Resolve an ambiguous decimal comma without guessing

Keep the ambiguous string intact

Resolve the source convention before conversion so the spreadsheet does not need a costly row-by-row repair later.

Test an invoice with the dates, quantities or amounts you find hardest to copy accurately. ParseMill puts extracted invoice fields beside the source for review and correction before export. Open the downloaded workbook in your usual spreadsheet application and check those values there too.

Look for an explicit notation statement first. Other values in the same table can provide supporting evidence, but a plausible magnitude is only a clue. A surprising measurement may be real, and a report can mix imported tables from different sources.

Use a decision record

The rows are synthetic alternatives, not three observations to combine. Record the evidence location and reviewer beside the selected interpretation. If the source contains both comma and point conventions in different sections, scope the decision to the verified section rather than the entire file.

Microsoft: Number.FromText allows an explicit culture when interpreting numeric text. Choose that culture only after establishing the source convention.

Resolve without guessing

1. Copy the raw string into a text field. Inspect the source image to distinguish a comma from a scanning artifact or a nearby footnote marker.
2. Check the legend, table heading and issuer documentation for a numeric convention. Record the supporting wording and source location.
3. Test the proposed rule on several unambiguous values from the same range, including values below one and values with grouped digits.
4. Create a separate normalized number only for resolved records. Keep unresolved strings in a review queue with the clarification needed.

Microsoft: Table.TransformColumnTypes supports culture-aware column conversions. Apply a conversion to a verified group; do not use one global conversion for a column assembled from incompatible sources.

Catch misleading success

A conversion can succeed technically while choosing the wrong magnitude. Count conversion errors, but also compare interpreted values back to their source notation. Avoid replacing every comma with a point: that can turn a thousands separator into a decimal separator or produce invalid strings with multiple points.

If clarification arrives later, retain the earlier unresolved state and the new evidence in the change record. A reviewer should be able to explain why the interpretation changed without reconstructing an email conversation.

Define the acceptance result

For the third fixture row, the correct outcome is unresolved text, not a best guess. The first two alternatives can produce numeric analysis fields because their source conventions are explicit. Keep raw and interpreted fields visible together during review.

Use a supplier invoice with decimal commas in the ParseMill trial. Compare the extracted amounts with the source and reopen the workbook in your usual spreadsheet application. An ambiguous notation still needs your review before the result can support a purchase decision.