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Export records to Excel 4.0 files

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    Export records to Excel 4.0 files

    Running Alpha 5 V4.5 under Windows 98 and recently upgraded from MS Word 97 to MS Word 2002. I routinely export ranges of records from Alpha to Excel 4.0 (.xls) then use these files as data sources attached to Word documents for mail merge.
    The problem is that Word 2002 (Word 97 did) does not read Excel 4.0 files as a data source. Is there a fix in Alpha that would allow exports to a later version of Excel that could be read by Word 2002? I have found a couple of work-arounds but they are time consuming.
    Frank Mills

    #2
    RE: Export records to Excel 4.0 files

    Hi Frank

    Yes it does, if you want a quick howto let me know.

    Chris
    If It Works First Time, There's Something Wrong!!!

    Comment


      #3
      RE: Export records to Excel 4.0 files

      I too would like to know. My excel does not have a problem reading the older version exported but I can not export the older version to a shared network drive.

      Comment


        #4
        RE: Export records to Excel 4.0 files

        I too would be interested in a fix to A5V5 that would allow export of data to a later version of Excel than 4.0.

        Thanks very much for any help.

        Leon Brachman
        [email protected]

        Comment


          #5
          RE: Export records to Excel 4.0 files

          This has been discussed previously on the forum and a number of people posted code to convert to excel 4.0. Search for the thread titled "badly needed function" (Put it in quotes)

          Jerry

          Comment


            #6
            RE: Export records to Excel 4.0 files

            Look in the code archive, there is a function (almost entirely the work of other developers,) that converts from any late version to version 4 silently. Although the name of the file to convert is hardcoded, in the example, a variable could easily be put there. But, to reverse the process, to save FROM ver 4 TO the most recent version on the respective computer (would depend on the version of excel on the respective machine,) I have experimented successfully with the following amendment to the function: (I am using OfficeXP on XP Pro.) While I haven�t been able, yet, to figure out if �1� as a constant for xlNormal is universal to Excel, I am betting on the cum that it is. Let me know if this works with your version of office.

            After you export, you would feed the exported . xlsfile to this function giving it a second name for the saved version:
            Here is an example use:

            exceltonormal("c:\fischer\source1.xls", "C:\fischer\source3.xls")
            [Source1.xlx is a version 4 and source3.xls saved as current on my machine.]
            note that you need to send the full path with the function!


            FUNCTION ExcelToNormal AS C(excelname AS C, newname AS C)
            Dim xlApp as p
            xlApp = ole.create("excel.Application")
            xlApp.Visible=.f. 'this line doesn't completely stop a momentary flash-display
            xlApp.Workbooks.Open(excelname)
            xlApp.displayalerts=.f.
            xlApp.ActiveWorkbook.SaveAs(newname,1) '1 may be a constant for normal
            xlApp.Workbooks.Close()
            xlApp.Quit()
            delete xlApp
            END FUNCTION


            Cole Custom Programming - Terrell, Texas
            972 524 8714
            [email protected]

            ____________________
            "A young man who is not liberal has no heart, but an old man who is not conservative has no mind." GB Shaw

            Comment


              #7
              RE: Export records to Excel 4.0 files

              Chris,
              Thanks for the prompt reply. I would really appreciate your help. A couple of other things I did not mention is that Word 2002 will open a 4.0 Excel file as a document. I can then "save as" to a Word document and can use the .doc file as a data source. The other interesting thing is that routine exports that I have set up with buttons and will overwrite the 4.0 file with a new range of records will still work since the Word document was attached before the Word upgrade from version 97. The problem arises when I try to change data sources.
              Looking forward to you solution.
              Frank

              Comment


                #8
                RE: Export records to Excel 4.0 files

                Frank,

                The following works with excel 4.0 files.

                You need to use Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE) to connect to the Excel worksheet that contains the data that you want to use. To do this, follow these steps:

                1.Start Word, and then open a new blank document.

                2.On the Tools menu, click Options, and then click the General tab.

                3.Click to select the Confirm conversion at Open check box, and then click OK.

                4.On the Tools menu, point to Letters and Mailings, and then click Mail Merge Wizard.

                5.In the Mail Merge task pane, select the type of document that you want to work on, and then click Next.

                6.Under Select starting document, select the starting document that you want to use, and then click Next.

                7.Under Select recipients, click Use an existing list, and then click Browse.

                8.In the Select Data Source dialog box, locate the folder that contains the Excel workbook that you want to use as your data source, select the workbook, and then click Open.

                9.In the Confirm Data Source dialog box, click MS Excel Worksheets via DDE (*.xls), and then click OK.

                10.In the Microsoft Excel dialog box, under Named or cell range, select the cell range or worksheet that contains the data that you want to use, and then click OK.

                NOTE: Your data now appears in the Mail Merge Recipients dialog box with the same formatting that appears in the Excel worksheet.

                (Taken from Microsoft Knowledge Article 320473)


                Regards

                Chris
                If It Works First Time, There's Something Wrong!!!

                Comment


                  #9
                  RE: Export records to Excel 4.0 files

                  I don't know Word 2002 But I would guess the simplest way would be to export the A5 Records into a ASC or rich text file and forget the Excel.

                  Ken

                  Comment


                    #10
                    RE: Export records to Excel 4.0 files

                    Chris,
                    Thanks for sending me instructions to link Excel 4.0 files as Word 2002 data sources for Word. It works very well. I did a little more experimenting with other Alpha export files and discovered that Word will read Lotus files as a data source. You might want to give it a try.
                    Thanks again.
                    Frank

                    Comment


                      #11
                      RE: Export records to Excel 4.0 files

                      Frank:

                      My goal is to always accomplish tasks in the easiest and most efficient manner. As I read through this thread, I kept asking myself why people make things more complicated than it has to be.

                      Please correct me if I�m wrong, but can�t you just open up the relevant Alpha Five dbf file directly from within Excel as a dbf file? If that is true, then you can simply save the dbf file as an xls file and you�re finished.

                      Doing the above completely bypasses all of the difficulties in exporting from A5 to Excel and it also seems to resolve your challenge. I don�t use Excel so maybe I�m missing something that is obvious to regular Excel users.

                      Robert

                      Comment


                        #12
                        RE: Export records to Excel 4.0 files

                        Robert

                        It is more impressive to make it difficult. I don't know about Excel 2000, but Excel 97 opens an Alpha dbf fine. There are some limitiations on field size and formating and memos don't transfer, but everything else does. There are a few quirks if you want to save the file as a dbf. Attached is a text file copied right out of the Excel help file about dbf formats.

                        Jerry

                        Comment

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