Here are some tools you might need to effectively use the variety of data that you will find on the ERS website.

extension and filename explanations
.xls	Microsoft Excel spreadsheet. Click button at right to download viewer.
.adb	Microsoft Access database. Click button at right to download viewer.
.doc	Microsoft Word document. Click button at right to download viewer.
.zip	A compressed file containing other documents and files squeezed into a smaller size for quicker download. Click button at right to download viewer.
.fla	Macromedia Flash file. Click button at right to download viewer.
.pdf	Adobe Acrobat file. Click button at right to download viewer.
.txt .csv	Text files that can be opened with Notepad or other viewer
.wk? .123	Lotus 1-2-3 spreadsheet file that can be opened in Lotus 1-2-3 or Excel.
.jpg .gif .png	Web image formats. Can be viewed in your browser and/or manipulated in an image editing program.

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page updated: September 26, 2003