convert txt to xls

[iubhounds]

First of all I bought my first mac in Oct 2010. I have an online biz where I use xls a lot for my inventory downloads from my suppliers. For this issue I have searched this forum, searched the open office forum and googled my question but haven't found the answer.

As a PC user, I would go into the control panel and change the folder options to view txt files as xls. This was just a one time situation as I downloaded an inventory from my supplier site, text delimited but after I would unzip that file, since I changed the VIEW to xls, that file would open up as an excel spreadsheet.

I would then go back to the PC Control Panel and change the view for txt files back to text.

Since using my mac, I found that open office worked better for my spreadsheets instead of the Numbers for one key process I use a lot....right click cell, and paste special, paste link.....I never found an easy way to do that in Numbers so I use OpenOffice.

Is there a way I can change the view BEFORE downloading this txt file, either in Numbers or OpenOffice, so that once the file is unzipped (Zipeg), it will open up in a spreadsheet?

If not, is there a way I can convert that downloaded txt file into a xls file either in Numbers or OpenOffice?

Thanks in advance for any help on this issue. I'll continue to read and look until then.

 

[chrismacguy]

The easiest way is to use the open command in Open Office Spreadsheet to open the file as a Spreadsheet, instead of trying to convert filetypes.

 

[iubhounds]

I tried that but when I opened from the Spreadsheet, it opened the file in text format. I then tried to open from the spreadsheet, the ods file I had saved it as and it also opened it as a text file.

When I tried to do a "save as", spreadsheets of any type were not an option.

 

[iubhounds]

I spoke too soon. I tried the csv way of downloading the inventory and thought I had what I wanted. All the information was there except the most imnportant...."product description". That is why they had me download their inventory in txt format.

So I am back to my OP.

 

[iubhounds]

I am posting this in case someone else is looking for the solution in the future.

The solution was so simple I feel stupid...lol

I had downloaded a suppliers inventory as I always had, in a txt file. I was wanting to convert that to an excel spreadsheet.

Solution:

Go to finder, highlight that txt file you want to open, right click and use "open with"...I used Numbers and wala....there was the spreadsheet that I was needing.

As a Mac Newbie....I still forget that "finder" is like control panel on the pc.

 

[Tumbleweed666]

As a Mac Newbie....I still forget that "finder" is like control panel on the pc.

I'd have said its like Windows Explorer ?