Microsoft Knowledge Base

• Microsoft Excel for Windows, versions 3.0, 4.0, 4.0a
• Microsoft Excel for OS/2, version 3.0
• Microsoft Excel for the Macintosh, versions 3.0, 4.0

When you use the Flat File add-in macro to to export a text file, the file retains the column width information and inserts a space as a delimiter between columns.

STATUS

This problem does not occur in later versions of Microsoft Excel for Windows.

WORKAROUND

If you want to export a text file without inserting this extra space, do the following to format the sheet with a monospace font (such as Courier):

1. Open the file you want to export.

2. From the File menu, choose Open. Switch to the LIBRARY subdirectory

       and open the FLATFILE.XLA file (the FLAT FILE file if you are using
       Microsoft Excel for the Macintosh).
   

3. From the Format menu, choose Style.

4. In the Style box, chose Define, and choose the Font button under

       Change.
   

5. In the Font dialog box, select Courier from the list of fonts.

6. In the Font dialog box choose OK, and choose OK again in the Style

       box.
   

7. Select the range of cells you want to export. From the Format menu,

       choose Column Width. Select the Best Fit button in the Column Width
       dialog box.
   

8. With the range of cells to export still selected, choose Export from

       the Data menu.
   

9. In the Export dialog box, enter the filename of the text file (if

       you don't specify a subdirectory here the file will be saved in the
       active directory), and clear the Retain Cell Formats check box.
   

10. Choose the OK button.

NOTE: In the exported file, numbers will appear in text format. Therefore, numbers that were right aligned in Microsoft Excel will be left aligned in the text file.

REFERENCES

"User's Guide," version 4.0, page 152