Last Modified Date: 19 Dec 2019
Environment
- Tableau Server
- Microsoft Excel
- Non-US locale setting for the Tableau Server user
Resolution
The following workarounds may be used to solve the problem:
Option 1
- In Microsoft Excel, select the column that contains the strings that should be numbers, and then open the Find and Replace dialog box.
- In the Find and Replace dialog box, make the following selections, and then click Replace All.
- For Find what, press ALT and type 0160, using the number keypad.
- For Replace with, leave the field blank.
The incorrectly formatted strings are replaced with numbers.
Option 2
- Download the workbook from Tableau Server.
- Open it in Tableau Desktop and export the data as crosstab (Worksheet > Export > Crosstab to Excel)
Option 3
Export the underlying data instead of the crosstab by using any one of the following options:- In browser, use Export > Data > Download All Rows as Text File
- From a command line, use tabcmd get "<name>.csv" or tabcmd export <name> --csv
Option 4
As an alternative workaround, work with your IT team to change your computer's local setting.- Open the Windows Region and Language settings.
- Change Format to match the crosstab formatting, e.g. English (South Africa).
- Select Apply.
- Open .csv exported from Tableau Server.
Cause
Export > Crosstab was intentionally designed to retain the crosstab formatting as the tool Export > Data exports the underlying data based on the Default Number Format. In certain locales, thousand separators are exported from Tableau Server as non-breaking spaces. When Microsoft Excel encounters a thousand separator in a number that is denoted by a non-breaking space, it treats that number as a string.Additional Information
Oracle International Language Environments Guide: Decimal and Thousands Separators.To voice your support for the inclusion of this feature request in a future product release, add your vote to the following Community Idea: Export data to csv for Microsoft and Tableau server.
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