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Saving files in a Unicode file format for international character support

In order to preserve accented and international characters in taxonomic fields, the uploaded lab result file must be saved in a Unicode file format; UTF-8, UTF-16, and UTF-32 are all acceptable. This page highlights the steps to save a Unicode-formatted tab-delimited file in the popular applications Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Access.

Microsoft Excel

To obtain a Unicode-formatted tab-delimited file from Excel, you must select "Unicode Text" (Windows) or "UTF-16 Unicode Text" (Mac) for the "Save as type"/"Format" option in the "Save As" dialog. The correct selection for each platform is shown in the screenshots below.

 

Excel Windows - Step One - Save as

Choose File --> Save As to view the dialog box

Excel Windows - Step Two - Choose Unicode Text (*.txt)

From "Save as type:" drop down, Select Unicode Text (*.txt)

Excel Windows - Step Three - Save

Select Save

 

 

Excel Mac - Step One - Save as

Choose File --> Save As to view the dialog box

Excel Mac - Step Two - Choose UTF-16 Unicode Text (*.txt)

From "Format:" drop down, Select UTF-16 Unicode Text (*.txt)

Excel Mac - Step Three - Save

Select Save

 

 

 

 

 

Microsoft Access

To obtain a Unicode-formatted tab-delimited file from Access, you must open the "Advanced" dialog in the "Export Text File" wizard. Once there, select {tab} as the "Field Delimiter" and "Unicode (UTF-8)" or just plain "Unicode" as the "Code Page". Examples are shown in the screenshots below.

Access - Step One

On the External Data toolbar Choose "Text File"

Access - Step Two

 Select "OK" to enter the Export Text Wizard dialog box

Access  - Step Three

 Select "Advanced" option to get the Export Specification dialog where you can specify to he "Code Page:" as Unicode (UTF-8)