Commas in course titles messing with CSV export

Question

I am attempting to export course data to an SFTP folder (yes, I have this handy resource) and I’ve come across an issue. Some of our course names include commas (e.g., Unfair, Deceptive, Abusive Acts or Practices; it’s financial compliance training). When I use the Automation App to export my files, I selected using commas as the separator. This created a file that had properly named columns but for the row with the course with commas in the name, the commas caused the data to spill over into additional columns so the correct data wasn’t in the right places

So instead, I changed the Automation App settings so that the export wasn’t using commas as separators. Instead, we used the pipe ('|') character. This time, the headers all appeared in Column A but the commas in the name of the course still caused difficulty:

The same thing happened when I tried to use the semicolon (“;”) as separator (with semicolons where you see pipes above).

My IT colleagues would like to use this data to populate fields in another system. We are not interested in using Docebo Connector if we don’t have to.

Does anyone have a suggestion for how I can get the data to export in a CSV file but with the correct data in the correct columns?

Thank you!

Best answer by KMallette

Hi, @JKolodner Your | should be ok for the export. The problem is likely happening on the “import”. If you are trying to open in Excel, don’t do File/Open, but File/Import (or whatever the Import function is called), and then set your delimiter as “other” and use the |.

That MIGHT get you moving forward. You also might try exporting as text, or getting rid of the commas in the titles. You’re bucking up against a “Windows thingy” that’s been in place for almost 40 years. In other words, the systems don’t bend, we do. 🤪

KMallette · Accepted Answer

Hi, ​@JKolodnerYour | should be ok for the export. The problem is likely happening on the “import”. If you are trying to open in Excel, don’t do File/Open, but File/Import (or whatever the Import function is called), and then set your delimiter as “other” and use the |.That MIGHT get you moving forward. You also might try exporting as text, or getting rid of the commas in the titles. You’re bucking up against a “Windows thingy” that’s been in place for almost 40 years. In other words, the systems don’t bend, we do. 🤪

JKolodner · Answer

Thanks ​@KMallette- This makes sense. I will ask my IT folks to try to open it in a non-Excel environment and make sure the data works for them.

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