I frequently use the “text to columns” feature in MS Office 2007 and higher. Usually I paste csv or other delimited data in the first column, and use the Text to Column wizard to convert it to individual columns.
You can find the button here:
What often happens, is that number values are not recognized correctly, for instance a field contains 24.67 and Excel thinks it’s not a number. Changing the decimal separator can be a real pain in the #$$, so I was looking for an easier method (instead of starting all over again…)
Today I had a bright idea, and decided to apply the Text to columns to the erronous column again. See what happens:
As you see, the point is not recognized as a decimal point. Apparently, Excel accepts only comma’s here (might be the other way around in your case).
Click the Text to Columns button, then select the “delimited” option, click next. Click next again. You’ll see this page:
Now click “Advanced…”.
Hah, I may choose a decimal and thousands seperator. Change the decimal to a dot, and the thousands separator to a comma. Or again, the other way around. The trick is that you tell Excel here wat character is a decimal, and not what it should be. A bit confusing, eh.
Click OK to leave the wizard. And, tadaah:
These look like real numbers to me. Patrick vs. Excel: 1-0.
Now that I discovered the site, the hype is probably already over it’s top. But I find it intriguing. You buy a bundle of Mac OS X applications with a huge discount. And you support some charity organizations along the way. And if you’re lucky, some apps wil be added along the way. Because a minimum number of downloads is reached, or just for fun. And of course, the offer is limited.
And they call it Macheist. At the time of writing they’re offering a Nanobundle. I’m still not sure what’s the difference between the nanobundles and the regular ones, but I’ll find out in time.
Check it out at http://www.macheist.com and see for yourself if the $20 is well spent on this software collection. And if the requirements will be met for Monkey Island, of course!
