Numbers CSV and decimal comma

Hello

For an english user, a CSV file looks like:

AAPL,APPLE INC,"166,39",22h00,16/11/2007,"0,00","0,00","0,00","0,00",100
or
AAPL,APPLE INC,166.39,22h00,16/11/2007,0.00,0.00,0.00,0.00,100

But for a french or a german one (in fact users whose system uses the decimal comma) it looks like:

AAPL;APPLE INC;166,39;22h00;16/11/2007;0,00;0,00;0,00;0,00;100

Alas, the Numbers team ignored that and the app knows only the first format.
So, these users can't import the CSV delivered on system whose decimal character is comma.
When they export something as CSV, the format used is the first one, so, correctly coded applications are unable to import these files.

I discovered that while testing Bento (the new FileMaker product) which appears to be far from an application able to replace the AW6 DB modulus.

- 1 - the datas are not stored in a specific file for each base. They are stored in an "all purpose file" containing your DVD as well (or as bad) than your recipes for the kitchen.

- 2 - the only kind of report I saw is five of six kinds of subtotals available only in List mode.

Huge deception.

- 3 - it works with correctly built CSV so it is unable to import Numbers's ones if the system uses the decimal comma.

Huge deception too but this time the culprit is not Bento, it's Numbers ;-(

Yvan KOENIG (from FRANCE lundi 19 novembre 2007 18:25:41)

To be the AW6 successor, iWork MUST integrate a TRUE DB, not a list organizer !, Mac OS X (10.4.11)

Posted on Nov 19, 2007 9:31 AM

17 replies

fiatlux

Level 1

0 points

Dec 5, 2007 7:13 AM in response to KOENIG Yvan

Yvan,

I faced the same problem as you, trying to ingest CSV files from my banking software into Numbers.

Out of curiosity, I tried importing the same CSV files (with ; delimiters) in Google Docs and got an error.

Google Docs accepts the following format, though: "8,05","5,6",... where the comma is used both as a field and decimal separator.

Message was edited by: fiatlux

KOENIG Yvan Author

Level 8

41,819 points

Dec 5, 2007 11:18 AM in response to fiatlux

Hello fiatlux.

There is a normal CSV format used in countries where the decimal delimitor is comma.
This format uses the semi-colon as fields delimiters so that the number of fields requiring to be enclosed by quotes is very short.

Numbers as Google Docs are using an other format:
They use the CSV as it is used in country where the decimal separator is period.
Doing that, MANY fields are enclosed in quotes.

The problem is that the users are taken as hostages by applications a single format which is not the standard one.
For me the problem is not huge as I am able to write a script translating the alternate CSV into the standard one but for "normal users" it's boring.

Yvan KOENIG (from FRANCE mercredi 5 décembre 2007 20:18:25)

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Numbers CSV and decimal comma