Managing text files in Excel.Short training session.
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1. Text Functions in Excel How to make sense out of downloaded
text files in Excel 2003 By Kevin McLogan [email_address]
[email_address] facebook.com/kmclogan linkedin.com/in/kevinmclogan
www.kevinmclogan.com
2. Course Objectives:
After you complete this course to will be able to:
Analyze text and manage downloaded lists.
Make a list functional for mailing, emailing, or walking.
Format the contents of a worksheet
Create spreadsheets that amaze your friends and strike fear
into the hearts of your enemies
3. For this class, I am making the following assumptions, and
it is critical that you are honest
That you can copy and paste data
That you can open Excel by using the Start Menu or by opening
files
That you know how to identify the active cell
That you know how to move from sheet to sheet
That you can fill rows and columns of cells
That you have a basic familiarity with Excel 2003 and that this
is the version you are using
That you understand and use common Windows elements
4. In order for us to make this an outstanding experience
Ask questions if you are not clear on a concept
If you have a problem with a file, let us know so that you can
reload it.
I will talk really fast if you let me-slow me down if I get
ahead of you.
If you need help, please let us know-if you can help, please
do.
This is a hands-on lesson, so you will learn by doing-you might
want to take some notes.
5. Text Functions
Text functions help you manage the text data in your
spreadsheets.
6. WHAT DO YOU DO WITH A LIST LIKE THIS?
7. TEXT to COLUMNS
When you have multiple items in the cells of a column and you
need to separate them out.
8. TEXT to COLUMNS
DELIMITED allows you to choose which mark will cause the
separation
FIRST-Highlight the column you want to separate.
9. Chose what Delimiter you want to use
10. Check to see that you are getting the desired results.
11. Your results using DELIMITED Here you have successfully
broken up a text file to a workable Excel spreadsheet.
12. TEXT to COLUMNS
FIXED WIDTH allows you to choose a point at which the data will
be separated.
13. I want to manage the phone numbers First, insert at least
one column to the right of the column you are manipulating.
14. Choose Fixed Width
15. Move arrow to the point at which you want to divide the
data.
16. Check the destination
17. Your results using FIXED WIDTH
18. LEFT and RIGHT
These functions allow you to extract a substring from a string,
starting from the left-most or right-most character.
The syntax for the Left and Right functions are:
Text is the string that you wish to extract from.
Num_char indicates the number of characters that you wish to
extract starting from the left-most or right-most character.
19. Your results using LEFT Important note: avoid using this
function when there are leading zeroes, it will not recognize the
zeroes!
20. MID
=MID: takes part of a text string apart
This function extracts a substring from a string (starting at
any position). Text is the string that you wish to extract
from.
Start_num indicates the position in the string that you will
begin extracting from. The first position in the string is 1.
Number_of_characters indicates the number of characters that
you wish to extract.
21. REPLACE
This function replaces a sequence of characters in a string
with another set of characters.
Old_text is the original string value.
Start is the position in old text to begin replacing
characters.
Num_chars is the number of characters to replace in the old
text.
New_text is the replacement set of characters
22. CONCATENATE
=CONCATENATE: puts several strings of text into one text
string
this function allows you to join 2 or more strings together.
There can be up to 30 strings that are joined together
23. Put First and Last names together
24. Your results using CONCATENATE
25. PROPER
This is pretty cool! (But it doesnt work on me)
This function sets the first character in each word to
uppercase and the rest to lowercase.
26.
27. Your results using PROPER
28. But waitHow do we deal with all of the folks with these
names (like me)? What about these folks?
29. Using what we have learned, we would do the following:
Insert a column to the right of the changed names (Column B), Use
=MID to extract the portion of the name we need to change in this
case it would be from the third character and extract a large
number to get all the letters in the name: =MID(B1474,3,12)
30. Then we insert another column to the right of column C, and
make the extracted string Proper: =PROPER(C1474)
31. Then we put it all together by adding another column to the
right, and use CONCATENATE with a static string (in this case Mc)
Remember, we need to make sure that we take care of any other
similar names in the same way, such as ones that start with O, De,
and so on.
32. Then, copy the work we have done in column E, in the cells
we have altered, paste the VALUES of the results in column B,
(again, only the cells we have changed), then we eliminate the
columns where we have done work.
33. And then this is our result! All cleaned up! Now we go
through the same process with the first and middle names,
addresses, and city information.
34. I leave you with this: SAVE YOUR WORK! Thank you for
participating, happy spread sheeting!