Excel *.xls or *.xlsx for dimension sheet format in Admin Console?

Question

Dear all:
We are in the process of upgrading BPC 5.1 to 7.0, and I was prompted a message about the Excel format (2007 or 2003) when I first opened up a dimension in Admin Console, after BPC 7.0 was installed.
My questions are:
1. What are the pros and cons?
2. Excel 2003 has the limitation of 65000 rows, so does that mean once I choose 2003 format, my dimension members can only have 65000 limitation? If not, what is the workaround?
3. If I select Excel 2007 as my default format, and want to switch to Excel 2003, is there a way to do so?
Thank you very much!
Sincerely,
Brian

Answer 1

Hi Brian Hsu,
Please refer to the SAP Note below:
SAP Note 1265872 - Excel 2007 format template supported in Admin console.
Summary
Symptom
Admin console does not support Excel 2007 format in previous versions.
Other terms
BPC 7.0 SP2 Microsoft, BPC 7M SP02, Excel 2007 format(xlsx), Admin console, dimension member sheet,
Reason and Prerequisites
The previous version of Admin console supported Excel 2003 file format only. Users could not use Excel 2007 file format ('xlsx').
Solution
Implemented in 7.0M SP2.
BPC Administration console will support both Excel 2003 and Excel 2007
file format for dimension member sheet. And the BPC Administration
console uses the value of 'MEMBERSHEET_VERSION' in tblDefaults table
internally to judge which file format is used for dimension member
sheet. The value can be "2003" or "2007" and be set by selecting the
value from popup window as below. Once the value is set via the popup
window, the value cannot be changed, so we recommend reading the below
explanation for each case first and then setting the value.
  KeyID and Value in tblDefaults;
    - [KeyID]: MEMBERSHEET_VERSION
    - [VALUE]: "2003" OR "2007"
Below is the behavior of the Excel version when users try to save a
dimension member sheet to server or process dimension with member sheet;
1. No record having MEMBERSHEET_VERSION in tblDefaults after installing
BPC 7M SP2 or later
   a)Excel 2003 users
     - Download 'xls' file and save to server without any message.
   b)Excel 2007 users
     - A popup window for selecting 2003 or 2007 will come up and if
       user selects 2007, a warning message that Excel 2003 users
       cannot usedimension member sheet file anymore will come up once
       again and then the file format will be changed to 'xlsx'
     - Create, Modify, Copy dimension: The file format of the member
       sheet will be 'xls'.
2. MEMBERSHEET_VERSION=2003
   a)Excel 2003 users
     - Download 'xls' file and save to server as 'xls'
   b)Excel 2007 users
     - Dimension member sheet file will be saved as 2003 file format by
       'SaveAs'
3. MEMBERSHEET_VERSION=2007
   a)Excel 2003 users
     - User cannot download dimension member sheet file so cannot use
       dimension member sheet any more.
   b)Excel 2007 users
     - Download 'xlsx' file from server and if there is only 'xls', the
       file will be downloaded from server and then it will be changed         to 'xlsx' when save to server.
     - Create dimension: The file format will be 'xlsx'
     - Modify, Copy dimension: The file format will be followed by the
       downloaded file format.
[Limitation]
If the value of MEMBERSHEET_VERSION is set to 2007, users who use Office 2003 cannot access and modify dimension member sheet file any more. Only users who use Office 2007 can access and modify dimension member sheet.