Msg#: 2556 *Data Base* 01/28/87 10:03:09 (Read 16 Times) From: DALE ORR To: BILL ROBERTSON (Rcvd) Subj: LOTUS ET AL Bill, since you are known as something of a 123 maven, perhaps you could enlighten me on how to fix a 2.0 spreadsheet so that it will run on v.1.whatever I have, I think 1A. There is a FedTax spreadsheet making the BBS rounds, and I can't get the little bugger to translate. Any ideas? Thanks, dale --------------------------------------------------- Msg#: 2570 *Data Base* 01/29/87 11:04:28 (Read 3 Times) From: BILL ROBERTSON To: DALE ORR Subj: REPLY TO MSG# 2556 (LOTUS ET AL) Okay. You've got two separate problems here. First - the difference between a .wks file and a .wk1 file - different file sizes and structures. Second - differences in capabilities between the two versions. Let's approach the first problem first. As a test I created a file using both versions. All it had in it in both cases was an 'A stored in cell A1. Next I used DEBUG to print out the structure of both files. There were a lot of differences. The version 1a .wks file was 1280 bytes, and the version 2 .wk1 file was 1402 bytes. Obviously version 2's structure is more complex than 1a's. Any way to make a long story shorter (I, of course, never resort to anything actually SHORT), I experimented with several different changes to the version 2 file trying to get something that version 1a would recognize as a legitimate file. Voila! Near the very front of the file (5 bytes into it to be exact) there is the first of many differences between the two files. The 1a file had a 04h and the 2 file had a 06h. I changed the 06h to a 04h, wrote the altered file to disk, renamed it to the .wks extension, and 1a actually retrieved it. Now to caveat the hell out of this. I don't know if that will work on something more complex or not, and even if it does, I'm not sure what 1a will do with unrecognized @functions, macro commands, etc. I had to get to work before I finished playing with it. It's worth a try though (on a COPY of your file). If you aren't familiar with DEBUG, follow the steps below (assumes the file is on a floppy in drive a and DEBUG is on the default drive/path): debug a:filename.wk1 e 104 you should see "06" if you don't press and then q to abort debug - if you do see "06" then type 04 and press w to write the amended file to disk q to exit DEBUG <<>> As for the second part of the problem, as I said, I'm not sure how 1a will handle unknown functions and such. It may crash during the retrieve. It may bring in garbage in those cells. Who knows? Maybe this process will simply allow a version 2 sheet that uses only 1a capabilities to be retrieved. Even if you had a template printed out before you, though, you'd probably be in for some major re-coding if the authors took advantage of many of version 2's new features. Hope this helps a little (or at least doesn't confuse too much). ---------------------------------------------------------------- Msg#: 2576 *Data Base* 01/29/87 17:41:49 (Read 0 Times) From: BILL ROBERTSON To: DALE ORR Subj: REPLY TO MSG# 2556 (LOTUS ET AL) Okay again...I got back to it. I tried several conversions and this is what I discovered: <1> the method I outlined works fine ONLY so long as the .wk1 file contains no functions unique to version 2 <2> formats, column widths, formulas (including both relative and absolute cell addresses), all come across fine, no apparent problems <3> the @now function in version 2 came into the 1a file as an @today function in the example I tried <4> as soon as I included a function from version 2 that is not provided in 1a (I tried @cell, and some of the string functions), I got a "number stack full" error that looped continuously when I tried to retrieve the converted file. So, some good news, some bad news. Oh, I also automated the conversion process with a batch file. I uploaded it to the Lotus file section. It's called LOT221.ARC. You might give it a try.