Unable to open attached Excel file

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rsalhus

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Jul 20, 2006
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D2,

For some reason, the file you posted for us to download appeared to have a .php extension on it.? This extension (.php) is for paper projects, so in my case, Internet Explorer used a program called Microsoft Home Publishing (which uses files with the .php extension) to try to open it.? That failed.? If you make sure that you save the file from Excel before posting it to the Forum, then when we download it, it should have a .xls extension on it.? I was actually surprised that it opened with Microsoft Works (which looks for extensions of .xlr or .wks).? I wonder whether more people have Works than Excel on their computers, but we have learned now that a *.xls file (for Excel) can be opened by Works.  Don't know if the reverse is true but it won't matter because (as seen below) the Forum doesn't take .xlr files anyway.

I tried posting your file (below) from Works with an .xlr extension to see if you can read it with Excel.? But it wouldn't let me post a file name with a .xlr extension.  The Forum gave me the following error message:

You cannot upload that type of file. The only allowed extensions are txt,doc,pdf,jpg,jpeg,JPG,JPEG,gif,tif,tiff,png,zip,xls,est,saf,anr,an1,wmv,csv.

So now I am wondering, how did you post a file with a .php extension, or was it reallly a file with a .xls extension that somehow got modified before we were able to access it?  I'm confused.  But I'm still going to post my Works file below with a .xls extension (I changed the extension from .xlr to .xls) to see if you can read it (a Works file disguised as an Excel file) with Excel.  This should tell us whether or not a user can upload Works files to you to move to Excel.  Should be interesting.  ;D
 

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  • TravelRecommendations.xls
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The php extension comes from the forum software that builds a page to start the download.  php is the programming language used to build many web sites like this one.
 
You mean Works (not Word) don't you?? I don't think a spreadsheet file can be opened in Word.? ????
 
Yep, WORKS.....been working in Word for something else. My error. Yes, I know what php is ::), but didn't find where the reference was on the posts here.....
 
I'm on this stupid Sony Vaio Laptop and it does have excel 97 installed.  I give up  Waiting for Son In law to upgrade my desktop.  To install latest version of XP Office, whenever he gets here.  Like I said  I'm dumber than a box of chipped marbles when it comes to these things. That and after given orders for 60 years I'm Pee poor at following orders. Once a blockhead always, I guess.
 
OK, I just tried downloading the file TravelRecommendations.xls that I uploaded on one of my prior posts.  Once again, it appears as a php file, something called *index(2).php.  So like Ned says, the Forum software is changing the name of the file for some reason.  That explains why so many are having trouble downloading it.  ;)
 
rsalhus said:
For some reason, the file you posted for us to download appeared to have a .php extension on it.

As Ned explained, the .php extension is only in the forum address of the file (what you'll see if you right click|properties on the link in the message) - because the forum software is written in the php programming language (nothing to do with "paper projects"). The file itself has an .xls extension and has from the first version that was uploaded. Nothing was modified.

I'll go ahead and enable .xlr file types, but the address will still have a .php extension.
 
rsalhus said:
So like Ned says, the Forum software is changing the name of the file for some reason.

That's not what Ned said. Please read my last message explaining that the address has a .php extension, but the file name and extension remain unchanged. I think someone (Wendy?) had the answer for the folks who can't open the file - right click and save the file to your computer, then open it from there.
 
Tom,

When we click on the file that D2 posted, we get a file downloaded that has a php extension on it.  That is the problem.  The programmer who is passing the name of the file downloaded is adding the name of the file as he sees it, with the php extension on it.  An easy problem to fix if you are a php programmer which I am not.  ;D
 
xlr files won't be nearly as useful as xls files.  xlr are specific to Works and may not be usable in other spreadsheet programs.  The most useful would be ods but MS hasn't seen fit to support the open document format properly.
 
I was a little concerned about that Ned. Should I disable it?
 
rsalhus said:
When we click on the file that D2 posted, we get a file downloaded that has a php extension on it.

It downloads with the .xls extension to my PC, so the forum software obviously isn't changing or adding anything.

An easy problem to fix....

Lemme know how and I'll do it  ???
 
It downloads with the .xls extension to my PC, so the forum software obviously isn't changing or adding anything.

What do you see for properties when you right click on the file name?  I thought you were the one that said you saw a php extension.
 
Lemme know how and I'll do it...

It's my guess that the program is posting the address of the location where the file name is stored instead of the actual file name.  So it's the contents of that address that we're after, not the address itself. 
 
rsalhus said:
What do you see for properties when you right click on the file name?

Right click|properties on the link gives me the properties of the link, which is the address (URL), same as any other URL on the internet. That's the address where the file is stored.

It's like when the mail lady drops off my mail or the UPS guy delivers a package; They pull up outside my house and see my street address, they don't see me. If they open the door of my house, they'll see me inside.

If the file downloads from that link, what we need to figure out is why your PC is seeing the URL rather than the file name. I'll defer to the PC experts on this one.

BTW apologies for the brevity of my earlier responses - I was in the middle of cooking and eating dinner.
 
The last time I checked, UPS wasn't in the business of delivering URL's.  ;D

No, the URL doesn't point to an address in the computer where the file name is stored.  The URL points to a web location.  I was talking about computer addresses containing file names.  If you perform a LA (load address) instruction instead of a L (load) instruction, then you are passing the computer address of where the file name is stored instead of the CONTENTS of the computer address (the actual file name).  A common error in programming, sometimes done by forgetting to put parentheses around a label to signify the CONTENTS instead of the address itself.  This is what I think is happening in this case.  The programmer is passing the address of the location where the file name is stored instead of the actual file name itself.  Just a guess on my part, but it would explain why we are seeing something with a php extension (an address) where we should see the file name (in the properties).
 
rsalhus said:
No, the URL doesn't point to an address in the computer where the file name is stored.

Looks like a mis-communication. I was talking about the URL where the file is stored on our server, which of course is a web location. You're talking about the location of a file on your PC.

When I right click|properties on the link in the first message in this topic, it very clearly says "address", not file name. This is the address of the file on our server, aka the URL.

The rest is beyond my comprehension. I dabble in php, but I'm not a programmer by any stretch of the imagination.

BTW if there's a problem with the forum software, how come the file downloads with the correct file name and extension and also opens just fine for me and several other folks here?
 
I believe the problem has to do with good old SP2 of Windows XP, either by itself or with Norton internet Security.  When I click on the file link, I get a Windows Security Pop-up asking if I want to save the file "index.php."  If I save it as a .xls file, it works fine.  It's not the file, or the forum software, but rather the interaction of the forum software and the security software.  that's why it only happens on certain systems.

Al
 
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