Differences in behavior across operating systems when pasting content copied from Excel into Next.js

Question

Differences in behavior across operating systems when pasting content copied from Excel into Next.js

Exploring the Issue

I am currently working on a project using Next.js 14 where users can paste data copied from an Excel file into a spreadsheet-like component called react-data-grid. However, I have encountered some inconsistencies when copy-pasting on MacOS and Windows. Let's delve into the example below:

https://i.sstatic.net/YDEVB.png

Objective, Outcome, and Current Strategy

In this scenario, the goal is to receive 6 cells: Rows separated by \n and columns by \r. Unfortunately, the actual results are as follows:

For MacOS: 1\r\n2\r\n3\r\n\r\n5. The empty cell at the end is missing for MacOS, while the unnecessary \r is included even though the selected area does not span over two columns.
For Windows: 1\n2\n3\n\n\n. An extra line break is added at the end and the \r characters are absent. Due to this inconsistency, the results differ significantly between operating systems:

const text = await navigator.clipboard.readText();

const rows = text.split("\n")
const columns = breaks.map(line => line.split("\r"));

// Desired output should be [["1"], ["2"], ["3"], [""], ["5"], [""]]
//
// 1. MacOS output: [["1". ""], ["2", ""], ["3", ""], ["", ""], ["5"]]
//
// 2. Windows output: ["1"], ["2"], ["3"], [""], ["5"], [""], [""]]

Although I can differentiate between the two operating systems, I am struggling to process these inconsistencies to achieve the desired format.

javascript excel windows macos next.js

Answer 1

Answer №1

I would love to know which version of Excel you used to generate these results. I did some investigating on my end in both Windows 10 and 11, and in both instances, the structure appeared very consistent.

I recreated the same spreadsheet as shown in your screenshot, and when I pressed CTRL-C, I received:

"1\n2\n3\n\n5\n"

This data can be easily split using a simple method (with nested splits for columns).

In my tests, column breaks were always separated by '\t'. I'm curious why you assumed a carriage return would be used, given its existing semantic significance. (I initially thought the difference in operating systems might be due to a Unix CRLF discrepancy, but the order is incorrect for that).

Regarding the missing final cell, it could be an optimization detail. Is it crucial for your logic to determine how many cells were copied? Because from what I can tell, copying until reaching an empty cell would result in identical data in either scenario. However, that specific detail may unfortunately be lost in translation.

Answer 2

I would love to know which version of Excel you used to generate these results. I did some investigating on my end in both Windows 10 and 11, and in both instances, the structure appeared very consistent.

I recreated the same spreadsheet as shown in your screenshot, and when I pressed CTRL-C, I received:

"1\n2\n3\n\n5\n"

This data can be easily split using a simple method (with nested splits for columns).

In my tests, column breaks were always separated by '\t'. I'm curious why you assumed a carriage return would be used, given its existing semantic significance. (I initially thought the difference in operating systems might be due to a Unix CRLF discrepancy, but the order is incorrect for that).

Regarding the missing final cell, it could be an optimization detail. Is it crucial for your logic to determine how many cells were copied? Because from what I can tell, copying until reaching an empty cell would result in identical data in either scenario. However, that specific detail may unfortunately be lost in translation.

Answer 3

Answer №2

Upon conducting thorough research, I have successfully identified the solution to effectively address the mentioned discrepancies. Here is the innovative solution that I devised.

let content = "a\t1\r\nb\t2\r\nc\t3\r\nd\t4\r\n\t5\r\nf\t\r\ng\t6";

// Removing any trailing line break(s) for compatibility with Windows
while (content.endsWith("\n")) content = content.slice(0, -2);

const lines = content.split("\n");
const finalResult = lines.map(line => line.replace("\r", "").split("\t"));

const element = document.getElementById("finalOutput");
element.innerHTML = JSON.stringify(finalResult);

<pre id="finalOutput" />

In this particular illustration, all columns now consist of an equal number of rows. The \r character has been completely eliminated as it serves no purpose. It's worth noting that the appearance of the \t character occurred in MacOS after a reboot and clearing my browser cache.

Answer 4

Upon conducting thorough research, I have successfully identified the solution to effectively address the mentioned discrepancies. Here is the innovative solution that I devised.

let content = "a\t1\r\nb\t2\r\nc\t3\r\nd\t4\r\n\t5\r\nf\t\r\ng\t6";

// Removing any trailing line break(s) for compatibility with Windows
while (content.endsWith("\n")) content = content.slice(0, -2);

const lines = content.split("\n");
const finalResult = lines.map(line => line.replace("\r", "").split("\t"));

const element = document.getElementById("finalOutput");
element.innerHTML = JSON.stringify(finalResult);

<pre id="finalOutput" />

In this particular illustration, all columns now consist of an equal number of rows. The \r character has been completely eliminated as it serves no purpose. It's worth noting that the appearance of the \t character occurred in MacOS after a reboot and clearing my browser cache.

Differences in behavior across operating systems when pasting content copied from Excel into Next.js

Exploring the Issue

Objective, Outcome, and Current Strategy

Answer №1

Answer №2

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