Annual Leave Planner - How do I get more than 256 columns?

  • Thread starter Thread starter junior
  • Start date Start date
J

junior

I can't imagine having to make-do with a "vertical" leave planner
rather than the much more intuitive 'horizontal' format!

Splitting the year into say, six month pages is the only solution I
can think of, but that's rather cumbersome.

Surely there must be a better way? Thanks.
 
One of the most annoying problems people have with excel. Apparentl
there is really no way of increasing the number of columns
 
Actually a vertical planner is easier to work with and much easier to read imho

For columns -- Is this personal or work leave planner? If work -- you only need
columns/rows for working days -- if you subtract holidays and weekends you
should be below the Max Columns




: I can't imagine having to make-do with a "vertical" leave planner
: rather than the much more intuitive 'horizontal' format!
:
: Splitting the year into say, six month pages is the only solution I
: can think of, but that's rather cumbersome.
:
: Surely there must be a better way? Thanks.
 
Hi Lady Layla!

Re: "Actually a vertical planner is easier to work with and much
easier to read imho"

I agree!

Where the number of columns is greater than the number of rows, it is
also usually far easier to print out. Printing out long horizontally
arranged schedules is a real pain!

But if you've got 300 workers and a 365 day schedule...

--
Regards
Norman Harker MVP (Excel)
Sydney, Australia
(e-mail address removed)

It is imperative that the patches provided by Microsoft in its April
Security Release be applied to Systems as soon as possible. It is
believed that the likelihood of a worm being released SOON that
exploits one of the vulnerabilities addressed by these patches is VERY
HIGH.
See:
http://www.microsoft.com/security/protect/
 
Actually a vertical planner is easier to work with and much easier to read imho
Click to expand...
...

Better still would be software actually suited to the task. Spreadsheets are
pretty poor at databases, project management, calendar-related functionality
where organization rather than calculations are the primary task, text
processing, etc. Unfortunately, there are many people who insist on (mis)using
spreadsheets for any & all tasks they need to perform. Better the hammer you
know than the drill & screwdriver you don't, I guess.
 
Thanks to everyone for their replies... some comments:

One of the most annoying problems people have with excel. Apparently
there is really no way of increasing the number of columns!
Click to expand...

Surely it's just a simple referencing problem, 256 columns by 65535
rows. Should be pretty simple to change it to 65535 columns by 256
rows? Such a shame! Sigh. Thanks.


Lady Layla said:
Actually a vertical planner is easier to work with and much easier to read imho
Click to expand...

I'll have a go and see if I can get used to reading one. <g>

The BIG question then, "Is there an easy way to 'transpose' the sheet
from the horizontal to the vertical? At the moment the 6-month sheets
are 30 rows by about 190 columns. Thanks for any help.

For columns -- Is this personal or work leave planner? If work -- you only need
columns/rows for working days -- if you subtract holidays and weekends you
should be below the Max Columns
Click to expand...

Unfortunately, it's a shift-work, 365 day operation. Thanks.



(snip)
Better still would be software actually suited to the task. Spreadsheets are
pretty poor at databases, project management, calendar-related functionality
where organization rather than calculations are the primary task, text
processing, etc. Unfortunately, there are many people who insist on (mis)using
spreadsheets for any & all tasks they need to perform. Better the hammer you
know than the drill & screwdriver you don't, I guess.
Click to expand...

I agree, however, the trend in software development has usually been
to add more and more functionality in order to meet users needs. In
this case, the extension past 256 columns would seem to be a pretty
basic requirement and IMHO it would greatly improve the
'calendar-related functionality'.

What application would you suggest for a task such as this? Thanks.
 
...
...
Surely it's just a simple referencing problem, 256 columns by 65535
rows. Should be pretty simple to change it to 65535 columns by 256
rows? Such a shame! Sigh. Thanks.
Click to expand...
...

Nothing could be further from the truth. If you harcode limits like this, and
make much nasty use of bit bashing with index variables, you arrive at the place
Microsoft finds itself: only a pretty thorough rewrite would allow for the
change you suggest. As long as the masses pay full upgrade $$$ for the minor
tweaks & eye wash that make up recent Excel 'upgrades', what incentive does
Microsoft have to fix this?
I agree, however, the trend in software development has usually been
to add more and more functionality in order to meet users needs. In
this case, the extension past 256 columns would seem to be a pretty
basic requirement and IMHO it would greatly improve the
'calendar-related functionality'.
Click to expand...

You must not track the actual changes Microsoft has made in the most recent 3
Office/Excel upgrades. 8/98 to 2K did introduce OLAP cubes, finer grained macro
security, and some Data menu enhancements. Legit major version upgrade. 2K to
2002 introduced colored worksheet tabs, full pathnames in print headers/footers,
Task Pains (spelling intentional), and a few stats function fixes. 2002 to 2003
brought a few more function fixes and some more user interface changes that make
it harder still just to use the spreadsheet.
What application would you suggest for a task such as this? Thanks.
Click to expand...

Do you use either Outlook (full-blown) with Exchange, Lotus Notes or any other
form of Groupware? If so, there should be some way to use the system to handle
days on or off.
 
Can I hear an "AMEN!"? :-)

...
..

Better still would be software actually suited to the task. Spreadsheets are
pretty poor at databases, project management, calendar-related functionality
where organization rather than calculations are the primary task, text
processing, etc. Unfortunately, there are many people who insist on (mis)using
spreadsheets for any & all tasks they need to perform. Better the hammer you
know than the drill & screwdriver you don't, I guess.
Click to expand...

Toby Erkson
Oregon, USA
 
Copy the area you need to transpose, select a new starting cell not in the area
copying (probably a new spreadsheet), Edit Paste Special, transpose


: Thanks to everyone for their replies... some comments:
:
:
: >One of the most annoying problems people have with excel. Apparently
: >there is really no way of increasing the number of columns!
:
: Surely it's just a simple referencing problem, 256 columns by 65535
: rows. Should be pretty simple to change it to 65535 columns by 256
: rows? Such a shame! Sigh. Thanks.
:
:
:
: >Actually a vertical planner is easier to work with and much easier to read
imho
:
: I'll have a go and see if I can get used to reading one. <g>
:
: The BIG question then, "Is there an easy way to 'transpose' the sheet
: from the horizontal to the vertical? At the moment the 6-month sheets
: are 30 rows by about 190 columns. Thanks for any help.
:
:
: >For columns -- Is this personal or work leave planner? If work -- you only
need
: >columns/rows for working days -- if you subtract holidays and weekends you
: >should be below the Max Columns
:
: Unfortunately, it's a shift-work, 365 day operation. Thanks.
:
:
:
: (snip)
:
: >Better still would be software actually suited to the task. Spreadsheets are
: >pretty poor at databases, project management, calendar-related functionality
: >where organization rather than calculations are the primary task, text
: >processing, etc. Unfortunately, there are many people who insist on
(mis)using
: >spreadsheets for any & all tasks they need to perform. Better the hammer you
: >know than the drill & screwdriver you don't, I guess.
:
: I agree, however, the trend in software development has usually been
: to add more and more functionality in order to meet users needs. In
: this case, the extension past 256 columns would seem to be a pretty
: basic requirement and IMHO it would greatly improve the
: 'calendar-related functionality'.
:
: What application would you suggest for a task such as this? Thanks.
:
 
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