Can I use openoffice to run queries on excel documents or do I have to use access?

Yes, OpenOffice.org Base will read Access files, extract data tables from them, and allow you to run queries on those tables. Also OpenOffice.org Calc will read Excel files and allow you to run queries.

However, currently the Base will only read Access files which are of the type which are pre-Microsoft Office 2007 and Calc will only read Excel files atht are pre-Microsoft Office 2007. That is, the file extension must be .MDB, not .MDBX, and must be .XLS, not .XLSX.

However, OpenOffice.org version 3.0 will handle .MDBX and .XLSX files in version 3.0 which will be available latter this month, if things go on schedule. If you need this ability at once, you can download OpenOffice.org Release Candidate 1 from http://www.openoffice.org/, or download OxygenOffice from http://sourceforge.net/projects/ooop or download Go-OO from http://go-oo.org/ . These latter two applications are forks of OpenOffice.org and so use almost entirely the same code and you can use the same manuals to learn how to use them.

For help in using BASE see http://wiki.services.openoffice.org/wiki/Base .

For help in Calc see http://documentation.openoffice.org/manuals/oooaut... and http://support.openoffice.org/ .

OpenOffice.org Base is arguably much waker then Microsoft Access so it is more important to know how to use it, if you want to use it properly. Calc is closer to Excel. The main difference is that in expressions Calc uses semi-colon (;) where Excel uses comma (,).

If you are using Excel files at work (xls files) then you should be able to open them in Open Office and get the same results. There might be rare instances where some part won't function and the program won't run. Give it a test run by re-running some data at home that you have already run on Excel at work. If it is OK you're home free.

A note here - If you are using Excel 2007 at work you will have to make sure that the copy of the file you use at home was saved as "compatible with Excel '97 thru 2003" or it won't open it.

A good link where you can get winrar is: http://bit.ly/1t6dcCg

You can use winrar to unzip zip file and loads of other formats. A few more programs you can use are 7zip or winzip but I still beleive winrar is the best choice. They work pretty much in the same way: you can compress or decompress files easily with a right-click.

The big advantages of Winrar are: it's free (it's available under a trial version that never expires) and can open all the formats: .zip, .rar, .7z / 7zip, .iso, .tar, .jar etc.

That's why I strongly recommend winrar.

"Can I use Open Office to run queries on Excel documents or do I have to use Access?"

With your company's permission, take a copy of each file-type home and try them in Open Office. If they work properly, tell you boss. Or ask if you can experiment with the free Open Office at work.

You may save them a ton of money, except for your raise!

Hi,

WinRar is the software you need to decompress all kind of compressed files, documents or folders.

You can find a recent release of Winrar here: http://j.mp/1p3PuRL