RE: write .csv from rpgle column format issue

["DeLong, Eric" <EDeLong@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

You could try something like this.....

"data","morestuff",1234.56,="737039","andsoforth",.....

The equal preceeding the quoted value will force it to be stored in excel as a character string.  This works for all those troublesome values, like the US zip code or phone number, that often have leading zeros stripped by excel...

hth,
Eric

-----Original Message-----
From: midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf Of
franz400@xxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Wednesday, May 21, 2008 9:16 AM
To: midrange-l@xxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: write .csv from rpgle column format issue


Is there anything I can do in the writing of a .csv (not .xls) file so that when Excel opens the file, text columns like a part number will not be interpreted as a date (example part number = 737039).
I know I can (with more effort) write a .xls, but this file is being processed as an import to a windows app, and user is reviewing with Excel. They don't want to have to re-format many columns. 
btw-Double and single quotes already exist within the data (" = inches and ' = feet...)
Jim Franz