[FQP]Re: [FCG] FQP Web Site

[Jim Smith]

Hi Jim,

Yes, you can import text from Adobe into Excel but it's a pain if the 
text is in columnar format as you can't select blocks of text, just 
lines.  This means that if there is a column with a bunch of scores and 
a column beside it with soapbox or what ever text, you get stuff from 
both columns.  i.e., the line extends across the whole page with no 
recognition of column boundaries.  

Once it's in Excel you can edit out the unwanted text but it's tedious 
if you're doing a lot of it.  I used this technique to find out how many 
FD call signs there were in each Section for 2001 from the ARRL FD pdf. 
 It took hours.

Well, I just this moment found a workaround for this problem which I'll 
describe below after I finish this bit.

To do it, open the pdf file in Acrobat Reader, from the menu choose the 
Text Select tool (a bit to the right of the "hand"), select the desired 
text with the mouse, and hit CTRL-C.  Now go to the Excel spreadsheet, 
put the cursor at the top left corner of where you want the data to go 
and hit CTRL-V.  Now go to the Excel Menu and choose Data|Text To 
Columns...  This will enable you to parse selected portions of the text 
into columns by using Space as the delimiter.

Workaround.  Well, it isn't really a workaround, it is the right way to 
do it.

While checking this out to make sure I got the instructions right I 
found that if, in Acrobat, you click the little downpointing triangle 
immediately to the right of the Text Selection Tool you find a Column 
Selection Tool.  Choose this.  Now you can select stuff from individual 
columns in a pdf.  So, select the items in the scores column you want 
with the mouse, hit CTRL-C, go to the place in the spreadsheet where you 
want to drop it and hit CTRL-V.  Voila, not only does it copy the stuff 
into the spreadsheet, it also puts it into columns for you without you 
having to do anything extra.  Wish I had known this earlier.

I wouldn't have discovered this if you hadn't asked the question.

Any word on how long we have to wait for the next FQP?   :-D

73 de Jim Smith    VE7FO

Jim White, K4OJ wrote:

> fwiw
>
> I like to import text into spread sheets and I have not had any luck 
> doing it with Adobe pages... perhaps there is a trick  have not 
> learned from tha masta...
>
> This can be neat to sort by whatever you want - be it callsign - score 
> -  etc... I started this way when I began my FQP goal sheet for Kevin 
> and I this year.... sorted it out by county at first then added a 
> column for order of that county on our route... from the old info I 
> knew what the old record for a given county was, etc....
>
> IF it is possible to cut and past text from an adobe page onto a ms 
> office document I haven't figured it out yet :-)
>
> Ron, really appreciate all you do keeping us looking sharp... in many 
> ways your web page is the face of the FQP, and it is a great first 
> impression!
>
> OJ
>
>
>
> Ron Wetjen wrote:
>
>> Have just completed a redesign of the Florida QSO Party Web site.  
>> It's got a new look, switched a few things around, and added a few 
>> new things as well.
>>
>> I'm not sure if I should change the FQP Records over to PDF format 
>> ... or leave them the way they were previously.  If anyone has an 
>> opinion one way or another, please let me know.  That's what I'm 
>> working on now ... and can still go either way.
>>
>> 73, Ron  WD4AHZ
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> FCG mailing list
>> FCG at kkn.net
>> http://kkn.net/mailman/listinfo/fcg
>>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> FQP mailing list
> FQP at kkn.net
> http://kkn.net/mailman/listinfo/fqp
>