Spreadsheet/CSV help

yabanci · 04-25-2005, 04:54 PM

I've never had the need to use spreadsheets and therefore don't know much about them. Since I don't have excel, I use the spreasheet in the openoffice suite.

I tried using it to edit a csv for an FOF player file. Everything seems to work fine, but when I generate the .fdt file and load it in FOF, all the player names have quotations around them (e.g., "Randy" "Moss"),

These quotations don't show up when you have the csv loaded in open office.

Does anybody know where these quotation marks are coming from and how to get rid of them? Thanks

gstelmack · 04-25-2005, 05:33 PM

When you export to CSV, there's usually an option for what characters to surround text strings with. Make sure it's set to nothing. The quotes are needed when strings contain the character you're using for a delimiter (commas, in this case), but aren't needed when no strings have the delimiter in them.

Unfortunately, I can't see a place to turn it off in OpenOffice (it lets you choose from apostrophe or quote, not nothing). Maybe 2.0. Or look for a way to mark those columns as something other than Text.

21C · 04-26-2005, 02:31 AM

Another option to edit a csv file is with Notepad. You can right-click on the file and select Open With... and then select Notepad or Choose Program...

I don't know if this makes it too messy to edit with but it might be worth a try.

yabanci · 04-26-2005, 03:01 AM

thanks for the tips. Notepad is too messy for me. I dug up an old copy of microsoft works 2001 and loaded it, but still get the quotation marks if I save any changes from the spreadsheet. Maybe I'll try the openoffice 2 beta.

It's frustrating because FOF4 had a great player file editor. Apparently now you have to buy a $200 spreadsheet from microsoft if you want to edit FOF player files.

The other option is generate a player file without any edits so I can make the start year 2005, then use lighthouse's player file editor to make my changes. Such a pain in the ass.

bring back the FOF4 player editor!!!!

21C · 04-26-2005, 08:22 AM

Forgot about another program I'd used in the past - since it handled a greater number of entries than Excel could. I tried it out when playing around with the Lahman files.

It used to be called CSVdb but now appears to be CSVed. You can find it here
http://home.hccnet.nl/s.j.francke/t2t/text2table.htm

I'm not sure if it will fix your edit problem though.

Wolfpack · 04-26-2005, 10:23 AM

Another way would be to edit in Excel, then open it in Notepad or Wordpad, and then do a find/replace to delete all the quote marks.

yabanci · 04-26-2005, 06:28 PM

I knew I would get some help here.

Based on gstelmack's comments, I figured out that if you deleted the quote in the text delimiter filed, it would make the quotation marks show up in openoffice.

Then with the help of Wolfpack's comment, I was able to delete all the quotation marks by using search/replace in openoffice.

Thanks again, everybody.

04-25-2005, 05:33 PM	#2
gstelmack Pro Starter Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Cary, NC	When you export to CSV, there's usually an option for what characters to surround text strings with. Make sure it's set to nothing. The quotes are needed when strings contain the character you're using for a delimiter (commas, in this case), but aren't needed when no strings have the delimiter in them. Unfortunately, I can't see a place to turn it off in OpenOffice (it lets you choose from apostrophe or quote, not nothing). Maybe 2.0. Or look for a way to mark those columns as something other than Text. __________________ -- Greg -- Author of various FOF utilities

04-26-2005, 06:28 PM	#7
yabanci College Benchwarmer Join Date: Jun 2003	I knew I would get some help here. Based on gstelmack's comments, I figured out that if you deleted the quote in the text delimiter filed, it would make the quotation marks show up in openoffice. Then with the help of Wolfpack's comment, I was able to delete all the quotation marks by using search/replace in openoffice. Thanks again, everybody. Last edited by yabanci : 04-26-2005 at 07:36 PM.

04-26-2005, 02:31 AM	#3
21C College Prospect Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Newcastle, Australia	Another option to edit a csv file is with Notepad. You can right-click on the file and select Open With... and then select Notepad or Choose Program... I don't know if this makes it too messy to edit with but it might be worth a try.

04-26-2005, 03:01 AM	#4
yabanci College Benchwarmer Join Date: Jun 2003	thanks for the tips. Notepad is too messy for me. I dug up an old copy of microsoft works 2001 and loaded it, but still get the quotation marks if I save any changes from the spreadsheet. Maybe I'll try the openoffice 2 beta. It's frustrating because FOF4 had a great player file editor. Apparently now you have to buy a $200 spreadsheet from microsoft if you want to edit FOF player files. The other option is generate a player file without any edits so I can make the start year 2005, then use lighthouse's player file editor to make my changes. Such a pain in the ass. bring back the FOF4 player editor!!!!

04-26-2005, 08:22 AM	#5
21C College Prospect Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Newcastle, Australia	Forgot about another program I'd used in the past - since it handled a greater number of entries than Excel could. I tried it out when playing around with the Lahman files. It used to be called CSVdb but now appears to be CSVed. You can find it here http://home.hccnet.nl/s.j.francke/t2t/text2table.htm I'm not sure if it will fix your edit problem though.

04-26-2005, 10:23 AM	#6
Wolfpack Pro Rookie Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Raleigh, NC	Another way would be to edit in Excel, then open it in Notepad or Wordpad, and then do a find/replace to delete all the quote marks.

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