Won't treat prod ref .xcl text column as text

[advwebsys]

i've put together a simple 2-column spreadsheet consisting of product reference and price.

i bring up a new spreadsheet, ensure that both columns a and b have numbers as text and open my csv file.

everything "looks" great and the numeric product references are left justified in the column, just like the non-numeric ones.

i go to actinic and turn on external linking. a second later the catalog is linked, BUT the products with numeric product references DO NOT SHOW UP as being linked.

the number of entries under unallocated external products is THE SAME as the number of products with pure numeric prodrefs.

i reopen the spreadsheet and check the formatting of the prodref column. it still shows text.

this SHOULD work.....

any suggestions?

[Jan]

You might have to create a new field in your spreadsheet, give it the type of text and then paste your product references into it to get Actinic to reference this field as a text field - if you just change the type after the event Actinic doesn't usually recognise it.

Regards,

[advwebsys]

tried this:

1. turned off external linking

2. deleted existing .xcl file

3. started excel, set the first 2 columns to numbers=text

4. imported csv file - the numeric product references were left justified, indicating (one would think) that they were being treated as text.

5. set up a third column with numbers=text

6. copied column a to column c and adjusted column titles so that column c would be used by actinic

7. saved the workbook.

8. activated external linking to the workbook.

result: NADA - numeric prodrefs still unlinked.

david

[cdicken]

David

Could you try posting up a cut-down version of the file you are trying to link to and a few people on here can check it out.

[advwebsys]

the csv file that i'm using to create the spreadsheet is very small (29K), so i've attached it as prices.txt

fyi - i am using office97 to create the spreadsheet.

what's frustrating is that excel SHOWS the prodref as text (the numeric prodrefs are left justified in the column).

[cdicken]

For External Linking, you need to link to an Excel *.xls file rather than a *.txt file. Please see the attached - it works for me. (I had to create a dummy column called 'Short Description' to import it - you will need to remove this column).

[advwebsys]

"For External Linking, you need to link to an Excel *.xls file rather than a *.txt file. "

of COURSE. the csv file i sent up was what i loaded into the spreadsheet.

i downloaded your spreadsheet and it worked.

so the question is: what did you do differently than me?

i set the column to 'text' BEFORE i opened the csv file. should i have done that AFTER?

i'm absolutely BAFFLED.

[cdicken]

I think the answer is you can only set a column to 'Text' if it is an XLS file - not a CSV or TXT file.

[advwebsys]

we're not communicating here.....

1. i open a blank spreadsheet.

2. i ensure that column a (prodref) is set to text

3. i click on open and select the csv file to import into the spreadsheet (i also tried this with a .txt file)

4. the spreadsheet LOOKS correct - numeric prodrefs are left justified in the column.

5. i save the spreadsheet as a workbook. (.xls)

6. i link to the spreadsheet.

7. no dice.

may i please ask how YOU loaded the csv file i sent into the spreadsheet you sent me? i must be stupid.....

[cdicken]

Here is what I did.

1) Opened a new blank Excel spreadsheet

2) Went to 'File | Open', changed 'Files of Type' to 'Text Files', selected the prices.txt file and clicked 'Open'.

3) A wizard appears. On the first screen ensure that 'Delimited' is selected and click 'Next'.

4) In the second screen, select 'Comma' and ensure 'Text Quanlifier' is set to ". Click 'Next'

5) In the next screen you get the set the type of data. Highlight the 'Product Reference' column and select 'Text'. Click 'Finish'.

You can then check a few cells in the 'Product Reference' column and ensure they are set to 'Text' (go to 'Format | Cells')

Save the file and then link it to Actinic via 'File | External Links'.

[advwebsys]

TADA!!!

i THINK what i forgot to do in the import wizard was to define prodref as text.

on final question if i may - once you establish linking and you make a change in the external file, is it automatically picked up or do you have to go and re-establish the linking? it really isn't clear in the documentation. going FROM actinic to the external file is clear and is controlled on the external linking window.