I have zero length strings in an excel file that I am importing into access. I would like to convert these zero length strings into a completely blank cell. I would like to do this completely in Access. Any suggestions?
I have tried using a iif and format within access but I can't change the format. My problem is the cell needs to either be blank or formatted as a number.
Not sure what you mean exactly with "completely blank cell" and as you didn't provide any detail, it's hard to tell.
However, by making sure that the property "Allow Zero Length" for the Data Type of the Field in the Access table is set to false (for a Text field, of course) then these values should be converted to a Null value when imported and should appear as completetly blank.
You could also make an update query after the importation to convert any zero length strings to a Null value; something like:
Update Table1 Set Field1 = Null Where Field1 = ""
Related
I am reading data from an excel file in SAS and inserting the values to an oracle table. The oracle table has a numeric column. If the excel file has numbers, it works fine. But if the column is left blank in the excel file, it is read as a character value and insertion to oracle fails.
Is it possible to convert the column to numeric if its is blank, but read it as is if its has a number?
Thanks!
Let's assume that SAS is reading this column as a character and you cannot convert it directly within the file. This happens sometimes: maybe you don't have authorization to do it, or maybe it's just not working like you're expecting. SAS can go from character to numeric and numeric to character with two functions: input() and put().
Going from Character to Numeric: input()
input() is for changing character data into numbers.
This is great for reading in dates, currency, comma-separated numbers, etc. If you need your data as a number, use this function. Its syntax is:
num_var = input(char_var, informat.);
In your case, let's say we always expect numbers to be here even if it's missing. We'll use the 8. informat for our variable of interest, my_var.
data want;
set have_excel(rename=(my_var = my_var_char) );
my_var = input(my_var_char, 8.);
drop my_var_char;
run;
Note that we need to create a new variable. We rename the variable of interest to something else, then create a new version of the variable of interest that is a number. In SAS, just like many other languages and database systems, when a variable is declared as a character or number, it is always a character or a number.
Going from Numeric to Character: put()
put() is for putting a number to a character or a character to another character.
This is great for converting SAS dates to characters, adding custom formats, converting a character to another character, etc. The syntax is:
char_var = put(num_var, format.);
OR:
char_var = put(char_var, format.);
Note the previous use case: with put(), you can convert characters to other characters. This is very handy for standardizing values or even merging data using a format.
For example: let's convert a number to a comma-separated character number.
data want;
char_number = put(1234, comma.);
run;
Output:
char_number
1,234
Below case statement worked for me.
case
when missing(input(cats(COLUMN_VALUE), best8.)) THEN input(cats(COLUMN_VALUE), best8.)
when not missing(input(cats(COLUMN_VALUE), best8.)) THEN input(cats(COLUMN_VALUE), best8.)
end as COLUMN_VALUE
I want to combine multiple files with different headings and i found this video which was perfect. I get up to minute 12 and it fails and i get this error "Expression.Error: We cannot convert the value null to type Text.
Details:
Value=
Type=Type"
my code for the power query is = Table.TransformColumnNames(stuff_Table, each List.Accumulate(Table.ToRecords(Headings), _ , (state, current)=>Text.Replace(Text.Upper(state), current [BEFORE],current[AFTER]) ))
I want to combine three files. One with a template that will be used for tableau but is otherwise blank, and the other two files with the data but in inconsistent formatting. How do i fix this?
It sounds like you are trying to apply a transformation that takes TEXT as input on data of type NULL. This means that PowerQuery is expecting a textual input but receives nothing. You need to make sure it receives a textual input (by adapting your source & replacing null with a text value), or that your PowerQuery formula handles null values explicitly (typically by some variation of "if field = null then "empty" else field").
Text.Replace(Text.Upper(state) ==> Most likely, the state field is NULL in at least one instance (one line) of your source. Maybe the Tableau template file?
Try replacing empty fields by "null" or "empty" or "no state" or even a white space " "). This can be done either manually within the source (transform the column or create a new column) or within PowerQuery.
A quick google search on "Power query replace Null with text" gives a range of options.
How can I perform COALESCE in power query?
https://www.edureka.co/community/40467/replace-null-values-custom-values-power-power-query-editor
https://community.powerbi.com/t5/Desktop/Replace-NULL/m-p/106183
What is the correct way to get the CellFormatType for a cell (DATE, NUMBER, TEXT, GENERAL) ?
cell.getCellStyle.getDataFormat() returns a Short value, which does not map to the above constants.
I cannot just use cell.getCellType for the following reason. For certain rows, there may be a string prefix like <> or > in front of the value. In that case, getCellType will return CELL_TYPE_STRING. So the only way to get the underlying type appears to be to look at the format for the column.
Thanks
I don't know a direct route from Cell to CellFormatType, but there are various ways to determine particular types:
General? getDataFormat will be 0 (or more reliably, getDataFormatString will be "General")
Date? Check out DateUtil.isCellDateFormatted
Text? Typically you'd check for Cell.getCellType = CELL_TYPE_STRING, but since you say you can't do this (see comments below), you could also try checking if getDataFormatString is "#" or "text" (both are possibilities for plain text)
Number? Again, usually you'd just check for CELL_TYPE_NUMERIC. Note that dates are also considered numbers, so check for dates first.
(If the cell type is CELL_TYPE_FORMULA you should check getCachedFormulaResultType instead)
I cannot just use cell.getCellType for the following reason. For certain rows, there may be a string prefix like <> or > in front of the value
I'm not familiar with this problem. Perhaps you have a custom format which prepends characters before the number? My notes on text detection above might help you in this case, but I suggest you double-check that your spreadsheet actually has the relevant information (i.e. it isn't just Excel being clever when you re-open the sheet): log the cell type, format and format string, and confirm that there actually is a difference on the relevant cells. It's possible that your cell is actually being saved as text, with no distinguishing mark. In this case, you'll need to add some special heuristics for your specific scenario.
Finally, since you seem confused about the returned value from CellStyle.getDataFormat; it's just an index in a sheet-wide index → format-string table. You can (and I'd say usually should) use getDataFormatString to get the string format directly. The standard cell formats are listed in BuiltinFormats, which you can use as a reference to see which format strings you might find (but always check the format string, not the ID, otherwise you'll fail to detect custom formats correctly).
I am importing data from an Excel file into a Filemaker Pro database (FMP 12.0 v5 for Mac). I am using the imported data to "Update matching records in found set". However, the field that I am using to match occasionally contains trailing zeros.
When importing, FMP does not match the fields correctly, because it ignores the trailing zeros.
To explain further: the field in the database is a calculated text field, "courseID.personID", determined by concatenating the numerical "courseID" and "personID" fields (with a dot in between them). The field in my Excel file is formed similarly, using Excel formulae. Some "personID" values end in a zero, e.g. 120, and so courseID.personID becomes something like "123.120". I am matching the Excel field to the FMP field.
I first noticed this was happening, and was very careful to go back to Excel and make a new file (to start fresh), select all cells and set format to Text. Then, I did a Paste Special from my original data, and selected Paste as Values. All the cells in the courseID.personID column gave a "number stored as text error", with the option to convert the text to numbers. I selected the option to ignore the error, to leave all the data stored as text, with the intention of preserving the trailing zeros.
Alas, the issue persists. So, does anyone have any ideas of how to force Excel to format and communicate the proper values? Or, is it an issue of making FMP interpret the data properly, maybe by adjusting field types?
the field in the database is a calculated text field,
"courseID.personID", determined by concatenating the numerical
"courseID" and "personID" fields (with a dot in between them). The
field in my Excel file is formed similarly, using Excel formulae.
Come to think of it, the simplest solution would be to eliminate the calculation fields and use the original values for the import:
33266500,332665100,332665200,332665300 was the original value, cell should look like this: 33266500,332665100,332665200,332665300 but what I see as the cell value in excel is 3.32665E+34
So the question is I want to convert it into the original string. I have found format function on google and I used it like these
format(3.32665E+34,"standard")
giving it as 332,6650,033,266,510,000,000,000
How to parse it or get back the orginal string? I belive format is the function in vba.
Excel has a 15 digit precision limit. If the numbers are already shown like this when you access the file, there is no way to get the number back - you have already lost some digits. VBA code and formulas will not help you.
If this is not the case, you can add a single quote ' mark before the number to store it as text. This will ensure Excel does not try to treat it as a number and thus lose precision.
If you want the value kept exactly, store the data as a string, not as a number. The data type you are using simply doesn't have the ability to do what you are asking it to do.
If you're starting with an Excel file that has already been created then you've already lost the information: Excel has tried to understand what it was given and its best guess has turned out to be wrong. All you can do (if you can't get the source data) is go back to the creator of the Excel file and tell them what's wrong.
If you're starting with, say, a text file that you're importing, then the news is much better:
If you're importing manually using the Text Import Wizard, then at "Step 3 of 3" you need to set "Column Data Format" for the problem field to "Text".
If you're using a macro, you'll need to specify a value for the TextFileColumnDataTypes property that does the same thing. The easiest way to get it right is to use the Macro Recorder.
If you want the four values in the string to be separate cells, then again, look at the Text Import Wizard settings: in Step 1 of 3 you need to set "Delimited" data type (usually the default) and in Step 2 make sure that "Comma" is checked.
The value needs to be entered into the cell as a string. You need to make whatever it is that inserts the value preceed the value with a '.