Thanks for responding
Here are the steps:
Launched my browser
Go to university site
Login to Grade Database (Multiple columns including list of students and and
other datasuch as id, grade, etc.
Click Export Button to go to export settings
Reviewed settings and ensured they're set to csv
Launched the export
Received download on Mac Book
Launched download into Excel
Excel opens a workbook
Sheet contains only one column with all data in it without separators
Got this result first on the MacBook (running Snow leopard).Tried on the iMac.
Same result in my account. tried on my wife's account. Gor a .csv file that
looks just fine. Tried to copy this .csv file to the MacBook and on my account
on the iMac: it doesn't work.
I have saved a copy of this file as .xlsx, so I can work on it on the MacBook,
which I use at university rather than lugging home1000 exam books to enter
grades. ;-(. I need to do some data analysis, sums and all, and need Excel to
do this.
Don't know antyhing about TextWrangler...
To download a text file, I must change settings in the Grades database to Tab
delimitors, which opens in the Mac text viewer I get some columns but no
separators.
Now I will need to upload the grades to the Grade Database, but hesitate to
use the .xlsx file at this point. I fear I'll have to copy results manually
into the Grade Database. More work! ;-0
I am slowly moving to Macs but I still have PC in the lab. So compatibility
is crucial still
Thanks.
One unclear point in your steps: What do you mean by "Launched download into
Excel"? There are at least 3 possibilities;
1- That you double-clicked the file in Finder,
2- That you used File> Open in Excel, or
3- That you used Data> Get External Data - Import Text File
Each has potentially different results depending on what CSV coding was used
to create the file you downloaded. The problem is most likely due to the
end-of-record encoding used as well as the field delimiter. The difference
between carriage return/line feed encoding is sending the wrong signal so
the entire body of content is being interpreted as one long field or a
number of long one-field records. If you haven't tried #3 perhaps that will
provide better results. It launches the Text Import Wizard which allows you
to specify what field delimiters are appropriate for the file.
As for the latter part of your reply, a .csv _is_ a text file. One of the
primary differences between it & the other text file (.txt) you've
downloaded is that the .csv (Comma Separated Values) uses a comma to
separate the fields whereas the other text file uses the Tab character for
that purpose. Either should be usable. However, the .txt file will not open
in Excel if you double-click the icon. That extension is associated with
text editors, such as TextEdit.
If you use method #2 or #3 above, though, you should be able to Open the
file from within Excel. Alternatively you can Control/Right-Click the file
icon in Finder & use Open With to specify opening the file with Excel.
HTH |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac
