Calc: Import text file with multiple spaces as delimiter?

[OldGuyInTheClub]

I’ve been asked if I can help convert a very poorly formatted text file into a table or a spreadsheet. The source document has three or four fields but the creator used multiple, random spaces to separate them vs. tabs or commas.

My plan was to split the source into three and four column sections and bring them in to Writer or Calc using, say, five or six spaces as the delimiter and then brute-force fix the problems manually.

I can’t post the file due to the nature of the contents.

What I tried:
File → Open → Select file
In import options choose:
Space as delimiter, Other with several spaces in the adjacent box, with and without Merge delimiters and Trim spaces

Result: Unfortunately, every single space causes a word to be put into a separate cell in Writer or in Calc.

Is there a way to define six spaces as a delimiter? If so, I might be able to grind through the file.

Version: 24.2.5.2 (AARCH64) / LibreOffice Community
Build ID: bffef4ea93e59bebbeaf7f431bb02b1a39ee8a59
CPU threads: 12; OS: macOS 15.1; UI render: Skia/Metal; VCL: osx
Locale: en-US (en_US.UTF-8); UI: en-US
Calc: threaded

[robleyd]

Perhaps you could open the text file in Writer and change multiple spaces to a suitable separator. Remember to save the file as plain text.

[OldGuyInTheClub]

Thank you. That helped but ultimately I had to use sed and a regexp to convert 2 or more spaces to a comma and then import that into Calc.