Scripting Blog

A place to learn about PowerShell and share stories of automation

Hey, Scripting Guy! How Can I Prevent Office Excel From Turning My Imported Numbers Into Dates?

Hey, Scripting Guy! I have a CSV file, and every time I open that file in Office Excel my numbers get converted to dates. How can I import numbers as numbers?-- JR Hey, JR. You know, just yesterday the Scripting Guy who writes this column learned about Yelo, an interesting little company based in New York City. So what does Yelo do? Well, ...

Hey, Scripting Guy! How Can I Change the Value and Color of a Spreadsheet Cell Based on the Sum of Other Cells in That Spreadsheet?

Hey, Scripting Guy! I’m new to Excel, and I was wondering how to change the color of a cell if specific requirements are met. I have a spreadsheet that has three columns of numbers; I’d like to add the numbers in each row and, if they total 100, set the text of a fourth column to “Yes” and color that cell green. If the numbers don...

Hey, Scripting Guy! How Can I Import a Fixed-Width Data File into Microsoft Excel?

Hey, Scripting Guy! How can I import a fixed-width data file into Microsoft Excel?-- RS Hey, RS. This column is being written on a Friday morning, and so far it’s been a very weird morning at that. For one thing, it’s not raining and – if you look closely – you can even see the sun. (It’s been awhile, but we’d recognize the sun ...

Hey, Scripting Guy! How Can I Separate The Month From the Year in a Date String Like 122007?

Hey, Scripting Guy! I have a column of data in Microsoft Excel that is formatted as MYYYY (12008 = January 2008) and MMYYYY (122007 = December 2007). I need to split these values into month and year, but I can’t figure out how to do that. Any suggestions?-- DW Hey, DW. Well, it’s finally beginning to warm up here in Scripting Land, ...

Hey, Scripting Guy! How Can I Cut a Row From One Office Excel Spreadsheet and Paste That Row Into Another Spreadsheet?

Hey, Scripting Guy! How can I cut a row from an Office Excel spreadsheet and paste it into the first unused row in another Excel spreadsheet?-- NC Hey, NC. We apologize if today’s column feels a little damp; as it turns out, those of us in the Seattle area are experiencing another one of the Puget Sound’s … delightful … shifts in ...