To Merge Rows in a CSV File
Step 1: Open your file with a dedicated CSV Editor - Rons Data Edit
First things first, make sure you use the correct application to edit your CSV files; you can download Rons Data Edit, for free, right here: Download.
Your CSV file can be opened using the 'Open Document' File menu, or 'Open Document' link on the Start Page of the application.
Step 2: Open the Toolbox and go to the 'Merge Rows' Tool
In the ribbon bar, at the top of the main window, go to the 'Rows' tab, and click on the 'Row Tools' button. This action opens the 'Row Tool' pannel. From the available tools displayed, select 'Merge Rows'.
Step 3: Set the appropriate 'Merge Rows' options
See below for the listing of the settings and their explanation.
In this example above (see pictures), the user would like to merge rows in order to group the data per states. The goal is to group the data and to create one row per state.
Therefore, the "State" column has been highlighted in "Source Column" and transfered to the "Selected Column" area by clicking on the ">" arrow. The "Merge Separator" has been selected in this case as "Line Break" and finally this action is requested for the "Whole Document".
Please note that the colour of the fonts of the rows that contain multiple lines will be blue. To see more than one line, the viewing can be changed to "Multi Line" under the "View" tab in the ribbon bar.
Step 4: Apply the changes
Click the 'Merge Rows' button to apply the changes.
Step 5: Save the File
When satisfied with the changes, make sure to save the document by clicking on the 'Save' button the top left corner of the main window or by clicking the 'Save' button on the 'Home' tab of the ribbon bar.
Note: any action can easily be reverted by clicking on the 'Undo' button on the menu on the top left corner of the main window.
The Merge Rows Tool Settings
Description |
Options |
Explanation |
Tools Available | Several tools are displayed. 'Merge Rows' should be selected. | |
Source Columns | In the 'Source Colums' section all the columns of the document are listed and can be selected and transfered by clicking on the arrows to the next section ('Selected Columns'). | |
Selected Columns |
The 'Selected Columns' section displays the columns that are going to be merged together. The two Up and Down arrows on the left side allow to move the columns and give accordingly the proper merging order of the data. |
|
Options | ||
Merge Separator |
Specific |
If checked the cell text for any rows merged will be separated by the text in the textbox below (for example a comma, a space, a dash etc.). |
Tab |
If checked the cell text for any rows merged will be separated by a Tab. |
|
Line Break |
If checked the cell text for any rows merged will be separated by a line break. Note: that under the 'Single Line' viewing mode only one line will be displayed but the blue font colour indicates that there are more lines in the cell. To be able to see all the lines change the View mode to 'Multi Line' under the View tab in the ribbon bar. |
|
Apply to | ||
Whole Document |
Changes will be applied to the entirety of the current document. |
|
Selection |
Changes will be applied to the selected cells in the current document. |
|
Match Case | If checked the case of the text will be used when comparing rows, otherwise case will be ignored. | |
Ignore space and symbols | If checked non-text characters will be ignored when comparing rows. |
Finally
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