Alternative Fonts and Question Marks.

If you choose a font override like ROMAN.SHX or another SHX font, you may see question marks in your document that you didn't see when using truetype fonts.  This is because the font file does not have a definition for this special character and it is showing a "?" instead.  Some characters don't look special but are.  For example Word often uses a curly apostrophe that has an ascii code of 146, instead of the standard one ' that has an ascii code of 39.

Error Creating New Link

The error occurs when trying to place a new instance in the drawing and is almost always caused by Excel Security.  After this dialog is dismissed, press F2 for details on the error in the AutoCAD Command History area.  If you see the terms Programmatic Access, you know it's an Excel Security issue.

First see the section of the XL2CAD Users Guide on Excel Security to make sure you have made all the necessary settings.  This can be found under Start > (All) Programs > DotSoft > XL2CAD.

If the settings are correct there is the possibility that you are accessing a spreadsheet that has macros from a folder that has not been assigned to trusted folders.  See this Microsoft Page for details on adding trusts to folder locations.

Microsoft Click-To-Run

Microsoft has recently introduced a delivery method known as "Click-To-Run" This is a 'virtual version' that allows you to use the software without actually downloading all the parts.   However this approach does not register the functionality required for our products (and other programs).

A full version download of office is available under "Advanced Settings" on the download page. You will need to fully uninstall the 'click to run' version and then reinstall the full version.  Also see Switch to MSI Details.

Avoiding vertical shift problems.

The problem: During the conversion, XL2CAD creates Mtext objects and AutoCAD has no baseline justification for mtext objects.  That means we have to use a bottom, middle, or top alignment.  The shift problem occurs if you use bottom justification and the cell contains lowercase letters with ascenders like "g".  This problem can also occur if using top justification and the cell contains tall characters like "(". 

The solution: Although XL2CAD has options for "Shift Characters" which can often compensate, but we have found the best approach is to turn off the Shift Characters option and format the cells in Excel using the vertical center option.  Select the data range in Excel, choose the Format menu, then Cells, then on the Alignment tab set the vertical alignment to center.

Lines are drawn through my merged rows and/or columns.

Sometimes Excel will report incorrect merge information.  There is a possibility that some Excel spreadsheets were created (or modified) in a spreadsheet product other than Microsoft Excel.  This can usually be fixed by this procedure:

1. Place your cell cursor in the merged area.
2. Click the [<a>] Merge & Center button to unmerge the cells.
3. Click the button again to remerge the cells.
4. Repeat at step 1 for additional areas.

After this change to the spreadsheet, Excel will report the correct merge information and XL2CAD will not draw lines through the merged areas.  Also check the toggle 'Excel Grid Lines' to make sure its off.  If this toggle is turned on, it will draw lines across all cells.

Proper way to achieve in-cell carriage returns.

To push contents down to the next line, some Excel users have inserted spaces until Excel Word wraps.  This approach does not port well in XL2CAD because the resulting Mtext object doesn't wrap there.  The proper way is to place your cursor at the point you want to begin a new line, and press ALT+ENTER to insert the carriage return.