[chirp_users] Chirp won't read CSV files correctly

[Chris Nordstrom]

Okay -- here's the thing -- to be useful, computers and software should 
always make things easier for us humans, not the other way around.  I've 
been doing this for a long time with various programming applications 
(such as RT Systems or FTBasicMMO and others) to program radios and I 
have ALWAYS been able to use Excel CSV files and NEVER had as much 
trouble with any software as I've had with Chirp--the CSV files just 
import and apparently the programming software ignores what it doesn't 
like.

Now I am experimenting with Chirp because I did not want to put out 
another $45 bucks to RT Systems,  that's it -- I'm a cheapskate.  
Granted, Chirp is WAY more friendly and useful than the standard Wouxun 
programming software.

I already have numerous CSV files with all the repeater data that I need 
for various applications, some local, some in cities where I travel and 
I wanted to use this, not start from scratch entering data one line at a 
time into another programming tool.  It's just easier to keep everything 
in one format -- essentially a database -- that I can carve up and use 
any way I want.

So, it's been a steep learning curve for me, and I did not mean to 
ruffle so many feathers, but I think I'm up to speed now and Chirp is 
now another tool in the toolbox...so to speak.

Regards, Chris W7CFN



On 2/27/2016 9:32 PM, Tom Hayward wrote:
> On Sat, Feb 27, 2016 at 7:52 PM, Chris Nordstrom <cfnordstrom at gmail.com> wrote:
>> Right, well as I've said, when you create generic CSV file from Chirp and go
>> look at it, it still contains all the empty fields and the extra commas at
>> the end of the row.  So....
> The "extra" commas are a critical, required part of the Chirp CSV format.
>
> I'm having a hard time understanding why you need Excel in the first
> place. It sounds like you are a relatively new user of Chirp, yet
> using third party software to edit Chirp files is arguably one of the
> most advanced things you can do with Chirp. As you've found, it
> requires understanding the specific details of the file formats and
> any errors that might be introduced by specific third party editors. A
> lot of effort has been put into the built-in Chirp editor. It supports
> copy, paste, inserting rows, removing rows, populating safe default
> values, automatic repeater offsets for various band plans around the
> world, bulk row editing (i.e., setting power level to high on 20
> channels at once). What is missing from Chirp that drove you to an
> external editor? I'm not implying there are no valid uses of external
> editors--indeed, this is one of the benefits of using CSV
> encoding--but most of the time it just makes things more difficult.
>
> Tom KD7LXL
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