XL2000: Fields Truncated When File Is Saved in .dbf Format (214064)

SYMPTOMS

When you save a Microsoft Excel 2000 document as a dBase (.dbf) file, all of the data may appear to be saved, but when you close and reopen the document, some of the columns of data may be missing. The data that was contained in the missing columns is lost.

CAUSE

This behavior can occur if the Excel spreadsheet contains more columns than the dBase format in which it is saved can support.

The dBase IV format can contain a maximum of 255 fields (columns) per record, dBase III can contain a maximum of 128 fields per record, and dBase II can contain a maximum of 32 fields per record.

The number of columns that are saved depends on the version of dBASE in which the file is saved. Excel 2000 can contain up to 256 columns of data.

The following table shows how many columns of data are saved when the database is saved in various .dbf file formats:

   File Type     Number of Columns
   ---------------------------------

   dBase II             32
   dBase III           128
   dBase IV            255

WORKAROUND

To work around this behavior and prevent the possible loss of data, save all Excel documents in the Excel native format before you save them in other file formats.