Compatibility Excel 2003 with Excel 2004 containing VBA modules

[Oook!]

Hi there,

I have an Excel workbook product which contains a lot of VBA programming (not just Macros). 99% of my clients are PC users and so there is no issue - even the ones who now have Office 2007.

However, my main problem is that some clients are buying Macs - with Office 2004 mostly. They either cannot open the file at all, or the VBA doesn't work, making the product useless. The workbook needs to be backwards compatible, as they need to run it, and send it back if they have queries / updates. I have tried saving as Office 97/2000 etc, with no luck.

Having a different copy won't be a problem, as I can have this as a different product; but I do not have a Mac myself if this needs to be done there (though I can ask friends to help test).

With many people now purchasing Macs, it is going to reduce my client list considerably! - Do you have any ideas of what to do?

Many thanks in advance

 

[Bob Greenblatt]

Hi there,

I have an Excel workbook product which contains a lot of VBA programming (not
just Macros). 99% of my clients are PC users and so there is no issue - even
the ones who now have Office 2007.

However, my main problem is that some clients are buying Macs - with Office
2004 mostly. They either cannot open the file at all, or the VBA doesn't
work, making the product useless. The workbook needs to be backwards
compatible, as they need to run it, and send it back if they have queries /
updates. I have tried saving as Office 97/2000 etc, with no luck.

Having a different copy won't be a problem, as I can have this as a different
product; but I do not have a Mac myself if this needs to be done there (though
I can ask friends to help test).

With many people now purchasing Macs, it is going to reduce my client list
considerably! - Do you have any ideas of what to do?

Many thanks in advance

Most windows macros for Excel will work fine on Macintosh (office 2004, not
2008). However, when creating the macro some attention needs to be paid to
the platform the macro will run on. For example, the directory node
character for Macintosh is ³:², not ³\². This can be fixed by changing the
code to use application.pathseparator instead of the character. Also,
Active-X controls will not work on the Macintosh, so use controls from the
forms tool bar instead.

We can certainly help you get your macros working on both platforms, but
you¹ll have to be a little more specific about what does not work, what
errors (if any) the user is getting, etc.

The only alternative I can see for you is to get a Mac to test this stuff
your self, or ask any one of several of us here who write cross platform
compatible macros for a living to give you a quote on converting them.