Loading the Text File into Excel
1.
To load the report data into Excel, save the text file that is attached to
the email message into any folder by clicking the right mouse button
and selecting Save As from the menu (for Microsoft Outlook).
Remember the folder and file name you specified.
2.
Launch Microsoft Excel by clicking on the Start button and selecting All
Programs > Microsoft Office > Microsoft Office Excel from the pop-up
menu.
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3.
Select File > Open from the menu bar. You will be presented with a
window titled ‘Open’.
4.
Select “Text Files” from the ‘Files of type:’ drop-down list at the bottom
of the ‘Open’ window.
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5.
Navigate to the folder that you stored the email attachment in, highlight
the file, and click the Open button. Because the file is a text file, and not
an Excel file, you will be presented with the Text Import Wizard window
which you’ll use to go through 3 steps to read in the file.
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6.
Make sure that the radio button in from of the choice Delimited is
selected, the click on the Next button.
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7.
Place a colon (:) in the text box to the right of the label ‘Other:’. The
data preview will split the data into two separate fields. Then click the
Finish button.
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8.
The data from the file will be put into a new Excel worksheet. To resize
the columns, so that the column fits the text, click on the top-left cell
(box) that is above the cell labeled 1 and to the left of the cell labeled A.
The entire spreadsheet will be highlighted. Now double-click on any of
the cell dividers along the top of the worksheet (clicking the divider
between the cell labeled A and the cell labeled C works great). The
columns will be resized so that all the text shows.
9.
With the worksheet still highlighted, click on the left align button so that
all the text is aligned to the left.
10.
Save the file by selecting File > Save As from the menu. Select Excel
Workbook from the ‘Save as type:’ drop down list and type in a name
for the new Excel file. Click the Save button.
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11.
If you are keeping one spreadsheet with information for many
chapters, highlight just the data (don’t highlight the headings in the
leftmost column since you probably already have headings in your
master spreadsheet) and select Edit > Copy from the menu.
12.
Open your master spreadsheet and click on the cell that you want the
first value to be pasted to. Select Edit > Paste from the menu. Save
the file again.
13.
If you prefer to store your data in row (horizontal) orientation
rather than in column (vertical) orientation, highlight the just the
data (unless you are creating your master spreadsheet) and select Edit
> Copy from the menu.
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14.
Select the top, leftmost empty cell in your master spreadsheet. Select
Edit > Paste Special from the menu. You will be presented with the
Paste Special window.
15.
Click on the checkbox before the label ‘Transpose’ in the Paste Special
window and click the OK button.
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16.
The data will show up running horizontally across the worksheet. The
graphic below shows an example of sample data that was copied in its
vertical orientation and then pasted below using Paste Special,
Transpose.
17.
Save the file again and exit Excel using File > Exit from the menu if
you are done working in Excel.
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