grbade/phone_number_formatter

Phone Number Formatting Script

This repository contains a Python script for formatting phone numbers with country codes. It processes non-standard phone numbers from Google Sheets, formats them correctly, and allows you to paste the results back into your Google Sheets for consistent formatting.

Root Problem

The script addresses the issue where phone numbers entered in a spreadsheet are not in a standard format. Common issues include missing country codes, inconsistent international prefixes, or non-numeric characters. This script helps in standardizing phone numbers by adding the correct international dialing codes.

Installation

To use the phone number formatting script, follow these steps:

Prerequisites

• Python 3.x installed on your system.
• An IDE or text editor for running Python scripts (e.g., VSCode, PyCharm, Vim).

Installation Steps

1. Clone the Repository:

   git clone https://github.com/grbade/phone_number_formatter.git
   cd phone_number_formatter

2. Install Required Libraries:

   The script uses the re library, which is included in Python's standard library, so no additional installations are required for dependencies.

Usage

Follow these steps to format phone numbers using the script:

1. Prepare Your Data

1. Copy Phone Numbers and Countries from Google Sheets:
   • Open your existing Google Sheet that contains the phone numbers and countries.
   • Copy the entire column of phone numbers.
   • Copy the corresponding column of country names.

2. Update the Script

1. Paste the Data into the Script:

   • Open the phone_number_formatting.py file in your text editor.
   • Replace the phone_numbers and countries lists in the script with the copied data.

   Example:

   # List of phone numbers from the input sheet
   phone_numbers = """355699823345
   614323322342
   43660112355""".split('\n')
   
   # List of countries corresponding to the phone numbers from the input sheet
   countries = """Albania
   Australia
   Austria""".split('\n')

2. Run the Script:

   Open a terminal and navigate to the directory containing the script. Run the script with:

   python3 format_phone_numbers.py

3. Copy the Results:

   • The script will output the formatted phone numbers in the terminal.

3. Paste Results Back into Google Sheets

1. Open Your Google Sheet:

   • Go to the Google Sheet where you want to paste the formatted phone numbers.

2. Paste the Formatted Numbers:

   • Copy the output from the terminal and paste it into the appropriate column in your Google Sheet.

4. Format Cells in Google Sheets

To ensure that phone numbers are displayed correctly:

1. Select the Column with Formatted Phone Numbers:

   • Click on the column header.

2. Apply Custom Number Formatting:

   • Go to Format > Number > More Formats > Custom number format.
   • Enter the format "+"0 and click Apply.

This format will display the phone numbers with a + sign and the correct number of digits.

Example

Input Data:

Phone Number	Country
00355699823345	Albania
4323322342	Australia
043660112355	Austria

Output Data:

Formatted Phone Number
+355699823345
+614323322342
+434660112355

Troubleshooting

• Error Handling: Ensure that the country names are spelled correctly and match the entries in the country_to_code dictionary in the script.
• Formatting Issues: Verify that custom number formatting is correctly applied in Google Sheets.

Contributing

Feel free to fork the repository and submit pull requests if you have improvements or bug fixes.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License. See the LICENSE file for details.