What is the recommended way to choose the delimiter used for CSV export with LO Calc?
My problem is that my spreadsheet is being saved with tab delimiters while my downstream program expects comma-delimiters. This seems to have somehow become the default for my file, which is non-intuitive behavior for a “comma separated file”. This may be a bug. I am using build 4.1.4.2-4.fc19 on Fedora.
Here’s the behavior that I’ve identified, but they do not suggest a straight-forward way of handling this issue:
First, here’s the official description:
https://help.libreoffice.org/Calc/Importing_and_Exporting_CSV_Files
In my experience, the first time I save a file as CSV, I am given the “Export Text File” prompt, and I can select whatever delimiter I want (confirmed with gEdit). However, if I open the file to edit it, I do not see that prompt the next time that I save. For subsequent saves, tabs are used, even if I had used commas originally.
I think this may be connected to the “Text Import” dialog choices. If I import the text with multiple delimiters selected, then the next time it is saved with tabs. However, if I deselect the non-comma delimiters, then it saves with comma delimiters. My impression is that the default is to import with comma, tabs, and semicolons as delimiters.
If I want to specify the delimiters (again), I’ve found that I can select the “Edit Filter Settings” checkbox on the save dialog. After clicking OK and then confirming that I do really want to save the file with the selected name and format, the “Export Text File” prompt will show up again. My guess is that this is the recommended way to select the delimiter, though I found this to be non-intuitive and clumsy.
Is there a better (more convenient) way? Is this a bug?
thanks in advance.