The prompt
Score 10 of 10, Excellent
Use it when You need figures trapped in a document turned into a clean table you can paste into a spreadsheet.
- {{source}}
- {{which_table}}
- {{columns_wanted}}
- {{number_format}}
- {{purpose}}
Full prompt and why it works
Prompt
The document (pasted below or attached): """ {{source}} """ Which table I need: {{which_table}} Columns I want, in this order: {{columns_wanted}} How numbers should look: {{number_format}} What I will do with it: {{purpose}} Task: Extract the table I named into a clean table I can paste straight into a spreadsheet, for {{purpose}}. Accuracy matters more than speed: one wrong digit is worse than a cell marked for checking. Requirements: - Copy every value exactly as it appears. Do not round, correct, recalculate or fill in values. - Use one header row. If the document spreads headers over two rows or merged cells, combine them into one name per column, for example "2025 Q1 Revenue". - If the table runs over several pages and repeats its header, join it into one table. - Keep units out of the number cells and put them in the header, for example "Amount (USD thousands)". - Format numbers as I asked. Treat amounts in parentheses as negative only if the document uses that convention, and say so. - Keep blank, zero and dash as they appear, because they can mean different things. - Keep subtotal and total rows, and add a column "Row type" that marks them, so I can filter them out. - In a scan or photo, any character you cannot read with confidence becomes [?], because 0 and O, 1 and l, or 5 and S are easily confused. Format: 1. The table as tab-separated text in a code block, which pastes into separate columns in Excel or Google Sheets. 2. A check: for each column with a printed total in the document, your sum of the rows and the printed total side by side, and whether they match. 3. Cells to check by hand: every [?] and anything else uncertain, with its row and column. Keep your notes outside the table under 100 words, and do not comment on what the figures mean. If the document holds more than one table that could be the one I mean, or the table is cut off, say so and extract only what is clearly there.
Variables
- {{source}}
- The PDF, scan, photo or email. Attach the file or paste the text, including the rows above and below the table.
- {{which_table}}
- Which table you need, for example "the price list on page 3" or "the second table in the email".
- {{columns_wanted}}
- The columns you want, in order, or "all, as in the document".
- {{number_format}}
- For example "plain numbers, dot for decimals, minus sign for negatives, no currency symbols".
- {{purpose}}
- What you will do with the table, for example "compare it with last month's prices in Excel".
Why it works
- What to avoid. Values are copied exactly, never rounded or corrected, and unreadable characters in a scan become [?] instead of a plausible digit.
- What good looks like. Your column sums are checked against the totals printed in the document, the quickest way to prove the extraction is complete.
- Format. Tab-separated output pastes straight into separate spreadsheet columns, with subtotal rows marked so you can filter them out.