how to reduce the size of excel file

[shri]

I have a report in report studio, if i save it in excel format it comes up with 126MB size, but the same report in impromptu poduces output in excel just 26MB. Is there any i can reduce the size of the excel file in RS (i am running cognos 8.1 in windows environment)

Your Help is much appreciated

[thubble]

This is because Cognos generates web archive (.mht) files instead of real Excel (.xls) files.

There is a third-party addon called SOS Direct ( http://spotonsystems.com/sos_direct/index.html ) which allows Cognos to create actual .xls files which are much smaller.

[aji136]

I can think of 2 options:
1. if formatting is not a concern, then export to CSV format.
2. Other option is to move to Cognos 8.3, the output generated for Excel files are 1/3rd the sizes generated from prior versions.

[shri]

Thanks thubble and aji136.