Export question

[KingTechMary]

When running an export from GM 5.5 to a .CSV file via Goldbox, what is the expression I would use to force the zip code field to be 5 characters? The export is dropping the zero - anyone on the upper East Coast ends up with a 3- or 4-digit zip code.

 

[lisaharris]

I checked in my Goldbox system but didn't see where you'd force the leading zeroes to stay. At first glance I'd say it's because of the .csv format. Are you then opening it with Excel? What if you opened it with, say, Notepad? Do you see the leading zeroes? If so, instead of OPENING the CSV file with Excel, Import it into Excel. During your import you'll have the opportunity to specify that the zip field is text.

You could also try posting your question here:

http://forums.frontrange.com/viewforum.php?f=42

That forum is monitored by the creator of GoldBox as well as several GoldBox Gurus.

 

[KingTechMary]

Thank you, Lisa, for your response. At present I am forced to export to a CSV format, which is in turn imported to another database - I don't open the export file unless there's a problem. You're correct in saying that it's the CSV format stripping the leading zeros automatically, but I was hoping that if I added them as characters using an expression they would remian there in spite of the CSV format. I tried adding a PadL expression to the Zip Code field - to no avail. I also tried converting the field from characters to numbers on export and got an error. My next step would be to re-write a multi-step process to use a DBF instead of a CSV.