Select / mark columns in ASCII-files

F

fzr

Typical ASCII-files have two or more columns with data. I usually open these
files in WordPad. Is there any command (or trick) in WordPad, Word or Excel
(or any MS-software) that makes it possible to select/mark just one column?
It would make transfer of large data columns much easier!!! Just select/mark
one column, copy it, paste it in Excel and make a nice graph! :)

Really hope that someone out there can help me with this!
/fzr
 
J

Jay Freedman

Typical ASCII-files have two or more columns with data. I usually open these
files in WordPad. Is there any command (or trick) in WordPad, Word or Excel
(or any MS-software) that makes it possible to select/mark just one column?
It would make transfer of large data columns much easier!!! Just select/mark
one column, copy it, paste it in Excel and make a nice graph! :)

Really hope that someone out there can help me with this!
/fzr
Click to expand...

When you open a text file with Excel, you should get a dialog box that lets you
choose how to allocate the text to columns in the worksheet by dragging a
marker. Once the data is in the worksheet, you can do whatever you want with it.

In Word, you can select columns by holding the Alt key while dragging. In the
last few versions this has become a bit harder to do because Alt+click activates
the Research pane, so you have to be careful to hold down the mouse button the
whole time you're dragging.
 
B

Beth Melton

When you open your text file in Excel the Text Import Wizard will
automatically display and help you import your data. For example you first
need to identify if it's delimited or fixed width and on subsequent screens
there is an option for "Do not import (skip)" which you can use for the
fields/columns you do not want to import.

To open your text file in Excel either use the Open dialog box and change
the "Files of Type" to "Text Files" or create a new workbook and for Word
2007: on the Data tab click From Text. For previous versions use Data/Get
External Data/Import Text File.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beth Melton
Microsoft Office MVP
https://mvp.support.microsoft.com/profile/Melton

What is a Microsoft MVP? http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/gp/mvpfaqs
 
F

fzr

Many thanks Jay!
Regards!
fzr

Jay Freedman said:
When you open a text file with Excel, you should get a dialog box that lets you
choose how to allocate the text to columns in the worksheet by dragging a
marker. Once the data is in the worksheet, you can do whatever you want with it.

In Word, you can select columns by holding the Alt key while dragging. In the
last few versions this has become a bit harder to do because Alt+click activates
the Research pane, so you have to be careful to hold down the mouse button the
whole time you're dragging.

--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so all may benefit.
Click to expand...
 
F

fzr

Many thanks Beth!
Regards!
fzr


Beth Melton said:
When you open your text file in Excel the Text Import Wizard will
automatically display and help you import your data. For example you first
need to identify if it's delimited or fixed width and on subsequent screens
there is an option for "Do not import (skip)" which you can use for the
fields/columns you do not want to import.

To open your text file in Excel either use the Open dialog box and change
the "Files of Type" to "Text Files" or create a new workbook and for Word
2007: on the Data tab click From Text. For previous versions use Data/Get
External Data/Import Text File.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beth Melton
Microsoft Office MVP
https://mvp.support.microsoft.com/profile/Melton

What is a Microsoft MVP? http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/gp/mvpfaqs
Click to expand...
 
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