XL: Lotus WK1 File Loses Formatting when Opened in Excel

• Microsoft Excel for Windows, versions 4.0, 4.0a, 5.0, 5.0c
• Microsoft Excel for Windows 95, versions 7.0, 7.0a
• Microsoft Excel 97 for Windows
• Microsoft Excel for Macintosh, versions 4.0, 4.0a, 5.0, 5.0a
• Microsoft Excel 98 Macintosh Edition

SYMPTOMS

When you import a Lotus WK1 file along with an Impress (FMT) file into Microsoft Excel, the format information may be incomplete if the formatting is complex and the formatted range is large. For example, if you have a large number of cells with complex formatting (such as a combination of borders, shading, and various font styles, sizes, and colors) when you open the file in Microsoft Excel, some of the formatting may be missing from block of rows or columns. The formatting for the rest of the file will be imported correctly.

WORKAROUND

If you have alternate versions of Lotus 1-2-3 available, you can import your WK1/FMT files into either Lotus for Windows version 1.x or Lotus for MS-DOS version 3.x. Once the file has been imported, save it in the WK3 format by changing the file name extension from WK1 to WK3. This procedure will automatically create a corresponding FM3 file. Once the file is in the WK3/FM3 format, you should be able to open the file in Microsoft Excel with all of the formatting intact.

STATUS

This behavior is by design of the versions of Microsoft Excel listed at the beginning of this article.

MORE INFORMATION

Lotus 1-2-3 uses an add-in called Impress for formatting borders, shading, and fonts. When you save your Lotus WK1 worksheet file, the format information is saved in a separate file. This file will have the same name as your worksheet plus an .FMT extension. When you open a WK1 file in Microsoft Excel, the file directory is searched. If a corresponding FMT file is identified, this file will be imported and the format information will be applied to the WK1 file.

The Impress add-in has different methods for storing format information depending on the complexity and range size of the formatted cells. When Impress stores a large amount of information in the FMT file, it uses a method that Microsoft Excel does not recognize.

This problem does not occur with the Lotus 1-2-3 WK3/FM3 file format.

REFERENCES

"Switching to Microsoft Excel from 1-2-3," version 4.0, page 26