Excel crashes on opening 6mb file which has lots of objects - excel

I copy-pasted content from webpages into an Excel file in various sheets.
Saving the file took a long time and I realised that the file size had grown to 6mb.
When I open the file Excel crashes.
Is there any way to remove all objects through VBA from some other Excel file or a suggestion how I can solve this issue?

You can view the xml structure of an XLSX by converting it to a ZIP archive.
Look for the images in: /xl/media/
As mentioned in your comment, ActiveX content is in \xl\activeX

Related

Excel behaves strange with XSLX file created manually

Based on knowledge gained through working with the OpenXML SDK, I have implemented an Excel generator in JS (using TypeScript with ReactJS and a custom JSX factory generating plain XML). The files generated open fine in Excel and one can also edit and save them fine in Excel, no errors.
However, if one tries to copy cells (even a single one) from such a generated Excel file to another worksheet in the same Excel instance, it fails with the error "The command cannot be used on multiple selections.". Just saving and reopening the file is enough to fix the problem. Copying to other applications (e.g. Notepad) works fine.
It seems that this particular error is shown by Excel in several edge cases where the data is not exactly meet the expected format, for instance I found reports of that happening when a sheet is hidden when manipulating it via VBA. However, in my case I'm not sure what could be causing the issue.
Just saving the file in Excel unfortunately significantly alters its parts, so that I couldn't get a meaningful diff out of it. I did not see what could be causing the problem. Maybe someone has some experience with the internals of Excel?
To get a sample file, copy the following into your browser address bar and save it as xlsx file:
data:application/vndopenxmlformats-officedocumentspreadsheetmlsheet;base64,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
Well, I don't know the particulars of how you are generating the xml file, but I can tell you how to edit the underlying xml files so that it will work, and then perhaps you can figure out how to use your implementation to change the property that's gunking things up.
First, an xlsx is a set of xml files. I'm sure you know that, but I'm just starting at the beginning. You can change the extension to zip and then extract the files, and then rezip them and change the extension back to xlsx.
So do this:
take the generated xlsx
change the extension to .zip
extract the files
find xl\worksheets\sheet1.xml
open it and find this property: worksheet>sheetViews>sheetView:tabSelected
set it to 0
save the file
go back to the unzipped folder
select all files and send to zip
change the extension on the new zip file to .xlsx
You should now be able to open the newly created xlsx, add a new sheet, and copy freely.
If this works for you, then you have diagnosed the problem, one property set to true when it shouldn't be, and it should be relatively simple for you to modify your export procedure.
I've had this issue multiple times in the past.
The way I solved it was by filling out (populating) a template (file, previously created in Office) with the exported data rather than generating a file from scratch. Office unfortunately does not fully comply with OpenXML, and for more complex exports you might even be unable to open the file.
I would also recommend Beyond Compare (now Scooter Software) for comparing the two files instead of just doing a diff.

Batch file creation: Convert xls to csv using only batch script

I have done quite a bit of searching before posting this question so let me outline what I am trying to do.
1.) I do not want to use applications I have to download from a website or created custom commands (please no start Xls2Csv.exe here's a link to a website where you can download the program) I do not want to download a program to do this.
2.) I want to keep it in the batch file if possible - I have tried the vbc/vbs/vb files that is not what I am looking for.
3.) I found this an this is close to what I need but if I can stay within a batch file that would be best: Can a Batch File Tell a program to save a file as? (If so how)
Background
I have a bunch of test records stored in excel sheets within folders. Each test record has autoformatted name so the only real difference between any of the filenames is a serial number, otherwise each file name is formatted the exact same way.
I have written a batch file to search and find the files I need but I am stuck on obtaining a tiny bit of information in a .xls file.
What I am trying to do - I have excel files (.xls) and there is a word in a cell on one of many sheets that I would like to copy into a textfile. However I am unable to use findstr for an excel find because the command searches the file as if you opened it in notepad and the data I need is not present.
I am not concerned of data loss as long as I can get this tiny bit of information to a text file.
Otherwise what I have found to be the best solution is to convert an XLS to a CSV. I have manually done it by opening the file and saving as type .csv that worked.
What hasn't worked is:
example1.xls >> example2.csv
ren example1.xls example3.csv - this will save it as a csv file but still opens with the same formating of the xls file in both excel and notepad.
I was hoping that the was a command to recreate the manual process of opening the file and saving as csv.
If there are any other suggested solutions - maybe a command where I can search for a string within an excel file? That would be the simplest option.

The file format and extension of filename.xls don't match. The file could be corrupted or unsafe

My code exports an excel (.xls) file as HTML from a webpage. On opening this downloaded file, I get an error saying:
The file format and extension of filename.xls don't match. The file could be corrupted or unsafe. Unless you trust its source, don't open it. Do you want to open it anyway?
On clicking yes, it displays the contents correctly. Is there a way to get rid of the warning?
Other questions addressing this error have suggested changing the extension from .xls to .xlsx, but that completely prevents the files from opening in my case.
To clarify, I am not importing HTML data into an excel spreadsheet. I am representing an excel spreadsheet as HTML. I can share the file if required.

Excel file getting corrupted

When I save a file with macros in office 2019 it gets corrupted. If I recover it it will remove all listobjects, shapes, etc...
If I recover it in excel 2013 it will remove just validation lists.
Is there a way to trace opening and determine what is causing the problems?
I can also upload excel file if anyone is interested to take a look at in...
Edit:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/np02i4dhkrw9trh/SQLDB%20%E2%80%93%20ZA%20KALKULACIJE.xlsm?dl=0
In this file if you add validation list at Sheet1 to "Baza Podatkov" and then save and reopen it will corrupt the file.
Corrupt Excel files is a common and known issue (when using the xlsx or xlsm format). Once a file was corrupted never trust Excel if it tells you it could be repaired. In most cases the file stays somehow corrupted (even if it tells you it was successfully repaired). Don't trust this file anymore. Start a new file, copy over the data and macros using copy/paste.
I recommend to save the files (especially if they contain big data) in the binary xlsb format. This is known to be much more staple than xlsx or xlsm and furthermore it produces much smaller files. Give it a try.
Ok I've found that I was adding items to list without using comma or something. Still weird that it didn't work.

ColdFusion 8 always opens .XLS, want .XLSX

I am using ColdFusion 8. Doing something like this:
<cfheader name="content-disposition" value="attachment; filename=abc.xlsx">
<cfcontent type="application/msexcel">
<html>
But I get a file like abc.xlsx.XLS.
The reason I'm trying to get an XLSX is because sometimes the XLS version is so large and Office 2007 gets stuck opening it or takes way to long.
Only workaround right now is to wait, open the XLS in Office 2007, save as .XLSX and then open it faster.
Any help is appreciated!
I would suggest that the slow opening is because you are providing the data in an HTML format, not because of the extension. You could test this by saving the file directly from the browser, renaming it with the xlsx file extension, and opening it.
If you want to save data in an Excel format directly, I would check out Ben Nadel's POI CFC project.
I believe that the MIME type for Excel 2007 .xlsx files is "application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.spreadsheetml.sheet". I found an article on the Office Resource Kit Blog that calls this out after googling around a little.

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