What's the best way to post sample excel spreadsheet data to this forum?

Posted by Eric on September 28, 2001 11:30 AM

I'm especially interested in the bracketed number presentation system, but don't know how it works.
If someone could point me to a resource that explains it, I'd appreciate it!

Posted by Aladin Akyurek on September 28, 2001 11:42 AM

Hi Eric,

Suppose you have data in A1:B9 that you want to post.

Activate an empty cell, type =A1:B9, hit CONTROL+SHIFT+ENTER, go the formula bar, hit F9, and copy the array that you see after the =-sign. Copy that array, which you can then paste.

Aladin

Posted by Eric on September 28, 2001 12:20 PM

Once data is posted in this format, is there an easy way to pull it back into excel?

Aladin,

Thanks for the explanation.

To follow up, if for instance, I saw a post with two columns of data as follows:

{-79.2,-190.8;216,-19.8;39.7,131.9;230.9,370.3;745.5,1294.7;1026.4,1305.6;1506.5,1317;2416,3829.9;2668.4,4132.5}

How would I copy and paste this array back into excel in its original two column format?

Posted by Juan Pablo on September 28, 2001 12:26 PM

Re: Once data is posted in this format, is there an easy way to pull it back into excel?

On a new sheet, paste it with a = like this:

={....}

Next, select a big range, press F2 (Starting from your selected cell) and press Control Shift Enter, and you have your array back.

To use it copy and paste it as values.

Juan Pablo ,

Posted by Aladin Akyurek on September 28, 2001 12:31 PM

Re: Once data is posted in this format, is there an easy way to pull it back into excel?

Count the number of items between 2 semi-colons to determine the number of columns then count the semi-colons to determine the number of rows. Select a cell, go to the formula bar, type = then paste the array. Select from that cell on a range as big as M x N and hit CONTROL+SHIFT+ENTER.

Posted by Eric on September 28, 2001 12:35 PM

Thanks Aladin and Juan, what a great way to post and extract data (NT)!

Posted by Barrie Davidson on September 28, 2001 12:42 PM

I always wondered about this, thank you Eric for you question and

thanks Aladin and Juan for the response