[Solved] Calc cell phone numbers

[Hagar Delest]

I thought I had set the cell format correctly for phone numbers, doing User Defined and (000) 000-0000. But after I type in the number and leave the cell, it shows only ###. When I return to the cell and press F2, the number I typed in shows up--straight numbers without the (), space, or dash. How can I have the formatted number appear in the cell?

[Villeroy]

Cell phone numbers are no numbers at all. Enter them as text. Apply number format "@" of category "Text" to the cells in question before you enter those "numbers".

[RusselB]

Sounds like your column isn't wide enough.
You can put the mouse on the row with the column letters, positioning it between the column you want to resize and the one to the right.
With the mouse in this position, press & hold the left mouse button, then drag the mouse to the right.

Alternatively, you can highlight the column, then right click in the column and select Optimum Column Width

[wallroad]

Thanks for both of your replies, but neither helps me. Let me restate: I want a row that consists of phone numbers. I want to type in the numbers like this: 6666661234. Then I want the program to format it for me so that they appear on the spreadsheet like this: (666) 666-1234. That is, I want OpenOffice to insert the parentheses, the spaces, and the dash. Maybe that is not possible with OpenOffice.

[RusselB]

Highlight the cell(s)/row(s)/column(s) that you want formatted in that manner.
Right click and select Format Cells
Under the Numbers tab, select User-Defined and enter

Code: Select all   Expand viewCollapse view

(###) ###-####

[Villeroy]

phonenum.ods

Number format (000)000-0000 vs (###)###-####

(9.37 KiB) Downloaded 226 times

phonenum.odb

Input form with pattern control for text (000)000-0000

(11.2 KiB) Downloaded 82 times

[wallroad]

Russell! YES! Thank you very much! It would have been nice if OpenOffice would have simply provided the phone format as an option in the drop-down list.

[mgroenescheij]

That format is only valid in the US

[BadBoyBill]

Highlight the cell(s)/row(s)/column(s) that you want formatted in that manner.
Right click and select Format Cells
Under the Numbers tab, select User-Defined and enter

Code: Select all   Expand viewCollapse view

(###) ###-####

I have a huge data base where people entered their phone numbers and there were no parameters so some are 123-456-7890, some are (123) 456-7890, some are 123 456 7890 and some are all various combinations including 123/456-7890. Is there any way to change them all to (123) 456-7890?

[RusselB]

Not easily, as you have a lot of different scenarios presented, and I don't know if all of the possibilities are mentioned in your post.
In theory, you're best bet is to go along the length of the entry, and copy each digit found to another cell, with that cell already formatted as you want.
I can't think of a way to do this in Calc.

[acknak]

Select the cells (or column) you want to change

Edit > Find & Replace
Search for: ^\D*(\d{3})\D+(\d{3})\D+(\d{4})\D*$
Replace with: ($1) $2-$3
Match case: YES
Options/Regular expressions: ON
Options/Current selection only: ON

Click "Replace All"

This works with all your examples; it should cover most other cases as well.

[BadBoyBill]

Select the cells (or column) you want to change

Edit > Find & Replace
Search for: ^\D*(\d{3})\D+(\d{3})\D+(\d{4})\D*$
Replace with: ($1) $2-$3
Match case: YES
Options/Regular expressions: ON
Options/Current selection only: ON

Click "Replace All"

This works with all your examples; it should cover most other cases as well.

Thank-you!!!

[AxterMaisonave]

For find and replace, I recommend using a more improved regex string.
The below version will catch and find more phone formats, to include whole number (1234567890) and dotted format (123.456.7890).
Edit > Find & Replace
Search for: \(*(\d{3})\)*\s*\-*(\d{3})\s*\-*(\d{4})
Replace with: ($1) $2-$3

Here are some additional example replacement formats:
Replace with: $1-$2-$3
Replace with: $1.$2.$3
Replace with: ($1)$2-$3

[auntiebk]

Thank you RusselB for cell input format for phone numbers. Much appreciated.