How do I prevent an Excel file from being opened in other pr

[Barry Katcher]

I created an Excel file to be shared with everyone in my building. Someone went and opened it in WordPerfect and it converted it to ASCII text, and then they saved it. Now it is complete garbage.
Is there any way to prevent an Excel file from being opened in anything other than Excel?
Horse is out of the barn on this one, but for next time......... Thanx in advanx.

_________________
I used to have delusions that I was a werewolf, but I'm much better noOOOWWWWWWWW!
This message was edited by Barry Katcher on 2002-08-27 11:26

 

[Barry Katcher]

Anyone?

 

[shades]

Not sure, but maybe setting Security tab (Tools > Options) to password for opening the file would limit it to Excel. Worth a try.

 

[Barry Katcher]

Couldn't find anything called "Security tab" in Tools/Option

 

[shades]

Ah, you must be using 97 or 2000. On 2002, there is an additional tab called Security, that allows you to password protect so that it cannot be viewed by anyone not having both excel and the password.

_________________
- old, slow, and confused
... but at least I'm inconsistent -
This message was edited by shades on 2002-08-27 13:10

 

[shades]

I wonder whether you could hide the worksheet, so taht the user would have to unhide before using. That might eliminate non-Excel users. Just a thought.

Or try this:

Save As - and in the dialog box, there should be Tools, then General Options, then in the Save Options enter password in the "Password to Open" section.
This message was edited by shades on 2002-08-27 12:23

 

[Barry Katcher]

Shades, the password protection worked! I had thought of it but figured I would have to give them the password to open it anyway. I tried it anyway and, to my surprise, when I tried to open a test password-protected Excel file in Wordperfect, I got a message "Password protected documents cannot be converted" and got bounced out without opening it. Thanx for the suggestion.