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10.1.8 Importing TSV and CSV text files

         

The Tab Separated Values (TSV) and Comma Separated Values (CSV) Import operations allow you to load specially formatted text files with values separated by tabs or commas. These formats are widely used to exchange data among applications that operate on tabular data.

For Import/TSV, tabs contained in the file being imported are used as the only delimiters and the text is formatted appropriately inside the spreadsheet.

For Import/CSV, commas contained in the file being imported are used as delimiters and the text is formatted appropriately inside the spreadsheet. Text strings may be enclosed in double quotes. Commas within the quoted strings do not act as column delimiters. To include double quote character (") in a string, it must be preceded by a backslash character (\).

The default filename extensions for TSV and CSV files are .tsv and .csv, respectively.

To Import a TSV or CSV file into a spreadsheet:

  1. Select Import... from the File menu. NExS displays the Import Data dialog box similar to the one shown in Figure 10.2.

  2. Select Tab Separated Values or Comma Separated Values for the File Format.

  3. Click on the Selection entry box and type the name of the spreadsheet you wish to import, or select a spreadsheet by highlighting its name in the Files list.

  4. Select a file in the same way you would select an NExS file: double-click on the spreadsheet name, or click the name once and then click OK. NExS imports the file at the current location of the cell cursor.

  5. To select a different directory, double-click on the directory name in the Directories list. NExS then displays the names of files in that directory in the Files list.

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Next: 10.2 Exporting Data from Up: 10.1 Importing Data into Previous: 10.1.7 Importing Text Files

NExS User's Guide, Version 1.4.5
Grey Trout Software
11 April 1999