Ed Hansberry
My feedback
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3 votes
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80 votes8 comments · Excel for Windows (Desktop Application) » Data Import · Flag idea as inappropriate… · Admin →Ed Hansberry
commented
FWIW, in the Office 365 Insiders build of Excel, Power Query has a "Power Platform" menu as a data source that is grayed out, and one of the members on the team said functionality was coming. I would hope that would include Power BI data sets, Data Flows, and CDS, just like it does on Power BI Desktop. I keep checking every week. It first showed up a month or so ago, or at least that was when I first noticed it. So it is coming....
Ed Hansberry
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288 votes55 comments · Excel for Windows (Desktop Application) » Formatting · Flag idea as inappropriate… · Admin →
Thanks for the suggestion Levi! We’ll be taking a look at this along with some other asks around conditional formatting. It’s a big help to see the things with the most votes, particularly within areas like formatting. So please keep the votes coming for things you want us to do sooner!
Thanks,
John [MS XL]Ed Hansberry
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16 votes0 comments · Excel for Windows (Desktop Application) » Data Import · Flag idea as inappropriate… · Admin →Ed Hansberry
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1,036 votes165 comments · Excel for Windows (Desktop Application) » Tables, Sorting and Filtering · Flag idea as inappropriate… · Admin →
Thanks for logging this great suggestion, Zack, and to others for voting it up. We’ll prioritize this according to the number of votes, so if there’s more interest, please make sure to register your vote!
Thanks
Ashvini Sharma
Lead Program Manager
ExcelEd Hansberry
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Ed Hansberry
commented
Personally I think ms would like to see Access die. PowerQuery has replaced virtually all of our “read” queries and SharePoint lists, excel tables and even SQL Express are easy to use. 2 years ago ms started giving access to all office pro licenses in 365. They seem to no longer consider it a premium product.
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33 votes3 comments · Excel for Windows (Desktop Application) » PivotTables and Power Pivot · Flag idea as inappropriate… · Admin →Ed Hansberry
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746 votes125 comments · Excel for Windows (Desktop Application) » Formulas and Functions · Flag idea as inappropriate… · Admin →
Thanks for the votes! Based on your feedback/votes we’ve just announced the new XLOOKUP function. You can read more about it here: https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/Excel-Blog/Announcing-XLOOKUP/ba-p/811376
Ed Hansberry
commented
@roy, FWIW, the dynamic array functions started rolling out to the Monthly Targeted users, which is the old "Insider Slow" ring. So it is far enough along they are doing broad tests with people that have their tenants or personal builds set to a faster update cadence. Still don't know when it will hit the normal Monthly build.
But it is out of a pure "Insider Fast" ring now, so it is moving!
I am on the insider builds, and it still took about 2-3 weeks to get the dynamic array functions last year after the announcement. This time I got XLOOKUP/XMATCH day one. I think these are less complex to manage, but they do some spilling themselves, so are probably dependent on the new DA calc engine somewhat.
Ed Hansberry
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5 votes1 comment · Excel for Windows (Desktop Application) » Editing · Flag idea as inappropriate… · Admin →Ed Hansberry
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1,249 votes991 comments · Excel for Windows (Desktop Application) » Formulas and Functions · Flag idea as inappropriate… · Admin →
Hi all,
We have been working on this, and wanted to get your feedback on how you see this feature fitting into your workflow. We have a quick one question survey for you to give us your thoughts on the look and keyboard shortcuts we have at this time. Please see here for more: aka.ms/datePickerSurvey
Thanks!
Blake, Excel Product TeamEd Hansberry
supported this idea
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1,408 votes89 comments · Excel for Windows (Desktop Application) » Editing · Flag idea as inappropriate… · Admin →
Thanks very much for your votes. And to those who took the time to fill in the survey, thank you! This is a brief update to let y’all know that we’ve started work on this feature request along with the one on changing numbers to scientific notation.
- Urmi [Msft]
Ed Hansberry
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2,431 votes653 comments · Excel for Windows (Desktop Application) » Viewing / Navigating Workbooks · Flag idea as inappropriate… · Admin →
Thanks everyone for all of the passion about this suggestion! The number of votes has increased greatly in the last couple months and we’re taking notice! We’ve got a bunch of other Excel endpoints behaving this way already and we’re evaluating getting it done in the Windows versions sooner based on the number of votes it gets – so keep the votes coming!
Eric Patterson (Program Manager – MSFT)
Ed Hansberry
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6,287 votes436 comments · Excel for Windows (Desktop Application) » Macros and Add-ins · Flag idea as inappropriate… · Admin →
Wow.
Thank you to all those participated in our survey. What an amazing number of responses, many of them with very deep content. We’re processing the over ten thousand responses(!), and already appreciate the time so many of you took to answer with passion and experience.
Please know this survey is used to help influence various topics – both on Python as well as other related topics that the comments started to bleed into. Given the passion, I want to be clear this remains an area of exploration for us, without any specific timeline.
We’ll provide updates as we progress on this feature request.
Thanks!
Ashvini Sharma
Lead Program Manager
ExcelEd Hansberry
supported this idea
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58 votes4 comments · Excel for Windows (Desktop Application) » Formulas and Functions · Flag idea as inappropriate… · Admin →Ed Hansberry
commented
@sergie - Mac, iOS, and iPadOS all have Dynamic Array functions for Insiders. Not sure about Android, but it will if it doesn't now.
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61 votes6 comments · Excel for Windows (Desktop Application) » Data Import · Flag idea as inappropriate… · Admin →Ed Hansberry
supported this idea
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Ed Hansberry
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Has anyone tried this lately? I opened Excel on a PC I am 99% sure I haven't used PQ on and formula bar was showing. It was the 1906 Monthly Targeted build.
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101 votes9 comments · Excel for Windows (Desktop Application) » Formatting · Flag idea as inappropriate… · Admin →Ed Hansberry
supported this idea
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118 votes10 comments · Excel for Windows (Desktop Application) » Tables, Sorting and Filtering · Flag idea as inappropriate… · Admin →Ed Hansberry
supported this idea
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70 votes11 comments · Excel for Windows (Desktop Application) » Formulas and Functions · Flag idea as inappropriate… · Admin →Ed Hansberry
commented
The biggest shortcoming to the new Dynamic Array functions is the inability to use them in a table.
Ed Hansberry
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1,025 votes374 comments · Excel for Windows (Desktop Application) » Formulas and Functions · Flag idea as inappropriate… · Admin →
Hi everyone,
Stock data types are now available to all Windows Office 365 subscribers with an English editing language installed (our data is only available in English at this time). You can find some instructions on how to use the feature here: https://support.office.com/en-us/article/get-a-stock-quote-e5af3212-e024-4d4c-bea0-623cf07fbc54. The feature will also be appearing in Excel for Mac and Excel Online in early 2019 – as usual, Office Insiders will see the feature before the general population. See http://aka.ms/officeinsider for more info.One pro tip to locate instruments on a different exchange is to include an ISO country code alongside the symbol, for instance MX MSFT will tell Excel to grab Microsoft from the Mexican stock exchange instead of Nasdaq. We’ll be publishing more thorough documentation in the near future.
We also acknowledge that this is only half of the requested feature in this suggestion – the current stock prices piece. The ability to…
Ed Hansberry
commented
It is consistent @anon. Office 2016, 2013, and 2010 don't have the Stock Data Types either. Office 2019 got all Office 365 features that were released between Office 2016 and March of 2018, like the new TEXTJOIN and CONCAT functions, Pivot Table preferences, etc. But it doesn't have Stock Data types (released after) and will not get Dynamic Array functions (Insider only right now in Office 365, so not even released yet). It also won't get Fuzzy Match in Power Query.
If you want feature updates, get Office 365. If you want a *PERPETUAL* license to a particular product, then you get Office 2019, and know that you'll get no new features, only security updates and bug fixes. MS is very clear on this.
Ed Hansberry
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@anonymous, Office 2019 was essentially feature frozen around build 1803/1804 (March April) of 2018, then all the bugs were worked out. The stock price feature wasn't finished until months later, so didn't make the cut. That is the problem with perpetual license products. You get what it comes with, and nothing else in the future except patches and security updates. I'm sure the feature will be in Office 2022 (or whatever the next perpetual license version is) but that will be missing whatever new stuff Office 365 has just months before it's release.
Ed Hansberry
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@ghanshyam, this was fixed last year in Office 365 and I think Excel 2019. I doubt MS will be making any fixes for earlier versions of office.
Ed Hansberry
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@jaris - if you are using 365 with a company, they might have you on the "Deferred" channel. Check with IT. If not, then an uninstall/reinstall should fix it. Unless specifically on deferred, you should be in 1810 at the latest, but most likely 1811.
Ed Hansberry
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Anon, highly doubtful. It won't even be made available for Excel 2016 or Excel 2019. It is in Office 365, and will presumably make it in Excel 2022 or whatever the next perm license version is.
Ed Hansberry
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@evan - see the link in above. There is info in that article about the timing and reliability of the quote info. it is not meant for trading.
Ed Hansberry
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@lars - I'll have to check my mac at home to see if it is there. I know it already has the Dynamic Array functions introduced about a month ago to Windows Office Insiders. Now that the calculation engine for Excel on all platforms is the same, features roll out much faster to each platform - usually within months.
I do know Excel Online doesn't have stock quotes yet.
Ed Hansberry
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I am sure it will be in the stand alone version of Office 2021/2022. It wasn't ready in time for Office 2019.
Ed Hansberry
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@barbara - you have to be an Office 365 user to get on the Insider program. It is free to sign up if you are on O365. See https://products.office.com/en-us/office-insider?tab=Windows-Desktop for info.
Ed Hansberry
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Good grief people. Microsoft didn’t disable anything. Yahoo pulled the plug. I hope MS will get another partner on this, or do it themselves is MSN Money. To think this is illegal...LOL
Ed Hansberry
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This is the risk of using a service you don’t control. Too bad Yahoo dropped this feature. Would be nice if MS added this ability via MSN. Of course Windows users can use Power Query/Get & Transform in Excel 2010 and higher, but that doesn’t help Mac users.
Ed Hansberry
supported this idea
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2,642 votes
Thanks for all the votes and comments on this suggestion. We know this is important and it’s a big undertaking. Please continue to show your support for this.
Steve K [MS Excel]
Ed Hansberry
commented
@anonymous - Keynote may be cool, but it is a PowerPoint competitor, not Excel. And I've used Numbers, and it is sorely lacking in what Excel can do, especially the new dynamic array functions. I tried Numbers for 3 months and couldn't get enough functionality out of it for my use cases. And it doesn't have a Power Pivot equivalent either, so not sure how that is better.
Ed Hansberry
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Which office suite would you recommend @fred that we switch to that gives PowerPivot capabilities for macOS
Ed Hansberry
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That is for Power Query @massimo. I'm hoping Power Pivot will follow on later. Hoping...
Ed Hansberry
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@shahin - because Google Sheets or Numbers has a Power Pivot equivalent on the Mac? It has been a few years since I worked day to day in Google Sheets, but when I did, it's pivot tables didn't even compare to Office 2003.
Ed Hansberry
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@anonymous - that is correct. The Mac doesn't have the necessary engine to refresh data in the Data Model that Power Pivot uses. Until MS adds Power Pivot to the Mac (if they do) you only have two options - install Excel for Windows on the mac via Paralells or similar software, or use Power BI. Power BI has the same engine as Power Query and Power Pivot, but returns the result to a web page, and any client with a web browser and permissions to the page can render it.
Ed Hansberry
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@nathan - the price is for office 365 in general. You install whatever version you want for your computer OS.
Since the price for the Windows version didn't increase with the addition of Power Query or Power Pivot, I'd surmise they consider that free enhancement.
All that said, I want this on my Mac as well, but there is no pricing disparity.
Ed Hansberry
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If you read this thread on Answers, it looks like MS is making some internal progress on this feature... at least the Mac recognizes there is a data model. https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/msoffice/forum/msoffice_officeinsider-mso_mac-msoinsider_excel/workbook-using-a-new-feature-in-excel-for-windows/8f18af1c-d9df-40e1-8646-49a0d22ffb85
Ed Hansberry
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Google has Power Pivot?
Ed Hansberry
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1,682 votes568 comments · Excel for Windows (Desktop Application) » Editing · Flag idea as inappropriate… · Admin →
Thanks very much for your votes. And to those who took the time to fill in the survey, thank you! This is a brief update to let y’all know that we’ve started work on this feature request.
- Urmi [Msft]
Ed Hansberry
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Sounds like you aren't saving it as an *.XLSX file. If you save it back as a CSV, formatting is not saved, only data. I've never seen that happen (lose its format preferences) with a true Excel file.
Ed Hansberry
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Barcodes should be treated as text as they can have leading 0s that any number format will remove. use Power Query to force text on the CSV import. Works every time.
Ed Hansberry
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Thanks Urmi. I'll be very curious to see how this will be implemented without impacting previous models.
Ed Hansberry
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@exacerbated. Yup, definitely happens. It is now second nature for me to press the windows menu key (usually to the right of the space bar), and the SV.
That is Paste Special, Values.
What is happening is the cell is formatted text, you are copying from somewhere else, even another app, and it brings a number format with it, then excel trashes it.
If you paste as values, only the raw ASCII gets pasted in there, no formats, so the Text format in Excel persists.
Ed Hansberry
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@Exacerbated - make sure the table column with the long digits is formatted in Excel as TEXT format. Editing/entering data will retain the text format and not convert to a number or lose precision.
Ed Hansberry
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Power Query isn't a third party addon. And for importing text files, the learning curve is almost nil. It is far easier to use than the depreciated Text Import wizard, and far more accurate than just clicking on a CSV file and hoping it reads your mind.
Ed Hansberry
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@corin - what you refer to is not the same thing. A part number with an "E" in it is not the same issue, but you are correct, Excel will try to convert to a number thinking it is scientific notation, unless you use Power Query (which you should) where you can tell it to leave that field as text. No one should be importing CSV files via plain old Excel if they want any level of control. Import via Power Query and get 100% control over every field.
Ed Hansberry
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If you type in 123456789 into a narrow cell, it will change it to 1.2E+08 visually, but if you change the cell format to comma, currency, or whatever, it has retained 123456789 as the full precision.
Ed Hansberry
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Ok. that is massive. M.******I.V.E. They could be working on that, but that would literally involve changing every single function that deals numbers (so all but the text functions), tables, pivot tables, Power Query, Power Pivot, Power Map, the Power BI enterprise app, Data Gateway, which all rely on the same 15 digit precision.
Ed Hansberry
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It does that Zak. The issue only becomes an actual data problem when there are more than 15 digits. Excel cannot handle that so if you put in an 18 digit number, regardless of how it displays, it will change the last 3 digits to zero - unless you enter it as text.
Ed Hansberry
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I see you've never talked to corporate lawyers before.
And much like you have shot down my ideas on using Power Query which resolves about 95%-99% of the issues in this thread.
Have a nice evening.
Ed Hansberry
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You cannot put anyting on sheets taht isn't saved. It is automatically saved. You would have to close it, delete it, then empty the trash, and even then, not sure if there isn't a 2nd level trash can it is stored in for a while. Office 365 has that.
And again, in a big corporation, permission for that involves lawyers, not your boss.
Ed Hansberry
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Some of you don't understand how large corporations work. An employee can get fired for putting company data on ANY unapproved cloud solution.
Ed Hansberry
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@Scott, Power Query does exist. The G&T name is for the Excel UI, Once in the query UI it is still referred to as Power Query, and is also used in Power BI.
As to complexity, for handling CSV files, you don't need to know any M code. It is all push button in the UI.
As for DAX, if you are using DAX in side of Excel via Power Pivot, you must learn Power Query. PQ is where you bring in your data, clean it, and create a structure for your data so it fits a clean Star schema, which is where DAX shines.
I found out the hard way bringing in data directly via DAX was going to be a train wreck for all but the smallest data sets.
Ed Hansberry
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@Corin, I think your mention of PowerShell is the first in this thread. I know PS is very powerful, but I have no idea how you'd use it with CSV files.
Ed Hansberry
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Jody, solid workarounds (namely, Power Query) have been shown how to 100% avoid this issue EVERY SINGLE TIME, but some on this board would rather just rant.
You are spot on RE: Google Sheets. Compared to Excel, that platform is a joke. It is like comparing a word processor to Notepad.exe.
Ed Hansberry
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@corin - yes. You'll need to manually edit the code, but absolutely. http://www.thebiccountant.com/2017/01/09/dynamic-bulk-type-transformation-in-power-query-power-bi-and-m/
Ed Hansberry
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Corin and Todd, I only did the simplest of steps for a single file. I have power queries that look at a folder and always import the most recent two files which can be done based on file date OR contents of the file, such as an ASCII print header or text field, and then compares them. The file names are irrelevant in those cases.
Export. Save. Refresh.
That’s it.
Ed Hansberry
commented
@corin - I never said people were relying on scientific notation. I said they were relying on the way it works today and have coded, made workflows, or formulas that handle it as is, then modify it as their needs dictate. If you change how the data comes in, that all breaks.
My solution is not hacky - far from it. You should learn how to use Power Query. Try my steps and get a feel for it. This is what it is FANTASTIC at doing. You do the many steps ONE TIME. Your steps are recorded. Then you just refresh all and all those steps are applied again with a new CSV file. It is the total opposite of a hacky workaround.
I never said MS ignoring it for decades was ok. I said the system has existed as it is for decades, and as such, people have modified their models accordingly. Furthermore, MS is NOT ignoring it. They addressed it above, and they addressed it in the Reddit AMA earlier this week. It is on the table for discussion, but I know a big sticking point is how not to break models that have been in existence for years, or decades, by changing behavior of what Excel does while still making it easier to work for people that don't know about Power Query, or that consider such an approach "hacky." LOL!
Personally, with the advent of Power Query in Excel 2013, I would NEVER import a CSV file like you are doing. PQ gives me the ability to fix each field as I need, adjust the contents as I need, then dump to a table *EXACTLY* the way I want it, and then it does it day in and day out, months on end and I am never surprised at the results because I. DO. NOT. LET. EXCEL. MAKE. ANY. ASSUMPTIONS.
PQ lets me control 100% of it. It works with leading zeros, text like 6E034, 50 digit numbers, etc.
I personally don't care what MS does in this regard because I use the Power Query/Get & Transform model to control the data.
What is hacky is double-clicking on a CSV file and then modifying it to suit your needs every time.
Continue on though. I was just trying to give you a real world solution that works today hoping to save frustration until MS does whatever they will do whenever they may do it, which might be nothing and never. Or it could be a magical solution that pleases everyone and be released to the fast ring tomorrow. My solution is there today though, and I'd bet money if many people implemented it, they wouldn't even notice if MS ever did anything about the CSV import via the file menu or the old now depreciated Text Import Wizard.
Ed Hansberry
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Daniel, not sure why the query method fails for you. This works 100% of the time for me:
1) Data, Get Data (This is Excel 2016 - Excel 2013 is the Power Query addin)
2) CSV file
3) Edit button
4) Change Data Type to Text - tell it to "Replace" if it converted to a number first, which it did with my credit card number test.
5) Close and Load to a sheet (or data model if you need this in a Pivot table)Even preserved leading zeros.
Save the Excel file.
Get new CSV and drop it where the old one was with the same name.
Open Excel File, Data Tab, then REFRESH ALL.
Works every time.
Ed Hansberry
commented
What was fixed in a later release?
Also, I assume nothing. MS assumes they know how their product is being used by both regular users and fringe users, and they won't change something that breaks it for either.
Ed Hansberry
commented
It isn't a simple thing to fix. Right or wrong, this is how it has worked for literally decades. Millions of spreadsheets are set up to work this way, and then adjust accordingly if the user wants the end result to be different.
If MS "just changed it" millions of models would break overnight. So they have to move carefully to provide a better answer. Google doesn't have this problem. Their sheet is new and they did whatever they wanted to do, and honestly, if it changed something, some would complain, most wouldn't notice, and fewer would care. Excel is very different. Databases are built on it. Visual Basic code is built on it. .COM addins are.
I know MS is working on this very issue. It was in their recent Reddit AMA on Wednesday of this week. But it is far from a "fairly simple issue to resolve."
And the funny thing is, 99.9% of the issues in this thread are avoidable by using the Get & Transform feature in Excel 2013 and 2016 (also known as Power Query) or preformatting cells as text. So it isn't like you cannot use Excel to get the job done. You just have to do a few extra steps that actually GUARANTEE you the results you are looking for vs having the app make the decision for you.
Ed Hansberry
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Zak, it isn't about using an inaccurate number. It is about using a number where you can trust the number of significant digits. Most numbers in science are rounded to some number of significant digits, unless you know exactly. For example the number of people on this thread fighting windmills is 1. Exactly 1. That is an exact and scientific number.
Ed Hansberry
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I suspect this is the fix, which will be part of Office 2019 released in 2018. Just speculation though. Not a lot given in this announcement.
https://techcrunch.com/2017/09/26/microsoft-excel-is-about-to-get-a-lot-smarter/
Ed Hansberry
commented
Seems to me a lot of this could be fixed if there were some addtional "autocorrect" options for Excel that we could disable.
*Stop changing text to dates. If I type "Oct 2015" then I want "Oct 2015" in the cell, not 10/1/2015 formatted as MMM-YY
*Stop changing math to dates. =9/12 is not my way of telling Excel to convert it to Sept 12 in DD-MMM format.
*stop changing math to fractions. I cannot repro an example right now but too many times I've entered something like =8/6 because that is what I need in the cell but Excel will change it into a fraction, causing me to undo/redo until it stops.
*The large numbers issue here (though that won't address people importing digits larger that 15 places as that is the max excel handles, all the rest becoming zero)Ed Hansberry
commented
@zak - load two files (your favorite - CSV files) of something modest. Say 200,000 rows, 10 columns for one file, and 5,000 rows, 30 columns for another. Join them using two columns (like a customer number and state field), then report the summary by state and month. And for grins, the customer numbers all have 30 leading zeros.
This is about 2-3 minutes work in Excel, including the preservation of the leading zeros. Let me know how Google Sheets works out for you.
Ed Hansberry
commented
"The issue with Google Sheets is that..."
And the fact that compared to Excel, Google Sheets is not even as powerful as Microsoft Works was. And I used Google Sheets at my prior company for 3 years.
Ed Hansberry
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FWIW, I am not posting workarounds so MS doesn't have to fix it. I am posting workarounds so people can get their jobs done TODAY because whatever solution MS does evenutally come up with, it will change 20+ years of how Excel deals with some things, and in any event, I suspect MS will not even take changing how many digits Excel can handle (15) into consideration. As for the CSV stuff, yeah, it isn't ideal how MS handles it today.
So, use the workarounds provided for now until whatever John [MS XL] posted about that is under review has something done about it, or wait.
If I waited until everything was perfect to do my job I'd be fired on the spot. My whole job is workarounds. And I am thankful for them. Job security. :-)
Ed Hansberry
commented
@brent - PowerQuery is a great solution to this. But the expectation here is Excel to be a CSV file editor, which was never the intent.
I use PowerQuery all of the time with CSV files to read data into Excel, but I use Access if I want to control exactly how CSV file output is done.
Ed Hansberry
commented
" The big problem I have now is with account numbers that have a letter at the end, power query throws an error when trying to convert them to number format."
It is because that isn't a number. Use the Number.FromText function inside a Try/Otherwise command.
Ed Hansberry
commented
@zak - you should read up on the Excel calculation engine at http://www.decisionmodels.com/calcsecrets.htm. Being 16 bit, 32 bit, or 64 bit, has nothing to do with it. It has to do with how it was written and changing that would have massive MASSIVE issues to overcome. Not impossible, but not trivial.
If Excel suddenly changed and said "ok, every thing I import that I cannot handle, I need to convert to text" that would break MILLIONS of models that have been written in companies since the 80's. I have had this issue in the past and I wrote models around the issue using import templates early on, VBA import routines, and now PowerQuery. If Excel changed now, it would break what I had others have currently written. Or if you expect it to be converted and understand the 15 significant digit limitation and know it isn't material to your model, then those models would be trashed if those values suddenly came in as text.
That is the problem MS faces. They cannot just make a change to make it work for this without understanding how it will affect things that have been in existence for decades. It is like the 1900 date system in Excel where they screwed up and messed up the leap year when they programmed it. (or maybe it was Lotus that did that and Excel emulated it) If they just "fixed it" then people that had written functions to overcome the issue would suddenly find all of their calculations broken.
Excel isn't like apps on your iPhone that can just be changed on a whim. This is not a simple issue for MS to fix. I do hope they come up with a resolution, because there is definitely a small army of people that seem to want to put credit card numbers in Excel and have it magically figure out what to do with it.
Or, you could use PowerQuery in Excel and get around this. Or you could switch to Google Docs which doesn't have to worry about changing things like this, because no one with sophisticated models uses GDocs so no one would care if something changed.
Ed Hansberry
commented
@zak, you are comparing apples and catalytic converters. Notepad isn't doing anything. It is simply showing you what is in the file. Excel has to process numbers, and the calculation engine is only capable of handling 15 digits. To change that would be an insanely massive undertaking. Every computer program in the world the processes numbers has a limit on the significant digits it can handle. Solar calculators is usually 8. Excel is 15. Engineering software may be 30 or more. Software used in physics and math may be 100. Whatever it is, when you exceed that limit, the software will start turning digits to 0 on the right to preserve the numbers on the left.
If you want Excel to process it as text, then tell Excel it is text. Put it in quotes, or use PowerQuery to force it to text before loading it to a sheet or the data model.
Ed Hansberry
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@zak - Power Query eliminates the hassle as you only write the query one time. You don't go through that horrible import dialog box.
The problem is there is no standard for CSV files, but the rule of thumb is, numbers that should be treated as text should be enclosed with quotes. If you type 123456789123456789 into Excel, it will remove the last 5 digits because it simply cannot handle numbers with more than 15 significant digits.
I am not defending how Excel does it. I personally hate the autoformat garbage it does all throughout the app. Type "1 1/2" and excel assumes I want a fraction. It changes it to 1.5, then formats as a fraction. I have to undo that and force the cell as text format, or preceed with a ' character (single quote)
I am merely showing a way to avoid the issue. If you want more than 15 digits, you need to switch products. MS Access supports 28 significant digits for example if you make the field decimal.
And I just formatted a cell as text, put in a 21 char "number" into that cell, and saved as a CSV. Opened in Notepad and there was no truncation. Excel correctly saved all 21 digits to the file. It didn't put quotes around it though, so when I opened it up, it did truncate. When I imported via Power Query though, it kept all digits.
Ed Hansberry
commented
@Steve Burkhart, Excel's conversion to scientific notation isn't losing your data. Excel simply cannot handle more than 15 digits in a number. Period. If the file you are exporting is creating a CSV, you need to have it wrap the number in quotes. Excel will handle as text.
Or use Power Query built into Excel (2016) to do the import. There you can force the import as text and then when you load it to an Excel spreadsheet, it will come out as text and all your digits will be intact.
If you have 2013, you need to download the Power Query addin. I don't think it exists for 2010, and know it doesn't for 2007.
Ed Hansberry
commented
http://dailydoseofexcel.com/archives/2017/04/05/converting-numbers-to-text/ has info on how to put credit card numbers in Excel. The issue is Excel isn't broken, it just isn't being used properly. CC numbers aren't numbers, they should be strings, and should be entered as such. Excel cannot even handle a 16 digit number, which many CC #'s are.
Ed Hansberry
commented
Access can track it, but so can Excel. you just need to format the cell as TEXT before pasting the values in. That is what the TEXT format is for. Excel cannot handle a 22 digit number. Neither can Access for that matter. You'd need to format the table field as a TEXT/STRING field as well before adding the data in.
Ed Hansberry
commented
Roger, Excel doesn't destry numbers. It just converts the format, You can change the format back. That said, Excel only supports 15 digits. Entering 1234567890123456 will result in 1234567890123450 being in the cell.
For things like tracking numbers and IDs, those should be text anyway. In our company, anything that is any type of ID is always text, even zip codes, which are only 5 digits.
Ed Hansberry
supported this idea
·
I wouldn't hold my breath on this. MS seems to be moving to Power Platform for this kind of thing, which does support Excel as a backend, and a front-end soon. Between Power Apps and Power BI, plus whatever data source you want, like CDS or on-prem sources like SQL server or even Access databases, all of the functionality you discuss is there, and much MUCH more.
It seems they are removing features from Access, not adding. They will not add Power Query to it (that idea with well over 1K votes was rejected), Data Access Pages was killed, Pivot queries were killed, and the Access to SQL upsizing wizard was killed.
They haven't officially said of course, but Access seems to only get nominal features to keep it on par with other Office 365 apps, but there are no real breakthrough features.