2007 vs 2003

[greg]

I have a few questions on excel 2007 vs 2003.

I only have 2003. So if I check application.version I have 11.0.
Is 2007 12?


How can you tell what version an excel doc is? Just by extension? Or
something else?
Is there ways that a 2007 document could be saved as 2003 document with its
2007 extension? Or viceversa?

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc179191(TechNet.10).aspx
So there seems to be 2 extensions for 2007 excel documents?

Office Excel 2007 XML workbook

..xlsx

The default Office Excel 2007 file format. Cannot store VBA macro code or
Microsoft Excel 4.0 macro sheets (.xlm files in Excel 4.0).



and



Office Excel 2007 XML macro-enabled workbook

..xlsm

Uses the same basic XML format as the Office Excel 2007 XML Workbook, but
can store VBA macro code. Users saving an Office Excel 2007 XML workbook
that has VBA code or Excel 4.0 macro sheets (.xlm files in Excel 4.0) are
prompted to use this file format.



so do you automatically get the xlsm if you have macros in the workbook?
Does it flip automatically?

 

[Chip Pearson]

I only have 2003. So if I check application.version I have 11.0.

Is 2007 12?

Yes, 2007 is Version 12.

How can you tell what version an excel doc is? Just by extension? Or
something else?

Without opening the file, you can tell by the file extension only whether
the workbook is pre-20007 or 2007-and-later. Pre-2007 is 'xls' and 2007 is
'xlsx, xlsm, xlsb'. The CalculationVersion property tells the version of
that most recently calculated the workbook.

Is there ways that a 2007 document could be saved as 2003 document with
its 2007 extension? Or viceversa?

You can save in 2007 to the 2003 format, but you will loose any new 2007
features. You can get the Compatibility Pack to allow Excel 2003 to open
2007 files. 2007 can open any Excel file, regardless of the version that
created the file. Without the Compatiblity Pack, 2003 cannot open 2007
files.

So there seems to be 2 extensions for 2007 excel documents?

There are three extensions: xlsx for 2007 no-VBA workbooks, xlsm for 2007
with-VBA workbook, and xlsb for 2007 binary workbooks.

The default Office Excel 2007 file format. Cannot store VBA macro code or
Microsoft Excel 4.0 macro sheets (.xlm files in Excel 4.0).

The default file format in 2007 is xlsx, which does not allow VBA code or
XML. Use the xlsm format for workbook with VBA.

so do you automatically get the xlsm if you have macros in the workbook?
Does it flip automatically?

No. If you create a new workbook and add some VBA code, Excel will still
default to saving as xlsx, no-VBA-allowed. You'll get a message box warning
that you'll lose the code if you don't save as xlsm.



--
Cordially,
Chip Pearson
Microsoft Most Valuable Professional
Excel Product Group
Pearson Software Consulting, LLC
www.cpearson.com
(email on web site)

 

[Ron de Bruin]

For the OP

You can change the default of xlsx to xlsm if you want

Office button>Excel Options
Save..."Save files in this format"