Excel97 changing XLS file time

[Vaclav Kvasnicka]

On some files Excel97 changes the file time even when I
don't save the file - I just open and close the file and
the time is updated. Running on Win2k SP3. Any suggestions?
Thanks
Vaclav

 

[Norman Harker]

Hi Vaclav!

This means that you probably have volatile functions in the workbook
that get calculated on opening.

Here's what Charles Williams says:

Some of Excel's functions are obviously volatile: RAND(), NOW(),
TODAY()



Others are less obviously volatile: OFFSET(), CELL(), INDIRECT(),
INFO() (although the CELL("Filename") function is not volatile)



Some are volatile in some versions of Excel but not in others:
INDEX()became non-volatile in Excel 97.



A number of functions that are documented by Microsoft as volatile do
not actually seem to be volatile when tested:



INDEX(), ROWS(), COLUMNS(), AREAS()



You can download volatileFuncs.zip for a test workbook that shows if a
function is volatile.


For further details see:

Charles Williams:
http://www.decisionmodels.com/calcsecretsi.htm

--
Regards
Norman Harker MVP (Excel)
Sydney, Australia
(e-mail address removed)
Excel and Word Function Lists (Classifications, Syntax and Arguments)
available free to good homes.

 

[Jerry W. Lewis]

That would make the worksheet "dirty" (where it would prompt to save
changes on exit), but why would it change the file's date/time stamp
without the user saving it?

In my experience Excel updates the date/time stamp when you open it, but
restores the original date/time stamp if you close without saving. The
restoration is not performed if Excel terminates abnormally, but
otherwise I have not seen the date/time stamp permanently change without
a save.

Jerry

 

[Dave Peterson]

IIRC, we had a problem like this at work (back in the xl97 days).

If I opened a workbook that was located locally (on my harddrive or local
network), then all worked ok.

But if I opened a workbook that was on a remote network, then the time changed,
but wasn't switched back when I closed the workbook without saving.

This occurred in MSWord, too.

But then the problem stopped. I attributed it to some tweak our IT folks did to
our network (just a wild guess). But it's never returned.

If any of this fits (remote network), you may want to check with your IT people.