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3.2 Loading an Existing Spreadsheet

NExS saves spreadsheets in specialized files, usually with the file type .xs3 attached to the end of the spreadsheet name. These files contain the entire definition of the spreadsheets, including formats and graphs.

The .xs3 file format consists entirely of printable characters. This makes it easy you to copy NExS files from one system to another regardless of the operating system or file structure. It also means that NExS spreadsheets can be mailed among systems without additional processing.

NExS can also access spreadsheets in several other popular formats: .xs sheets compatible with previous versions of NExS; xls sheets produced by Microsoft Excel version 5.0 and 7.0 (BIFF5 and BIFF7 format), and .wk1 and .wks sheets compatible with most other spreadsheet systems.  NOTE: NExS 1.4 has limited support for BIFF8 (Excel 97).

You can get an existing spreadsheet, view it, change it, recalculate it, and then save it (overwriting the original version) or exit without affecting the original version. You can load and use spreadsheets from other spreadsheet programs or load column-format data from text files.


For more information about loading data from text files, refer to Chapter 10, Interacting with Other Applications.''

To load an existing NExS or WKS/WK1 spreadsheet:

  1. Select Open... from the File menu. NExS displays the Open Sheet dialog box as shown in Figure 3.1.
  2. Select the type of spreadsheet file you wish to read: .xs3, .xs, .wk1, .wks, or .xls.
  3. Click the Selection entry box and type the name of the spreadsheet you wish to use, or select a spreadsheet by highlighting its name in the Files list using the mouse. Adjacent to the Files list is the Directories list. The files shown in the Files list are those files found in the directory whose name is highlighted in the Directories list. The dialog box displays an alphabetical list of all spreadsheets whose names meet the criteria in your File Filter. If the list is large, all the document names may not fit in the box.
  4. To select a spreadsheet, double-click on the spreadsheet name, or click the name once and then click the OK button. NExS opens the spreadsheet with the same window size and position that were in effect when the file was last saved.
  5. To select a different directory, double-click on the directory name in the Directories list. NExS then displays the names of files in that directory in the Files list. (The .. entry allows you to change to the next highest level of the directory structures.)
  6. To avoid opening a spreadsheet after viewing the dialog box, click Cancel.

If you do not find the spreadsheet name you are looking for, check the File Format and the File Filter in the dialog box to make sure you are searching in the correct disk or disk directory and for the desired spreadsheet type.

 



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Next:3.2.1 The File Filter Up:3 Accessing Spreadsheets Previous:3.1 Building a New
NExS User's Guide, Version 1.4.5

Grey Trout Software
11 April 1999