Massive File Size Increase - Clues on how to correct?

[JPARKHURST]

I have a file which brings a dispatch list (copy/import), and combines the dispatch (jobs & dates) with a file located on the server (descriptions & rates) and shows them on another sheet in my main file (working_dispatch).

I recently moved my network files to a shared drive so multiple departments can review my document (and have access to the reference files to keep the sheet updated). I then opened my file and was told it couldn't find the external files - which is to be expected.

However, I resourced them and my file size jumped from 292k to 5.9M - anybody have any clues a) why? b) how in the world can I track and eliminate?

I know I can manually recreate the file, but that is DEFINITELY not something i have the time budget for right now.

Any help is appreciated.

TIA,

Jon

 

[JPARKHURST]

Saving as binary only cut the file size down to ~2.2MB, again not workable, and almost 10x the size of the original file....

 

[cerfani]

do you have the old and new copy of the file?

you can change the extension of each file to .zip

then use a text program like notepadd++ or WinMerge to compare xml files and see the actual contents of the file and what is different

an excel file is an archive and you can navigate it's contents and review each file inside with windows by changing the extension to an archive format like .zip and extracting contents to a folder

http://winmerge.org/?lang=en
https://notepad-plus-plus.org/ (you need an extension to compare files, you can install in app with plugin manager)

 

[JPARKHURST]

Cool idea. I may try that. I actually just rewrote the formulas and got it to work. PITA, but I didn't expect for you to be so Johnny on the Spot!

Any idea of why it happens? Seems like this has happened to me before, and on this very file when I'm modifying external cell references.

 

[cerfani]

im not so sure... i was thinking maybe all the formulas text got much larger and with tons of references the file size increased dramatically but that is just a wild guess. All the formulas you write need to be saved in the xml files as text and every character requires 1 byte of memory to be saved... 1024 characters = 1kb

perhaps the format of the file got updated and it changed the internal contents of the archive around dramatically

all guesses, i have no idea though

 

[JPARKHURST]

Strange. yeah, literally all I changed was a drive lettter/structure reference. from f:\this folder\ to g:\this folder\.

Well, thanks for info, and as soon as i get a chance and my personal laptop, I am looking forward to checking out the xml structure and seeing what it can tell me between the two files. Incidentally, when I reworked the file manually, the size went down, not up, so now ~30k below what it was before (again ?!?).

Thanks again!

Jon

 

[cerfani]

It does sound strange. It might have to do with an older file format being updated and then there was a bug in the process. Well good luck investigating!

 

[JPARKHURST]

Ready for this? It was when I formatted a 'row' instead of a defined range. Same problem happened on a few other files. The most simple things will trip you up sometimes...