Re: question: format an excel file (.xls) inside sqr program

[Don Mellen <donm@ONTKO.COM>]

On Mon, 8 Jan 2001, James Womeldorf wrote:

> That would work except that I need to have the user just double-click on the
> file and have it come up properly in Excel (like it used to).  I do not use
> any 'receiving spreadsheet'.

Man!  What a pain in the {insert explicitive of a level appropriate to
your own sensibilities here}!

By default, Excel 2000 apparently says "I'm going to be so smart and
helpful, that when a CSV file tells me I have a String, but I *know* it's
a number, I'm going to ignore what I've been told and do it my way"...
{insert grumbling and barking noises here}

(sigh)

Well, assuming you're doing something for a large user base, or a small
user base that doesn't want any changes to excel default properties,
you can always write out a .slk file, which still reads in like it
used to (kind of a pain to set up, though).  I believe Frank Masson once
supplied a "generic slk file header" in the archives (www.sqrug.com).  You
can also make some test slk files from excel and examine the differences
in the header with different defaults.  Slk files allow you to place data
in specific cells (using Y and X values) and also allows you to specify
formatting (in the special slk markup codes).  I'm afraid I don't know of
a good source for what all the codes mean other than making lots of slk
files and examining the differences.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Donald Mellen  | Ray Ontko & Co. - Richmond, IN - http://www.ontko.com/
donm@ontko.com |  "In the beginning, there was nothing, which exploded"