Microsoft KB Archive/83727

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Excel: Unlocked Cells in Lotus Files Lose Normal Font and Color

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The information in this article applies to:


 * Microsoft Excel for Windows, versions 3.0, 4.0
 * Microsoft Excel for the Macintosh, versions 3.0, 4.0

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SUMMARY
Unlocked cells in a Microsoft Excel worksheet that is saved as a WKx file will lose the Normal style font and font color information. When the worksheet is opened in Microsoft Excel, the data in the unlocked cells will be blue and in the Courier, 10 point font. In Microsoft Excel version 4.0, directly formatting unprotected cells with a font or size other than the Normal style and/or a color other than dark blue will prevent this from occurring.

NOTE: This problem does not occur in later versions of Microsoft Excel for Windows.

MORE INFORMATION
Microsoft Excel imports WKx unprotected cells with a font color of blue. This was done to emulate the greenish color Lotus uses to denote unprotected cells. In Microsoft Excel 3.0 for Windows, most formatting is not retained when saving to a WKx format and as a result the entire worksheet will convert to Courier, size 10. The behavior is the same in Microsoft Excel 3.0 for the Macintosh with the exception that the font will revert to or remain at Geneva, the default font.

In Microsoft Excel 4.0, when saving to a WKx format, the formatting information is saved in a separate file as is done in Lotus versions 2.x and 3.x. These files are Impress files, saved with an .FMT extension when saving to a WK1 format and .FM3 when saving to a WK3 format. When a WKx worksheet is opened in Microsoft Excel 4.0, the .FMx formatting is applied. With the exception of unlocked cells formatted in the Normal style, the worksheet will retain its formatting.

As in Microsoft Excel 3.0, the unprotected cells will convert to Courier, size 10 and they will be imported with dark blue font coloring. However, in Microsoft Excel 4.0, if the file is then saved, closed, and opened again, the font color will revert to black (the default for Microsoft Excel) though the typeface will still be Courier. The dark blue font color in unprotected cells will not be saved to maintain compatibility with importing these files into Lotus.

Formatting unlocked cells with a font typeface or size other than the Normal style and/or a font color other than dark blue will allow unlocked cells to retain their formatting.