3 ms·

Hey Microsoft, want to know what the REAL feature would be? If ALL conversions were turned off by default...

tgv 3y ago
I don't think you want that. I just cancelled conversion when opening a text file, and all floats were text. But not the integers. Oh. Now it stopped asking, and just converts everything.
Someone1234 3y ago
Or at the very least turned off by default for CSV. CSV is a data interchange format. When you open and hit "save" on one, unlike Excel's XLS/XLSX format, they cannot even store information about cell formats. So all this "feature" does is cause irreversible data loss to CSV. There is absolutely no excuse, and never was an excuse, to ever auto-convert a CSV. I always felt like they kept doing this to under-cut CSV in order to force users to use an XLS/XLSX instead. But even with this sabotage Microsoft lost this war and yet continues to destroy data. It is great I can turn this off, but until the people I'm sending the file to have also done so, it isn't enough. Still a high risk someone in the chain will cause data-loss.
- A4ET8a8uTh0 3y ago
  Good grief, yes. We have an entire set of procedures that actually state not to open the newly generated CSV files, because of this.
- unnah 3y ago
  Talking about under-cutting the value of CSV as interchange format... Instead of "comma-separated values", Excel treats CSV as "values separated by locale-specific characters". In continental European locales Excel CSV files are actually semicolon separated, and entirely incompatible with UK or American CSV files, or CSV files in non-Excel software.
leokennis 3y ago
I don’t even care that Excel by default wil transform “00001234” into “1234”. It seems like a sensible default. But…if only I could figure out how to turn that back to “00001234” for the few times I do not want it. And I don’t mean one instance, as double clicking the cell usually does it. I mean for 10,000 numbers at once.

tgv 3y ago

I don't think you want that. I just cancelled conversion when opening a text file, and all floats were text. But not the integers. Oh. Now it stopped asking, and just converts everything.

Someone1234 3y ago

Or at the very least turned off by default for CSV. CSV is a data interchange format. When you open and hit "save" on one, unlike Excel's XLS/XLSX format, they cannot even store information about cell formats. So all this "feature" does is cause irreversible data loss to CSV. There is absolutely no excuse, and never was an excuse, to ever auto-convert a CSV. I always felt like they kept doing this to under-cut CSV in order to force users to use an XLS/XLSX instead. But even with this sabotage Microsoft lost this war and yet continues to destroy data. It is great I can turn this off, but until the people I'm sending the file to have also done so, it isn't enough. Still a high risk someone in the chain will cause data-loss.

A4ET8a8uTh0 3y ago
Good grief, yes. We have an entire set of procedures that actually state not to open the newly generated CSV files, because of this.
unnah 3y ago
Talking about under-cutting the value of CSV as interchange format... Instead of "comma-separated values", Excel treats CSV as "values separated by locale-specific characters". In continental European locales Excel CSV files are actually semicolon separated, and entirely incompatible with UK or American CSV files, or CSV files in non-Excel software.

leokennis 3y ago

I don’t even care that Excel by default wil transform “00001234” into “1234”. It seems like a sensible default. But…if only I could figure out how to turn that back to “00001234” for the few times I do not want it. And I don’t mean one instance, as double clicking the cell usually does it. I mean for 10,000 numbers at once.