This is weird. Copying some data from a web page into Excel 2003. I’ve got a few cells with a checkmark in the upper right corner of the cell. I’ve tried the old trick of copying the text into Notepad. Edit, Clear, All (formats, contents, comments) for the cell. Then pasting back from Notepad. That checkmark just sits there mocking me.
The Notepad, Edit,Clear ALL, paste from Notepad trick cleared out some cells with hyperlinks in them.
I can’t figure out what the checkmark is there for or why Edit, Clear, ALL won’t get rid of it.
As a last desperate resort I even tried deleting the row. The stinking checkmark just pops down to the next row. :smack:
What is this checkmark thing that won’t die? My mouse pointer says it’s a javascript:void
Is there a command that will purge and sanitize the entire spreadsheet of any Java objects? I don’t want anything in this spreadsheet but data. No hyperlinks, no java, no weird web formatting at all. Just ASCII text, numbers and dates.
What you really want to do is import the web data into Excel, instead of copying and pasting. Choose Data/From web, then enter the URL and select the elements you want. There are options you can choose for what formatting you want–you want none.
This also applies to your other question, on importing from Amazon for your mother.
Save as .CSV, reopen in Excel and resave as .XLS(X)? I think I came across this before, sorry it’s been awhile but try that. In my case, “Data/From Web” is new to me, but it wouldn’t work in my case as the URL was not unique.
Also try the various “Paste Special” options.
I’ll try the comma delimited export (csv). Then import back into a new spreadsheet. That should work because the entire process is text based. Kind of a brute force approach but I’ll take it.
I vaguely recall issues with Word/Excel executing malicious Java, VB scripts as malware. There were security patches for Office 2000. I remember applying them about 10 years ago on all the staff pc’s at my office. I’m using Office 2003 and it seems like there would be a simple way to turn off any scripts in a worksheet.
Disgscen, thanks for the tip on importing from the web. “Data/From Web” is a new Excel feature I need to learn. I may have a situation at work that would be needed. It’s always good to learn new stuff and be ready.
Heres the security feature for Excel 2003. Disables startup scripts.
http://computer.financialexpress.com/20060731/technology04.shtml
Doesn’t really help my problem. But its worth passing on. That security feature works a little differently in newer versions of Office.
Finally got time time to try saving as a comma delimited text file. That did the trick. The comma delimited file looks perfect in Notepad and it can be imported back into a new Excel sheet or Access.
Those Java objects are stubborn to clean off. I checked and the .csv spreadsheet that got created when I did the save as csv, still had those java:null objects. Only the comma delimited text file was clean.
I had a column of Action Buttons that got copied from Amazon’s page. Deleting that column didn’t get rid of those action buttons. I even tried selecting 7 adjacent columns and deleting that block. Those action buttons were still there. It’s like those java objects aren’t even in the cells. They seem to be just sitting on top of them.
That web crap just ruins a spreadsheet in a hurry. I’m glad saving as a comma delimted text file worked.
Awesome! That was a random guess, although maybe tempered with a subconscious memory of what I did.
My mess was from exporting spreadsheets from an older version of WebCT/Blackboard.
Thanks again thelurkinghorror.
Just finished importing the csv text file into Access and defining the fields. Almost done except for writing the report. I do all my reporting with Crystal Reports. Quick and easy.