Importing ASCII text files with extensions other than .txt or .csv

Question

To open an ascii text file with a file extension other than .txt or .csv, in EXCEL 2019 under Windows I can define the desired extension in the "File name" input field. This field seems not to exist in the EXCEL 2019 for Mac. Neither the "Open File" nor the "Import" dialog allows to open a file with a different extension by selection or even to copy  or type in the desired file name. Is there any way around this limitation? 

Answer 1

Hi AnnemarieHonegger,

Thank you for reaching out to us. I am an Independent Advisor and Microsoft user like you.

The "Open File" dialogue window is quite different between Windows and Mac version. For Excel 2019 Mac version, I suggest a workaround which is type the filename in the Search bar located on the top-right corner, then ensure the file extension is supported by Excel then you are good to open it.

You can refer to the link below for more information about file format supported in Excel.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/file...

Hope this helps!

Regards

Thuy

Answer 2

The problem is not that the file format is not supported - These are all plain vanilla ASCII text files. My problem is the obligatory link between ASCII text files and the extension *.txt.

I am working in structural bioinformatics, and specialized programs I use to generate these files require different extensions: e.g. *.pdb for atom coordinates, *.seq for nucleotide sequences,*.aln for multisequence alignments, *.rsa for residue accessibility, *.ddG for energy changes upon mutation  ...

While I can import all of these programmatically through home-spun vba macros, no longer being able to just specify that I want to open one of these files e.g. as a fixed format or delimited text file independent of the file extension is a bloody nuisance.

Answer 3

I understand how frustrated you feel due to the missing of file extension feature. If importing macros are already available, then you can create another macro variant to import specific file format for your convenience. Another workaround would be converting original file to .txt files with a simple script then open them in Excel, of course this would take more time for intermediate step.

Hope this helps!

Answer 4

Of course, I can do that - but to rename files is a source of error as it is easy to forget to rename them back. And I want to spend my time doing science, not programming around the sloppy way Microsoft treats Office for Mac.

Answer 5

Yes I got what you mean and thank you for the patience.