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Counting words in an Excel file
Thread poster: Sandra Petch
Sandra Petch
Sandra Petch
Local time: 13:03
French to English
+ ...
Feb 3, 2006

Hi! Is it possible to count the number of words in an Excel doc in the same way they can be counted in a Word doc. I can't see any similar "stats" function. Or is cut and paste into Word the only option? I'd appreciate any pointers.
Thanks in advance.


 
Jerzy Czopik
Jerzy Czopik  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 13:03
Member (2003)
Polish to German
+ ...
Excel does not provide the same statistik funkction as Word does Feb 3, 2006

since Excel is not designed to handle text.
It is a "calculation sheet", not a "word processor".
To count words in Excel you can either copy and paste into Word (bear in mind, that Word does not count exactly and you may encounter big trouble, as this program tends to count the same file very differently on different computers and the differencies may be quite high) or use a text counter, such as Practicount or Anycount, or you can analyse it with Trados.

Regards
J
... See more
since Excel is not designed to handle text.
It is a "calculation sheet", not a "word processor".
To count words in Excel you can either copy and paste into Word (bear in mind, that Word does not count exactly and you may encounter big trouble, as this program tends to count the same file very differently on different computers and the differencies may be quite high) or use a text counter, such as Practicount or Anycount, or you can analyse it with Trados.

Regards
Jerzy
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Sandra Petch
Sandra Petch
Local time: 13:03
French to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Thanks Jerzy Feb 3, 2006

Seems like copy and paste is my only solution.
The client has used Excel to create a timeline, each event occupying a cell. I'm thinking a Word table would have done the job as well!
Thanks again.
Sandra


 
Sandra Petch
Sandra Petch
Local time: 13:03
French to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
ps word counting software Feb 3, 2006

Which of Practicount or Anycount would you recommend?

 
Antoní­n Otáhal
Antoní­n Otáhal
Local time: 13:03
Member (2005)
English to Czech
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One more option Feb 3, 2006

You can "Save as" Text (tab delimited) (and then perhaps delete all tabs in the resutling txt file, if you do not feel like robbing your customer). Disadvantage: you have to export each sheet in your workbook extra.

For exacting customers who are careful about their money (nearly all are), this txt export, or a commercial counting soltuion like Practicount, is better since it enables you to be objective. And you should agree with your customer on whether numerals are counted, etc.... See more
You can "Save as" Text (tab delimited) (and then perhaps delete all tabs in the resutling txt file, if you do not feel like robbing your customer). Disadvantage: you have to export each sheet in your workbook extra.

For exacting customers who are careful about their money (nearly all are), this txt export, or a commercial counting soltuion like Practicount, is better since it enables you to be objective. And you should agree with your customer on whether numerals are counted, etc.

Antonin
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Jerzy Czopik
Jerzy Czopik  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 13:03
Member (2003)
Polish to German
+ ...
I cannot recommend any Feb 3, 2006

because I only use Anycount, so I have no comparison at all.

And you are absolutely right: any text table can be made better using Word, as it is a word processor, as already said.
According to Microsoft Knowledge Base (or possibly I found these hints somwhere else, but they come from Microsoft):

  • if you want to have a good looking table, containing text, use Word
  • if you need a table with calculati... See more
because I only use Anycount, so I have no comparison at all.

And you are absolutely right: any text table can be made better using Word, as it is a word processor, as already said.
According to Microsoft Knowledge Base (or possibly I found these hints somwhere else, but they come from Microsoft):

  • if you want to have a good looking table, containing text, use Word
  • if you need a table with calculation or variables, use Excel


Regards
Jerzy

PS
This is not the exact wording or M$, but only what I remember from what I read.
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Sandra Petch
Sandra Petch
Local time: 13:03
French to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Good alternative Feb 3, 2006

Antoní­n Otáhal wrote:

You can "Save as" Text (tab delimited) (and then perhaps delete all tabs in the resutling txt file, if you do not feel like robbing your customer). Disadvantage: you have to export each sheet in your workbook extra.


Antonin


Thanks Antonin, I'll try this method too.


 
Sandra Petch
Sandra Petch
Local time: 13:03
French to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Practicount trial Feb 3, 2006

I found a website www.01net.com where I can download a 15-day trial of Practicount. I'll give it a try. Thanks for the hint!

 
Nicole Maina
Nicole Maina  Identity Verified
Italy
Local time: 13:03
German to Italian
+ ...
anycount trial Feb 3, 2006

I have downloaded anycount for free and tried it for 30 days, then I bought it, but I have never used any other software, so I do not have any terms of comparison. anyway have a look at:

http://www.anycount.com/

hth!
nicole


 
Cilian O'Tuama
Cilian O'Tuama  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 13:03
German to English
+ ...
Not really, but Feb 4, 2006

Sandra Petch wrote:
Is it possible to count the number of words in an Excel doc ...?


Not at one fell swoop. What is possible is to count the number of characters, though not in a complete file, just in one cell at a time.

Depending on the layout and size of the document, this feature can also be useful. A simple example: if all of the text is in one cell (cell A1), you can enter the count formula
=LENGTH(A1)
in cell B1. That delivers the number of characters.

If all the text is in one column, you can proceed down through the rows in this way. Then just add up all the numbers with the formula
=SUM(B1:Bx)
'x' being the row number of the bottom entry.

There are limitations though! Can prove unpracticable.

(LENGTH / SUM are the magic words in the English version, LÄNGE / SUMME in German, don't know any others)


 
Sandra Petch
Sandra Petch
Local time: 13:03
French to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Anycount Feb 6, 2006

Nicole Maina wrote:

I have downloaded anycount for free and tried it for 30 days, then I bought it, but I have never used any other software, so I do not have any terms of comparison. anyway have a look at:

http://www.anycount.com/

hth!
nicole


Thanks a lot Nicole, I'll try both.
Have a good week.


 
Sandra Petch
Sandra Petch
Local time: 13:03
French to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Counting characters Feb 6, 2006

Cilian O'Tuama wrote:


Not at one fell swoop. What is possible is to count the number of characters, though not in a complete file, just in one cell at a time.



Thanks Cilian, that's a handy trick to know.


 
Sandra Petch
Sandra Petch
Local time: 13:03
French to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Thanks everyone Feb 6, 2006

Well I did the wordcount for one file the hard way, copying and pasting column by column into a Word document then removing the numbers and dates manually...

For the second file I used a trial copy of anycount which is incredibly user-friendly. I think I will be happy to invest 29 euros!

Thanks to everyone for such valuable input!
Best regards


 
Rolf Kern
Rolf Kern  Identity Verified
Switzerland
Local time: 13:03
English to German
+ ...
In memoriam
Use TextCount Feb 7, 2006

Sandra Petch wrote:

Hi! Is it possible to count the number of words in an Excel doc in the same way they can be counted in a Word doc. I can't see any similar "stats" function. Or is cut and paste into Word the only option? I'd appreciate any pointers.
Thanks in advance.


I use TextCount and am very satisfied.
Visit www.textcount.com

Good luck!
Rolf Kern


 
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Counting words in an Excel file






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