I have a text file that is in tab delimited columns, except that certain rows
of the text file don't fit the columns. Like this:

ID #/Name Days Dollars
1234567 10 $200
Abrahamowitz, Alexander

7892346 5 $100
Smith, Bob

As you can see, the second individual's information fits into some standard
column breaks, but not the first. When I import the text into Excel, I
cannot automatically break the information into even columns because of this
problem. This is a very long list and making the changes individually
defeats the purpose of importing this into Excel. Is there any easy way to
reformat the original .txt file before importing it, or reformatting after it
is imported?

Thank you for your help.

-Patti

Patti,

When you are creating the text file, what is the record length? Is it
possible to increase it so the text file isn't forced to break off the end of
one record and put it on another line? In a download situation, you can
sometimes modify the LRECL parameter, but that depends on what you're using
to download with. Note that when I say Download, I'm talking about the step
prior to importing it into Excel.

Also, have you tried the Text to Columns function up in the Data menu?

"Patti Ayala" wrote:

I have a text file that is in tab delimited columns, except that certain rows
of the text file don't fit the columns. Like this:

ID #/Name Days Dollars
1234567 10 $200
Abrahamowitz, Alexander

7892346 5 $100
Smith, Bob

As you can see, the second individual's information fits into some standard
column breaks, but not the first. When I import the text into Excel, I
cannot automatically break the information into even columns because of this
problem. This is a very long list and making the changes individually
defeats the purpose of importing this into Excel. Is there any easy way to
reformat the original .txt file before importing it, or reformatting after it
is imported?

Thank you for your help.

-Patti

If you are using a macro to import your data, you can add this.......

Columns("A:A").Select
Selection.Columns.AutoFit

hth
Vaya con Dios,
Chuck, CABGx3



"Patti Ayala" wrote:

I have a text file that is in tab delimited columns, except that certain rows
of the text file don't fit the columns. Like this:

ID #/Name Days Dollars
1234567 10 $200
Abrahamowitz, Alexander

7892346 5 $100
Smith, Bob

As you can see, the second individual's information fits into some standard
column breaks, but not the first. When I import the text into Excel, I
cannot automatically break the information into even columns because of this
problem. This is a very long list and making the changes individually
defeats the purpose of importing this into Excel. Is there any easy way to
reformat the original .txt file before importing it, or reformatting after it
is imported?

Thank you for your help.

-Patti