Display all digits in Excel 2007

[NickFort]

I'm using Excel 2007 to manipulate some CSV files. Excel by default displays a certain number of decimal places in any given cell, the rest being rounded, unless it is given explicit instructions to display X number of decimal places.

My file has, for example, an entry of 0.0000078544. This displays on Excel as 7.85E-06 by default -- the problem, however, is that when I save this as a CSV, it saves 0.00000785, such that the "44" at the end of the above number is simply removed, and my number is truncated.

Of course, I could manually increase the number of decimal places displayed throughout each time I open the CSV, but it's an easy thing to forget, and I could end up losing those digits forever.

Is there a way of getting Excel to suppress rounding altogether, so just to display the value in each cell in its entirety?

I do apologise if this has been covered before; I did do a search of the forum (and Google), but didn't come up with anything.

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Background: Chemical engineer, familiar mostly with MATLAB, but now branching out into real programming.

 

[Gruuuu]

In short: you don't want to monkey with excel settings in this fashion, but you can set the default decimal places higher (don't remember where it is in 2007)

However you can do something else that may be to your liking

Create a new excel file, or if the data is moving to another file, you can create a new tab in that file.
Go to Data/Export External Data, find your file, set your import options. you can have your cells formatted howeeeever you like, and when you refresh the file (or import a new one) it will not be funky.

 

[xlhelp]

Once you save the file, rename it with .txt extension. When you open the file, it will need to go through the Import Wizard. In step 3 of the Import wizard, you can decide what you want done with your data.

Sometimes I have success with importing the data as text and then converting to numbers.

From your post it seems, you want it to automatically bring up the desired format. In this case, I believe, there ain't no such thing as free lunch.

Canadian eh! Check out the new social forum Tek-Tips in Canada.
With the state of the world today, monkeys should get grossly insulted when humans claim to be their decendents

 

[SkipVought]

Hi,

As a rule of thumb I NEVER open a text file in Excel. The results are unpredictable!

Rather IMPORT text files and EXPLICITLY define the columns as required.

Skip,

_{Just traded in my old subtlety...
for a NUANCE!}

 

[NickFort]

Thanks for the replies, everyone.

Gruuuu

you can set the default decimal places higher (don't remember where it is in 2007)

After Googling this, I have still not been able to find this setting.

xlhelp

there ain't no such thing as free lunch.

Apparently not, but Excel's (and OpenOffice's, for that matter) handling of CSVs is pathetic. I would think that such a setting (i.e. "save verbatim", or similar) would exist.

SkipVought

NEVER open a text file in Excel

You said it. I'm going to look at alternatives to Excel for dealing with CSVs.

--------------------------------------
Background: Chemical engineer, familiar mostly with MATLAB, but now branching out into real programming.

 

[SkipVought]

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/excel/archi...es-excel-give-me-seemingly-wrong-answers.aspx

Skip,

_{Just traded in my old subtlety...
for a NUANCE!}