XL98: Cannot Open Files from HTTP or FTP Web Servers

• Microsoft Excel 98 Macintosh Edition

SYMPTOMS

Microsoft Excel 98 Macintosh Edition, unlike Microsoft Excel 97 for Windows, cannot directly open or save a file that is located on a Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) or a File Transfer Protocol (FTP) Web site.

If you attempt to open a Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) file, it is not opened directly in Excel. Instead the file is opened in your default Web browser.

CAUSE

This functionality is not available on the Macintosh platform.

WORKAROUND

To open the HTML file in Excel, follow these steps:

1. If the Web browser is not displayed, point to Toolbars on the View menu in Excel and click Web.

2. Type the Internet address, including the HTML file name you want to open in the Address box. Press RETURN.

       -or-
   

   Click Go, and then click Open on the toolbar.

   When the Open Internet Address dialog box appears, type the HTTP or FTP address and click OK.

   For example, type the following

         Http://
   

   and then type the following address to open the Mypage.htm file:

         Web Server Name/Docs/Mypage.htm
   

   NOTE: In the HTTP address, "Web Server Name" is the name of the Web server.

3. If you are trying to open one of the supported file types (see above), the file is opened directly in Excel. If the file is an HTML file, your default Internet browser appears, and the HTML file is opened in the Web browser.

4. To transfer the HTML file to an Excel workbook, click Select All on the Edit menu. On the Edit menu, click Copy. Switch to Excel and click the cell in which you want to begin pasting the data. On the Edit menu, click Paste.

STATUS

This behavior is by design of Microsoft Excel 98 Macintosh Edition.

MORE INFORMATION

Excel 98 includes a new toolbar named "Web," which includes several Web features, for example, an Address box. When you use the Web toolbar, you can open the following file types directly in Excel 98.

   Supported file formats
   ----------------------

   Microsoft Excel
   Text
   Lotus 1-2-3
   Workbooks
   Workspaces
   Templates
   Add-ins
   Toolbars
   Apple File Exchange Binaries