Excel Err Msg: "Not Enough Memory" Loading Lotus File in Excel

ID: Q96023

The information in this article applies to:

SUMMARY

Under certain conditions, when you attempt to open a Lotus 1-2-3 WK1 or WK3 file in Microsoft Excel you may receive one or both of the following error messages:

Not enough Memory
-AND/OR-
Not enough system resources to display completely
In some cases, Microsoft Excel may hang (requiring you to reboot). To import the file successfully, follow the appropriate procedure below.
IF YOU RECEIVE BOTH ERROR MESSAGES
==================================
If you receive BOTH of the above error messages, the problem may be related one of the following:

YOU ARE TRYING TO OPEN 3-DIMENSIONAL WK3

FILES THAT CONTAIN A LARGE NUMBER OF SHEETS

When you attempt to open 3-dimensional WK3 files that contain a large number of sheets, these multiple-sheet files are imported to Microsoft Excel version 4.0 as workbooks. Microsoft Excel version 3.0 breaks these files into individual worksheets. The maximum number of sheets that can be contained within these multiple-sheet files and imported successfully into Microsoft Excel will vary depending on your available system resources and memory.

Workaround

To work around this problem, open the file in Lotus 1-2-3 and delete any blank or unnecessary sheets from the file. If there are no blank or unnecessary sheets, break up the file either by cutting and pasting some of the sheets into a new file or by using the Lotus 1-2-3 WK3 Translate Utility. This utility is available in Lotus 1-2-3 Release 3.x and in Lotus 1-2-3 for Windows. Note that using either of the latter two methods will NOT preserve the integrity of any 3-D references and data that is specific to WK3 functionality will be lost.

To use the Translate Utility, run TRANS.EXE located in your Lotus 1-2-3 directory. Under From, select 123r3 and under To, select 123r2. The translate utility lists what you will lose in doing this and then prompts you for the file you want to translate as well as what the output filename should be. Select Yes when prompted about whether or not you want to translate all plies. Each ply is then extracted as a separate file. If you indicated an output filename of SHEET.WK1, the extracted files will be named SHEET0A.WK1, SHEET0B.WK1, SHEET0C.WK1, and so on. You can then open these files individually in Microsoft Excel.

YOU HAVE A LARGE NUMBER OF GRAPHS STORED WITHIN THE FILE

For both 1-2-3 WK1 and WK3 files, if you have a large number of graphs stored within the file, Microsoft Excel loads each graph into individual chart windows. If there are a large number of windows created while importing the graphs, your available system resources may be depleted.

Workaround for Microsoft Excel version 4.0

To prevent Microsoft Excel version 4.0 from creating individual charts for each 1-2-3 graph, place the line following line in the [WK? Settings] section of your EXCEL4.INI file: 


   Load_Chart_Wnd=0


Workaround for Microsoft Excel Version 3.0

In Microsoft Excel version 3.0, when you receive the dialog box asking if you want to create the Lotus 1-2-3 graphs, choose the No button.

IF YOU RECEIVE "NOT ENOUGH MEMORY" OR IF MICROSOFT EXCEL HANGS ==============================================================
When you receive a "Not enough memory" error message or if Microsoft Excel hangs when you load a 1-2-3 .WK1 or .WK3 file, the worksheet may contain an active cell table that includes a large number of blank cells. To determine the extent of the active cell range, open the file in 1-2-3 and press END+HOME; the last possible cell in 1-2-3 is IV8192. If the lower-right cell is substantially beyond the range that contains data, delete the unnecessary rows and columns, save the file, and retry opening the file in Microsoft Excel.

Note: If the Lotus sheet is protected, using END+HOME will go to IV8192. Protecting the Lotus file will produce an active cell table with a large number of blank cells.

If you are working with a .WK3 multiple-sheet file, check the active cell range on each sheet in the file using the process described above. To navigate among the sheets, press CTRL+PAGE UP to move to the next sheet and CTRL+PAGE DOWN to move to the previous sheet.



MICROSOFT EXCEL VERSION 4.0

In Microsoft Excel 4.0 only, another possibility may be a conflict loading the Impress formatting file. Impress is an add-in built into 1-2-3 versions 2.2 and later that allows you to apply formatting such as borders, shading, and fonts to your worksheet. When you save a worksheet in 1-2-3, this formatting information is saved in a separate file with the same name as your worksheet plus an .FMT filename extension (if it was created in Lotus 2.x) or an .FM3 filename extension (if it was created in Lotus 3.x or Lotus for Windows 1.x).

Rename the .FMT or .FM3 file, giving it a different filename extension, and try opening the worksheet file in Microsoft Excel again. If you are then able to open the worksheet file, the size and complexity of the .FMT or .FM3 file may be draining the memory available to Microsoft Excel or there may be some other problem with the file. In either case, check your version of Microsoft Excel (from the Help menu, choose About Microsoft Excel).

Microsoft Excel version 4.0a for Windows is a maintenance release that improves the loading of Impress formatting files into Microsoft Excel. If you do not have this version of Microsoft Excel, please contact Microsoft Consumer Sales at (800) 426-9400.

Note that these problems should not occur when you open a Lotus 1-2-3 WK1 or WK3 file in Microsoft Excel version 5.0.


REFERENCES

"Switching to Microsoft Excel from Lotus 1-2-3," version 4.0, pages 27 and 38

Lotus for Windows On-line Help, "Working with Multiple Worksheets in a File"

Additional query words: 4.00 4.00a 3.00 halt hourglass 123 


Keywords          : 
Version           : 3.00 4.00 4.00a 5.00
Platform          : WINDOWS 
Issue type        :

Last Reviewed: March 30, 1999