When I import a specific formatted data file into Excel 2003 the text wizard
looks at the data and announces that "The Text Wizard has determined that
your data is Fixed Width." However, that is incorrect. It is .csv data.
Here is a typical data record:

"2-5-2008 7:59","2-5-2008 9:20","123456.US - 0000.1","Continue addressing
inventor commments, and modify figures and specification to overcome
potential reference. "

Is there any way to re-educate the Text Wizard - or to force it to always
assume that data are .csv?

Thanks.


Jim (a.k.a. ORTNPALMS)

I got the same result as you when I copied your sample data into a TXT file.
But then I renamed it to have a CSV extension Excel skipped the TIW and
parsed the data on the commas.

--
Jim
"Jim" wrote in message
...
| When I import a specific formatted data file into Excel 2003 the text
wizard
| looks at the data and announces that "The Text Wizard has determined that
| your data is Fixed Width." However, that is incorrect. It is .csv data.
| Here is a typical data record:
|
| "2-5-2008 7:59","2-5-2008 9:20","123456.US - 0000.1","Continue addressing
| inventor commments, and modify figures and specification to overcome
| potential reference. "
|
| Is there any way to re-educate the Text Wizard - or to force it to always
| assume that data are .csv?
|
| Thanks.
|
|
| Jim (a.k.a. ORTNPALMS)

Thank you very much for responding.

My files already have a ".csv" extension. They are created by a timekeeping
program rather than Notepad. Windows Explorer shows them with an Excel icon.
When I open them with Notepad there is nothing unusual about the files (like
a header line or anything). If I save these .csv files from Notepad as a
..txt file and then change the name to .csv, Excel still invokes the Text
Wizard.

If I enter some data in Excel and save it as a .csv file and then import it
back to Excel, it invokes the Text Wizard.

So now I'm thinking that there is a registry entry or something that tells
Excel to open .csv files as comma separate values files, or else my Excel has
become corrupted, or something.
--
Jim (a.k.a. ORTNPALMS)


"Jim Rech" wrote:

I got the same result as you when I copied your sample data into a TXT file.
But then I renamed it to have a CSV extension Excel skipped the TIW and
parsed the data on the commas.

--
Jim
"Jim" wrote in message
...
| When I import a specific formatted data file into Excel 2003 the text
wizard
| looks at the data and announces that "The Text Wizard has determined that
| your data is Fixed Width." However, that is incorrect. It is .csv data.
| Here is a typical data record:
|
| "2-5-2008 7:59","2-5-2008 9:20","123456.US - 0000.1","Continue addressing
| inventor commments, and modify figures and specification to overcome
| potential reference. "
|
| Is there any way to re-educate the Text Wizard - or to force it to always
| assume that data are .csv?
|
| Thanks.
|
|
| Jim (a.k.a. ORTNPALMS)

How are you opening the csv file with Excel?
If you use Data/ Import External Data I would expect Excel to invoke the
Text Import Wizard, but if you either double-click on the csv or use File/
Open I would expect Excel to use its default assumptions to open the csv and
bypass the Text Import Wizard.
--
David Biddulph

"Jim" wrote in message
...
Thank you very much for responding.

My files already have a ".csv" extension. They are created by a
timekeeping
program rather than Notepad. Windows Explorer shows them with an Excel
icon.
When I open them with Notepad there is nothing unusual about the files
(like
a header line or anything). If I save these .csv files from Notepad as a
.txt file and then change the name to .csv, Excel still invokes the Text
Wizard.

If I enter some data in Excel and save it as a .csv file and then import
it
back to Excel, it invokes the Text Wizard.

So now I'm thinking that there is a registry entry or something that tells
Excel to open .csv files as comma separate values files, or else my Excel
has
become corrupted, or something.
--
Jim (a.k.a. ORTNPALMS)


"Jim Rech" wrote:

I got the same result as you when I copied your sample data into a TXT
file.
But then I renamed it to have a CSV extension Excel skipped the TIW and
parsed the data on the commas.

--
Jim
"Jim" wrote in message
...
| When I import a specific formatted data file into Excel 2003 the text
wizard
| looks at the data and announces that "The Text Wizard has determined
that
| your data is Fixed Width." However, that is incorrect. It is .csv
data.
| Here is a typical data record:
|
| "2-5-2008 7:59","2-5-2008 9:20","123456.US - 0000.1","Continue
addressing
| inventor commments, and modify figures and specification to overcome
| potential reference. "
|
| Is there any way to re-educate the Text Wizard - or to force it to
always
| assume that data are .csv?
|
| Thanks.
|
|
| Jim (a.k.a. ORTNPALMS)