Converting Lotus files to Excel

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Sam Bench - 03 Apr 2007 01:04 GMT

This question may be a bit dated but I have some complicated Lotus files
that need to be converted to Excel. These files were developed in ~2000 and
use Lotus for Windows. They each are filled with worksheets that contain
complex equations. The worksheets are inter-related. Printing in a special
business format is done using macros. I have tried to import the files into
Excel (2003) but the macros are botched and I don't think the worksheets
imported properly.

Does anyone know of any third party software that is designed to import
Lotus files into Excel?? My thinking is that Microsoft may have constructed
their import routine in a half-hearted way and maybe a third party filled
the gap. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks.

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Bob Flanagan - 03 Apr 2007 04:34 GMT

Sam, other than consultants there is no third party tool out there.

Bob Flanagan
Macro Systems
http://www.add-ins.com
Productivity add-ins and downloadable books on VB macros for Excel

> This question may be a bit dated but I have some complicated Lotus files
> that need to be converted to Excel. These files were developed in ~2000
[quoted text clipped - 10 lines]
>
> Thanks.

Reply to this Message

RichardSchollar - 03 Apr 2007 08:32 GMT

Hi

When I've had need in the past, I've always found Open Office's
spreadsheet program to be much better at importing Lotus files than
Excel - you can then save the files down in Excel format before
opening up within Excel itself. Frequently you will lose some data
and maybe formatting too. Never had any Lotus macros before, so I
don't know how these will be treated. Open Office is available for
download (it's free - do a search on your favourite search engine) or
is commonly on magazine coverdisks.

Hope this helps!

Richard

> This question may be a bit dated but I have some complicated Lotus files
> that need to be converted to Excel. These files were developed in ~2000 and
[quoted text clipped - 10 lines]
>
> Thanks.

Reply to this Message

Harlan Grove - 03 Apr 2007 21:42 GMT

"Sam Bench" <royk...@comcast.net> wrote...

> . . . They each are filled with worksheets that contain complex
>equations. The worksheets are inter-related. Printing in a
[quoted text clipped - 6 lines]
>Microsoft may have constructed their import routine in a
>half-hearted way and maybe a third party filled the gap. . . .

...

Your thinking may be sufficiently cynical with regard to Microsoft's
motivation level, but it's overly generous with regard to the market
for 3rd party file conversion utilities. There's one & only one,
DataViz's Conversion Plus, and it doesn't translate 123 functions with
no direct Excel equivalent nor 123 macros nor LotusScript code.

If you use any 3D referencing in 123, you'll need to rewrite it in
Excel using Excel's much more limited 3D functionality. If you use any
of 123's database @-functions with criteria expressions rather than
references to criteria ranges, you'll need to rewrite those formulas
using more literal, less general array expressions which Excel
understands.

And you'll have to rewrite all macros. Excel 2003 no longer runs 123
classic macros, and no software I'm aware of translates LotusScript to
VBA. The languages are fairly similar, but the 123 and Excel object
models aren't.

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