Grouping random cells..............................can it be done????? TIA

  • Thread starter Thread starter Boll Weevil
  • Start date Start date
B

Boll Weevil

I have an Excel sheet with data. I want to select cells at random
and group them together so at a later time I can select one of the
group members and it will select all the members in the group. I
tried to do it and Excel complains back that this can not be done with
non adjacent cells. Hope someone can help. Thank you.
 
Boll Weevil, what you can do is select the cells and define a name for them
(Insert > Name > Define). Then at any time you can press F5 (Go to), click
the name, click OK, and Excel will select them all.
 
Boll Weevil, what you can do is select the cells and define a name for them
(Insert > Name > Define). Then at any time you can press F5 (Go to), click
the name, click OK, and Excel will select them all.
Click to expand...


Thank you , thank you, thank you!!!!... I've been banging my head
against the wall for the last two hours!! Thanx again!!
 
Click on one of the cells, hold down <Ctrl>, and continue clicking in each
of the cells that you wish to add to the selection.
When you're finished selecting, and while the cell are *still* selected,
click in the name box and enter a short name, such as "Rng1" (no quotes),
and then hit <Enter>.

Now, when you wish to bring up this selection, simply click in the name box
and click on the range name you've just created.
--

HTH,

RD
==============================================
Please keep all correspondence within the Group, so all may benefit!
==============================================

I have an Excel sheet with data. I want to select cells at random
and group them together so at a later time I can select one of the
group members and it will select all the members in the group. I
tried to do it and Excel complains back that this can not be done with
non adjacent cells. Hope someone can help. Thank you.
 
Boll Weevil, what you can do is select the cells and define a name for them
(Insert > Name > Define). Then at any time you can press F5 (Go to), click
the name, click OK, and Excel will select them all.
Click to expand...

One thing, there seems to be a selection limitation. Can't select
more than about 12 cells in the group. Is there an alternative?
 
Only 12 cells ?!?!

Are your sheet names exceptionally long?

20 to 30 cells is the norm with regular length sheet names.
This is because XL automatically places the sheet name in front of *each*
cell reference in the "Refers To" box of the "Define Name" window, and
there's a 255 character limit on the contents of that box.

The work around is to make several individual ranges, and then create a
"master" range, that refers to each of the individual ranges.

For example, make three ranges, and call them
Rng1
Rng2
Rng3

Now, go to
<Insert> <Name> <Define>,
And in the "Names In WorkBook" box, type in a name for the all encompassing
range, such as "BigRng" (no quotes).

In the "Refers To" box, change whatever's there to:
=Rng1,Rng2,Rng3
Then <OK>.

The name of this type of "range of ranges" is not visible in the name box,
or even in the <F5> "GoTo" window.

When you wish to call up this range, click in the name box and enter
bigrng
Then <Enter>, and you have *all* the ranges selected.
--

HTH,

RD
==============================================
Please keep all correspondence within the Group, so all may benefit!
==============================================




Boll Weevil, what you can do is select the cells and define a name for them
(Insert > Name > Define). Then at any time you can press F5 (Go to), click
the name, click OK, and Excel will select them all.
Click to expand...

One thing, there seems to be a selection limitation. Can't select
more than about 12 cells in the group. Is there an alternative?
 
There's a length limit in that dialog box.

But you could do it the easy way or the difficult way:

The difficult way:
Select subset ranges and give each a nice name
rng1, rng2, rng3, ..., rng99
then
insert|name|define
create rngALL
and use a formula like:
=rng1,rng2,rng3,rng4,rng5

The easy way:
Select your range
hit alt-F11 to get to the VBE (where macros live)
hit ctrl-G to see the immediate window
type this and hit enter:

selection.name = "rng"

Back to the worksheet and test it out.
 
Click on one of the cells, hold down <Ctrl>, and continue clicking in each
of the cells that you wish to add to the selection.
When you're finished selecting, and while the cell are *still* selected,
click in the name box and enter a short name, such as "Rng1" (no quotes),
and then hit <Enter>.

Now, when you wish to bring up this selection, simply click in the name box
and click on the range name you've just created.
Click to expand...

Perfect!!! That work great!!! Thanx Rag!!! You da
man!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
Click on one of the cells, hold down <Ctrl>, and continue clicking in each
of the cells that you wish to add to the selection.
When you're finished selecting, and while the cell are *still* selected,
click in the name box and enter a short name, such as "Rng1" (no quotes),
and then hit <Enter>.

Now, when you wish to bring up this selection, simply click in the name box
and click on the range name you've just created.
Click to expand...

Well... not so fast................This has a limit of 45 cell before
I have to great another group.

I can't believe this is so difficult to do. It is such a simple task
yet Excel turns this into a rocket scienc.
 
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