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rexport-to-csv

characters converted to dates when using write.csv

my data frame has a column A with strings in character form

> df$A
[1] "2-60", "2-61", "2-62", "2-63" etc

I saved the table using write.csv, but when I open it with Excel column A appears formatted as date:

Feb-60
Feb-61
Feb-62
Feb-63
etc

Anyone knows what can I do to avoid this?

I tweaked the arguments of write.csv but nothing worked, and I can't seem to find an example in Stack Overflow that helps solve this problem.

Solution

  • Another solution - a bit tedious, Use Import Text File in Excel, click thru the dialog boxes and in Step 3 of 3 of the Text Import Wizard, you will have an option of setting the column data format, use "Text" for the column that has "2-60", "2-61", "2-62", "2-63". If you use General (the default), Excel tries to be smart and converts the answer for you.