Forum Discussion
Excel issue with dates being changed
I don't know what that could be, but that's not Excel. Look, you have few reports where dates are correct. Some other tool transforms and combines these reports into csv file. The latest is just text file, you could open it in Notepad or any other editor and check if dates are correct or not. And/or separators in csv are added correctly or not.
Thanks for the response. If I open in Notepad the dates appear exactly as in CSV, and the separators look OK. I know CSV is just a text file, but I don't understand why the user who generates it makes a difference. To me that would indicate the transform & combine isn't relevant as otherwise it would happen to every user. If I look at the individual reports (xlsx) of a user who has this issue, and another who doesn't I cannot see any differences, but it would appear this is the cause of the differing outputs.
"transform & combine" - is that Power Query or some other tool?
I was originally told this was Alteryx doing this, but was misinformed. They are using an R script to combine the spreadsheets into a single CSV file. I would normally think the issue lay here, but that doesn't explain why the issue presents for some users but not others, when they are following exactly the same process, and the same R script is doing the work. Also, for problem users, why are only some rows affected and not all in the CSV.
JohnMcAteer wrote: ``I was originally told this was Alteryx doing this, but was misinformed. They are using an R script to combine the spreadsheets into a single CSV file``
Whether it is Alteryx, R script, or something else, the point is: if you see the bogus "dates" in the CSV file itself (e.g. using Notepad), then it is the creator of the CSV that is at fault.
It sounds like Excel is not used to create the CSV file. Right?
If so, then it is not an Excel problem. Go to a forum (or customer support) for the product that you believe creates the CSV file.
