But the one I am trying to work on is an excel spreadsheet.
Oh OK!
I can't give you advice on Excel unfortunately because it
is not a platform suited to serious data analysis but, you may be able to convert this file to a Works database file.
Open your database and go to tools\import and when the files selection comes up select Excel files or .xls.
Only problem is that the version of Excel can be more recent than your Works database, in which case it will come up with a message "Unrecognized something or other". I am using Access 97 and 2003 and programming in C++ and Visual Basic. If the file is very important to you, ask the sender to send it in a comma delimited text file which you can import into your database.
Alternately if you wish you can send it to me and I convert it into a format you can use.
petfoodatoptusnetetc
Cheers Louis