I have a very long list, that I do not want to have to recreate from scratch, but I would like to be able to adjust the width of the columns, and possibly add some columns as well. The program that I used to create the list, arbitrarily set the spacings of the columns itself.
When I open this document in Notepad, Wordpad or EditPad, there is no provision for changing this easily. Is there a program or method that this would be easy?
Word ought to be able to do it. Not sure about whether the OpenOffice version would do it, if you're looking for something free.
You might be right, but if so, I haven't found how. I convert the document from .txt to .doc, so that I could open it in MS Word 2007, and while there is a selection to add columns, which might work if creating the document new, it doesn't recognize any columns in the opened document, and just creates a space between column 1 and 2, then wraps the third column back into column 1. If this can be done, I suspect it will be a matter of method, rather than a choice of programs.
Not sure about 2007.
I'm using Word 2010 and if you ribbon your way to Page Layout>>Columns>>More Columns you see this:
I take it the original app was hard wired with this column spacing? There's no ancillary file or .ini file with the file name and settings? Usually .txt is plain text with no formattting. The stuff has to be someplace unless it spaces every file the same hard-wired.
profdlp,
It's the same in 2007. The problem is that existing data, that has no columns other than that created by regular spacing is not recognized as columns in Word, only lines with spaces in them. When you create columns on top of that, it shoves the data around in a way that is undesirable. I suppose that if one created a new blank document, and then set the columns that are needed, and then copy/pasted the data into them, it would work, but with the length of the document at hand, that would be very tedious and impractical. Unless there is some way that one could highlight an entire column of data and then copy/paste all of it where needed. The problem with that, is that as far as I know, when you attempt to copy data in a vertical fashion such as this, it automatically highlights all of the data on either side of it. Therefore, it is easy to copy/paste a paragraph or page, but not a single column.
I was trying to help you find the columns options.
I was not sure how they worked.
Evidently not what you needed.
I don't know that it could be called hard-wired, because I don't believe that any columns actually exist. As I stated in my last post, for all practical purposes, the data is continous, line by line, but includes spaces that in effect create virtual columns. However, the header has no columns "tabs" so that they can't be slid left or right. The 3 virtual columns that do exist are crammed into only half the page width, not leaving adequate space for the edits that I would like to make.
You can copy and paste column-by-column if you use the mouse to highlight the text. It's when you do the ol' "select all" that it grabs the whole works.
It might help if we knew what program you're copying from. :)
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