Wondering if there is some preference I can set in excel so that when I am in a specific cell the entire row is slightly highlighted (not overly so but enough to easily tell it out)
Similar to the fashion that Notepad++ works in tab delimeted files, and highlights the entire row.
Thanks in advance
I do not know of any built-in preferences in Excel to do this but it can be done using VBA. Place the following in "ThisWorkbook" of the VBAProject:
Private Sub Workbook_SheetSelectionChange(ByVal Sh As Object, ByVal Tgt As Range)
If Tgt.Cells.Count = 1 Then
ActiveSheet.Rows(Tgt.Row).Select
Tgt.Activate
End If
End Sub
The code only highlights the active row if a single cell is selected so that it does not interfere when multiple cells are selected.
Related
We all know that Excel has some counter-intuitive behaviours and it is, I believe, one of them:
When you select a range of few cells, starting your selection with the cell with data validation list and choose value from drop-down list: only one cell changes (the one containing drop-down list) instead of all selected.
Sometimes a few magic keyboard shortcuts such as CTRL+d, or combination of CTRL+' and CTRL+ENTER can fix this behaviour, but from my experience clients doesn't like to learn some new hacks, they just want to work everything in as simple way as possible.
I found even similar questions on SO e.g. here:
Adding same drop-down value to multiple cells simultaneously
I know that this is very simple code, but following few lines of code make my life easier, and I am sure this will help somebody too. Code in Worksheet module of course:
Option Explicit
Private Sub Worksheet_Change(ByVal Target As Range)
' MACRO FILLS THE WHOLE SELECTED RANGE
' WITH THE SAME VALUE USING DROP-DOWN LIST
' IN JUST ONE ACTIVE CELL
' change to false if all selected cells should be filled with value
Const FILL_VISIBLE_CELLS_ONLY As Boolean = True
' detecting if dropdown list was used
'
' I am using very clever solution by JvdV from SO
' ~~~~> stackoverflow.com/questions/56942551/
'
' If after edit we're in the same cell - drop-down list was used
' I know that may be also drag&drop or copy-paste
' but it seems no matters here.
' Warning! Should be add one more check if someone used
' 'accept OK character' next to formula bar, not implemented here.
'
If ActiveCell.Address <> Target.Address Then Exit Sub
' preventing error which sometimes occurs
If IsEmpty(ActiveCell.Value) Then Exit Sub
' fill a range or visible range with activeCell value
If FILL_VISIBLE_CELLS_ONLY Then
Selection.Cells.SpecialCells(xlCellTypeVisible) _
.Value = ActiveCell.Value
Else
Selection.Value = ActiveCell.Value
End If
End Sub
When you select a Range of more than one Cell, is is important to distinguish between the Active Cell (the single highlighted cell) and the Selection (the entire selected range, including the Active Cell).
Then:
Any Content (such as Values or Formulas) that you enter into the Formula bar is input into the Active Cell only, not the entire Selection.
Any Formatting changes you make are applied to the entire Selection, not just the Active Cell.
An exception is when entering an Array formula which applies to the Selection.
Since in this case you are making a change to content not formatting, it is applied to only the Active Cell.
When considering the above, it is not counterintuitive but entirely consistent with the design and operation of the software.
However, from a UX experience this may seem counterintuitive simply because it defies your expectation. This is kind of like a "customer is always right" type situation, which can be very frustrating for programmers, but is essential that it be understood. You can read more about the concept in a series of well-written articles on the topic at https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2000/04/10/controlling-your-environment-makes-you-happy/ (disclosure: the author of these articles happens to be integral to the development history of both Excel and SO, but it is linked here on merit). It was written more than 20 years ago and is still every bit as relevant today.
EDITED WITH PROGRESS
Dear Stackoverflow community,
I am working on a big excel file that does some calculations for me and my colleagues. Because the calculation data is a lot and is entered in Ranges (like "A1:H8"), not single cells (like "A1","C1",...), I want the users to be able to copy data from the same or another excel instance to my file.
The problem (edited):
The problem is, that just pasting cells formats the target cells (even if they are protected against formatting) and this has to be avoided. I searched through a lot of online discussions and finally made my own code, that allows me to copy and paste between two excel files in the same excel instance. Sadly, it does not work, if I copied the cells from another instance.
The code:
This is the code I use in "ThisWorkbook":
Sub PasteValuesOnly()
'if cells are pasted in named worksheets, only values are pasted
'is linked to Ctrl+V in options of macro menu
On Error GoTo err_handler
Dim Target As Range
Set Target = Selection
If Target.Parent.Name <> "Table1" Then
Selection.PasteSpecial
Else
Selection.PasteSpecial Paste:=xlPasteValues
End If
err_handler:
Exit Sub
End Sub
The system:
Windows 7
Excel 2010
What I tried besides my code (new progress):
As mentioned in the comments, I know Siddharth Rout's solution for only letting the users paste values, but I can't get it to work (not even in a fresh file when copying and pasting inside one Excel instance). I tried it for the whole workbook and for one single sheet.
What would help (edited):
It would be very helpful, if you could tell me how to optimize my code, so it works for two instances as well. If you know what is to do when I have an error with UndoList = Application.CommandBars(“Standard”).Controls(“&Undo”).List(1) in Siddharth Rout's solution with Excel 2010, this would be helpful, too.
Otherwise I would like every solution, that let's my users paste like they ever do, but prevent them from formatting the cells while pasting.
Thank you in advance
RaspiManu
After long hours of searching the internet, I found the solution of Donna Landy (Bella_Donna) in the microsoft forum. Her code is simple and works for CTRL+C / CTRL+V, Copy and Paste over Right Click Menu, Drag'n'Drop and even with two excel instances.
Because it starts on every single cell change and goes back to the cell or range that was changed, I slightly optimized it for my needs. Now, users that enter a list manually won't have to press "Enter" two times every time, they want to get to the next line below.
Assuming, the standard user will normally copy and paste, if there is a range of data, he or she does not want to retype, I changed the code, so the module sub only gets activated, if more than one cell has been changed (see below).
The solution:
In every worksheet, that has to be protected against formatting (modified):
Private Sub Worksheet_Change(ByVal Target As Range)
'activates format protection when changing a range
If Target.Cells.Count > 1 Then 'If more than one cell has been changed...
Call Worksheet_Change_Protected(Target) '...activating protection
End If
End Sub
In a module (unmodified):
Sub Worksheet_Change_Protected(ByVal Target As Range)
'Prevents user blithely obliterating in-cell formatting by undoing their paste and pasting the value
'Donna Landy 26.11.2018
'May be freely copied - hat tip appreciated :)
Dim SavedVal As Variant
On Error GoTo ErrHan
'Save the pasted value for later
SavedVal = Target.Value
'Switch off events to prevent infinite loop
Application.EnableEvents = False
'Undo the user's paste
Application.Undo
'Set target value
Target.Value = SavedVal
ErrExit:
'Remember to re-enable events
Application.EnableEvents = True
Exit Sub
ErrHan:
Resume ErrExit
End Sub
Thank you very much, Donna Landy!
I have a large chunk of VBA code that generates a result sheet. It's fairly large, and in order to better, faster dig through it, I've added a dynamic hyperlink at the top of the sheet, with a drop-down menu next to it. Drop down the item, click the hyperlink, and you get whooshed over to the part of the spreadsheet you want to get to.
I've been asked to make it even easier, and when you select an item from the drop down menu, to auto-whoosh you to the correct location. So an on-trigger macro to click a dynamic hyperlink.
Ok, so far, so good. Do some googling, and I end up with the following:
Option Explicit
Private Sub Worksheet_Change(ByVal Target As Range)
If Not Intersect(Target, Me.Range("HyperlinkType")) Is Nothing Then ClickHyperlink
End Sub
Private Sub ClickHyperlink()
ThisWorkbook.Names("HyperLinkTotal").RefersToRange.Hyperlinks(1).Follow
End Sub
Unfortunately, this results in a subscript out of range, which apparently can happen with dynamic hyperlinks.
The hyperlink formula for reference:
=IFERROR(HYPERLINK("#Totals!B"&MATCH(HyperlinkType,B:B,0),"Jump to "&HyperlinkType),"Please enter a valid type")
1) How do I fix the subscript out of range issue?
2) Is there a better way than hyperlink(1)? It almost looks to me like it's indexing the hyperlink, and I'm not sure that's exactly what I'm looking for - I'm looking for the hyperlink in the cell, not the first in the workbook. I may be misunderstanding.
Previous instances of this, and similar question on stack overflow:
Excel Macro executing Hyperlink shows 'Subscript out of range error' - no answer
Hyperlinks.Follow error: Run-time error '9': Subscript out of range - completely different method used to solve that particular issue (XY problem)
Hyperlink code shows Subscript out of range error vba excel - used a reserved word as a variable
VBA to open Excel hyperlink does not work when hyperlink generated with a formula - Seems to be promising, I think this might solve it.
Thanks to #Forward Ed, I was able to get it working with select.
Forgive the lazy lack of variables:
Option Explicit
Private Sub Worksheet_Change(ByVal Target As Range)
If Not Intersect(Target, Me.Range("HyperlinkType")) Is Nothing Then ClickHyperlink (Me.Range("HyperlinkType").Value)
End Sub
Private Sub ClickHyperlink(ActuarialString As String)
Dim ResultRow As Long
ResultRow = Me.Range("B:B").Find(ActuarialString).Row
Me.Cells(ResultRow, 2).Select
End Sub
To put it another way: If you want to click on a dynamic hyperlink, you're probably running into the XY problem. Step back, figure out exactly what you're trying to accomplish, and use one of VBA's other tools to do it.
I'm using the following formula in conditional formatting to highlight the active row when I click on a cell,
=OR(CELL("row")=CELL("row",A1))
and in VBA editor I am applying this macro to my worksheet.
Private Sub Worksheet_SelectionChange(ByVal Target As Range)
Target.Calculate
End Sub
Currently I have to repeat the steps when I move onto the next worksheet (with existing data) and for some reason it doesn't always work. Is there a way to apply this to the entire workbook of current worksheets and possible new ones? Many thanks in advance!
condition formatting - new rule
VBA editor
Have you try placing the VBA into ThisWorkBook?
I do realise placing the VBA into ThisWorkBook generally works better and more accurate than worksheet. In the ThisWorkBook, you could call a specific worksheet to perform the VBA.
With sheets("NameOfWorksheet")
Target.Calculate
End with
I tried running the private sub code:
Private Sub Worksheet_Calculate()
Dim target As Range
Set target = Range("G3")
If Not Intersect(target, Range("G3")) Is Nothing Then
End If
End Sub
I am pulling a value from one sheet and putting it into another cell on a separate sheet. I want the VBA to run when the cell is automatically changed. When I tried the code above, nothing happened when I updated the cell.
From the sounds of things the issue seems to be that you're trying to put the code in a Module like a regular macro. To have it run based on a worksheet event, you need to have the code in that worksheet's code window (in the VBA window, there's the "Microsoft Excel Objects" folder, inside is the list of worksheets, double-click the worksheet to open it's code).
Once you've opened the worksheet's code, at the top of the window you should see two drop-downs. The left one should show "(General)". In that drop-down select "Worksheet" (should be the only option).
In the drop-down to the right of that, select "Change". Then you need to validate the Target is the right cell (If Target.Address = "$<Column letter>$<row #>"). Inside that If statement is where you'd nest your code to copy the value to the second worksheet