RE: write .csv from rpgle column format issue

You could also prefix the field with a single quote (') so Excel
left-justifies this "non-number".

"data","morestuff",1234.56,"'737039",...

Loyd Goodbar
Business Systems
BorgWarner Shared Services
662-473-5713
-----Original Message-----
From: midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of DeLong, Eric
Sent: Wednesday, May 21, 2008 9:59 AM
To: Midrange Systems Technical Discussion
Subject: RE: write .csv from rpgle column format issue

You could try something like this.....

"data","morestuff",1234.56,="737039","andsoforth",.....

The equal preceeding the quoted value will force it to be stored in
excel as a character string. This works for all those troublesome
values, like the US zip code or phone number, that often have leading
zeros stripped by excel...

hth,
Eric

-----Original Message-----
From: midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf Of
franz400@xxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Wednesday, May 21, 2008 9:16 AM
To: midrange-l@xxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: write .csv from rpgle column format issue


Is there anything I can do in the writing of a .csv (not .xls) file so
that when Excel opens the file, text columns like a part number will not
be interpreted as a date (example part number = 737039).
I know I can (with more effort) write a .xls, but this file is being
processed as an import to a windows app, and user is reviewing with
Excel. They don't want to have to re-format many columns.
btw-Double and single quotes already exist within the data (" = inches
and ' = feet...)
Jim Franz