CSV file not showing the db results properly

**philweb** · 09-24-2008, 03:40 PM

Hi

I am using a php script to download the database to CSV file, as this is a Excel Forum I thought I would ask to see if any of you might know the root of my problem.

All of the database shows correctly with exception of the phone numbers, the first 2 numbers show correctly then the 3rd has the zero missing from the beginning the next number is fine then the next 4 all have the zero missing.

Oddly enough the numbers that are incorrect are aligned right and the correct ones are aligned left, any ideas anyone?

Thanks,

Phil

**Kenneth Hobson** · 09-24-2008, 04:21 PM

Most likely it is a problem with your script. Phone numbers would be a string, not number per se. To be sure that you are creating the csv file properly, open it in Notepad or WordPad. You can create a dummy csv file in Excel and open it in one of those programs to see how it formats the data.

If your database is entering phone numbers as just numbers with no dashes or periods separating parts as is normal, then it is probably using a number format to prefix 0's as excel can do. In that case, your code has to format that number as a string with leading 0's for the csv file.

If the csv data is proper, then your import method may need tweaking. You will need to explain your method in that case. A sample csv attachment helps us troubleshoot this kind of issue.

**philweb** · 09-24-2008, 04:21 PM

Hi

I have just been told on another forum that if there is a string of digits, excel strips off the 0 at the begining. So it looks like a php coding problem.

Thanks anyway,

Phil

**Kenneth Hobson** · 09-24-2008, 04:27 PM

Then it is as I suspected. You can choose to fix it in your php code as you said or Excel can fix it in a number of ways. CSV files are pretty basic, numbers and strings.