Excel Add-Ins Must Be Converted To Workbooks Before Comparison
Excel add-ins (.xla and .xlam) must first be converted to workbooks (.xls and .xlsm) before using DiffEngineX to compare them. The steps to achieve this are described below.
- Use File->Open to open the file in Excel.
- Click the Developer tab and then the Visual Basic button. (Excel 2003: Tools->Macro->Visual Basic Editor.)
- In the Project Explorer window in the Visual Basic Editor, you will see an entry similar to VBAProjectName(Add-in file name *.xla). Click the plus sign to the left of this. You may need to enter a password at this point.
- Expand Microsoft Excel Objects and click ThisWorkbook.
- From the Tools menu select VBAProjectProperties... .
- Select the Protection tab. Uncheck "Lock project for viewing". Clear both the password and confirm password boxes.
- In the Properties window change the value of IsAddin from True to False. (Make sure ThisWorkbook is selected in the Project Explorer.)
- Select "Close and Return to Microsoft Excel" from the File menu.
- For Excel 2007 and later select File->Save As and then select Excel Macro-Enabled Workbook (*.xlsm). For Excel 2003, select File->Save As and then Microsoft Office Excel Workbook (*.xls).
Once your Excel add-ins (*.xla and *.xlam) are converted to Excel workbooks (*.xlsm or for Excel 2003 *.xls), you can use DiffEngineX to compare them. Click here for instructions on how to do this.