First Look at SmartSuite for OS/2 v1.5: 1-2-3



By: Walter Metcalf
Date: 3/01/00

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Backward Incompatibilities

Unfortunately, these new features have been implemented in such as way that the data files (i.e. Workbooks) are not completely backward compatible between version 1.5 and previous versions. Specifically, if any of the new features are used in creating a v1.5 file, this file will not be readable by earlier versions such as 1.1 or 1.0. Attempting to do so will result in an error message summarizing the problem and a solution. Fortunately there is an (albeit somewhat cumbersome) workaround. The workaround is summarized below:

  1. Open the file in Lotus 1-2-3 v1.5.

  2. From the File menu, choose "Save As". (The Release Notes say "Save" and are in error on this point.)

  3. Select "Lotus 1-2-3 OS/2 Warp 4 Workbook (.123)" in the Save File As Type list box.

  4. Enter a new file name and (optionally a new) directory location for the file.

  5. Click Save. You can now open this file in 1-2-3 for OS/2 Warp 4 v1.0 or v1.1.1
Alternatively, you can change the default file type using the following procedure:

  1. Start 1-2-3 v1.5

  2. From the File menu, choose User Setup, and then choose 1-2-3 Preferences.

  3. Click the New Workbook Defaults tab.

  4. Select "Lotus 1-2-3 OS/2 Warp 4 Workbook (.123)" in the Save As Type list box.

  5. Click OK.
Hereafter, whenever you save a file, it will be saved in the old 1.0, 1.1 format.

Unfortunately, however, when saving a file created with Lotus v1.5 as a 1-2-3 for OS/2 Warp 4 version 1.0 or 1.1 (.123) file, not all information in retained. The following list comprises most of the data that will be dropped in such cases.

  1. HTML settings for data published to a Web page

  2. Web table and hyperlink connections

  3. Settings for multi-line headers and footers, header and footer height, printing collections on separate pages, and page numbers greater than 9,999

  4. All information in rows greater than 8192.

  5. The results of any of the 58 new @functions in v1.5.

For more complete information on backward compatibility issues, start Lotus 1-2-3, select Help, then Help Topics, perform a search on "Release 9" and select the section "Working with 1-2-3 for OS/2 files".

ODBC Problems

If you will be using Sybase, DB2, or other databases or other features requiring ODBC drivers, there are a number of installation and configuration issues you need to be familiar with. For information on this topic, be sure to read carefully the Release Notes in the Readme.txt file in the x:\LOTUSW4\123 subdirectory after SmartSuite has been installed.

The Lotus SmartSuite for OS/2 v1.5 upgrade currently lists for $173 U.S. from Lotus and can be purchased for about $152 if you live in the U.S. If you make heavy use of Lotus 1-2-3, and have a real need for the new feaures or enhancements outlined above, then the SmartSuite upgrade will come closer to being a good value. However, most SOHO users are probably better off continuing to use their SmartSuite 1.1.x packages and investing their $150+ elsewhere.

—Walter Metcalf

Next week: Building Your Network, Part 2

Notes

1 To test this procedure you will have to use two different OS/2 Warp systems, since it is not normally possible to install different versions of SmartSuite on the same OS/2 system. You could accomplish this by, for example, rebooting your computer from a different partition, copying the new file to a different machine, or accessing the new file from a different workstation on a network.


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