#304518 - 28/11/2007 21:31
Simple-minded Excel question
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 08/07/1999
Posts: 5549
Loc: Ajijic, Mexico
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Newer versions of Excel by default do something that earlier versions did not, and I'm wondering if there is a setting I can change somewhere.
It used to be (years ago) that if I opened Excel files by file association (double-clicking on the *.xls file) each file opened in a separate window, so I could display two or three of them on the screen at once, copy and paste from one to another, etc.
Today if I open them that way, a single window of Excel is all that displays at one time. More than one file is open, but I have to page from one file to another to see the individual files, I cannot see them at the same time.
If I open Excel by clicking on the Excel icon (not the *.xls file), and go File/Open/[filename] then I can have as many independent windows of Excel as I want.
Is there something I can change so that opening multiple files by file association will show each file running in a separate window?
tanstaafl.
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"There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch"
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#304519 - 28/11/2007 22:44
Re: Simple-minded Excel question
[Re: tanstaafl.]
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member
Registered: 27/01/2006
Posts: 142
Loc: New Jersey, USA
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What version are you using? This seems to work as you want in Excel 2007.
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#304520 - 29/11/2007 01:03
Re: Simple-minded Excel question
[Re: rubennyc]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 08/07/1999
Posts: 5549
Loc: Ajijic, Mexico
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Quote:
What version are you using?
At work: 2002
At home: 2003 (I think... might be 2002).
edit: Nope. Home is also 2002.
tanstaafl.
Edited by tanstaafl. (29/11/2007 04:32)
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"There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch"
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#304521 - 29/11/2007 02:31
Re: Simple-minded Excel question
[Re: tanstaafl.]
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pooh-bah
Registered: 19/09/2002
Posts: 2494
Loc: East Coast, USA
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Oi, I wish they made Excel and Word function the same way. Yes, in Excel 4 through 2003 (and maybe 2007), all the open documents are contained within a single Excel window. Just the opposite of Word.
Your best hopes for window organization are Restore and the Window menu.
Restore is one of the three buttons in the upper left of every program and document window. There's the minus button (minimize), the maximize/restore button, and the X button (close). Clicking Restore will reduce the document window to something smaller and sizeable within the Excel workspace window. With a few docs open, you could move them around and overlap them.
Also, the Window menu will help you arrange multiple documents without overlap. Window > Arrange > Horizontal lines up windows in stripes across the Excel workspace. But how do you easily get them in the right order (top to bottom, left to right)? Here's a trick I learned back in Office 4.3: Click each window in reverse order that you want them to appear. The last clicked window will appear on the top/left, first appears on the bottom/right, and others appear according to that backward sequence. If you want Book 1, Book 2, and Book 3 to appear in that order from top to bottom, click Book 3, then 2, then 1, then Window > Arrange > Horizontal.
Oh, and don't Alt-F4 on an Excel document or it will begin to close all of them. Ctrl-F4 closes a single Excel document (and closes a single Word document).
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#304522 - 29/11/2007 04:21
Re: Simple-minded Excel question
[Re: FireFox31]
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pooh-bah
Registered: 06/04/2005
Posts: 2026
Loc: Seattle transplant
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Quote:
Restore is one of the three buttons in the upper left of every program and document window.
Are you looking at it from the back of the monitor?
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#304523 - 29/11/2007 13:40
Re: Simple-minded Excel question
[Re: FireFox31]
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member
Registered: 27/01/2006
Posts: 142
Loc: New Jersey, USA
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In 2003 and 2007, Excel files are displayed in the same window, but each doc still gets its own icon on the taskbar and is available via Alt-TAB.
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#304524 - 29/11/2007 18:38
Re: Simple-minded Excel question
[Re: rubennyc]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 08/07/1999
Posts: 5549
Loc: Ajijic, Mexico
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Quote:
each doc still gets its own icon on the taskbar and is available via Alt-TAB.
Exactly. But when I cut and paste from one document to another, I greatly prefer to see both documents at the same time. It makes it easier to stay oriented and keep track of what I'm doing.
As mentioned above, the workaround is to not use the file association method of opening the files, but instead just start separate instances of Excel from the shortcut icon and use File/Open to open each file.
I had hoped that there was some Excel setting that I just couldn't find that would change its default behavior to what it used to be back in the "old days" -- probably around 2000 or 2001, I'd guess.
tanstaafl.
_________________________
"There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch"
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#304525 - 29/11/2007 18:53
Re: Simple-minded Excel question
[Re: tanstaafl.]
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member
Registered: 27/01/2006
Posts: 142
Loc: New Jersey, USA
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I agree it's annoying. You do have another option: Window -> Arrange -> (pick your poison).
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#304526 - 29/11/2007 19:04
Re: Simple-minded Excel question
[Re: tanstaafl.]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 29/08/2000
Posts: 14496
Loc: Canada
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Here's the best hint I found for this with google: http://www.velocityreviews.com/forums/t200531-excel-97-question.htmlQuote:
Re: Excel 97 Question
I wrote:
>> I have a couple of spreadsheets that I sometimes need to compare and
>> it would be nice to shrink each window down to half-size so I can see
>> them both on the screen at the same time.
Toolman Tim replied:
>Try this: in Excel, right below the MAIN window's upper right corner where
>the boxes for minimize, maximize, and close are located, are the same
>control buttons for the specific spreadsheet. You can click on the middle
>button, and the size that window to half, and open another sheet. Then size
>that window down until you see the other sheet. You get both open at the
>same time that way - you can size them vertically or horizontally. I don't
>remember of version 97 has this, but you might have an "Arrange" option
>under the "Window" button on the toolbar. That will arrange your two sheets
>for you automatically.
Excellent! Thanks Toolman! That's exactly what I was trying to do.
I didn't notice there were two sets of icons in the upper right
corner. I tried your suggestion and it worked perfectly.
And yes, Excel97 does have the "Arrange" option under the "Window"
button on the toolbar and I didn't notice that either. I was just
looking at the choices in the Tools -->Options section.
Thanks again Toolman.
Penguin must run. Have cookie will travel.
-ChrisQuote:
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#304527 - 30/11/2007 04:09
Re: Simple-minded Excel question
[Re: tanstaafl.]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 17/12/2000
Posts: 2665
Loc: Manteca, California
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start > run > excel starts one instance of excel
Do it again and you get a separate instance of excel running.
If you desire a batch file can be created.
excel.bat
start "" "c:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\OFFICE11\excel.exe"
Each opening of the batch file starts a separate excel run.
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Glenn
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#304528 - 30/11/2007 14:59
Re: Simple-minded Excel question
[Re: gbeer]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 20/12/1999
Posts: 31601
Loc: Seattle, WA
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If that works, then perhaps a simple tweak of the filetype definition can control excel's opening behavior?
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#304529 - 30/11/2007 16:11
Re: Simple-minded Excel question
[Re: tfabris]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 25/12/2000
Posts: 16706
Loc: Raleigh, NC US
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Hm, yeah.
Doug, try this: Open your "Folder Options" control panel. Select the "File Types" tab. Find and click on the entry for XLS. Click on "Advanced". Click on the entry for "Open", which should be in bold. Click on "Edit". Uncheck the "Use DDE" box. In the "Application used to perform action" field, go to the end and make sure that the "%1" has double-quotes around it. If it doesn't, add them. Then OK back out of all of those windows and try opening multiple Excel docs.
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Bitt Faulk
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#304530 - 01/12/2007 00:49
Re: Simple-minded Excel question
[Re: wfaulk]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 08/07/1999
Posts: 5549
Loc: Ajijic, Mexico
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Quote:
try opening multiple Excel docs.
Yes. It worked!
You guys are geniuses. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Now, will it survive a reboot? I guess I'll find that out.
Is there a way to keep the windows from all opening up exactly on top of each other, but have them cascade? They always open in the same location and size of the most recently closed Excel Window, which is a pretty reasonable default, I guess.
tanstaafl.
_________________________
"There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch"
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#304531 - 01/12/2007 03:50
Re: Simple-minded Excel question
[Re: tanstaafl.]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 08/07/1999
Posts: 5549
Loc: Ajijic, Mexico
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#304532 - 01/12/2007 06:02
Re: Simple-minded Excel question
[Re: tanstaafl.]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 18/01/2000
Posts: 5683
Loc: London, UK
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Quote:
Any ideas on how to do this in Vista?
You have to use Regedit to delete the ddeexec key associated with Excel. Unfortunately, I can't find any easy to follow instructions for doing this for Excel.
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-- roger
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