Today, we’ll look at Excel tools for complex workbooks. These tools can help you manage links to other files, track formulas, and do other helpful tasks.
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Hide an Excel Worksheet Automatically
When you build a workbook for other people to use, there might be worksheets that can stay hidden some of the time. See how to hide a worksheet automatically, so you don’t have to remember to do it manually.
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Excel Roundup 20140616
If you still have a Commodore 64 in your basement, you could run a one-line maze generator, in Basic. If your mom threw out that C64, years ago, you can do something similar in Microsoft Excel.
On Google+, Graeme McRae posted a VBA function that will create a maze, using a random string of / and \ characters.
Here’s a maze that I created in Excel 2013, with a gold background, and bold font. That should keep your kids (or you) busy for a while!
Excel Smart Art Family Tree
How far back can you trace your family tree? Prof. Lee Townsend, from University of Hartford, has found an interesting new way to draw her family tree — in Excel, using Smart Art and some VBA. Here’s how she created her Excel Smart Art Family Tree.
Excel Chart Utility Giveaway
On Thursday, June 12th, Jon Peltier is releasing the Advanced version of his Excel Chart Utility. If you make charts in Excel, keep reading, to see what the chart utility does, and how you can win a copy of your own.
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Excel Roundup 20140609
What’s the oldest version of Excel, or other spreadsheet program, that you have lying around your office? In my office, there’s an old Multiplan disc and manual, and before that, I probably used a rock and chisel.
Gough Lui took a trip back in time, and installed Excel for Windows Version 3.0 – nine floppies, all 5.25″ in DD 360kB format. There are lots of screen shots, which might make you nostalgic for the good old days.
Quick Charts and Free Upgrades
After you put data onto a worksheet, you might need to add a chart, for a visual summary of the data. In the screen shot below, there is sales data for 4 regions, and a column chart from that data.
You can quickly see that things are going better in the East region, than in the North. Probably all the snow up there kept people away from the stores!
Canadian MVP Day 2014
Last Friday, I was invited to attend the MVP Open Day at the Microsoft Canada headquarters, here in Mississauga. We had a full day of meetings, and I presented a couple of sessions about Excel. Keep reading, to see one of the Excel tips that I shared.
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Excel Roundup 20140602
At PC World, Julie Sartain shows how to set up a workbook with a sheet for each month, and 3D formulas to summarize the Year to Data expenses. It’s not the way I’d set it up, but that’s a topic for another blog post.
What struck me was the comment,
“One of Excel’s greatest tricks is the dimensional or 3D reference…In Excel 2013, Microsoft has beefed it up with enhanced options and formulas.”
There are new functions, and other features in Excel 2013, but I don’t know of any new options in this area – did I miss something?
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Auditing Excel Formulas Quick Tips
This week, I’ve added a new page to my Contextures Excel site, with a few quick tricks for auditing worksheet formulas.