XL98: Special or Accented Characters Are Saved Incorrectly in the Lotus File Format (185235)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Excel 98 Macintosh Edition
This article was previously published under Q185235

SYMPTOMS

In Microsoft Excel 98 Macintosh Edition, if you save a workbook, close the workbook, and then reopen the workbook, extended characters in the workbook may be replaced by other characters.

CAUSE

This problem may occur if you save the workbook in any of the following Lotus 1-2-3 formats:

WK4 (1-2-3)
WK3 (1-2-3)
WK3,FM3 (1-2-3)

WORKAROUND

If you save a workbook that contains extended characters in the Lotus WK1 format, the extended characters are saved correctly. However, the WK1 format does not support many features that are used by Microsoft Excel, such as multiple sheets in a workbook. Use this workaround with caution.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in the versions of Microsoft Excel listed above.

MORE INFORMATION

Extended characters are characters that include accents, circumflexes, cedillas, umlauts, or other diacritical marks. Usually, you can enter an extended character by using a special key combination or by using a function, such as the CHAR function.

Example

To see an example of this problem, follow these steps:
  1. In Microsoft Excel 98 Macintosh Edition, create a new workbook.
  2. Select cell A1.
  3. Press the following keys in sequence. Do not press RETURN until you have pressed all of the keys:

    OPTION+` (the key above the TAB key)
    a
    SPACE
    OPTION+`
    e
    SPACE
    OPTION+`
    i
    SPACE
    OPTION+`
    o
    SPACE
    OPTION+`
    u
    RETURN

    The characters "a," "e," "i," "o," and "u" appear in the cell, each with a grave accent.
  4. On the File menu, click Save. In the Save File As Type list, click WK4 (1-2-3). Then, click Save.
  5. On the File menu, click Close. Click Don't Save.
  6. Reopen the file you saved in step 4.
The extended characters have been replaced. The new characters that appear are listed in the following table. 
   Old character   New character
   -------------------------------------------------

   grave "a"       "e" with a circumflex
   grave "e"       "A" with a circle (Scandinavian)
   grave "i"       "o" with a circumflex
   grave "o"       "y" with an umlaut
   grave "u"       "O" with a diagonal strikethrough
Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:9/11/2002
Keywords:kbbug kbconversion KB185235
©2002 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.