On Jul 19, 5:47*am, Ron Rosenfeld wrote:
On Fri, 18 Jul 2008 20:35:51 -0700 (PDT), HappySenior





wrote:
On Jul 18, 1:23*pm, Still learning@work
wrote:
I have imported information from an AS400 into an Excel spreadsheet. *I need
to separate the employee name field. *Currently the name field is "Brown,
Oscar J". *All names vary in length. *What is the easiest way to split this
into separate columns under Last Name, First Name, and Middle Initial?

I am using Excel 2003 and assume that your spreadsheet has name data
starting in cell A2 since you are using A1 to head last name. If the
contents of cell A2 is "Brown, Oscar J.", I would:
1) Double click the dividing line between columns A and B (above row
1). This will widen column A for the largest entry in the column
2) Highlight (Select) the entire column except for the header row.
3) Select menu item DATA (top of form) then "Text to Columns"
4) A conversion wizard will appear with a sample of the data and a dot
in the Delimited option. Click on Next.
5). Place a check in ONLY the following boxes: "Treat consecutive
delimiters as one" and delimiters chosen shoul;d be comma and space.
Click on Next
6) The column data format should be text. *Click finish and sit back
to admire your work. Aren't you amazed at how swiftly ypu did that
file conversion?

Inspect your work to see if you like the way, Jr., Sr., etc. are set
up.
Remember, the easiest way is to have someone else do the job...

Don (the retiree) in Montana

And if the name is something like:

de la Hunt, Oscar J.

???
--ron- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Good point, Ron. My response was for the easiest way, not the most
perfect way. I would visually inspect the output file for abberations
since you never know what will come up with foreign names and other
unique ways of people identifying themselves. The proposed formula
solution is a little much for a newbie who may not know how to cut and
paste.