In the example you’re talking about the scientists were using it as a database. A Microsoft executive even came out and told them that you shouldn’t use it as a database.
Occasionally there’s even articles in scientific journals explaining why you shouldn’t use Excel as a database and suggesting alternatives. But for some reason people still turn to their favourite not database database software.
Hey. Look at that column of dates you got. Would be a shame if they got converted to random numbers.
Hey that’s a cool sequence of genes. Would be a shame if we converted a few into date format when you try to save as .csv
Sure but at the same time they shouldn’t be using Excel as a database.
Nobody does that?
In the example you’re talking about the scientists were using it as a database. A Microsoft executive even came out and told them that you shouldn’t use it as a database.
Occasionally there’s even articles in scientific journals explaining why you shouldn’t use Excel as a database and suggesting alternatives. But for some reason people still turn to their favourite not database database software.
This isn’t a live or massive dataset. It’s a table of data from the samples that were sequenced.
CSV is a perfectly adequate format for the work being done. Actually, Excel’s bug-as-a-feature is the only reason you wouldn’t want to use it.