Avoid truncated ISBNs

Owned by Tim Peterson
Last updated: Dec 26, 2023
1 min read

Before exporting data from Excel, confirm that the ISBN data is formatted properly.

Properly formatted ISBNs:

Improperly formatted ISBNs:

In the case of the improperly formatted ISBNs, Excel thinks the values are very large numbers. So, it formats them in scientific notation (e.g., 9.78E+12). Unfortunately, when you export this data from Excel to CSV file, the values are truncated, resulting in something like "9780000000000". Obviously, this will cause problems in TitleLeaf.

To remedy the situation, you must format the ISBN columns before exporting.

  1. Select the appropriate columns:

  2. Change the format using the Format menu in the toolbar:

    Note: The correct format selection depends on your version of Excel and the type of computer that you use. We've found the Special selection to work for our computer setup.

  3. Confirm the results:

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