My workstation has Microsoft Office Excel 2003 (11.5612.5606)

I needed to import a file that was sent to us in XLSM format.

If I try to open with Excel it shows a conversion messagebox and then appears correctly on the screen.

When I try to open it via automation however.........

oxl=CREATEOBJECT("excel.application")
oXL.DisplayAlerts = .F.
oXL.Application.WorkBooks.Open(tcFile)
oxL.visible = .T.

the screen shows all sorts of crazy characters. Is there any way to force the format conversion process?

Thanks to all.........Rich