Un merging cells

  • Thread starter Thread starter wini
  • Start date Start date
W

wini

Help I need to bring information from several spreadsheets
together but some of the data is in a merged cell and I
need the data in a single cell. I have purformed this
function before but I have forgotten how to do it. Help
please. Wini
 
Wini,

Highlight the offending ranges and

Format|Cells|Alignment and un-check the (IMO worst thing MS ever created)
Merge Cells option.

PC
 
Paul said:
(IMO worst thing MS ever
created) Merge Cells option.
Click to expand...

I kind of like the merge cells option. I don't understand what makes it so
evil, although I don't think you are the only one with that opinion. Can
you expound?

Dave
dvt at psu dot edu
 
Dave,

The reason I say this is that (IMO) merge cells is a formatting command that
disables worksheet functionality while adding a look to the spreadsheet that
can be easily achieved through other methods. While advanced users can
easily resolve any issues that may arise, I can see how new or less
experienced users could easily become frustrated after they have enabled
this feature.

Take the case of using merge cells to center a title across a range of
columns. At a minimum it can be expected to frustrate the ability to
perform such simple commands such as insert, copy or sort. Alternatively,
using the Format|Cells|Alignment|Center Across Selection provides the same
result without the frustration. This is only one example off of the top of
my head. I'm sure if we attempted to compile a list of "what doesn't work
when I merge cells" we would see many many others.

In a nutshell, the loss from using the feature is large while the benefit,
the time saved by clicking on the icon rather than performing 4 mouseclicks
(net 3 mouseclicks), is tiny or, for those who have developed a custom icon
attached to a macro that performs the keystrokes, non-existent.

PC
 
Paul said:
Alternatively, using the Format|Cells|Alignment|Center Across
Selection provides the same result without the frustration.
Click to expand...

I wasn't aware of that option. I just tried it out, and it does what I
need. I was initially concerned that the cell border formatting might not
act the same as in a merged cell. But the border works just fine.

And to top it off, when I insert a new column to the right of these cells,
the "center across selection" applies to the appropriate cell in the
inserted column. I like that! That didn't happen with the merged cell.

Thanks for the tip. I don't have trouble with the merged cells in my
existing sheets, so I won't go back and change those. But I'll use this
"center across selection" option for a while and see if there are any other
issues that I haven't yet foreseen.

Dave
dvt at psu dot edu
 
Indeed. And often, trying to use a command later will result in failure,
but it isn't always at all obvious that merged cells have caused the
trouble.
 
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