Converting text to table where multiple tabs have been used

shy_guest · Newbie Joined: 29 Jul 2009 Posts: 1

I have a file generated by Notepad which I am trying to organise using OO Writer.

It is a booklist aligned in 2 columns (title, author) like this

History of the Crusades * James Donovan
Bob Dylan * * * * * Paul Williams

where asterisks represent the tabs used to align the second column.

If I use the convert text to table using tab as my column separator, the author names appear in different columns & I have 6 columns. I just want 2 columns - one for title & one for author. Is there an easy way to do this ?

keme · Posted: Wed Jul 29, 2009 1:53 pm Post subject:

Import the text file into Calc instead (or paste special - as text). The text-to-table conversion in Calc has an option to count multiple consecutive delimiters as one, and the dialog has a preview that shows results for the current set of options selected.

After getting your list into Calc in a tidy fashion, it can be copied and pasted into Writer, if that's what you need.