XL5: File Name with Extra Period Doesn't Show in File/Open Box

• Microsoft Excel for Windows NT, version 5.0

SYMPTOMS

If you create a file in Microsoft Excel for Windows NT, version 5.0, and save it with a file name that has more than one period, the file name may not appear in the File/Open dialog box.

CAUSE

Microsoft Excel treats the portion of the file name after the first period as the extension of the file. For instance, if you have a file called "My.File.XLS," you will not see the file in the File/Open dialog box if the file type selected is Microsoft Excel Files. If you type the filter "*.File.XLS" (without the quotation marks) in the File Name box and press ENTER, you will see the file.

RESOLUTION

To display these files, in the List Files Of Type box choose to display all files in the directory by selecting All Files. To prevent this behavior entirely, create your file names without periods.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in the Microsoft products listed at the beginning of this article. We are researching this problem and will post new information here in the Microsoft Knowledge Base as it becomes available.

MORE INFORMATION

Other Microsoft applications that support long file names do not exhibit this behavior. Microsoft Word 6.0 for Windows NT uses the characters after the final period as the extension, as do other Microsoft applications designed for Windows 95.