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Big Ron

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Dec 7, 2012
413
103
United Kingdom
Ive finally gotten around to transferring all of my old data files but have hit a bit of a brick wall. Some of my old university files were written using Microsoft's Works spreadsheet and I can't find a compatible viewer, can anyone help?:D

I have found an app for converting Works documents but not Works spreadsheets

Can anyone suggest some software solution or a workaround, there is nothing on the Microsoft download centre for me:(
 

Fishrrman

macrumors Penryn
Feb 20, 2009
28,241
12,388
Can you tell us
1. Whether the Works documents were created on the PC or the Mac versions of MS Works?
2. Which -version- of Works was used to create them?

Can you possibly post a sample file (one in need of conversion), so that we may try it for ourselves?
 

Big Ron

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Dec 7, 2012
413
103
United Kingdom
Thanks for the prompt replies:

OllyW: My version of Excel doesn't allow me to open my old works files, its just garbage.

Fishrrman: The files were created on the PC version of Works but unfortunately I can't remember which version. Some came fro the University as tutorial files etc.

I have tried to attached a file but I keep getting an error stating its an invalid file so I renamed it with a txt extension.
 

Attachments

  • STATEX5 copy.txt
    3.4 KB · Views: 93

Gregg2

macrumors 604
May 22, 2008
7,170
1,162
Milwaukee, WI
Do you have Apple's Numbers on your Mac? I've used it to open Excel files. I'm not sure if it will open MS Works files. You could take a flash drive to an Apple Store and ask to try to open a file. If it works and you don't have Numbers, then they have a sale.

Well, I did open the file you attached with Numbers. It looks like a spreadsheet, but much of the text looks like Russian or Greek.

Perhaps AppleWorks would open the file. You'll have a hard time 1) finding that application, and 2) finding a computer with an OS that will run it.
 

Palladium

macrumors member
Jan 2, 2006
49
0
Northern Ireland, UK
In times past, as a teacher, students would sometimes submit work in "funny formats". These were usually unopenable on college PCs but if I sent them home to my MacBook and double clicked on the file, I'm fairly certain they opened with Neo-Office.
 

Fishrrman

macrumors Penryn
Feb 20, 2009
28,241
12,388
Some more questions:

Do you still have access to the copy of MS Works that originally created these documents?
Even if it's a PC CD or DVD?
Or just an installation file (even an "exe" file)

I'm thinking that if you had the original program, you could either try running it using "Crossover" on the Mac, or through Boot Camp if you had to (although the latter might be more trouble than it's worth).

If you could run MS Works (PC version) by either of the above methods, the next step would be to export the files you wanted to keep in "tab-delimited" format, and then import them "on the Mac side". You could use Numbers, Excel, LibreOffice, or even the handy shareware spreadsheet app called "Tables".

I tried opening the sample file you posted using a text editor that could see invisible characters, with the hope of "stripping out" all the formatting characters and then having a file composed of nothing more than "plain text characters" -and- tabs/carriage returns (which would define columns and rows in a spreadsheet).

But there didn't seem to be much actual -text- within the file.
 

Big Ron

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Dec 7, 2012
413
103
United Kingdom
Thanks for the replies Ill try to answer each of you.

Fishrrman:

I'm afraid I don't have access to the original Works software - it came as part of the Uni course materials and I had to hand it back in when i'd finished with it.

Palladium:

I might give Neo-Office a go - I think I remember reading somewhere that an "Open Office" suite of software might work - i'll report back with the results.:D

Gregg2:

Yes I do have Apples Numbers on my Mac but it produces garbage much like Excel does :(

If the "Open Office" solution doesn't work - I will keep an eye out on the App store in the hope someone might write a converter - they did for the MS Works document files - I'd happily pay for it:confused:

Thanks again to all who have tried a solution for me;)
 

Fishrrman

macrumors Penryn
Feb 20, 2009
28,241
12,388
One more question:

I know you said above you couldn't post the file above with the original name+extension, so you put "txt" as the extension instead.

What -was- the -original- file extension?
 

Big Ron

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Dec 7, 2012
413
103
United Kingdom
Fishrrman

The original filename was: STATEX5.WKS

I found an old version of Open Office (V3) and, despite the support of many file types, it won't open my MSWorks spreadsheet. :cool:

I have discovered Neo-Office on line but you are required to donate even before you can download it. I'm not prepared to pay for something if I can't be assured that it will work.:(
 

Dark Dragoon

macrumors 6502a
Jul 28, 2006
844
3
UK
I just tried opening that file (STATEX5.wks) using Gnumeric on Fedora 20 (Linux),
it appears to open though I'm not sure about the data.
Here's the file re-saved as an xls file (I zipped it up).

Btw regarding Neo Office, if Open Office or Libre Office don't open the file then Neo Office almost certainly won't.
 

Attachments

  • STATEX5.xls.zip
    2 KB · Views: 62

Fishrrman

macrumors Penryn
Feb 20, 2009
28,241
12,388
Thanks to Dark Dragoon for providing the apparent solution.

I download the file above "STATEX5.xls.zip", unzipped it, and it will open with Excel, LibreOffice, Numbers, and Tables.

However there is some discrepancy regarding actual cell data between these different apps:
Opened in Excel, the cells show values such as "1.20787E-39" in cell B6.
However, if I tried opening it using "Tables", the same cell shows "0".
When I open it using Numbers and LibreOffice, the cell shows "1.20787443469713E-39".

So... some "adjustment" may be necessary.
However, the basic worksheet itself "comes through".
 
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