XL: Custom Number Formats Lost When Saved as Lotus File

 Last reviewed: February 2, 1998
Article ID: Q97571
The information in this article applies to:
  • Microsoft Excel for Windows, versions 3.0, 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 the Macintosh, versions 3.0, 4.0, 5.0, 5.0a
  • Microsoft Excel 98 Macintosh Edition

SUMMARY

In the versions of Microsoft Excel listed at the beginning of this article, when you save a worksheet in a Lotus 1-2-3 file format (WKS, WK1, WK3, WK4), and then open the file in Lotus 1-2-3, custom number formats may not be recognized by Lotus 1-2-3.

MORE INFORMATION

Although Lotus 1-2-3 uses the number formats listed in the following table, Lotus 1-2-3 is unable to recognize anything but the default number formats for a Microsoft Excel worksheet.

The following is a table of the Lotus 1-2-3 date and time formats. 

   Date Formats                  Time Formats
   --------------------------------------------------------

   DD-MMM-YY                     HH:MM:SS AM/PM
   DD-MMM                        HH:MM AM/PM
   MMM-YY                        HH:MM:SS (default for long
   MM/DD/YY (default for long       international)
     international)              HH:MM (default for short
   MM/DD (default for short         international)
      international)
Lotus 1-2-3 also uses the following formats: fixed, scientific, currency, comma, percent (from 0 to 15 decimal places), general, +/-, text, hidden, automatic, and label.

REFERENCES

"Switching to Microsoft Excel from Lotus 1-2-3," pages 29-30 "Microsoft Excel Users Guide 1," version 4.0, pages 224-227

Additional query words: 98 97 7.00 5.00 4.00 4.00a 123 lotus123 export
import XL98 XL97 XL7 XL5 XL4
Keywords : xlformat kb3rdparty
Version : WINDOWS:3.0,4.0,4.0a,5.0,5.0c,7.0,7.0a,97; MACINTOSH:3.0,4.0,4.0a,5.0,5.0a,98
Platform : MACINTOSH WINDOWS
Issue type : kbinfo

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Last reviewed: February 2, 1998
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