filenames? workbook vs. worksheet

[George]

An using MS Office 2002 Excel. Wondering what extensions (.xls or .xlw) the
filenames should be.

Microsoft help defines a workbook as having (multiple) spreadsheets. Seems
like no matter how many/few worksheets you create, when you go to save the
file, it always defaults to _______.xls, and the "Save as type" defaults to
"MIcrosoft Excel workBOOK, .xls.

Is .xls the new "standard" file extension for everything, regardless of
number of sheets? Is ___.xlw (the "w" used to indicate "workbook) a relic
of the past.

I created a few new files and specified a file extension of .xlw, thinking
that was what was needed if it had multiple sheets. Can I just use F2 and
rename the files from something.xlw to something.xls. (Or does this create
some kind of opening problem later because it wasn't "re-saved" as xls.

Just want the filenames to be consistent (and sort of "standard"), thanks.

 

[J.E. McGimpsey]

A worksheet must exist within a workbook. Only workbooks can be
saved as files. The standard extension for a workbook is .xls.

..xlw is the extension used for a Workspace. From XL Help:

You can open a group of workbooks in one step by creating a
workspace file. A workspace file saves information about all open
workbooks, such as their locations, window sizes, and screen
positions. When you open a workspace file by using the Open
command (File menu), Microsoft Excel opens each workbook saved in
the workspace. The workspace file does not contain the workbooks
themselves, and you must continue to save changes you make to the
individual workbooks.

See Help for how to create a workspace.

XL is smart enough to recogize the file type, so you can rename your
files to the .xls extension or not.

 

[George]

Thanks J.E., outstanding response...clear, succinct, and answers the
question. Got it. Thanks again.