Editing the contents of a cell

[dikjenkins]

Version: 2008 Operating System: Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard) Processor: Intel In previous editions of Excel the cell editing was different. Say I were working on monthly expenses and a cell represented that month's accumulated costs for groceries. As the expenditures became known you would simply enter that cell and in the fx window that appeared just below the header section, the cell contents would display. You could add a (+) after the last value and then your next item of expense. OR you could use an F key to bring up the same editing window. On the 2008 program I have a floating popup that contains the fx features. The only way I have found to access a cell and add or edit the contents is to double click the cell and work in the popup window. Simply hitting the enter key on your keyboard does nothing towards editing. There must be an easier way..... With the old version just cursoring over the cells placed the contents of the cell in the fx window.

Can you help me?

 

[John McGhie]

You are talking about the "Formula Bar". If you drag it slowly to the top
of the screen, it will suddenly snap into place and stay there.

Then go to Excel>Preferences>Edit and set the options there to your tastes.

See the Excel help topic "Turn off editing directly in a cell".

Cheers

Version: 2008 Operating System: Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard) Processor: Intel
In previous editions of Excel the cell editing was different. Say I were
working on monthly expenses and a cell represented that month's accumulated
costs for groceries. As the expenditures became known you would simply enter
that cell and in the fx window that appeared just below the header section,
the cell contents would display. You could add a (+) after the last value and
then your next item of expense. OR you could use an F key to bring up the same
editing window. On the 2008 program I have a floating popup that contains the
fx features. The only way I have found to access a cell and add or edit the
contents is to double click the cell and work in the popup window. Simply
hitting the enter key on your keyboard does nothing towards editing. There
must be an easier way..... With the old version just cursoring over the cells
placed the contents of the cell in the fx window.

Can you help me?

--

The email below is my business email -- Please do not email me about forum
matters unless I ask you to; or unless you intend to pay!

John McGhie, Microsoft MVP (Word, Mac Word), Consultant Technical Writer,
McGhie Information Engineering Pty Ltd
Sydney, Australia. | Ph: +61 (0)4 1209 1410 | mailto:[email protected]

 

[dikjenkins]

Thank you for your assistance John. You suggest dragging the Formula Bar to the top of the screen. The only indication I have of a formula bar is an icon in the Formula Builder pop-up. Is that the icon that must be dragged to the top of the screen?

 

[CyberTaz]

It sounds like you may be referring to either the Insert Function or the
Function Arguments dialog. Does the illustration on either of these pages
look at all familiar?

<http://office.microsoft.com/training/Training.aspx?AssetID=RP061914891033&C
TT=6&Origin=RC061914861033>

<http://office.microsoft.com/training/Training.aspx?AssetID=RP061914891033&C
TT=6&Origin=RC061914861033>

If so, they were replaced in Excel 2008 by the Formula Builder which appears
in the Toolbox. That isn't necessary for editing the content of a cell, but
I'm afraid I'm totally unclear as to what you are looking for. I also don't
know what you mean by "You could add a (+) after the last value and then
your next item of expense."

Can you provide a more detailed description of what you want to be able to
do, how you expect to be able to do it & what you are accustomed to using to
get it done as well as some insight on your data & how it's structured?

Regards |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

 

[dikjenkins]

For as long as I've been involved with Excel (25 years)) there has been an fx box, or cell if you will, that is displayed in the header portion of a worksheet. When you place your cursor in any given cell within the worksheet, the contents of that cell is displayed in the fx box or what is sometimes referred to as the Formula Bar. If the cell contains only text then that is what is displayed in the fx window. You can move your cursor into the fx box and edit the text. The same holds true for formulas, they can be edited and reviewed in the fx box.

In the current version of Excel 2008 for the Mac there is a floating Formula Builder that I don't care to work with. I just want the fx window back. If you Google the problem you will see that others are as annoyed with the same issue. IF you click on the the fx icon displayed along the top row of the new floating Formula Builder (there are a total of 5 icons representing various functions such as formating pallet, object pallet) the fx window will appear where it has always been AND the Formula Builder popup will also remain in view. IF you minimize the Formula Builder popup then the fx window will not be displayed.

 

[John McGhie]

On the Excel menu bar, drop down "View" and ensure that "Formula Bar" is
checked.

If it is, the Formula bar you are used to seeing will appear.

Drag it to the top of the screen until it "clicks" into place to dock it.

If you click the "Fx" part of the Formula Bar, the Formula Builder will
appear or disappear.

But the content or the selected cell will always appear in the Formula Bar.

Hope this helps

For as long as I've been involved with Excel (25 years)) there has been an fx
box, or cell if you will, that is displayed in the header portion of a
worksheet. When you place your cursor in any given cell within the worksheet,
the contents of that cell is displayed in the fx box or what is sometimes
referred to as the Formula Bar. If the cell contains only text then that is
what is displayed in the fx window. You can move your cursor into the fx box
and edit the text. The same holds true for formulas, they can be edited and
reviewed in the fx box.

In the current version of Excel 2008 for the Mac there is a floating Formula
Builder that I don't care to work with. I just want the fx window back. If you
Google the problem you will see that others are as annoyed with the same
issue. IF you click on the the fx icon displayed along the top row of the new
floating Formula Builder (there are a total of 5 icons representing various
functions such as formating pallet, object pallet) the fx window will appear
where it has always been AND the Formula Builder popup will also remain in
view. IF you minimize the Formula Builder popup then the fx window will not be
displayed.

--

The email below is my business email -- Please do not email me about forum
matters unless I ask you to; or unless you intend to pay!

John McGhie, Microsoft MVP (Word, Mac Word), Consultant Technical Writer,
McGhie Information Engineering Pty Ltd
Sydney, Australia. | Ph: +61 (0)4 1209 1410 | mailto:[email protected]

 

[CyberTaz]

The floating primary toolbar you are referring to is indeed called the
Formula Bar. The white segment of it (which displays the content of the
active cell) is called the 'Editing Bar' & the 'fx' button on it is called
the 'Insert Function' button. The major change to the Formula Bar in Excel
2008 is that the 'Confirm Entry' checkmark button was removed altogether &
the 'Cancel Entry' X button was moved to the extreme right end of the bar.

What you are looking for is the former 'Insert Function' dialog which
appeared when you clicked the 'Insert Function' (fx) button on the Formula
Bar. Once a function was selected in the 'Insert Function' dialog & clicked
OK the 'Function Arguments' dialog came next. As described in my previous
reply the older style 'Insert Function' dialog no longer exists. It has been
replaced by the Formula Builder.

The Formula Builder appears in the Toolbox ‹ the 'floating' compendium of 7
palettes represented by the buttons at the top of the Toolbox [Formatting
Palette, Object Palette, Formula Builder, Scrapbook, Reference Tools,
Compatibility Report & Projects]. One of those buttons is labeled fx &
produces the same Formula Builder palette that produced by the fx button in
the Formula Bar.

I don't care for the Formula Builder either, but that's all there is.

Regards |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac