# leading/trailing zeros and symbols



## Mike-NYC1

¡Hola a todos!

Necesito descubrir como se traduce la frase siguiente en español:
"delete all leading/trailing zeros and symbols in the following cells"

El contexto es Microsoft Excel.

¡Muchissimas Gracias!


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## Marxelo

Elimine todos los ceros y símbolos que se encuentren delante o detrás (de un número o lo que sea que llene la celda) en las celdas siguiente.


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## Mike-NYC1

Marxelo said:


> Elimine todos los ceros y símbolos que se encuentren delante o detrás (de un número o lo que sea que llene la celda) en las celdas siguiente.


 
Pregunta --

Existe en español un adjetivo (es decir una palabra) que puede servir para las palabras "...que se encuentren delante o detrás.."?

Mi problema es que eso tiene que ser una comanda en un menú.

íGracias!


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## Marxelo

Mike, para ayudarte mejor deberías decir qué hay en las celdas. ¿LLevan números, palabras, etc.? Dar un poco más de contexto.


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## Marxelo

Fijate, en Excel encontré lo mismo pero para los espacios vacíos y dice:

_Quitar espacios del principio y del final de una celda_.

Quizás puedas usar la misma forma.


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## zumac

Mike-NYC1 said:


> ¡Hola a todos!
> 
> Necesito descubrir como se traduce la frase siguiente en español:
> "delete all leading/trailing zeros and symbols in the following cells"
> 
> El contexto es Microsoft Excel.
> 
> ¡Muchissimas Gracias!


Just a few thoughts:

1) Deleting trailing zeros can create erroneous numbers. Example: a number of 2000 will become a 2, which is probably not what you want. Perhaps you want to delete trailing spaces.

2) The term "symbols" is much too broad. You need to be more specific. You may not want to remove decimal points and comma separators in your numbers. Do you consider alphabetic characters as symbols? In general, if your number contain cetain symbols or alphabetic characters, there was probably a typing error for that number. Removing the bad characters will not fix the number. It needs to be re-entered.

Saludos.


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## Mike-NYC1

Marxelo said:


> Fijate, en Excel encontré lo mismo pero para los espacios vacíos y dice:
> 
> _Quitar espacios del principio y del final de una celda_.
> 
> Quizás puedas usar la misma forma.


 

Hola Marxelo -

Creo que es así!  íGracias!


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## Mike-NYC1

zumac said:


> Just a few thoughts:
> 
> 1) Deleting trailing zeros can create erroneous numbers. Example: a number of 2000 will become a 2, which is probably not what you want. Perhaps you want to delete trailing spaces.
> 
> 2) The term "symbols" is much too broad. You need to be more specific. You may not want to remove decimal points and comma separators in your numbers. Do you consider alphabetic characters as symbols? In general, if your number contain cetain symbols or alphabetic characters, there was probably a typing error for that number. Removing the bad characters will not fix the number. It needs to be re-entered.
> 
> Saludos.


 
Thanks.  In re point#1 - you're right; I should have said trailing spaces.
In re #2 -It's for a menu command.  The need for it comes about when data is dumped into Excel from an external source. Sometimes extraneous characters and symbols appear which shouldn't be there.  And also, you're right; the value of the cell entry may change which is sometimes what the user needs.  Excel even has a formula =ABS() which does this; it removes symbols (such as currency symbols and minus signs) which precede a numerical value.   My concern is to find the best (and most concise) equivalent of leading/trailing.

Do you think I can possibly say:
"símbolos (o espacios) de l'izquierda" OR "...de la derecha?"

Thanks so much!


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## zumac

I think "símbolos (o espacios) de la izquierda o de la derecha" sounds good. At least it is clear and easily understood.

There might be a comparable term in Spanish for leading and trailing, but I've never heard it. I was thinking of "anterior" and "posterior", but somehow that doesn't sound right for your context.

Saludos.


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## zumac

Mike-NYC1 said:


> ....
> In re #2 -It's for a menu command. The need for it comes about when data is dumped into Excel from an external source. Sometimes extraneous characters and symbols appear which shouldn't be there. And also, you're right; the value of the cell entry may change which is sometimes what the user needs. Excel even has a formula =ABS() which does this; it removes symbols (such as currency symbols and minus signs) which precede a numerical value.
> ....
> Thanks so much!


I read your post again, and I have some comments.
",,, dumped inti Excel from an external source."
The old IT phrase certainly applies here: "Garbage in, garbage out." 

All input data should pass through one of the following:

1) Invalid data should be detected and rejected by the original program or process which is dumping the data into Excel.

2) If the above is not an option, then you need to validate the data within Excel. I don't use Excel, but I understand that newer versions allow you to do some programming in Visual Basic. You should write a VB routine to validate the data dumped into Excel. This is not a difficult routine to write for validating numbers.

I wouldn't use commands or formulas like (ABS). The intent of ABS is to get the absolute value of a number. If the number was negative or had some other symbols in front, the number should be treated as invalid. The ABS will just disguise it. 

Except for the removal of leading zeros and leading/trailing blanks, all other numbers which seem to be able to be fixed, are invalid. Your fix may have made the wrong assumption.

If any invalid numbers were encountered by the VB routine, they should be printed out so that the user can make manual corrections to the corresponding cells, and re-run the Excel again until no errors are shown.

This is the way to do 100% validation correctly. There are no easy alternatives.

Saludos.


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## Mike-NYC1

zumac said:


> I read your post again, and I have some comments.
> ",,, dumped inti Excel from an external source."
> The old IT phrase certainly applies here: "Garbage in, garbage out."
> 
> All input data should pass through one of the following:
> 
> 1) Invalid data should be detected and rejected by the original program or process which is dumping the data into Excel.
> 
> 2) If the above is not an option, then you need to validate the data within Excel. I don't use Excel, but I understand that newer versions allow you to do some programming in Visual Basic. You should write a VB routine to validate the data dumped into Excel. This is not a difficult routine to write for validating numbers.
> 
> I wouldn't use commands or formulas like (ABS). The intent of ABS is to get the absolute value of a number. If the number was negative or had some other symbols in front, the number should be treated as invalid. The ABS will just disguise it.
> 
> Except for the removal of leading zeros and leading/trailing blanks, all other numbers which seem to be able to be fixed, are invalid. Your fix may have made the wrong assumption.
> 
> If any invalid numbers were encountered by the VB routine, they should be printed out so that the user can make manual corrections to the corresponding cells, and re-run the Excel again until no errors are shown.
> 
> This is the way to do 100% validation correctly. There are no easy alternatives.
> 
> Saludos.


 
Thanks for the programming info.  I have nothing to do with that end of this.  I just need translation help since my Spanish is less than idea!

Thanks again for the effort you have taken to explain.

Mike


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## zumac

Mike-NYC1 said:


> Thanks for the programming info. I have nothing to do with that end of this. I just need translation help since my Spanish is less than idea!
> 
> Thanks again for the effort you have taken to explain.
> 
> Mike


Hi Mike,

Your thanks are well appreciated.

I can understand that your main responsibility with the Excel sheet is for translation. However, you have voiced certain technical issues regarding the input data and Excel, which makes you involved to a certain degree.

In my opinion, you can't just focus on the translation, and ignore the pitfalls of invalid data which we have been talking about. I suggest that you notify the programming staff with your concerns, in a diplomatic manner. In this way, you'll be covered, and they won't be able to say: "Hey Mike, if you encountered these problems, why didn't you let us know?"

Saludos.


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## Mike-NYC1

Hi there -

Thanks again for your concerns.  I don't work with a programming team nor do I currently see the errors I mentioned.  It is a historical reality that is being addressed by the programmer for whom I am translating. I was attempting to give the context for the phrase I needed help translating.

Your technical knowlege is super!

Mike


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## zumac

Mike-NYC1 said:


> Hi there -
> 
> Thanks again for your concerns. I don't work with a programming team nor do I currently see the errors I mentioned. It is a historical reality that is being addressed by the programmer for whom I am translating. I was attempting to give the context for the phrase I needed help translating.
> 
> Your technical knowlege is super!
> 
> Mike


Thanks again, Mike. I'm flattered.

Saludos.


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