XL: General Alignment Applied Differently to WK3 Files in XL5

ID: Q186765

The information in this article applies to:

• Microsoft Excel 97 for Windows
• Microsoft Excel for Windows 95, version 7.0
• Microsoft Excel for Windows, version 5.0

SYMPTOMS

When you open a file that was saved in the Lotus 1-2-3(.wk3) format in Microsoft Excel 7.0 or Microsoft Excel 97, a Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications subroutine may return False when you try to programatically determine whether the values in a cell are left aligned. In Microsoft Excel 5.0, the same subroutine returns True.

To see an example of this problem, please see the "More Information" section of this article.

CAUSE

This problem may occur when the cells are formatted with the General format. In Excel 5.0, if the cell uses the General format, your subroutine returns True if you test for left alignment. However, in Excel 7.0 or Excel 97, the same subroutine returns False if the cells use the General format.

MORE INFORMATION

Microsoft provides programming examples for illustration only, without warranty either expressed or implied, including, but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability and/or fitness for a particular purpose. This article assumes that you are familiar with the programming language being demonstrated and the tools used to create and debug procedures. Microsoft support professionals can help explain the functionality of a particular procedure, but they will not modify these examples to provide added functionality or construct procedures to meet your specific needs. If you have limited programming experience, you may want to contact the Microsoft fee-based consulting line at (800) 936-5200. For more information about the support options available from Microsoft, please see the following page on the World Wide Web:

   http://www.microsoft.com/support/supportnet/refguide/

Example of the problem

To see an example of the problem, follow these steps:

 1. Start Microsoft Excel 5.0.

 2. Type the following into a new workbook:

       A1: Left
       A2: General

 3. Select cell A1. On the Format menu, click Cells.

 4. Click the Alignment tab on the Format cells dialog box. Under
    Horizontal, click Left. Click OK.

 5. On the File menu, click Save As. In the File Name box, type "test"
    (without the quotation marks). In the Save File as Type list,
    click WK3 (1-2-3). Click OK. Click OK again when the Summary Info
    dialog box appears.

 6. On the File menu, click Close. Click No when you are prompted to save
    the file in the Microsoft Excel format. On the File menu, click
    Test.WK3.

 7. On the Insert menu, point to Macro, and then click Module.

 8. Type the following Visual Basic subroutine into the new module sheet:

       Sub Test()

          Msgbox(Worksheets(1).Range("A1").Horizontalalignment = xlLeft)
          Msgbox(Worksheets(1).Range("A2").Horizontalalignment = xlLeft)

       End Sub

 9. Move the insertion point inside the subroutine. On the Run menu, click
    Start.

    Both message boxes return True even though cell A2 uses the General
    format.

11. Open test.wk3 in Excel 7.

12. Select A1. On the Format menu, click Cells.

13. Click the Alignment tab on the Format cells dialog box. Under

    Horizontal, click Left. Click OK.

In Microsoft Excel 7 and Excel 97, the first message box returns True; the second returns False.

REFERENCES

For more information about the alignment of cells, click Microsoft Excel Help Topics on the Help menu, click the Index tab in Microsoft Excel 7.0 Help, type the following text

   aligning cell contents

Additional query words: XL97 7.0

Keywords          : kbdta kbdtacode KbVBA xlvbmigrate xlwin 
Version           : WINDOWS:5.0,7.0,97
Platform          : WINDOWS
Issue type        : kbprb

Last Reviewed: May 18, 1999