Parse tab separated text file in Google Sheets

Question

I have a txt file available on the web which contains tab separated values (TSV/CSV) like this:

Product_IdtabColortabPricetabQuantity
Item1        tabRed  tab$5.2 tab5
Item2        tabBlue tab$7.5 tab10

I imported the txt file into a Google Spreadsheet using the IMPORTDATA(url) formula. The problem is that now I need to split the text to columns. I tried the following formulas without success:

Split(A1,"\t")
Split(A1,"    ")
Split(A1,"<tab>")

another thing I tried is to to use the Substitute function, but I just can't figure out how to match the Tab character in Google Spreadsheets?

Answer 1

Pages strips tabs by default when you paste text using a standard paste. Tab delimited data can be pasted and automatically parsed using:

Right Click -> Paste special -> Paste values only

Answer 2

IMPORTDATA(url) seems to handle tabs automatically, as others have mentioned before, if the URL ends in ".tsv".

I had trouble trying to import a file from Dropbox even though the file was named "something.tsv", because the url was

"https://www.dropbox.com/s/xxxxxxx/something.tsv?dl=1"

I managed to solve the problem by adding a dummy query parameter to the url:

"https://www.dropbox.com/s/xxxxxxx/something.tsv?dl=1&x=.tsv"

Answer 3

NOTE: I know this question was asked back in 2014 and I am answering this question some 5 years later. I am posting the answer here in hopes that someone else who googles their way here will be saved the headache and can be helped by how I devised a solution.

SUMMARY OF THE ISSUE: By default the IMPORTDATA() function will properly process a tab-delimited file only if the file name ends with the extension .TSV

UPDATE Nov 14, 2019: In a comment below, Poul shared that he has found an undocumented parameter for the IMPORTDATA() function by which you can specify the delimiter to split the data. As of writing this, the official documentation makes no reference to this delimiter.

In effect the documentation should look something like the following:

IMPORTDATA("url","delimiter")

So, if you wanted to force a file to be split on the TAB character, it would look something like

IMPORTDATA("url","\t")

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PRIOR ANSWER:

UPDATE: I am leaving my original answer just in case it might be helpful if the answer above, which includes undocumented functionality, does not continue to work.

ORIGINAL ANSWER: After seemingly countless attempts, I figured out how to coax Google Sheets into importing a tab-delimited file regardless of the extension.

For those looking for the quick and dirty answer, copy the following into a cell of a Google Sheet to give it a try:

=ARRAYFORMULA(IFERROR(SPLIT(IMPORTDATA("https://iso639-3.sil.org/sites/iso639-3/files/downloads/iso-639-3_Latin1.tab"),CHAR(9),FALSE,FALSE)))

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For those that want to know a bit more, I will try to explain how each of the nested functions are helping to create the final solution:

=ARRAYFORMULA( IFERROR( SPLIT( IMPORTDATA(URL-HERE) ,CHAR(9),FALSE,FALSE) ) )

IMPORTDATA() - the primary function that pulls in the data file from the web

SPLIT - split the row by tab, note the use of char(09) to generate the tab character; also note the use of FALSE for the last parameter which was required in my case to ensure empty cells were not collapsed together

IFERROR - used to catch situations where an import might fail, the error will be trapped and not returned to the spreadsheet

ARRAYFORMULA - this function ensures that every line in the file is parsed; without this, only the first line of the file would be returned to the spreadsheet

Answer 4

It turns out that IMPORTDATA(url) can import a tab separated file, but it expects the file name to have the .tsv extension. This is inconsistent with Excel, where a tab-separated export results in *.txt.

If you can ensure that you use a .tsv extension, then your problem is solved.

You can also use the Sheets UI to import the file (into a new Spreadsheet). Select File > Import..., then Upload > Select a file from your computer. When the file selection dialog opens, paste the URL into the file name field, and click Open. The file will be downloaded to your PC then uploaded to Drive, through the Import dialog that will let you choose the delimiter.

(Validated on Windows 8.1 with Chrome; I don't know how this will behave on other OSes or browsers.)

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Edit: See this gist.

 importFromCSV(string fileName, string sheetName)

Populates a sheet with contents read from a CSV file located in the user's GDrive. If either parameter is not provided, the function will open inputBoxes to obtain them interactively.

Automatically detects tab or comma delimited input.

Answer 5

I had luck using split() and indicating only a single space as the delimiter, even though the data i pasted in had tabs separating each "column": =SPLIT(A1, " ", True) where A1 had data separated by 1 or more spaces. It seems that pasting in TSV data results in conversion from tabs to spaces.

Answer 6

This could be done in two steps leveraging the fact that tab is essentially multiple spaces.

Steps are as follows:

1. Select the columns which have tab separated data. Then trim tab to single space by using Data -> Data cleanup -> Trim whitespaces.
2. Now usual Data -> Split text to columns should work out of the box or after selecting space as separator.