Microsoft KB Archive/31817

= XL: &quot;Database Range Not Defined&quot;/Data Missing Saving to dBASE =

Article ID: 31817

Article Last Modified on 8/16/2005

-

APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Excel 2.0 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft Excel 2.01
 * Microsoft Excel 2.1 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft Excel 2.10c
 * Microsoft Excel 2.10d
 * Microsoft Excel 3.0 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft Excel 3.0a
 * Microsoft Excel 4.0 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft Excel 4.0a
 * Microsoft Excel 4.0c
 * Microsoft Excel 5.0 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft Excel 5.0c
 * Microsoft Excel 95 Standard Edition

-



This article was previously published under Q31817



SYMPTOMS
In Microsoft Excel, if a database is not defined on the worksheet, you may receive one of the following error messages when you save a worksheet to the dBASE (.DBF) file format:

Database range is not defined

-OR-

No list found. Select a single cell within your list and Microsoft Excel will select the list for you.

Also note that only the data that is in the database range is saved to the .DBF file. (Other data on the worksheet are lost when you save the file in this file format.)



CAUSE
In Microsoft Excel, you must define a database on the worksheet before you save it in the dBASE file format.



WORKAROUND
To define a database on a worksheet so that you can save it in a dBASE file format, follow these steps:


 * 1) On the Microsoft Excel worksheet, select the range that contains the database.
 * 2) In Excel 5.0 and later, click the Name Box, type Database and press ENTER. (This is equivalent to creating a defined name called Database).

In Excel 4.x and earlier, click Set Database on the Data menu.
 * 1) Save the file in the dBASE file format you want.

NOTE: When you add records to an old .DBF file, you must remember to extend the database range so that the new data can be saved.



MORE INFORMATION
In Microsoft Excel for Windows version 2.x, you can save a file in the dBASE II and dBASE III file formats. In Microsoft Excel for Windows versions 3.0 and later, you have the added capability of saving a file to the dBASE IV file format.

For more information about how files are saved to dBASE file format in Microsoft Excel versions 5.0 and later, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

46228 :Data Lost When File Saved in .DBF File Format

Additional query words: 2.00 2.01 2.10 2.20 2.21 3.00 4.00 err msg dbf

Keywords: kberrmsg kbprb kbusage KB31817

-

[mailto:TECHNET@MICROSOFT.COM Send feedback to Microsoft]

© Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.