Working with Lotus 1-2-3 Spreadsheets

You probably already know that Excel will easily open a wide variety of spreadsheets stored in other formats. One that it will open is spreadsheets originally created in Lotus 1-2-3. If you have some old 1-2-3 files and you want to make sure that they are treated, in Excel, according to Lotus 1-2-3 "rules," there are a couple of settings you need to pay attention to.

If you are using a version of Excel prior to Excel 2007, choose Tools | Options and make sure the Transition tab is displayed. (Click here to see a related figure.) Notice the two options under Sheet Options; these are what you need to work with. If you are using Excel 2007, click the Office button and then click Excel Options. At the left of the dialog box click Advanced, and then scroll all the way to the bottom of the options. You should see a section named Lotus Compatibility Settings. The same two options are listed in this section:

• Transition Formula Evaluation. When checked, this option causes Excel to open and evaluate 1-2-3 files without losing or changing information. Based on the formulas in the 1-2-3 file, if this option isn't checked, then you might lose some data or some formulas won't calculate the same in Excel as they would have in Lotus 1-2-3. Specifically, with this option selected Excel evaluates text strings as 0 (zero), Boolean expressions as 0 or 1, and database criteria according to the rules used in Lotus 1-2-3.
• Transition Formula Entry. If this check box is selected, then formulas entered in Lotus 1-2-3 version 2.2 syntax are converted to Excel syntax. This option should not be selected if you don't plan on saving the spreadsheet in Excel format.

Make your settings, as desired, then close the Options dialog box. Open the Lotus 1-2-3 spreadsheet and Excel should process the file according to the settings you made.