OFF2000: Indexing Service Fails to Index Files That Contain Range Names

The Indexing Service does not index certain Excel files correctly. The Excel files that fail to be indexed contain range names (aliases for ranges of cells in sheets). If these range names refer to a range that is specified as a fully qualified range, which may be another range name or a range that is prefixed with a sheet name or a workbook file name, the Indexing Service cannot extract textual content from these Excel files.

Examples of such names include the following:

some_name = sheet1!some_other_name                  (This is problematic.)
some_name = workbook_filename.xsl!some_other_name   (This is problematic.)
some_name = some_other_name                         (This works correctly.)
sheet1!some_name = some_other_name                  (This works correctly.)
workbook_filename.xsl!some_name = some_other_name   (This works correctly.)
				

NOTE: Fully qualified names work correctly, but these names cannot refer to fully qualified ranges.

This problem is a limitation of the Indexing Service's Excel IFilter.

A supported hotfix is available from Microsoft. However, this hotfix is intended to correct only the problem that is described in this article. Apply this hotfix only to systems that are experiencing this specific problem.

If the hotfix is available for download, there is a "Hotfix download available" section at the top of this Knowledge Base article. If this section does not appear, submit a request to Microsoft Customer Service and Support to obtain the hotfix.

Note If additional issues occur or if any troubleshooting is required, you might have to create a separate service request. The usual support costs will apply to additional support questions and issues that do not qualify for this specific hotfix. For a complete list of Microsoft Customer Service and Support telephone numbers or to create a separate service request, visit the following Microsoft Web site: Note The "Hotfix download available" form displays the languages for which the hotfix is available. If you do not see your language, it is because a hotfix is not available for that language. The English version of this fix should have the following file attributes or later:

   Date          Time   Version      Size       File name     
   -------------------------------------------------------
   28-Nov-2001   13:24  2001.10.5.0  212KB      Offfilt.dll
				

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