OfficeLink

CAPITAL OfficeLink is the data exchange interface between CAPITAL Office applications and the Microsoft Office productivity suite. When the OfficeLink button is available you will be able to transfer your data from CAPITAL directly into a Microsoft Office application.

CAPITAL Office presently supports the transfer of most reports directly into the Microsoft Excel spreadsheet program. This option appears just before printing commences on the Report Settings dialog.

Compatibility

OfficeLink is designed to work with Microsoft Office 97 and Microsoft Office 2000, however it may work with earlier and later versions of these applications. Microsoft Office must be installed on your system for OfficeLink to work.

CAPITAL Office requires that the DBF (dBase) file filters be installed within Microsoft Office. It is usually the case that these filters are installed by default, however your installation of Microsoft Office may have been customised and the DBF filters may not be available.

To install the DBF filters (if necessary) load your original Microsoft Office CD into your computer's CD ROM drive. Start the installation software and from the available menu options choose to install additional file filters. Allow Microsoft Office to install the DBF or dBase file filters onto your system.

Limitations Of Microsoft Office Applications

CAPITAL Office data files can grow to enormous sizes and as a consequences the generated reports can also be huge. In some situations you may exceed the size limitations of Microsoft Excel when exporting reports. The actual size limitation depends on the version of Microsoft Office you have installed, the available memory in your computer and the version of Windows you are running. If you exceed the size limit, you should select to transfer a smaller reporting range.

Transferring Reports to Microsoft Excel

It may sometimes take a considerable amount of time to transfer a report to Microsoft Excel. This delay is determined primarily by the speed of your computer and the size of the spreadsheet to be transferred.

After loading the report, Excel may spend considerable time formatting the report.

During this process you should reframe from typing or clicking on Microsoft Excel when the data is being transferred and formatted. Your mouse clicks may cancel or change the instructions being sent to Microsoft Excel from CAPITAL Office.

Before you transfer your reports to Microsoft Excel ensure that Microsoft Excel is either not loaded already or you have not left a dialog box open within Excel. Microsoft Excel will be unable to communicate with CAPITAL Office until any such dialog boxes are closed. If you take too long to close the dialog box, CAPITAL Office may give up and decide to abort the transfer process.

Tips On Working With Microsoft Excel

Reformatting reports in Excel can be useful when a report is not sorted or sub-totalled the way you would prefer or you require a consolidated version of a report and such an option is not available in CAPITAL Office.

The Microsoft Office Data menu can be useful for performing these tasks.

• Use Data|Sort to resort the report.

• Use Data|Subtotal to create new sub-totals.

• Once you have sub-totalled the report you can use the Data|Consolidate option to create a spreadsheet outline. An outline allows you to view your data at different levels of detail.

For more information on using these features see the Microsoft Office documentation and on-line help.