XL2000: Microsoft Map May Hang When You Insert Canadian Postal Codes

If you use Microsoft Map to create a Canadian map using a range of three-digit Canadian postal codes (the Forward Sortation Area [FSA]), or if you insert a range of FSA postal codes in an existing map of Canada, you may receive the following error message, or Microsoft Excel 2000 may appear to hang (stop responding): If you click Details, you receive an error message similar to the following: If you click Close, the session of Microsoft Map ends, but Excel remains open and unresponsive.

This problem may occur when the following conditions are true:

• At least one of the FSA codes is not in the correct format.
  
  -and-
• There are more than four postal codes in the source data.

NOTE: If an incorrect FSA code is composed of three numbers and is the first code in the column, it is treated as a heading and ignored.

If this problem occurs, follow these steps:

1. Press CTRL+ALT+DEL.
2. Click Microsoft Excel, and then click End Task.
3. Quit all programs, and then restart Windows.

To prevent this problem, use only the FSA portion of the Canadian postal code, and be sure to use the correct format. The format requires that you use only three characters in the following order: letter/number/letter.

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed at the beginning of this article.

Microsoft Map can use only Canadian Forward Sortation Area postal codes. These characters are the first three characters of the Canadian postal code.

Further information on the Canadian Postal Code and the Forward Sortation Area can be found on the Canada Post Corporation Web site at the following address: Microsoft provides third-party contact information to help you find technical support. This contact information may change without notice. Microsoft does not guarantee the accuracy of this third-party contact information.

For Microsoft Map to find a matching geographic map based on geographic data, such as state names, abbreviations, or postal codes, at least 80 percent of the data needs to be valid for the map that is being matched. For instance, if you type in state names and have four or fewer names, you must spell them all correctly; otherwise, Microsoft Map fails to find a corresponding map. You may then get the following error message: However, if you have five or more names, you may misspell one of them (up to 20 percent of the items), and Microsoft Map still has enough information to find the proper map. You then receive a "Resolve Unknown Geographic Data" error message stating that which allows you to change or discard (ignore) each item that is in error.

NOTE: You do not receive these messages when the errors occur with Canadian Forward Sortation Areas, as described in the "Cause" section of this article.

For more information about Microsoft Map, click Microsoft Excel Help on the Help menu, type get more help about maps in the Office Assistant or the Answer Wizard, and then click Search to view the topic.