IBM Lotus Symphony


Text Import

Sets the import options for delimited data.

To access this command...

Choose File - Open - select under "File type": "Text CSV"

Choose Data - Text to Columns (Lotus® Symphony™ Spreadsheets)

Import

Character Set

Specifies the character set to be used in the imported file.

From Row

Specifies the row where you want to start the import. The rows are visible in the preview window at the bottom of the dialog.

Separator Options

Specifies whether your data uses separators or fixed widths as delimiters.

Fixed width

Separates fixed-width data (equal number of characters) into columns. Click on the ruler in the preview window to set the width.

Separated by

Select the separator used in your data.

Tab

Separates data delimited by tabs into columns.

Semicolon

Separates data delimited by semicolons into columns.

Comma

Separates data delimited by commas into columns.

Space

Separates data delimited by spaces into columns.

Other

Separates data into columns using the custom separator that you specify. Note: The custom separator must also be contained in your data.

Merge delimiters

Combines consecutive delimiters and removes blank data fields.

Text delimiter

Select a character to delimit text data. You can can also enter a character in the text box.

Fields

Shows how your data will look when it is separated into columns.

Column type

Choose a column in the preview window and select the data type to be applied to the imported data. You can select one of the following options:

Table 1. Options for column type
Type Function
Standard Lotus Symphony determines the type.
Text Imported data are treated as text.
Date (DMY) Applies a date format (Day, Month, Year) to the imported data in a column.
Date (MDY) Applies a date format (Month, Day, Year) to the imported data in a column.
Date (YMD) Applies a date format (Year, Month, Day) to the imported data in a column.
US English Numbers formatted in US English are searched for and included regardless of the system language. A number format is not applied. If there are no US English entries, the Standard format is applied.
Hide The data in the column are not imported.

If you selected one of the date formats (DMY), (MDY), or (YMD) and you enter numbers without date delimiters, the numbers are interpreted as follows:

Table 2. Date format interpretation
Number of characters Date format
6 Two characters each are taken for day, month, and year in the selected order.
8 Four characters are taken for the year, two each for month and day, in the selected order.
5 or 7 As with 6 or 8 characters, but the first part of the sequence has one character less. This will suppress a leading zero for month and day.
Tip Icon If you want to include the leading zero in the data you import, in telephone numbers for example, apply the "Text" format to the column.

Preview

Shows how the imported text will look after it is separated into columns. To apply a format to a column when it is imported, click a column and select a Column type. When you select a Column type, the column heading displays the applied format.

If you want to use a fixed width to separate the imported data into columns, click in the ruler to set the width boundaries.

Navigating Without the Mouse

For more information, see Information about Import and Export Filters.


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