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- Right-click column B and select Insert to add a new column in which to work.
- In cell B2, type “=” to indicate the start of a formula.
- Type “=trim”.
- Click cell A2 (Alabama).
- Type “)” (close parenthesis).
- Ensure your cell says “=trim(A2)” and press Enter to finish the formula.
- Copy the formula down the table.
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At this point your table has everything you need and nothing extra (except for a duplicate state name field, which will be deleted shortly), but it is always recommended to clear all formatting and programming before bringing the Excel file into ArcGIS. In addition, columns B, G, and H currently have formulas, which need to be converted to text before ArcGIS can read them properly. To get rid of all formatting and formulas, you will copy all of the data into a new blank worksheet as text.
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You should now have a clean version of your data with no special formatting. The last step is to Next you will expand the cells to ensure that all of their content is displayed. Ensure that all data is still selected from being pasted. Hover your cursor over one of the lines between any two of the column letters. Notice that your cursor changes from a single arrow pointing down to a double arrow pointing left and right.
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The width of all your columns should now be expanded to show all of the content of the cells. You
Finally, you will delete the original State column, which still contains trailing spaces.
- Right-click column 1 and select Delete.
- In the new cell A1, type "State" to fill out the missing field name.
You are finished formatting your table.
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