Problem When Opening Tab Delimited Files in Excel with Formula

[kdaniel86]

Hi all,

I have a question regarding opening of files containing a mathematical expression such as -, +, = etc.

Before opening it in excel, the orig file is a text file which looks like this.

When I open this file in excel, the result is:

My question is, why does some text with formulas show normally and some don't?

As shown above, in the 3rd cell of the 2nd column, text "- Nose" shows normally but others don't.

How can I make it so that all text with "-" in front of the text show as text in excel when opened?


Any help would be appreciated.

 

[mikerickson]

Excel is looking at -Eyes and thinks there is supposed to be a Named Value (or Named Range) with the name "Eyes" and you want the negative of that value in the cell.

Try formatting column B as text before importing the file.

(Because of the space, Nose 1 is an illegal name for a Named Value, thus Excel knows that - Nose 1 is a text string.)