To TCVN3

Location on ribbon: Tab DVD Addin → Group Text and Number → arrow on Encoding

Command ID: btnConvertTCVN3

What it does

Converts Vietnamese text in the current selection to the TCVN3 (ABC) encoding and sets the font of the converted cells to .VnTime. Use it when a document has to be returned in the exact format of an old official template — estimate forms, quantity schedules or acceptance records issued years ago that still mandate the .VnTime font family.

How to use

1. Select the cells to convert (Ctrl-click for several separate areas).
2. Go to tab DVD Addin → group Text and Number → arrow on Encoding → choose To TCVN3.
3. The add-in detects each cell's source encoding from the text content first, then from its font (.Vn… suggests TCVN3, VNI… suggests VNI, anything else is Unicode) and rewrites the text as TCVN3.
4. Converted cells are switched to the .VnTime font.
5. The status bar reports Converted N cells to TCVN3 (font: .VnTime) and clears after about 8 seconds. N includes only cells that actually changed.

Video tutorial

Narrated in Vietnamese, with Vietnamese subtitles. Chuyển mã · 6 min 05 s · 12 cases · Download the video · Practice workbook for the video

Commands in this video: Encoding · To TCVN3 · To Unicode · To VNI

Chapters (18)

1. Giới thiệu
2. Mở lệnh
3. Cửa sổ Chuyển mã
4. 1 · Bảng VNI-Times → Unicode
5. 2 · Nút nhanh: TCVN3 → Unicode
6. 3 · Sang VNI để nộp mẫu cũ
7. 4 · Chữ HOA có dấu
8. Tự nhận bảng mã
9. 5 · Chữ đã là Unicode
10. 6 · Ô ngắn mơ hồ
11. 7 · Phông gốc bị đổi mất
12. 8 · Ô công thức
13. 9 · Cả sheet, cả tệp
14. 10 · Dòng ẩn, danh sách lọc
15. 11 · Ghi đè và hoàn tác
16. 12 · Khi không có gì để chuyển
17. Mẹo
18. Kết thúc

Illustrated walkthrough

Practice

Download this command's sample workbook — the data matches the pictures below (sheet Phụ lục), so you can follow each step right away.

Step 1. Select the work-description column that goes into an old template using the .VnTime font (1).

Step 2. On the ribbon, open the DVD Addin tab → Text and Number group → open Encoding → choose To TCVN3.

Step 3. There is no options window; the command only stops once to confirm the overwrite: keep the sheet backup ticked (1) and click Continue (2).

Step 4. The cells now hold TCVN3 codes in the .VnTime font (1). On a machine with the ABC fonts they read as normal Vietnamese; the picture shows the raw codes — what the formula bar shows, or what a machine without the font displays. The status bar reports the number of converted cells (2).

Example

An annex of quantities written in Unicode has to be pasted into a legacy .VnTime form. Select the description column and click To TCVN3:

Before (Unicode)	After (TCVN3 bytes, .VnTime font)
Đào móng bằng thủ công	§µo mãng b»ng thñ c«ng
Trát tường trong dày 15mm	Tr¸t têng trong dµy 15mm
Lắp dựng cốt thép cột	L¾p dùng cèt thÐp cét

Displayed with the .VnTime font these strings read as the original Vietnamese.

Notes

• TCVN3 has no full set of accented capitals; all-caps headings (for example "BẢNG TỔNG HỢP KHỐI LƯỢNG") usually need manual fixing with the .VnTimeH font after conversion.
• Formula cells are skipped; only text values are re-encoded.
• Because content is checked before the font, Unicode text that still carries a .Vn… font is correctly treated as Unicode, and VNI text under a Unicode font is recognized when it contains typical mark characters such as ø, û, ï, ö, ñ. VNI text carrying only acute-type marks looks like valid Unicode, so it is treated as Unicode: it is not decoded from VNI but re-encoded to TCVN3 as it stands (still wrong) — set those cells' font back to VNI-Times and convert.
• The result overwrites the cells. Ctrl+Z right after the command puts the sheet back as it was (thanks to the backup); see Restore data.
• The machine opening the file must have the ABC (.VnTime) fonts installed, otherwise the text looks corrupted.
• With no range selected the add-in shows "Please select a data range." and stops.

Related

• To Unicode — bring TCVN3 documents up to Unicode for calculation, lookups and email.
• To VNI — the other legacy encoding still found in older estimate templates.
• Convert encoding — dialog version with scope selection and a skip-formula option.
• UPPERCASE — adjust letter case once the encoding is consistent.