Retaining preceding zeros when passing data to and from .txt files

[shoemakerlevy9]

Hi,

I am trying to pass barcode data from excel to a text file and then back into excel. The barcodes are 8 or 12 character long and they can have or not have preceding zeros. I know of several ways to retain preceding zeros such as adding apostrophes before data or using custom formatting, but these methods are lost when the data is transferred to a text file.

I'm quite sure I'm limited on my options here since .txt files are so basic but if any one has any related advice it would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Joe4]

Welcome to the Board!

I know of several ways to retain preceding zeros such as adding apostrophes before data or using custom formatting, but these methods are lost when the data is transferred to a text file.

They shouldn't be lost. Many times, they are, in fact, not being lost. People may just not know how to view the text files.
How are you using the text files? You should be using a Text Editor, like NotePad. If you use Excel, it is re-converting the data and dropping the zeroes at that point (but the text file does, in fact, have them). You should never use Excel to view Text files, if you want to see what they really look like.

If your Text files do not have the leading zeroes, then we would need to know how you are converting the data from Excel to Text. There may be a problem with the way you are doing it.