How do I save a Numbers spreadsheet as an ASCII spreadsheet

Question

How do I save a Numbers spreadsheet as an ASCII spreadsheet

I need to convert an Appleworks spreadsheet to a Numbers spreadsheet and then save it as an ASCII file in order to upload it to my internet site.

Conversion of the AW SS to Numbers is no problem. However, unlike AW, there is no selection I can make in the "Save As" menu to save the Numbers file as an ASCII.

Any suggestions?

Intel Core 2 Duo, Mac OS X (10.5.5)

Posted on Apr 8, 2009 7:02 PM

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Answer 1

Apr 8, 2009 7:11 PM in response to B. James Lees

James,

From the Share Menu, select Export to CSV with the Unicode option. I'm guessing a bit here about your requirements, but I thing this is worth a try.

Jerry

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Answer 2

Brie Fly

Level 5

7,925 points

Apr 8, 2009 8:24 PM in response to B. James Lees

Why not just save the AW document as ASCII text directly?

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Answer 3

Apr 8, 2009 8:28 PM in response to B. James Lees

Jerry: Thanks for the speedy reply.
Following your advice, I saved the Numbers document as a CSV as a file on my desktop. I then changed the tag to .txt which is required by my website, then uploaded it to my server.
It didn't work. I am analysing the thing now, but it is over 400 rows and if there are any input errors, the thing won't fly.
I'll get back to you.
Re/gards,
Jim

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Answer 4

Apr 8, 2009 9:02 PM in response to Brie Fly

Brie:
I have saved the AW SS as ASCII files for years, but must update the SS every month with new stats. I don't mind using AW but am afraid it is nearing it's end and thought I would get ahead of the curve and convert to Numbers. And, Numbers is just fine, except I must then save it as an ASCII file in order for my internet server to read it.
BTW- I have examined my new CSV file, and it appears to have the same data as the ASCII file I am attempting to replace on the server.
Jim

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Answer 5

Peggy

Level 8

41,601 points

Apr 8, 2009 9:37 PM in response to B. James Lees

A bit of a workaround, but how about copying & pasting the Numbers table into Pages, converting the table to text (Format > Table > Convert table to text) & then exporting as text from Pages?

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Answer 6

Apr 8, 2009 10:12 PM in response to Peggy

Peggy:
As you suggested, I copied and pasted my 450 row Numbers table into Pages (12 pages in total) and then converted it to text - I saved it to my desktop and renamed the file with a ".txt" tag. Then I uploaded to the server.
The result when seen on the net is a page with 10 offices with total sales volume, units sold, etc. However, using the above procedure, while I do get the names of the 10 offices, I get no numbers.

If any of you wish to contact my by email, I will direct you Peggy, Jerry and Brie, to the site to see the present result and future effort results.

Thank you for your time and efforts.
jim_lees@telus.net

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Answer 7

KOENIG Yvan

Level 8

41,807 points

Apr 9, 2009 2:59 AM in response to B. James Lees

No need for switching between apps.

Select the table's cells
copy to clipboard
run this huge script:

--[SCRIPT]


set fName to (do shell script "date " & quote & "+_%Y%m%d-%H%M%S" & quote) & "." & "txt"
set p2d to path to desktop
tell application "System Events" to make new file at end of p2d with properties {name:fName}
write (the clipboard as text) to file ((p2d as text) & fName)
--[/SCRIPT]

and you will get the text file on the desktop.

Yvan KOENIG (from FRANCE jeudi 9 avril 2009 11:56:23)

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Answer 8

Peggy

Level 8

41,601 points

Apr 9, 2009 9:22 AM in response to B. James Lees

You should not need to rename the file & add the .txt extension. Exporting from Pages to text will add the .txt extension (make sure hide extension is unchecked). You can't just change the name & extension of any document to make it another document type, you must convert it which is what exporting does.

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Answer 9

Apr 9, 2009 11:14 AM in response to KOENIG Yvan

Yvan:
Ca va? Je ne compris pas.

I am sorry, but I do not understand your instructions.

The original AW document, "Halfway.cwk" (halfway because I was half way there in finishing the job previously), was converted to "Halfway.numbers" and is on my desktop.

I can select the table's cells and copy to clipboard.

What do I do next?

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Answer 10

Apr 9, 2009 12:06 PM in response to Peggy

+You can't just change the name & extension of any document to make it another document type, you must convert it which is what exporting does.+

In general, you're right. In the world of Pages and Numbers though it's different. Pages and Numbers treat the documents differently depending on the extension, even when the content is identical. For instance, Pages won't open a .csv file, but with a change to .txt, it opens and displays properly. Numbers opens a .txt file as a single column table but the very same content opens as a properly formatted 2-d array if the same file is renamed .csv.

Jerry

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Answer 11

KOENIG Yvan

Level 8

41,807 points

Apr 9, 2009 12:56 PM in response to B. James Lees

Copy the given script in the Script Editor then save it as an Application Bundle.

After copying the table's contents to the clipboard,double click the script's icon.
It will create a text file in a single pass.

You may also store the script in the folder:

HD:Users:<yourAccount>:Library:Scripts:
You will get a new item in the Script Menu.

Yvan KOENIG (from FRANCE jeudi 9 avril 2009 21:56:39)

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