OFF2000: HTML File Always Opens in Last Office Program that Edited It

ID: Q229377

The information in this article applies to:

SYMPTOMS

When you edit an HTML file in one of the programs listed at the beginning of this article and try to open it in another one of the listed programs, the HTML file will open in the program that was previously used to edit it.


CAUSE

Each Office program inserts a meta tag into the HTML file when it is saved. For example, if you save an HTML document in Word, the meta tag looks similar to the following:

<meta name=ProgId content=Word.Document>
This is what causes Excel or PowerPoint to start Word when you try to open the HTML file in either one of them.


WORKAROUND

It is possible to open the HTML file in a different program than the one that last edited it. To do this, follow these steps:

  1. Start the program in which you want to open the HTML file.


  2. On the File menu, click Open.


  3. Locate and select the HTML document you want to open.


  4. Click on the down arrow to the right of Open in the lower right corner of the Open dialog box.


  5. Click Open in <Program Name>, where <Program Name> is the name of the Office 2000 program in which you want to open the HTML file.


Note: When you open an HTML document using the previous steps in either Word or PowerPoint, you will only be able to save the file using a name different than the original HTML file. This is because the file is opened read-only in Word or PowerPoint.


MORE INFORMATION

The following table lists the meta tags created by the Office programs when you save a document in HTML format. 


Program              Meta Tag
---------------------------------------------------------

Excel          <meta name=ProgId content=Excel.Sheet>
PowerPoint     <meta name=ProgId content=PowerPoint.Slide>
Word           <meta name=ProgId content=Word.Document>


REFERENCES

For more information about opening HTML files, click Microsoft Excel Help on the Help menu, type "opening HTML files" in the Office Assistant or the Answer Wizard, and then click Search to view the topics returned.

For more information about opening HTML files, click Microsoft PowerPoint Help on the Help menu, type "opening HTML files" in the Office Assistant or the Answer Wizard, and then click Search to view the topics returned.

For more information about opening HTML files, click Microsoft Word Help on the Help menu, type "opening HTML files" in the Office Assistant or the Answer Wizard, and then click Search to view the topics returned.

Additional query words: OFF2000 


Keywords          : 
Version           : WINDOWS:2000
Platform          : WINDOWS 
Issue type        : kbprb

Last Reviewed: May 25, 1999