Opening editing and saving csv file

[jmwright1058]

How do you open, edit and save as as csv file.

When I open a .csv file it pops up a 'Text import' window.
If I just click on OK without changing anything in this window, the file is imported OK and I can make changes.
However, the file type gets changed to .pmdx

Is there a way to open a file as a .csv and then save it as a .csv so I can re-open it without importing it to another file type?

Regards,
John

[jmwright1058]

Why does PlanMaker insist on converting a .csv file to a .pmdx file when it opens?
Is there any way to prevent this from happening?

Regards,
John

[martin-k]

CSV files cannot contain any formatting or formulas. If you add them and simply pressed Ctrl+S, they would all be gone.

You can still use Save as and pick CSV format again to save explicitly as a CSV.

[jmwright1058]

I see that Ctrl-S does a 'Save As.
But what does it mean to 'add them'?

[martin-k]

I meant: "If you add formatting or formulas and simply saved (in a version of PlanMaker that behaved like you wanted), they would all be gone."

[jmwright1058]

OK.
So, the first part of what you said is add formatting.
How do I do this?

So, first I open the file that was saved as a .csv file.
When it first opens, the Text import window pops up and it shows me the following:
Character set
Code page 1252 (Windows: Western Europe) selected
Number of header lines: 0
Data format:
Separators between fields selected
Options:
Separator: Comma
Text Marker Quotation Mark "
Preview:
Every Column is set to Default

I click on the OK box and the file gets imported and the file type is changed to .xlsx

So, I would assume this means the tool is now assuming this is a 2007-2019 (*.xlsx) format.

Is this where I add formatting?
Do I select a cell and then do a Format -> Cell?
Then select 'Number format' tab and change the format from Default to Text?
Then select 'Borders' tab and click on 'None'
Then select 'Shading' tab and click on 'None'
Then select 'Alignment' tab and set:
Horizontal alignment: 'Default'
Vertical alignment: 'Bottom'
Rotate by: 0 degrees
inner margins: Left: 0 in, Right: 0 in, Top: 0 in, Bottom: 0 in
Properties: no boxes checked
Then select 'Protection' tab and set:
Options: Protect is checked
The note at the bottom says These settings are used only if the current worksheet
is protected. Use the command Tools/Sheet protection.
Since the sheet is not protected this setting is not relevant right?

John

[jmwright1058]

Conclusion: What I'm doing does not make sense because PlanMaker was never intended to be a .csv editor.
While there may be editors out there that allow you to open, edit and close CSV files without an import and export process, PlanMaker is not one of them.

Bottom Line: Use PlanMaker to edit Spreadsheet files. Use only file types .xls, .xlsx, .pmd and .pmdx
Do not use .csv file types as the basis. You can save the files as .csv, but edit these types using another editor, not PlanMaker.

Does this make sense?

Regards,
John

[martin-k]

I fear the answer is No

Look at this workflow:

1. Open a CSV file. It is renamed by PlanMaker to FileName.xlsx, but not actually saved.
2. Make your edits.
3. Press Ctrl+S to save.
4. The file dialog pops up, defaulting to .xlsx, but letting you also choose CSV.

This means PlanMaker is perfectly suited for editing CSV files, it just tried to not let you make a potentially serious mistake.

[jmwright1058]

OK Martin, I'm trying to understand.

Just going through this process makes changes to my CSV file, even though this was not my intent.
(I verified this using Notepad++ editor; it inserts double quotes; going through process over and over inserts another set of double quotes)
Why does PlanMaker insist on going through the Import text on opening and then Export text on saving.
It always opens the 'Import text' window
Why...is this because it always wants to convert a CSV file to an xlsx file?
Is there a way to get around this?
Sometimes, when I save to CSV it does not open the 'Export text' window, but most of the time it insists on doing this.
This makes it impossible to open, edit, then close the CSV file without making changes (inserting quotes).
Does this have something to do with the specific contents of some of the values between commas.


And what is the potentially serious mistake?

Regards,
John

[martin-k]

There is no guarantee that PlanMaker (or Excel) writes out the same CSV file, byte for byte. There is a guarantee that it is a well-formed, correct CSV file. But how would that matter?

The potentially serious mistake, again, would be that you add formatting or formulas to the CSV file, and if PlanMaker were to silently save back to CSV, they would be lost. CSV is not able to keep formatting or formulas.

[jmwright1058]

Is there a way to open a csv file in PlanMaker, then save it without making any changes to it?
This is a basic tenant of all editors...if you open a file, make no changes, then save it, it compares exactly with the original file.

Is there a way to do this?

Regards,
John

[martin-k]

No spreadsheet program does this.

[jmwright1058]

OK

So, don't use PlanMaker or any other spreadsheet program to edit csv files.

Is that the conclusion?

Regards,
John

[martin-k]

No. Only if you rely on programs keeping your CSV files byte for byte identical. I can't think of a use-case where this is a necessity.

Any spreadsheet program is perfectly suited for editing CSV files. They will write them back in a cleaned-up format because many (most) CSV files are not perfect. But I can't think of a case where this would matter, unless you artificialy create such a situation.

[jmwright1058]

It matters when you rely on the csv files to be used by a vendor.
It matters when errors get introduced into your product because a process cannot be strictly controlled.
It matters when you Need byte for byte control on the csv file.

Open the file Test File4.xlsx in PlanMaker
Look at B1 ("Tuesday) and C2 (" Surface Mount)
Save as Test File4.csv
Close PlanMaker application
Open the file Test File4.csv in PlanMaker
Look at B1 (""Tuesday") and C2 ("" Surface Mount")

The process of converting the original xlsx file has introduced the difference in these fields.
You might say it was the use of the 2 file types together that caused the issue and you would be right.
And you could say the error was introduced by leaving out the 2nd quote in the field (incorrectly entered data).

Regards,
John