XLS document doesn't come out right in Calc?

[Camaroyal]

Hi, I have an excel document (spreadsheet type thing ) which I am trying to edit/view etc in calc but everytime I open it with calc A. it comes up asking me about delimiters and all that and no matter what I choose the document comes out all wrong. It has all the info all down one side with things like data,string,excel etc? and the data is not setout like a spreadsheet in columns. Like how it is when I view it with my expired trial version of excel that won't let me edit it. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

[Villeroy]

It is NOT an Excel document. It is plain text with a wrong suffix ".xls" as you can see when you open the file with Notepad. Copy a line from Notepad, obfuscate any confidential content and paste the line of data here. Otherwise nobody will be able to help.

[Camaroyal]

Code: Select all

?xml version="1.0"?>
<?mso-application progid="Excel.Sheet"?>
<Workbook xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:spreadsheet"
 xmlns:o="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"
 xmlns:x="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:excel"
 xmlns:ss="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:spreadsheet"
 xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40">
 <DocumentProperties xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office">
  <LastAuthor>Jikini - Essential Logic</LastAuthor>
  <Created>2008-04-28T15:27:16Z</Created>
  <Version>11.9999</Version>
 </DocumentProperties>
 <OfficeDocumentSettings xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office">
 </OfficeDocumentSettings>
 <ExcelWorkbook xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:excel">
  <WindowTopX>0</WindowTopX>
  <WindowTopY>0</WindowTopY>
  <ProtectStructure>False</ProtectStructure>
  <ProtectWindows>False</ProtectWindows>
 </ExcelWorkbook>
 <Styles>
  <Style ss:ID="Default" ss:Name="Normal">
   <Alignment ss:Vertical="Bottom"/>
   <Borders/>
   <Font/>
   <Interior/>
   <NumberFormat/>
   <Protection/>
  </Style>
 </Styles>
 <Worksheet ss:Name="confidential- confi">
  <Table ss:ExpandedColumnCount="9" ss:ExpandedRowCount="596" x:FullColumns="1" x:FullRows="1">
   <Column ss:Width="150" />
   <Column ss:Width="400" />
   <Column ss:Width="400" />
   <Column ss:Width="65" />
   <Column ss:Width="400" />
   <Column ss:Width="250" />
   <Column ss:Width="250" />
   <Column ss:Width="65" />
   <Column ss:Width="65" />
   <Row>
    <Cell><Data ss:Type="String">Part No</Data></Cell>
    <Cell><Data ss:Type="String">Product</Data></Cell>
    <Cell><Data ss:Type="String">Short Description</Data></Cell>
    <Cell><Data ss:Type="String">Availability</Data></Cell>
    <Cell><Data ss:Type="String">Extended Description</Data></Cell>
    <Cell><Data ss:Type="String">Big Pic URL</Data></Cell>
    <Cell><Data ss:Type="String">Thumb Pic URL</Data></Cell>
    <Cell><Data ss:Type="String">Price</Data></Cell>
    <Cell><Data ss:Type="String">RRP</Data></Cell>
   </Row>
   <Row>
    <Cell><Data ss:Type="String">123-1

That's part of what comes up if I open in notepad and what comes up if I open in calc.

[Villeroy]

OK, this is not a plain text table as I thought. It is XML tailored to Excel. Normally, Calc should be able to load this special file format.
Go to Tools>XML Filter Settings...
Do you see a list entry "MS Excel 2003 XML"?
If not, you did not install OOo fully.
If yes, ... well, Calc can not handle this stuff perfectly and you should try some other program.
http://zamzar.com is an online converter for office documents.

[Camaroyal]

I have the correct filter etc , So are you saying that I can't open this xls file and edit it using open office? Surely that's the whole point of Openoffice is that you are supposed to be able to use files from Excel in Openoffice? and What now are my other options beisdes obviously buying excel? I tried the file converter but it couldn't convert my file (I tried several formats ) Gettting rather frustrated with this problem now. Any more answers would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

[Villeroy]

Yes please, buy Excel and stick with it until the end of the Microsoft empire. In this decade I would not expect any software with artificial intelligence to deal with any file your throw at it.

[jrkrideau]

I have the correct filter etc , So are you saying that I can't open this xls file and edit it using open office?

It's not an xls file. It's some kind of xml file maskarading as an xls file. Happens all the time. Banks and utilities seem especially prone to this.

Surely that's the whole point of Openoffice is that you are supposed to be able to use files from Excel in Openoffice?

Well no, the point of OOo is to have a high quality office suite available as an opensource program.

and What now are my other options beisdes obviously buying excel? I tried the file converter but it couldn't convert my file (I tried several formats ) Gettting rather frustrated with this problem now. Any more answers would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

It's common problem.Try the search function with the terms "xml" and "xls". I don't remember any generic solution but, personally. I have not had the problem so I may have forgotten a solution to it.

[MrProgrammer]

Surely that's the whole point of Openoffice is that you are supposed to be able to use files from Excel in Openoffice?

Well no, the point of OOo is to have a high quality office suite available as an opensource program.

+1

[Hagar Delest]

And another key point is the use of an ISO standard (ODF) that first insures the interoperability of your documents and second gives you back the property of your own data (when using the MS Office formats, they are stored in a black box you can't handle).