asterroc ([personal profile] asterroc) wrote2007-09-11 01:02 pm

HELP! Database w/o database tools - email substitution

I have an MS Word file w/ a table in it. One column is people's names, another is their email addresses. I need to put either the email addresses or names in to web access for Outlook with semicolon separations. If I copy and paste either column unformatted, I get carriage returns at the end of each entry, rather than semicolons. Is there an easy way to change the returns into semicolons in MS Word? It doesn't seem to be possible to do a find an replace on a return. There's 600 entries so while it's *possible* to do by hand, it's *not* a good choice.

[identity profile] l0stmyrel1g10n.livejournal.com 2007-09-11 05:22 pm (UTC)(link)
if you display hidden characters, you can copy and paste the newline character into the find/replace box.

[identity profile] zandperl.livejournal.com 2007-09-11 05:25 pm (UTC)(link)
I'd already tried it and it didn't work, returns can't be pasted into a find/replace box. [livejournal.com profile] the_xtina's suggestion below does though.

[identity profile] l0stmyrel1g10n.livejournal.com 2007-09-11 05:32 pm (UTC)(link)
really? it always works for me.

[identity profile] the-xtina.livejournal.com 2007-09-11 05:48 pm (UTC)(link)
It doesn't work for me, either.  What version are you using?  *all curious now*

[identity profile] l0stmyrel1g10n.livejournal.com 2007-09-11 05:56 pm (UTC)(link)
i've actually never tried it on a Mac, but over the summer i was using some Windows machine, and i have no idea what version that was. i don't even know what version of Windows it was. didn't bother to check, only using it briefly.

[identity profile] the-xtina.livejournal.com 2007-09-11 05:23 pm (UTC)(link)
*checks*

- Copy the column and paste in Word at the end of the doc as unformatted text.
- Highlight that text and hit Ctrl-H to open Find/Replace.
- In the Find box, put ^p.
- In Replace, put ;.
- Then just be careful with not having the F&R do that for the whole document.

(I'm using Word 2007, but it's also there in 2003 at least, possibly also 2000.  Also, search direction is down, hence posting at the end of the doc - it'll F&R to the end, then ask if you want to continue from the top - hit No.)

[identity profile] zandperl.livejournal.com 2007-09-11 05:26 pm (UTC)(link)
And it works in Word for Mac too. ;) Thanks!

[identity profile] best-ken-ever.livejournal.com 2007-09-11 08:45 pm (UTC)(link)
This was the suggestion I was going to make! Good job, [livejournal.com profile] the_xtina! MS products work when one knows how to do stuff in them. Sadly, such exercises are rarely intuitive...(I want an iWindows Touch...)

[identity profile] zandperl.livejournal.com 2007-09-11 09:21 pm (UTC)(link)
You want a what?

Oh right, I forget you database thingits too (though for different reasons than [livejournal.com profile] the_xtina). Silly me.

[identity profile] best-ken-ever.livejournal.com 2007-09-11 09:27 pm (UTC)(link)
I sadly don't seem to be able to use my MS Office skills as much at this job as I did at the previous one. Maybe I should just study up and become an Excel guru, get MS-certified and consult for a living...

[identity profile] gemini6ice.livejournal.com 2007-09-12 05:25 am (UTC)(link)
find/replace \n which is a carriage return

[identity profile] zandperl.livejournal.com 2007-09-12 11:41 am (UTC)(link)
Well, the ^p suggested above worked. I'll give \n a shot next time to see if there's a difference.

[identity profile] kelsin.livejournal.com 2007-09-13 02:07 am (UTC)(link)
Use emacs and turn your life around!

I'm sorry, I had to be that guy :-(