You can do this using Pages. Without using outside scripts or functions. The Pages Find/Replace function will let you change the delimiter on the data in your file.
Open the file in Pages. Click Show Invisibles. (this will show you the delimiter used in the file)
- If you see a * as the delimiter, that is a space. Some data files are space delimited. This is a really poor way to delimit numerical data files.
- If you see a fat arrow to the right, the file is Tab delimited
- Obviously, a comma is not a hidden character. Some files are comma delimited
- Whatever else might have been used as a delimiter (for example a semi colon is sometimes used) will be apparent.
The delimiter should be something that is not used anywhere else in the "data"... text, numbers, etc., you want to delimit. Numbers considers a comma as a valid delimiter for files with the suffix .csv . It considers a tab as a valid delimiter with files with the suffix .txt . It does not consider spaces a valid delimiter in with any file suffix. But some programs use odd delimiters (semi colon, colon, double spaces, etc) as delimiters.
Use the Find command, then Find/Replace as you need to create that delimiter numbers recognizes. Let's say a semi colon was used as a delimiter. Enter the current delimiter (semi colon) into the Find box. Pages should highlight all the instances of your entry. Enter a comma (to create comma delimited data file) in the Replace box. You should now see a comma as the delimiter.
Important Don't forget, any other comma used in the file will also be considered a delimiter. (a comma in 1,000 for example). So check the data. If you see a comma used another way you will want to eliminate that BEFORE you do the "comma as delimiter" replacement. If you have 1,000, do a find/replace with comma as the find, nothing as the replace, first. THEN do the replacement of the semi colon.
Now comes the "tricky" part from what I could see. You want to save this new file with a suffix of .csv. (Export the file) Numbers will only open a comma delimited file with separated data (by comma) if it's suffix is .csv. Pages only gives you limited export options and puts the file suffix on for you automatically. CSV is not one of the options!
Choose Text. Pages will name the file .txt. Quit Pages. Go to the file on your desktop (or wherever you saved it). Change the file suffiix from .txt to .csv.
That's it. Open the file with Numbers. Numbers will create a separate column for everything between the comma's.
You can use this same method to alter your data file before you import it into Numbers. For example, one file I wanted to import had time=xxx . I only wanted the actual time, not the text attached to it, in my spreadsheet. I did a find/replace with "time=" as the find. A comma as the replace. Even though "time=xxx" is one "word", Pages identified the "time=" within the word to allow the replacement.
Numbers does not provide a "choose delimiter" function when opening a file. Instead it automatically uses the standard delimiter based on the file suffix. CSV means Comma, so if the file is named .csv it will only look for and use a comma as the delimiter to put the data into separate columns. I believe .txt uses only a tab as the delimiter. In the above example you could find/replace to a Tab. Then Export to Text. And numbers will open the data into columns the way you want, without the extra step of renaming the file on your desktop.
While some files use a second space (ie two in a row) as a delimiter that's a nasty way to delimit. You always want a specific delimiter that is not used within the data element.
The above is to import numerical data into separate columns. You could use the same method to manipulate a file that contains text. Let's say you had a file with the suffix .txt. In the file are names and addresses. John Smith 246 Rose Road . You want Name in one column. Address in another. Look at all the spaces, which ones should be delimiters which not? Are there any delimiters in the file?
If you open with Pages and choose show invisibles you can see. You might see John Smith --> 246 Rose Road. (the --> will look like a fat arrow in Pages). Numbers will open this file, IF it has .txt as the suffix, based on the Tab, with name in one column, Address in another.
Or you might see John*Smith**246*Rose*Road. Even though the creator of this intended two spaces to be a delimiter Numbers does not recognize that. Numbers will put everything into one column. The fix? In Pages, put a tab between name and address. Find/replace two spaces with Tab. Export, as Text.
Based on what you see (with show invisible active) in Pages, you can use the Find/Replace function to create the specific delimiter you want (tab or comma). You can use that function to manipulate the file easily so the data you want shows up in separate columns. You may need to get clever to accomplish the unique delimiters. You might even need to do two passes with Find/Replace.
In the instance above if there was only one space between each element. (not two as a pseudo delimiter) You could replace all spaces with a tab in Pages. Export as Text. Numbers will open that file with a column for each word (one for John, one for Smith). Then "Merge" the two cells (columns) you want to put back together.
