Different XLS save formats

[Joseph G. Kunkel]

I have used the ImageJ Measure feature for recording the outlines of structures that appear in the results window and can be saved by the Save option which says it is saving in the XLS format.  Of course I discovered that it actually is not the XLS format but rther it is tab delimited but you can read it into a normal text editor and quickly turn it into a CSV file by replacing all tabs with commas.  This was quite pleasing to me and I use it all the time.

Recently I had the need to use the line tool to plot the line results and also could save the file which also saved to an XLS file.  But in this option the XLS file (although a simple two column table) was actually saved as an XLS file that could not be read and edited by a simple text editor but needed to be read into EXCEL or NeoOffice spreadsheet and then saves as a CSV.  However, both EXCEL and NeoOffice by default save their CSV files as tab delimited. Thankfully, NeoOffice has a check box that allows you to actually choose the correct comma and blank delimeters for the header labels.

I am annoyed that ImageJ line plot option uses the formal XLS format rather than the simpler text format that would please everyone, me included.

Is there a simpler solution that would save me the extra steps of transforming the tab delimited XLS format into the CSV format that I use as input into other software?

Joe Kunkel

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[Gabriel Landini]

On Saturday 25 Jun 2016 14:39:32 Joseph G. Kunkel wrote:

> Recently I had the need to use the line tool to plot the line results and
> also could save the file which also saved to an XLS file.  But in this
> option the XLS file (although a simple two column table) was actually saved
> as an XLS file that could not be read and edited by a simple text editor
> but needed to be read into EXCEL or NeoOffice spreadsheet and then saves as
> a CSV.  However, both EXCEL and NeoOffice by default save their CSV files
> as tab delimited. Thankfully, NeoOffice has a check box that allows you to
> actually choose the correct comma and blank delimeters for the header
> labels.
>
> I am annoyed that ImageJ line plot option uses the formal XLS format rather
> than the simpler text format that would please everyone, me included.

Very odd, IJ does not save in native XLS format. The line plot (I just tried
it) from both the "Save..." and the "List>File>Save As" are saved as a tab-
delimited files.
Comma-delimited is maybe not a good idea because in many countries the "," is
used as a decimal indicator: 0.5 and 0,5 are potentially the same number, but
would be parsed differently depending on how you read it.

If you have a file saved in this unreadable format, please post it here so we
can investigate.

If you want to change the .xls extension (that in windows it dictates which
program will open it), have a look in the Edit>Options>Input/Output and choose
the string you prefer.
Hope it helps
Cheers

Gabriel

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