When you use the ExcelXP and MSOffice2K ODS destinations to generate output that will be opened in Microsoft Excel 2007, a new dialog box is generated if you use the .xls extension. The dialog box is generated because of a new security feature that has been implemented by Microsoft. When the extension specified does not match the output type, this dialog box is generated. One way to solve this problem is to modify the Windows registry. A better solution is to use the Tagsets.ExcelXP destination and use the .xml extension which will open the file in Excel if this extension is not mapped to another application.

Here is the note from the dialog box:

The file that you are trying to open "file" is in a different format than specified by the file extension. Verify that the file is not corrupted and is from a trusted source before opening the file. Do you want to open the file now.

Microsoft has an article about modifying the Windows registry to prevent the dialog box. See the following URL:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/948615

Warning: Always back up your registry before you make any registry changes. For assistance, see Windows Help, Microsoft documentation, or the Microsoft Windows Web site. SAS Institute is not responsible when you edit the Windows registry: changes in the Windows registry can render your system unusable and will require that you re-install the operating system.

Operating System and Release Information

Product Family	Product	System	SAS Release
			Reported	Fixed*
SAS System	Base SAS	Microsoft® Windows® for 64-Bit Itanium-based Systems	9.1 TS1M3
		Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Datacenter 64-bit Edition	9.1 TS1M3
		Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Enterprise 64-bit Edition	9.1 TS1M3
		Microsoft Windows XP 64-bit Edition	9.1 TS1M3
		Microsoft® Windows® for x64	9.1 TS1M3
		Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server	9.1 TS1M3
		Microsoft Windows 2000 Datacenter Server	9.1 TS1M3
		Microsoft Windows 2000 Server	9.1 TS1M3
		Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional	9.1 TS1M3
		Microsoft Windows NT Workstation	9.1 TS1M3
		Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Datacenter Edition	9.1 TS1M3
		Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition	9.1 TS1M3
		Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Standard Edition	9.1 TS1M3
		Microsoft Windows XP Professional	9.1 TS1M3
		Windows Vista	9.1 TS1M3

* For software releases that are not yet generally available, the Fixed Release is the software release in which the problem is planned to be fixed.

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/* Generates Dialog box */

ODS MSOffice2K file="c:\temp\temp.xls";

proc print data=sashelp.class;
run;

ods MSOffice2k Close;


/* Does not generate dialog */

ODS tagsets.Excelxp file="c:\temp\temp.xml";

proc print data=sashelp.class;
run;

ods tagsets.ExcelXP Close;

Type:	Usage Note
Priority:
Topic:	Third Party ==> Output ==> HTML Third Party ==> Products ==> Microsoft Office SAS Reference ==> ODS (Output Delivery System) Data Management ==> Data Sources ==> External Databases ==> MS Excel

Date Modified:	2009-02-16 11:07:29
Date Created:	2008-05-01 11:32:19