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IBM Cognos 8 Platform => COGNOS 8 => COGNOS 8 Administration => Topic started by: BristolSmithy on 01 Aug 2011 05:32:24 AM

Title: CSV output opening in a single column in Excel
Post by: BristolSmithy on 01 Aug 2011 05:32:24 AM
Hi,

We've recently had a requirement to change our CSV output from cognos (8.4) from the standard tab seperated to a comma seperated ouput.  However, we don't seem to be able to get it to open properly in Excel, it just sticks everything in 1 column.

There are obvious workarounds (i.e. text to columns, creating a tool to convert the output to csv after it's been downloaded), but due to the size/complexity of the user base they are not really viable.

Has anyone found a workable solution to this issue?

Thanks,
Title: Re: CSV output opening in a single column in Excel
Post by: Snehalathaga on 11 Nov 2011 01:12:35 AM
Please try the below steps and let me know if this works.

While exporting i.e after choosing Export option from the Dcube Menu, Choose Multiple Column under the Groups in the window which pops up.Under Format against separator choose Comma.

Regards
Sneha
Title: Re: CSV output opening in a single column in Excel
Post by: rubanlawrence on 14 Nov 2011 12:41:41 PM
Hi there,

This is likely caused by your CSV output being in Unicode format. Follow the steps in this IBM technote to change the output to be in Windows/ANSI format:
https://www-304.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg21342755

Once you've done this, Excel should correctly parse the CSV file and automatically split it into columns.

Let us know if this works for you!  :)

Cheers,
Ruban L.