Issue with csv field

  • Resolved mbsharp

    (@mbsharp)


    3 years, 8 months ago

    After using this plugin for several years, one of my users entered for the first time and it threw up an odd quirk for the csv file and how it is then used.
    If the user account could be construed as a date, and the example I have is mar2012, then the account is correctly included in the csv file as text, but if that file is opened in Excel then the field is converted to display as a date, which behind the scenes is really a number. Once that has happened, there is no way within Excel to convert back to the original text of the user account.
    Putting quotes round the user account code has no effect, so adjusting EntryWizard to add those would not work.
    My workaround is to convert the Excel cell to TEXT when the account is still a number but at least you can see what it is and process on from that point. The alternative is to ensure that this format of user account is never used. For example mar_2012 works fine.

Viewing 3 replies - 1 through 3 (of 3 total)
  • Plugin Author Josie Stauffer

    (@joanne123)

    Interesting. I tried this in LibreOffice (Excel doesn’t run on my OS), and it did nothing of the kind.

    The I changed “mar2012” to “mar 2012”, and it immediately converted to date format.

    I’m afraid I’m not enough of a spreadsheet expert to suggest a better workaround than you have.

    I did consider having entrywizard export directly in excel format, but the work involved, both in setting it up and in maintaining it, was prohibitive.

    Thread Starter mbsharp

    (@mbsharp)

    It looks like downstream s/w is variable in how it handles a field which might look like a date. I only logged this for the record so that others can recognise the problem if they meet it.

    Thread Starter mbsharp

    (@mbsharp)

    closed

Viewing 3 replies - 1 through 3 (of 3 total)
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