In addition to importing DIF, SYLK, and LOTUS 1-2-3 versions 1A and 2.0, Wingz now imports BIFF (Binary Interchange File Format) worksheet files. Although other uses exist, the primary use of this new capability is to read PC Excel versions 2.0 and above or Macintosh Excel versions 2.0 and above worksheet files directly into Wingz.
The new import feature translates worksheet files only; BIFF chart files and BIFF macro sheets are not imported.
I. IMPORTING BIFF WORKSHEET FILES
Importing your BIFF worksheets into Wingz is as simple as opening a Wingz worksheet. Follow these steps to import your worksheet files:
1) Launch Wingz;
2) Select the Open option on the File menu;
3) Select the file folder and disk where the BIFF worksheet file is located;
4) Click on the All Documents button in the dialog box;
5) Double-click on the file to be imported; or, click on the desired file and click the Open button;
6) Wingz automatically imports your BIFF worksheet.
As expected when importing foreign file formats, your BIFF files may vary slightly after being imported to Wingz. Before proceeding, review your worksheets carefully for elements which require further modification.
II. WORKSHEET DIFFERENCES
Because of the inherent differences between Excel and Wingz some features, functions, and formulas need additional translation after importing. The remainder of this document describes the anomalies which may be encountered when importing BIFF worksheet files into Wingz. Review each of the following areas to ensure your Wingz worksheet produces the desired results:
1) Protection;
2) Formatting;
3) Calculation;
4) Worksheet elements.
A. PROTECTED BIFF WORKSHEETS
Due to the security imposed by password protection, Wingz cannot import any BIFF worksheet for which the following is true:
1) The worksheet itself is password-protected;
2) The worksheet contains cells which are password-protected;
3) The worksheet contains windows which are password-protected.
To import these files into Wingz, the password protection must be removed by the original application (Excel).
Any BIFF worksheet which is window-protected without a password is imported as a non-window-protected worksheet.
B. FORMAT VARIATIONS
Wingz and Excel handle standard print options, display options, and custom cell formats slightly differently. The following section defines these exceptions.
PRINT OPTIONS
In Wingz headers and footers are defined as cells within the worksheet. In Excel headers and footers are defined as string ranges in the Page Setup option. Therefore, imported headers and footers are appended to the new Wingz worksheet below its lower left corner. These cells are automatically defined by Wingz as the report header range and report footer range, respectively.
As some Excel formatting options are not available in Wingz, the Excel headers and footers are imported literally. That is, macros which define strings in Excel are imported as the macros themselves.
For example, suppose an Excel worksheet contains the header "&F". The imported worksheet then contains "&F" as the report header range, appearing below the lower left corner of your worksheet. You can then replace the Excel macro with the desired string.
Similarly, suppose the Excel footer is defined as "&Lfooterstring&C&P&D"; the imported worksheet contains "&Lfooterstring&C&P&R&D" as the report footer range. This cell appears directly below the header cell. Redefine the footer using the Wingz standards described in Chapter 7: Printing, in the Wingz User's Guide.
The Excel print area is imported as the named range Print_Area. However, the report print range is not specifically defined. Define this area by performing the following:
1) Select the area to be printed (named Print_Area) from the Name submenu of the Go menu;
2) Select the Report Print Range option from the Report submenu of the Sheet menu.
Other print options are ignored. These include print gridlines, print row and column headings, margins, paper size, and paper orientation. All printer specific options are also ignored.
DISPLAY OPTIONS
Wingz ignores the Excel Split Windows and Frozen Titles features.
CUSTOM COLOR FORMATTING
Wingz and Excel assign custom formatting colors differently. In Wingz custom formats, positive numbers, zero values, and text entries are assigned a single color. Negative numbers may be assigned a different color, if desired. Excel allows a different color to be assigned to each type of numeric cell entry.
Wingz translates the entire custom format but assigns the color red to all positive values, zero values, and text entries. Negative values appear in blue.
The Wingz custom format is as follows:
$#,##\;($#,##\);GENERAL;GENERAL.
FONT CONVERSION
If all the fonts in your Excel worksheet are installed on your Macintosh, Wingz directly imports the Macintosh Excel fonts. If a Macintosh font is not installed when translating the worksheet, Wingz assigns the default font. In importing PC Excel files the following font conversions occur:
PC FONT MACINTOSH FONT NAME FONT STYLE
Helv Helvetica Plain
Helv Bold Helvetica Bold
Helv Italic Helvetica Italic
Helv Bold Italic Helvetica Bold and Italic
Courier Bold Courier Bold
Courier Italic Courier Italic
Courier Bold Italic Courier Bold and Italic
Tms Rmn Times Plain
Tms Rmn Bold Times Bold
Tms Rmn Italic Times Italic
Tms Rmn Bold Italic Times Bold and Italic
Roman Times Plain
System Chicago Plain
System Proportional Chicago Plain
Modern Monaco Plain
Script Zapf Chancery Plain
C. CALCULATION DIFFERENCES
PRECISION
Wingz always calculates to the greatest possible precision. Therefore, the Excel Precision as Displayed option has no equivalence in Wingz. Wingz performs the calculation to the available precision and then displays the specified number of decimal places.
ITERATION
Wingz does not import the Excel delta value when using iteration. After importing your worksheet, define the delta value and delta range for iteration. Refer to Chapter 11: Wingz Dictionary, in the Wingz Reference Manual for more information.
EXPONENTIATION
Wingz performs exponentiation prior to negation in mathematical expressions. Excel calculates negation prior to exponentiation. For example, Wingz evaluates the expression -2^4 as -16; Excel evaluates this expression as 16.
D. WORKSHEET ELEMENTS
Wingz treats some worksheet elements differently than does Excel. As a result, some variations occur when importing the following:
1) Arrays;
2) Cell notes;
3) Names;
4) Dates;
5) Tables;
6) Data Bases;
7) Formulas.
ARRAYS
Wingz does not use the array notation of Excel. Therefore, arrays can not be directly imported.
Any formulas containing arrays yield an error message. For example, an Excel array formula such as {=A1:A3+B1:B3} translates as ERR{=A1..A3+B1..B3}.
Similarly, any formulas containing array constants cannot be directly imported into Wingz. For example, the Excel formula =SUM({1,2,3}*4) imports as ERR=SUM({1,2,3}*4). This example could be corrected by distributing the array. For example, replace this error with the formula =SUM(1*4+2*4+3*4).
CELL NOTES
Cell notes are not imported into Wingz.
NAMES
If a name in a BIFF worksheet represents a range, Wingz imports the name with its range. Wingz does not import a name which represents a value or a formula. To prevent the loss of this information Wingz appends these names as cells below the footer information.
For example, suppose an Excel worksheet contains the following three names:
AREA which represents the range A1 through C4;
PRINCIPAL which represents the value 1000;
INTEREST which represents the value 10%.
Wingz imports the name AREA with its associated range. PRINCIPAL and INTEREST are each imported as cells containing the names and values. These cells are appended below the page footer information.
As Wingz does not recognize names of values and formulas, any imported formulas which refer to these names can not be calculated. Rewrite these references as the values, cells, or formulas they represent.
DATES
All spreadsheets use a numeric representation of dates for calculation and storage. Wingz calculates and stores dates based on the number of days which have elapsed since December 30, 1899. Macintosh Excel defaults to the 1904 date system which uses January 1, 1904 as its base. Excel for OS/2 and Excel for Windows default to the 1900 date system which uses January 1, 1900 as its base. Therefore, Wingz must convert all Macintosh Excel dates when importing the worksheet. To do this, the Excel dates must be in one of these standard Excel formats:
1) m/d/yy;
2) d-mmm-yy;
3) d-mmm;
4) mmm-yy.
Wingz can not properly convert other date formats when importing BIFF files.
TABLES
Most Excel tables import directly into Wingz. However, some exceptions exist. In these cases the table values and formulas are properly imported but they do not retain the table properties. The following define the circumstances when a table is not imported directly:
1) Wingz does not use row-input tables. Therefore, any Excel row-input tables are translated as values and formulas.
2) Wingz maintains only one table per worksheet. If your Excel worksheet contains more than one table, the last table retains the table properties. All other tables are converted as values and formulas.
3) Both Wingz and Excel use two-input tables. However, the input cells are defined differently. After importing a worksheet with a two-input table, redefine the input cells as follows:
Row Input Cell of Excel becomes Input Cell 2;
Column Input Cell of Excel becomes Input Cell 1.
DATABASES
Wingz translates the Excel data range and criteria range as the named ranges, Database and Criteria, respectively. To use these ranges with database functions, define them as database elements in Wingz.
To define the database range perform the following:
1) Choose the Go menu;
2) Select the Name option and drag to the Database name;
3) Choose the Database submenu from the Sheet menu;
4) Select the Data Range option.
To define the criteria range perform the following:
1) Choose the Go menu;
2) Select the Name option and drag to the Criteria name;
3) Choose the Database submenu from the Sheet menu;
4) Select the Criteria Range option.
All Wingz database restrictions apply to imported worksheets. Therefore, CRITERIA MUST BE REDEFINED to meet Wingz standards. Refer to Chapter 6: Managing Worksheets, in the Wingz User's Guide for more information.
FORMULAS
Most BIFF worksheet formulas are imported directly into Wingz. However, some exceptions exist.
Recall that Wingz does not use arrays or names in the same fashion as Excel. Therefore, any formulas containing arrays or names which refer to values or formulas can not be imported directly. Review the above sections on these elements.
Other Excel formulas do not translate into Wingz in the following circumstances:
1) The Excel formula contains an error message. Clearly only valid Excel formulas can be imported.
2) Wingz does not contain an equivalent function. These functions and function arguments are imported as text:
3) Wingz does not recognize the same number of arguments or the same type of arguments as does Excel. These yield error messages in Wingz:
• Any database function which has a second argument as a field name instead of a number.
• DCOUNTA if the second argument is absent.
• Date functions which contain combination date/time arguments.
• FV, PMT, and PV if the number of arguments is greater than 3.
• IRR if the number of arguments in not equal to 2.
• DDB if the number of arguments in not equal to 4.
4) THE EXCEL FORMULA ATTEMPTS TO EVALUATE A STRING EXPRESSION IN A FUNCTION WHICH NORMALLY EXPECTS A NUMERIC EXPRESSION. In some circumstances Wingz returns an error message. In other functions Wingz assigns the text a zero value.
For example, Excel evaluates DAY("51166") as the number 1. This function obviously anticipates a date argument. However, Excel attempts to calculate the function anyway. In this example, Wingz requires a date argument so it returns an error message.
In other cases the string argument is evaluated as zero. To prevent confusion, ensure your formulas use the anticipated arguments in Excel before translating to Wingz. This may help eliminate unexpected results.
5) The Excel formula contains a range operator such as intersection or union. All formulas which contain range operators yield an error message when imported.
For example, the Excel formula =SUM((B1:D1) (D1:D3)) is translated as ERR=SUM((B1..D1) (D1..D3)).
In some cases, the Excel formula translates directly into Wingz. However, because the spreadsheets interpret these functions differently, the imported formulas yield different results.
These functions are described below:
• INT(): In Excel this function returns the greatest integer less than or equal to the argument. In Wingz this function returns the integer portion of any numeric expression. In some cases these values are different.
Excel Wingz
=INT(-9.5) returns -10 -9
NOTE: The TRUNC() function in Excel produces the same results as the INT() function in Wingz.
• VALUE(): The Excel VALUE() function converts text representing a numeric expression, date, or time into a number. The text can be formatted as any of the constant date, time, or number formats recognized by Excel. The Wingz version of this function only converts strings which represent numeric expressions. Wingz converts the string from left to right, stopping at the first non-numeric character. Therefore, the Wingz translation of date and time strings as arguments for this function yields different results.
Excel Wingz
=VALUE("10:20:30") returns 0.43090278 10
=VALUE("$1,000") returns 1000 0
=VALUE("12-Jan-89") returns 32520 12
• Wingz statistical functions count the list of items differently than Excel statistical functions. In Excel statistical functions ignore cells containing text. Wingz includes text cells in the count of items and assigns the text cell a value of 0. (Wingz does not include blank cells in a count of items.) In this example the cells D1 through D5 contain the following data respectively:
3.4, 15, "Alabama", 19, 3.5.
Excel Wingz
=VAR(D1..D5) 170.706667 55.049600
This difference is consistent for all statistical functions. Review Chapter 10: Formulas and Functions, in the Wingz Reference Manual for more information. All Database Functions and Statistical Functions which count a list of items are affected by this different method of counting cells.
• Boolean logic functions such as TRUE() and FALSE() yield the same results in Wingz as in Excel. However, these results are returned as numbers in Wingz and text in Excel. The Boolean logic functions TRUE() and FALSE() translate as follows:
Excel Wingz
=TRUE() TRUE 1
=FALSE() FALSE 0
This format holds true for all other logic functions (IF(), ISBLANK(), ISERR(), ISNA(), ISNUMBER(), ISRANGE(), ISSTRING()).
