22/2/22, 00:26 From external source to a spreadsheet | Coursera

From external source to a spreadsheet

Other spreadsheets

CSV files

HTML tables (in web pages)

Importing data from other spreadsheets

In a lot of cases, you might have an existing spreadsheet open and need to add additional data
from another spreadsheet.

Google Sheets

In Google Sheets, you can use the IMPORTRANGE function. It enables you to specify a range
of cells in the other spreadsheet to duplicate in the spreadsheet you are working in.

You must allow access to the spreadsheet containing the data the first time you import the data.
The URL shown below is for syntax purposes only. Don't enter it in your own
spreadsheet. Replace it with a URL to a spreadsheet you have created so you can control
access to it by clicking the Allow access button.

Refer to the Google Help Center's IMPORTRANGE page for more information about the syntax.
There is also an example of its use later in the program in Advanced functions for speedy data
cleaning.

Microsoft Excel

To import data from another spreadsheet, do the following:

Step 1: Select Data from the main menu.

Step 2: Click Get Data, select From File, and then select From Workbook.

Step 3: Browse for and select the spreadsheet file and then click Import.

Step 4: In the Navigator, select which worksheet to import.

Step 5: Click Load to import all the data in the worksheet; or click Transform Data to open the
Power Query Editor to adjust the columns and rows of data you want to import.

Step 6: If you clicked Transform Data, click Close & Load and then select one of the two
options:

Close & Load - import the data to a new worksheet

Close & Load to... - import the data to an existing worksheet

Importing data from CSV files

Google Sheets

Step 1: Open the File menu in your spreadsheet and select Import to open the Import file
window.

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Step 2: Select Upload and then select the CSV file you want to import.

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Step 3: From here, you will have a few options. For Import location, you can choose to replace
the current spreadsheet, create a new spreadsheet, insert the CSV data as a new sheet, add the
data to the current spreadsheet, or replace the data in a specific cell. The data will be inserted as
plain text only if you uncheck the Convert text to numbers, dates, and formulas checkbox, which
is the default setting. Sometimes a CSV file uses a separator like a semi-colon or even a blank
space instead of a comma. For Separator type, you can select Tab or Comma, or select Custom
to enter another character that is being used as the separator.

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Step 4: Select Import data. The data in the CSV file will be loaded into your sheet, and you can
begin using it!

Note: You can also use the IMPORTDATA function in a spreadsheet cell to import data using the
URL to a CSV file. Refer to Google Help Center's IMPORTDATA page for more information and
the syntax.

Microsoft Excel

Step 1: Open a new or existing spreadsheet

Step 2: Click Data in the main menu and select the From Text/CSV option.

Step 3: Browse for and select the CSV file and then click Import.

Step 4: From here, you will have a few options. You can change the delimiter from a comma to
another character such as a semicolon. You can also turn automatic data type detection on or
off. And, finally, you can transform your data by clicking Transform Data to open the Power
Query Editor.

Step 5: In most cases, accept the default settings in the previous step and click Load to load the
data in the CSV file to the spreadsheet. T​he data in the CSV file will be loaded into the
spreadsheet, and you can begin working with the data.

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Importing HTML tables from web pages

Importing HTML tables is a very basic method to extract or "scrape" data from public web pages.
Web scraping made easy introduces how to do this with Google Sheets or Microsoft Excel.

Google Sheets

In Google Sheets, you can use the IMPORTHTML function. It enables you to import the data
from an HTML table (or list) on a web page.

Refer to the Google Help Center's IMPORTHTML page for more information about the syntax. If
you are importing a list, replace "table" with "list" in the above example. The number 4 is the
index that refers to the order of the tables on a web page. It is like a pointer indicating which
table on the page you want to import the data from.

You can try this yourself! In blank worksheets, copy and paste each of the following
IMPORTHTML functions into cell A1 and watch what happens. You will actually be importing the
data from four different HTML tables in a Wikipedia article: Demographics of India. You can
compare your imported data with the tables in the article.

=IMPORTHTML("http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_India","table",1)

=IMPORTHTML("http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_India","table",2)
=IMPORTHTML("http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_India","table",3)

=IMPORTHTML("http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_India","table",4)

Microsoft Excel

Y​ou can import data from web pages using the From Web option:

Step 1: Open a new or existing spreadsheet.

S​tep 2: Click Data in the main menu and select the From Web option.

S​tep 3: Enter the URL and click OK.

Step 4: In the Navigator, select which table to import.

Step 5: Click Load to load the data from the table into your spreadsheet.

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