Converting PXL<-> XLS in Vista

TomCon · Joined: 07 Jan 2008 Posts: 4

In ActiveSync 4,2 on XP, in Tools|Options|Rules tab, i can set it up for PXL
files to be converted to XLS when they are transfered to the desktop.

In Vista, help says to install Windows Mobil Device Center, and the current
download version appears to be 6.1. However, i cannot find any equivalent
of the "Rules" tab in Windows Mobil Device Center. Help was not helpful in
finding it either. I have found "Files, sync settings" but there is no
setting there to tell it to convert PXL -> XLS upon sync. So, at this
point, the files transfered from the PPC to the Desktop running Vista are
PXL, and Excel cannot open them.

How do i get PXL to convert to XLS under Vista/Windows Mobil Device Center.
If you know the answer, please be very specific in terms of describing where
to find it, as that is the problem, i can't find it. I understand the
concept, just can't find any place (menu, dialog, etc) to indicate to the
system that i want the conversion to happen..

THanks, tom

Archived from group: microsoft>public>pocketpc

Beverly Howard [Ms-MVP/Mo · Joined: 15 Aug 2007 Posts: 6700

imho, ms has pretty much dropped the ball on this. Until someone posts
a solution, the quickest solution is probably to save ppc spreadsheets
in another format...

....remember that recent office updates now prevent imports of older xls
formats... not sure if the ppc save formats are included in the blockage.

Beverly Howard [MS MVP-Mobile Devices]

Todd Allcock · Joined: 15 Aug 2007 Posts: 1029

At 25 Jan 2008 08:38:41 +0000 TomCon wrote:
> In ActiveSync 4,2 on XP, in Tools|Options|Rules tab, i can set it up for
PXL
> files to be converted to XLS when they are transfered to the desktop.
>
> In Vista, help says to install Windows Mobil Device Center, and the
current
> download version appears to be 6.1. However, i cannot find any
equivalent
> of the "Rules" tab in Windows Mobil Device Center.

Correct. Because, unfortunately, it isn't there.

Starting with WM5, devices now write and read .doc and .xls files by
default (although they can still open most .pxl and .pwd files if need be.)

WMDC has "limited" support of pre-WM5 devices, and file conversion was one
of things tossed out, apparently.

> Help was not helpful in
> finding it either. I have found "Files, sync settings" but there is no
> setting there to tell it to convert PXL -> XLS upon sync. So, at this
> point, the files transfered from the PPC to the Desktop running Vista are
> PXL, and Excel cannot open them.

Correct...

> How do i get PXL to convert to XLS under Vista/Windows Mobil Device Center.

You don't. What you need to do is start using .xls and .docfiles on your
PPC. PPC 2003 devices can write and read .xls and .doc, but "way back
then" the idea (I'm guessing) was to use a more compact file format to save
storage space.

You have two options at this point that I can see- manually convert each
file on the device (open it then save in ".xls 97-2000" format) or just
copy the files from whatever XP desktop you last sync'd with to the Vista PC,
and sync them to the PPC without conversion.

In either case, you'll want to go into the PPC's options in Pocket Excel
and change the default save option to .xls instead of .pxl.

Todd Allcock · Joined: 15 Aug 2007 Posts: 1029

At 25 Jan 2008 09:57:17 -0700 Todd Allcock wrote:
> You have two options at this point that I can see- manually convert each
> file on the device (open it then save in ".xls 97-2000" format) or just
> copy the files from whatever XP desktop you last sync'd with to the Vista
PC,
> and sync them to the PPC without conversion.
>
> In either case, you'll want to go into the PPC's options in Pocket Excel
> and change the default save option to .xls instead of .pxl.

Sorry to reply to myself, but I forgot one other option. You can e-mail
the .pxl fies to our desktop- pre-WM5 devices automatically convert
"pocket" documents to desktop versions when you e-mail them as attchments.
I assume the theory was that you couldn't count on the recipients of the e-
mail to have Activesync (and therefore the file converters) installed.

The net result is that if you receive these files via e-mail on the Vista PC,
they'll be in .xls format, and you can save them to the sync folder and
sync thm back to the PPC (still in xls format) on your next sync. A pain,
yes, but at least you only have to do it once, provided you remember to
save all NEW spreadsheets you create on the device in .xls format.

Checking my old WM2003 Dell Axim, I see there's no way to set creating new
worksheets as .xls instead of .pxl by default. You manually have to hit
"Tools" then "Save Workbook As..." and select "Excel 97/2000 Workbook" in
the "Type" box. A bit of a hassle, but thankfully, you don't have to this
every time you access the file- if you edit an existing .xls file on the
device it stays in .xls format, so manually selecting the Excel 97/200
format only needs to be done once (for each new file.) Files creted onthe
Vista PC will sync over in .xls format already, and should stay that way if
you edit them on the PPC.

TomCon · Joined: 07 Jan 2008 Posts: 4

Thanks for all the help and answers. But, i would go far further than
"Microsoft dropped the ball on this one". How about "Microsoft screwed
their customers". Another example of depending on Microsoft software,
upgrading (buying new Vista PC) and being totally screwed.
Tom

"TomCon" wrote in message $ec.3972@trndny02...
> In ActiveSync 4,2 on XP, in Tools|Options|Rules tab, i can set it up for
> PXL files to be converted to XLS when they are transfered to the desktop.
>
> In Vista, help says to install Windows Mobil Device Center, and the
> current download version appears to be 6.1. However, i cannot find any
> equivalent of the "Rules" tab in Windows Mobil Device Center. Help was
> not helpful in finding it either. I have found "Files, sync settings" but
> there is no setting there to tell it to convert PXL -> XLS upon sync. So,
> at this point, the files transfered from the PPC to the Desktop running
> Vista are PXL, and Excel cannot open them.
>
> How do i get PXL to convert to XLS under Vista/Windows Mobil Device
> Center. If you know the answer, please be very specific in terms of
> describing where to find it, as that is the problem, i can't find it. I
> understand the concept, just can't find any place (menu, dialog, etc) to
> indicate to the system that i want the conversion to happen..
>
> THanks, tom
>
>

plantjes · Joined: 21 Feb 2008 Posts: 1

"Microsoft dropped the ball on this one". How about "Microsoft screwed
> their customers". Another example of depending on Microsoft software,
> upgrading (buying new Vista PC) and being totally screwed.

My idea exactly..
pxl file of 82 Kb is converted to xls 220Kb..
Has Microsoft got stocks in memory manufactoring....
how about supporting the past...

I really think microsoft has to come soon with media device sync version 6.2
including the conversion....

> "TomCon" wrote in message
> $ec.3972@trndny02...
> > In ActiveSync 4,2 on XP, in Tools|Options|Rules tab, i can set it up for
> > PXL files to be converted to XLS when they are transfered to the desktop.
> >
> > In Vista, help says to install Windows Mobil Device Center, and the
> > current download version appears to be 6.1. However, i cannot find any
> > equivalent of the "Rules" tab in Windows Mobil Device Center. Help was
> > not helpful in finding it either. I have found "Files, sync settings" but
> > there is no setting there to tell it to convert PXL -> XLS upon sync. So,
> > at this point, the files transfered from the PPC to the Desktop running
> > Vista are PXL, and Excel cannot open them.
> >
> > How do i get PXL to convert to XLS under Vista/Windows Mobil Device
> > Center. If you know the answer, please be very specific in terms of
> > describing where to find it, as that is the problem, i can't find it. I
> > understand the concept, just can't find any place (menu, dialog, etc) to
> > indicate to the system that i want the conversion to happen..
> >
> > THanks, tom
> >
> >
>
>
>

Todd Allcock · Joined: 15 Aug 2007 Posts: 1029

At 21 Feb 2008 02:23:02 -0800 plantjes wrote:

> My idea exactly..
> pxl file of 82 Kb is converted to xls 220Kb..
> Has Microsoft got stocks in memory manufactoring....
> how about supporting the past...

Actually, the size bloat generally comes from the conversion, for whatever
reason.

The two biggest PXL files on my PPC 2003 device were about 280k and swelled
to nearly 700k on my desktop PC.

However, if I opened them on the desktop and resaved them, they'd shrink
back down under 300k until the next sync.

These same files are now under 300k and happily sitting as .xls files on my
WM6 phone.

> I really think microsoft has to come soon with media device sync version
6.2
> including the conversion....

I doubt it. I'd be nice, but given the track record with supporting older
devices, I'd wager that they'll drop WM2003 support before they'd bother
adding file conversion back in!

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