In this chapter, we learned some very practical tips for data cleaning using two easily accessible tools: text editors and spreadsheets. We outlined the available spreadsheet functions for splitting data, moving it around, finding and replacing parts, formatting it, and then putting it back together. Then, we learned how to get the most out of a simple text editor, including some of the built-in functions, and how to use find and replace and regular expressions most effectively.
In the next chapter, we will put together a variety of the techniques we have learned so far to perform some significant file conversions. Many of the techniques we will use will be based on what we have learned in the past two chapters about text editing, regular expressions, data types, and file formats, so get ready to solve some real-world data cleaning problems.