Export to .xlsx or .csv yields problems with comment fields

[c***@aan.com]

I am using SPSS v24.0.0.2 64 bit edition. I am working with a survey file which was exported from Qualtrics to .sav. Seems fine within SPSS. When I export this file from .sav to .xlsx, and then attempt to open the .xlsx file with Excel, I receive this message "We found a problem with some content in 'filename'. Do you want us to try to recover as much as we can? If you trust the source of this workbook, click Yes." Clicking on Yes, yields this message "Sorry, we couldn't find filepath\filename. Is it possible it was moved, renamed or deleted?" Clicking Ok, just opens a blank Excel file.

If I export this same file from .sav to .csv (rather than .xlsx), I can open it fine within Excel, however some of the data are in the wrong columns. The first instance of this appears to be caused by a slash "/" within the comment field (and I also found one of those empty rectangle boxes), but I'm not sure if that is the only problem (fyi, the slash is in the Qualtrics data but appears as a blank space in the SPSS file).

I believe these problems are related to the open-ended comment fields because if I export this .sav file without the comment fields to .xlsx, I have no trouble opening the file, and it looks just fine.

Can you help me properly export my .sav file to .xlsx or to .csv?

[Bruce Weaver]

Post by c***@aan.com
I am using SPSS v24.0.0.2 64 bit edition. I am working with a survey file which was exported from Qualtrics to .sav. Seems fine within SPSS. When I export this file from .sav to .xlsx, and then attempt to open the .xlsx file with Excel, I receive this message "We found a problem with some content in 'filename'. Do you want us to try to recover as much as we can? If you trust the source of this workbook, click Yes." Clicking on Yes, yields this message "Sorry, we couldn't find filepath\filename. Is it possible it was moved, renamed or deleted?" Clicking Ok, just opens a blank Excel file.
If I export this same file from .sav to .csv (rather than .xlsx), I can open it fine within Excel, however some of the data are in the wrong columns. The first instance of this appears to be caused by a slash "/" within the comment field (and I also found one of those empty rectangle boxes), but I'm not sure if that is the only problem (fyi, the slash is in the Qualtrics data but appears as a blank space in the SPSS file).
I believe these problems are related to the open-ended comment fields because if I export this .sav file without the comment fields to .xlsx, I have no trouble opening the file, and it looks just fine.
Can you help me properly export my .sav file to .xlsx or to .csv?

This forum is not very active any more. You might consider posting your question to SPSSX-L, which is a lot more active. If you post via the Nabble archive (link below), you could attach a small .SAV file that illustrates the problem. That would allow any interested parties to see if they can duplicate the problem, and then figure out how to solve it.

Here's the link to the Nabble archive for SPSSX-L:

http://spssx-discussion.1045642.n5.nabble.com/

Click on "more options" at the top of the page for instructions on how to join.

HTH.