Microsoft KB Archive/192368

= XL98: Problems Linking/Saving Files with Brackets in File Name =

Article ID: 192368

Article Last Modified on 9/11/2002

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Excel 98 for Macintosh

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This article was previously published under Q192368





SYMPTOMS
In Microsoft Excel 98 Macintosh Edition, if you open a file with a name that contains brackets ("[" and "]"), the brackets are converted to parentheses for as long as the file is open in Excel. This behavior may produce unexpected results when you create a link to the file or when you attempt to save it.



CAUSE
Microsoft Excel uses brackets to signify a workbook file name in a reference. For example, in the following formula

=[TestWorkbook]Sheet1!$A$1

the brackets surround the name of the workbook (TestWorkbook). The remainder of the formula to the left of the exclamation point is the name of the worksheet in the workbook.

If you open a file with a name that contains brackets, the brackets are converted to parentheses. For example, if you open a file with this name

This[IsA]Test

the file name appears as

This(IsA)Test

in the title bar. Also, if you create a formula in another workbook that refers to the workbook, the formula resembles the following:

='[This(IsA)Test]Sheet1'!$A$1

This reference will work as long as the "This[IsA]Test" workbook is open. However, if the "This[IsA]Test" workbook is closed, the links to that workbook will not function correctly, because Excel will not recognize the file name.



WORKAROUND
To work around this problem, do not use brackets in your workbook file names and do not rename Excel files in the Macintosh Finder so that they contain brackets.



MORE INFORMATION
Note that when you save a new file in Microsoft Excel 98, you cannot include brackets in the file name. The only way that brackets appear in the file name is if the file was originally created either in an earlier version of Excel or in another program, or if the file was renamed in the Macintosh Finder.

Additional query words: XL98

Keywords: kbprb KB192368

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