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Knowledge base article 44

How can I import MS Works files?

Ability Office can import and use files from Microsoft Works. The way this is done depends on the application (spreadsheet, word processor, database) and the version of Works the files were created in.

Note that some of the actions described below will require that Ability's import/export filters are installed - if you downloaded Ability and haven't installed these, please see Knowledge Base Article 148: Error "W048F32W.DLL Not Found" (or similar).

Importing a Microsoft Works Word Processing File

Ability can open directly Works word processor files from Works version 2.0 (DOS) and Works version 3.0 (Windows). Select File/Open and change "Files of Type" to Other Files (*.*). Select the Works file from the list (you may need to change folder to the see the file).

Note: at the time of writing, we are not sure whether this procedure will work for Works 4.x files. If this does not appear to work for you, you'll need to export the file in Works into a format that Ability supports. You could use Rich Text Format or Microsoft Word as export formats.

Importing a Microsoft Works Spreadsheet

Ability does not support the MS Works spreadsheet format. You must use Microsoft Works to save the file in a format that Ability can import. This will depend on your version of Works as follows:

Version 4.0 or later - use the Works export option to create a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet file. You should use the Excel 5.0 or later format if available since Ability can open these Excel files directly with full support for formulas. If you can only save it as an Excel 4.0 or earlier format then Ability will import the data only (i.e. text, numbers and the results of any formula).
Versions 3.x or earlier - use the Works export option to create a Lotus 1-2-3 spreadsheet file. This can imported into the Ability Spreadsheet - but only the data (i.e. text, numbers and the results of any formula).

In the Ability Spreadsheet, select File/Open and the change "Files of Type" to either Excel (xls) or Lotus 1-2-3 (wk*) depending on the format you saved as in Works.

Importing a Microsoft Works Database

You can't import a Microsoft Works database (.wdb) directly into Ability. You must use Microsoft Works to save the file to one of the file formats that Ability can import first.

Open the database using Microsoft Works.
On the File menu, click Save As.
In the Save File As Type box, select dBASE IV, and then click OK.
Import the dBASE IV .dbf file created in step 3 into Ability using File/Import when running the Ability Database.