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It happened again. Last year, I got a nice little data conversion project which fits one of my other specialties: publishing with InDesign. So I thunk: what the heck, just a bunch of text manipulation, why not use the Fox? I can knock this out fast, Fox will do it well, the client is married to M$, so no cross-platform issues, etc. So I do it. Had a bit of problem with the XML, none of the native tools seemed to like the files, and hand-parsing it would blow the budget out of the water. No schema available. So I thought: their Web firm is pure M$ tools, so I wonder if I can expedite the conversion with a little two-step? I open the XML in Excel, and it converts absolutely flawlessly. Cool. Quick little automation script, save the converted data as a DBF, and on with the conversion to InDesign.... Worked great. Fast. My InDesign skills saved the client *lots* of design time. Client was pleased. All was right with the world. Fast forward one year -- this is an annual process. (Hear the ominous music?) The client runs my conversion utility. "It's broken." %^%* She reports a really weird-sounding error, so I ask her to send me a screen shot of it. She does so in a Word document, and I see the DOCX extension. I get this sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. Yes, they had been persuaded to "upgrade" to Orifice 2007. Fast forward: Excel 2007 no longer will create a DBF. Now I know I can save it as a CSV and append it into existing structures. Or maybe I can do something better with the XML bypassing the automation. Whatever. I can still make it work. But the point is that M$ changed the rules again. Makes me look like an idiot, and will cost my client unnecessary $$. Ken _______________________________________________ Post Messages to: [email protected] Subscription Maintenance: http://leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profox OT-free version of this list: http://leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profoxtech Searchable Archive: http://leafe.com/archives/search/profox This message: http://leafe.com/archives/byMID/profox/650856bd-af5c-4bb4-a5d2-1c98bcc41...@information-architecture.com ** All postings, unless explicitly stated otherwise, are the opinions of the author, and do not constitute legal or medical advice. This statement is added to the messages for those lawyers who are too stupid to see the obvious.
