Re: XLParser treats text fields as numeric fields

Hi Buck -

On Wed, 16 Jan 2013 15:44:57 -0500, Buck Calabro <kc2hiz@xxxxxxxxx>
wrote:

I can imagine the
original sheet was imported from a CSV and the user inserted rows in the
middle, and it's not Excel's fault that the CSV parser made the ZIP code
text and the newly inserted rows have the ZIP code numeric - that's how
Excel is supposed to work.

The problem is that if the zip code is enclosed in double quotes in
the CSV file (indicating that it is to be treated as text), Excel
treats it as numeric anyway, and applies numeric formatting rules.

For a zip code this probably isn't a problem, but we have character
values that just happen to sometimes be just digits. And sometimes
there happen to be leading zeros.

Even though I include the leading zeros, and even though all of the
values are in double quotes, Excel (in its infinite wisdom) treats the
values that are just digits as numeric, and suppresses any leading
zeros, thereby confusing the users.

Why can't Excel just believe that I know what I'm talking about when
in a CSV file I put double quotes around a value that just happens to
be digits????

Ken
Opinions expressed are my own and do not necessarily represent the views
of my employer or anyone in their right mind.