All earlier versions of Numbers '08 and '09 can open OFX files downloaded from banks and credit card companies. They can open these files directly or by dragging and dropping the files into the appropriate table.
Numbers 3.0 can do niether of these, it appears to be unable to open these OFX files. This makes this version, Numbers 3.0, completely useless for my bank account spreadsheets.
Apple needs to fix this omission as soon as possible.
Rob,
I agree. You can get on with your work by continuing to use Numbers 2.3.
Jerry
Jerry,
Yes I know that Numbers 2.3 supports OFX files, it also appears to be a better program than the new version. I also need Numbers 2.3 to convert all my Numbers '08 files. Unfortunately I only have expired trial copy of Work '09 and non o the applications in this package are now available on the App Store.
If you have any suggestions for getting a Numbers Serial Number or obtaining a the older versions of iWork I would appreciate that.
Rob,
In case you're not aware there are more than a few free or inexpensive OFX <> CSV converters available for the downloading. It takes 10 seconds or so to run your file through one of them and you're good to go. One for the Mac is called Bank2CSV or similar. There are others. The fact that Apple had this feature in there to start with is interesting, given their resistance to MS Office-like feature bloat.
On where to find iWork '09 I see it's available in the usual large online retail stores. Boxed I think, not a download. If I were you I'd hang on to Numbers 3.0, though, and see if they move to improve it. If you're willing to discard some old habits and try new ways of doing things, it's got its advantages.
SG
SGIII,
I can also download my data from the banks in CSV but as far as I know these files are not intelligent and you probably cannot drag and drop them into a table with headings that conform with one's own customized column arrangements. OFX files can do this.
Yes I can buy the old version, while stocks last, but this goes against the grain when Apple now gives these apps away but does not provide a rout to update iWork '08 files (including Pages and Keynote).
What I have seen of Numbers 3.0 is not good especially if one has many linked sheets and tables. The tabs along the top of the sheet are not as intuitive or as versatile as the side bar in the older versions for example.
Hi Rob,
OFX and CSV are both static formats, I think. It's just that the old Numbers I suspect was smart about how it interpreted the OFX format. You could replace that built-in functionality by rigging something where you dump your imported CSV data into a "source" table and pull it out of there into another table with your customized column arrangement
Agreed on those sheets on the left side, though. Very convenient. They got the old heave-ho, I suspect, because similar implementation on a touch interface just wasn't going to work. Also, I saw a comment by Jerry that a lot of users, oddly enough, used to complain about them being on the side instead of on the top or bottom.
I think I read somewhere in the discussions, I think at the bottom of this thread, that there is an "updater" that can be downloaded. I'm not sure it applies to the version you have, though. Anyway, you might want to pursue that angle, as I would guess Apple doesn't want you stranded in the past.
SG
After trying OFX and CSV files in Numbers '08, '09 and the new 3.0 I have the following comments:
When dragging and dropping OFX files to the older versions of Numbers the entire table is highlighted and the data from the OFX file is added to the bottom of that table and the data is arranged in the correct columns even if these columns have been rearranged. However, if one drags a CSV file to a table only the cell that the cursor is over is highlighted and if the file is dropped the data is added at this point in the table. The result is that the CSV data completely messes up the table.
In the new version of Numbers, version 3.0, not only can one not use an OFX file by opening it or dragging and dropping it to an existing table but one cannot even drag and drop a CSV file to and existing table!
Apple needs to get OFX file compatibility and the file drag and drop features back into Numbers 3.0 as quickly as possible.
Hi Rob,
I haven't had much luck dragging and dropping csv into Numbers. However, File>Open works pretty well.
If you haven't already, you should give your feedback to Apple via Numbers>Provide Numbers Feedback in your menu.
Not sure how many need to use OFX with a spreadsheet but if you don't give feedback they won't know what's important to their users.
SG
Cannot open OFX files in Numbers 3.0
