problem. Excel removes the text delimiters when the file is opened, rather...
View Articlere: Why you shouldn't open .csv files in Excel
Yep - I OPEN them, but I don't SAVE them. I think it's a great tool to review a CSV file, but really quirky sometimes when it comes to re-saving.
View Articlere: Why you shouldn't open .csv files in Excel
It can get even worse. In Excel 2000 days (and may still occur today), it was possible to load in a CSV file, make NO edits, save it as CSV and then when you tried to reload it into Excel it would fail...
View Articlere: Why you shouldn't open .csv files in Excel
I disagree. This is why you shouldn't EDIT csv files in excel. Excel works just fine for viewing the files, and is a good tool for reviewing files. Just don't change anything.
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