FIXED: Excel gives a file open error when Excel files created by CoolSpools V5 or CoolSpools PLUS are opened on Windows 7

ariadne logo CoolSpools V5/CoolSpools PLUS and Windows 7

I'm running CoolSpools PLUS or CoolSpools V5 and am having problems opening Excel files on Windows 7

There is a known problem with Excel files created by CoolSpools PLUS or CoolSpools V5 (or any earlier versions of CoolSpools or Slipstream) that meant that any version of Excel would give a file open error when you tried to open those files under Windows 7.

Please note that the version of Excel is (strangely) not relevant here: it is the version of Windows that is significant.

We believe that a minor formatting error in the Excel OLE Compound File wrapper that was tolerated by earlier versions of Windows is no longer tolerated by Windows 7.

This issue was fixed before CoolSpools V6 was released and fixes are also available for both CoolSpools V5 and Slipstream V4.

The relevant fixes/PTFs were all released on 2009-11-21 and are:

Product PTF
CoolSpools PLUS 5CP0173
CoolSpools V5 5CV0283
Slipstream V4 4SX0093

To check your PTF level, do the relevant command from the table below:

Product Command to check PTF level
CoolSpools PLUS DSPPTF 5COOLSP
CoolSpools V5 DSPPTF 5CVTSPL
Slipstream V4 DSPPTF 4STMEXP

If the result of running the relevant command from the table above is "No PTFs", this simply means that you have not applied any PTFs since you installed the software. It is still possible that the code you originally installed already included the relevant fix. You can check this by running the command shown below and examining the program creation date: if the date is 2009-11-21 of later, you already have the Windows 7 fix and do not need to apply PTFs for this issue.

Product Command to check code level
CoolSpools PLUS DSPPGM COOLSPV5R1/CS_WRKXLSR
CoolSpools V5 DSPPGM CVTSPLV5R1/CS_WRKXLSR
Slipstream V4 DSPPGM STMEXPV4R1/SL_DBFXLSR

If this shows "No PTFs", that simply means that you have not applied any PTFs since you installed: your installed code level could still include the relevant fixes. Do DSPPGM COOLSPV5R1/CS_RSTSPLR (CoolSpools PLUS) or DSPPGM CVTSPLV5R1/CS_RSTSPLR (CoolSpools): if the program creation date is 2009-11-21 or later, you do not need to apply the PTF for the fix described above.

If you believe do not already have the relevant fix, and intend using Windows 7, you should install the latest fix pack for CoolSpools PLUS, CoolSpools V5 or Slipstream V4 if you have not already done so.