XL: Odd Workbook Behavior After Modification by MS Access

• Microsoft Excel for Windows, versions 5.0, 5.0c
• Microsoft Excel for Windows 95, version 7.0
• Microsoft Excel 97 for Windows
• Microsoft Access for Windows 95, version 7.0
• Microsoft Access 97 for Windows

SYMPTOMS

When you open a workbook in Microsoft Excel, cells within the workbook may display different values, depending on the version of Microsoft Excel you are currently using.

For example, if you open Book1.xls in Microsoft Excel version 5.0 or 7.0, cell A1 of Sheet1 may contain the value "100" (without the quotation marks). If you open the same workbook in Microsoft Excel 97, cell A1 of Sheet1 may contain the value "1" (without the quotation marks).

CAUSE

This may occur if the following conditions are true:

• You have modified the workbook using Microsoft Access by creating a table linked to a worksheet in the workbook.

      -and-
  

• The workbook in question was saved in the "Microsoft Excel 97 & 5.0/95 Workbook" format by Microsoft Excel 97.

RESOLUTION

If you need to create a table in Microsoft Access that links to a worksheet in a Microsoft Excel workbook, do not save the workbook in the "Microsoft Excel 97 & 5.0/95 Workbook" format.

Instead, in Microsoft Excel 97, save your workbook in either of the following formats.

   Save Your Workbook in this              ...if Using this Version of
   Format...                                          Microsoft Access
   -------------------------------------------------------------------

   Microsoft Excel Workbook                        Microsoft Access 97
   Microsoft Excel 5.0/95 Workbook     Microsoft Access for Windows 95

STATUS

This behavior occurs because the "Microsoft Excel 97 & 5.0/95 Workbook" file format is not fully supported by Microsoft Access versions 7.0 and 97.

MORE INFORMATION

In Microsoft Access, if you create a table that is linked to a worksheet in a workbook that is saved in the "Microsoft Excel 97 & 5.0/95 Workbook" format, and then make changes to the table, the changes are only made to the Microsoft Excel 5.0/95 section of the workbook. This occurs because Microsoft Access does not fully support the "Microsoft Excel 97 & 5.0/95 Workbook" file format.

When you open the workbook in Microsoft Excel 97, the new data stored in the Microsoft Excel 5.0/95 section will not be visible, because synchronization between sections only takes place when the workbook is saved, not when it is opened, and data is only transferred from the Microsoft Excel 97 section to the Microsoft Excel 5.0/95 section (not the reverse).

The only way you can retain new data stored in the Microsoft Excel 5.0/95 section is to save the file as a normal Microsoft Excel workbook in either Microsoft Excel version 5.0 or 7.0. If you do this, features specific to Microsoft Excel 97 (such as conditional formatting and natural language formulas) will be lost. You should not lose any data, however.

If you open the workbook in Microsoft Excel 97, and then save the workbook again, data stored in the Microsoft Excel 5.0/95 section of the workbook will be lost.

For these reasons, it is recommended that you do not link a table in Microsoft Access to a worksheet in a workbook saved in the "Microsoft Excel 97 & 5.0/95 Workbook" format.

For more information on the "Microsoft Excel 97 & 5.0/95 Workbook" file format in Microsoft Excel, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

   ARTICLE-ID: Q157497
   TITLE     : XL97: Using the Microsoft Excel 97 & 5.0/95 Workbook Format