FIX: Microsoft Excel Worksheets w/ Formulas Import Incorrectly

The information in this article applies to:

• Microsoft Visual FoxPro for Windows, version 3.0

SYMPTOMS

If a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet's cells contain formulas, the Import function in Visual FoxPro will not import the data correctly. All or part of the data may be invalid when it is imported to the .dbf file.

WORKAROUND

There are two ways to work around this problem. Both correctly resolve the cells containing formulas. However, the first is the easiest and recommended method to use.

• In Microsoft Excel, save the file as as a .dbf file. Then open the .dbf file in Visual FoxPro with the USE <dbf name> command.
• Use an ODBC connection to the Microsoft Excel file. Create a remote view or cursor that can be then copied to a ,dbf file with the COPY TO <new table name> command. The actual steps in creating the ODBC connection are beyond the scope of this article due to the varying factors which weigh in the process. For more information about ODBC, please see the following articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

  ARTICLE-ID: Q130732

     TITLE     : How To Create a Data Source to Access Microsoft Excel Files
  
     ARTICLE-ID: Q130137
     TITLE     : How to Use ODBC to Run SQL SELECT on Microsoft Excel Data
  
  

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in the Microsoft products listed at the beginning of this article. This problem was corrected in Visual FoxPro 3.0b for Windows.

MORE INFORMATION

Steps to Reproduce Problem

1. In Microsoft Excel, create a new worksheet with the following values in the respective cells:

      Cell   Content
      --------------
      A1     Field1
      B1     Field2
      A2     25
      B2     =A2 * 3
   
      NOTE: Cell B2 displays the number 75 when you move off of it by pressing
      the TAB key.
   
   

2. Save the worksheet as xl2dbf.

3. Close the worksheet.

4. Switch to Visual FoxPro, and on the File menu, click Import.

5. In the Import dialog box, select .xls as the Type and xl2dbf.xls saved in step 2 as the specific worksheet to import.

6. Click OK. An xl2dbf.dbf file will be created.

7. Browse the imported table, and note that the value in Field2 will be a random date, or other invalid value, rather than the correct value of 75.