Data Merge CSV file format problem

Hi,

I'm using InDesign CC on a Windows 10 PC, and using Excel 2016 to generate data for a Data Merge operation in InDesign.

In amongst the myriad options for saving the data, Excel provides me with these options for saving files into a CSV format:

• CSV UTF-8 (Comma delimited) (*.csv)
• CSV (Comma delimited) (*.csv)
• CSV (Macintosh) (*.csv)
• CSV (MS-DOS) (*.csv)

Depending on which of those options I use I am finding either the data becomes altered by the CSV format, or InDesign rejects the format.

I have some cells which have 'special' characters such as the degrees sign '°', or a plus/minus sign '±' (e.g. the cell might have 36° or ±15° or ¼). There are many such symbols I use, and whilst sometimes I add these via the Character Map function in System Accessories, but most usually via the keyboard (for instance, a key combination such as 'Alt+0188' creates a ¼ symbol on a PC).

The CSV UTF-8 file retains this 'special' character data, but InDesign rejects the file and tells me "The data source file you selected either has no records or is not a supported file format. Please fix the file, select a file that contains records, or select a supported file type". If I use the CSV or CSV (MS-DOS) format the special characters get changed (e.g. '°' becomes 'Ø'). I haven't tried the Macintosh version yet, however I'm not that keen to try it just in case I'm introducing weird issues with a Mac type file on a PC environment.

Any suggestions?