Excel question, can you beat FF?

[beak]

Excel question, can you beat FF?

this is great, it's like the numbers game in countdown but on a higher level of logic.

i'm trying to think of a question to pose for both of you.

[Wyatt Earp]

Excel question, can you beat FF?

WornOldMotorbike wrote:

Nor is landing a plane very tough if you've done a bit of piloting.

FF can do both, of course.

[WOM]

Excel question, can you beat FF?

She really does excel, eh?

[Femme Folle]

Excel question, can you beat FF?

I'm not a power-programmer, but where I excel (no pun intended) is in finding solutions to problems in Excel. For me, it's like solving a puzzle. I also enjoy helping other people. When I show someone an easier way to do something they've struggled with, there is that brief moment when they 'get it' and it's as though a light has been switched on. I love that.

[Ibn Pickthall]

Excel question, can you beat FF?

A bit of an excel / vba crossover this one, but I’d be grateful for any expert assistance.

I have an excel workbook with some reference data in it, let’s assume it’s a set of column headers. The workbook is saved in a particular place.

On a regular basis I create new workbooks which need to utilise the above column headers. Each of these newly generated workbooks has a distinct name.
I need to write a macro which, when the new workbook is opened I can trigger to:

- find the column header document
- copy the column header section
- paste the column header section into the new open spreadsheet

I can do it all except get excel to recognise that it’s the active workbook that I want it to paste into. If the workbook had a fixed / unchanging name, it’d be fine, but it doesn’t, so it isn’t.

FF, over to you.

[Femme Folle]

Excel question, can you beat FF?

Have you tried using ActiveWorkbook.Name?

[Ibn Pickthall]

Excel question, can you beat FF?

Hi FF,
That doesn’t quite work either I’m afraid. Once the workbook with the header rows is opened and the selection copied from it, excel defines that as being the active workbook, so pastes the header rows back into it.

[Femme Folle]

Excel question, can you beat FF?

Let me give it another think. There has to be a way.

[Femme Folle]

Excel question, can you beat FF?

Have you tried having the macro close the old workbook after copying the header, like so:

- find the column header document
- copy the column header section
- close active workbook
- paste the column header section into the new open spreadsheet

Edit:
That won't work either, unless there is a way to bring the focus to the new workbook after copying the text.

I had another thought, but not knowing more specifically what you're working with, I'm not sure if it would work. It would require creating a template workbook for the new data (so the name would always be the same), and then saving it as whatever you needed the file name to be. Or you could just copy the column headers into the template and keep reusing it by saving it under another name.

[Ibn Pickthall]

Excel question, can you beat FF?

I'm not taking much joy from this as I need to find a solution to the problem, but have I stumped FF?

FF - the situation I described is a real one, we have some other similar ones but the principle is the same.
Your last suggestion sounds feasible, I think, but you'll have to explain how to set it up!

[Guest]

Excel question, can you beat FF?

Can you post the code you have got so far, not saying I am brilliant at this but i can call on several hundred people who do this sort of thing for fun every day (wonderful working for the government sometimes).

[Femme Folle]

Excel question, can you beat FF?

Set up your column headers, format your columns and anything else you need to (print areas, etc.) in a new workbook.

Save it with a meaningful name, but also include the word 'template' in the name so you'll always be able to find it easily. Ex.: MonthlyReportTemplate.xls

When you need to create a new workbook for your project, just open the template and give it a new name by using Save As. Ex.: 2008SeptemberAccounts.xls

That is the simplest way to do it. If you're dealing with data imported from somewhere else, just copy and paste the values into your new workbook.

[Femme Folle]

Excel question, can you beat FF?

The advantage to that method is that you wouldn't have to use any code to do it.