File formats, character encoding, and spreadsheet tools

The roundtrip tools all make use of spreadsheets, and some tools make use of additional ZIP archives. 

File formats and character encoding:

• All spreadsheets must use CSV (comma-separated values) spreadsheets.
  • CSV is a non-proprietary spreadsheet format that can be opened by all spreadsheet tools. 
  • While it does not support things like cell highlighting and text styling, it is very reliable, portable, and accessible.
• All spreadsheets must use Unicode UTF-8 character encoding.
  • UTF-8 is the most commonly used character encoding system used online.
  • Most non-English keyboards are developed to use UTF-8 encoding to ensure that their characters are accurately and reliably displayed across operating systems and web browsers.
• Certain imports must use ZIP archives.
  • ZIP archives compress files and folder directories to reduce their size and facilitate transfer of larger files.
  • All operating systems have built-in tools to create and open ZIP archives – they are often found under “compress” actions.
    • Compress or uncompress files and folders on Mac
    • Zip and unzip files (Windows)
  • Third-party ZIP tools can be used, but are  not required.

Spreadsheet tools:

In general, any spreadsheet tool that supports the above file format and character encodings requirements should work fine. We have some recommendations based on our testing and experiences:

• Google Sheets:
  • Good for online/collaborative work.
  • Works on all operating systems and browsers.
  • Supports CSV export.
  • Defaults to UTF-8 encoding.
  • Free, but requires a Google account to use, and in certain cases using a service like this may not be appropriate, especially if sensitive information is being entered.
• LibreOffice and OpenOffice
  • Good for offline/local work.
  • Work on all operating systems.
  • Supports saving as CSV.
  • Supports UTF-8 encoding.
  • Free to download.
• Microsoft Excel is NOT recommended.
  • Defaults to XLS, not as easy to use CSV.
  • Defaults to a proprietary encoding, and does not reliably support UTF-8 encoding.
  • Note that on Windows, sometimes it will work well enough, but on macOS, these issues cannot be reliably avoided.
  • At this time, we have not thoroughly tested any of Microsoft’s online services (eg: Office 365) and are not sure how they address these issues.