This list is an attachment to this letter:
http://blogdohomerix.blogspot.com.br/2010/12/opening-gates-of-mr-gates-1998.html
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Complaints about the Marvelous Excel when compared to Lotus 123
Page 1
The Lotus Way
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The Excel Way
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My Complaint
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1. Whenever you cut or copy a range, the
clipboard contents are kept there until another range is sent to the
clipboard
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1. Whenever you cut or copy a range, the
clipboard contents are kept there only until the user makes any single
operation with other cells
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1. You have to re-cut or re-copy the same
range several times, if needed.
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2. The Window facility allows the user to
independently command both windows in an unsynchronized way, horizontally or
vertically; in other words row and column lists are created in both windows
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2. The window facility does not open control of row and column cursor
movement in both windows. The only advantage of this way is to create a
freezing-like facility, already available in freezing panel facility
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2. The only way to create independent
moves is by opening New Windows :1 :2, etc. Very strange, indeed!
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3. The TAB and Shift TAB allow you to pan
to right and left pages
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3. The TAB and Shift TAB allow you move
the cursor to the right or left cells
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3. What is the use of having the TAB and
the Cursor Right providing the same movement? The same for the Shift TAB and
Cursor Left?
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4. The @INDEX function has 3 degrees of
indexing: row, column and sheet
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4. The INDEX function has only 2 degrees
of indexing: row and column
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4. This absence of the sheet selection
makes some data operations impossible.
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5. When you save a file you are able to
UNDO the Save operation
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5. When you save a file and you try to
UNDO it, you receive a CAN'T UNDO as
response
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5. You are not allowed to regret having
saved a file.
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6. When you cut a range, it immediately
disappears from display and you may or not move it to another location
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6.When you cut a range, it stays there
until you copy it to another place, as a move facility
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6. I may desire to cut a range and not to
copy it anywhere else. It forces me to make a triple command to perform same
function: Edit Clear All .
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7. When you punch a formula starting with
a number, Lotus immediately understands you are punching a formula
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7. When you try to punch a formula
starting with a number, Excel immediately understands you are punching a
label
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7. Since spreadsheets are basically
designed for mathematical operations, the Lotus triggering should be the
default
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8. HOME key leads to cell A1 of the same
sheet
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8.
HOME key leads to first cell of
a given row
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8. Why do you consider HOME key as
row-ward move instead of column-ward move? It configures a clear
discrimination with the columns!
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9. Ctrl-HOME key leads to Cell A1 of the
first sheet on a multiple sheet file
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9. Ctrl-HOME key leads to Cell A1 of
the same sheet on a multiple sheet
file
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9. How the hell you go to Cell A1 of the
first sheet, using a key?
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10. When you have a question in a @Function
while you are punching it, you may
position the mouse in any letter of its name and press F1 and the help
facility leads you the its syntax
explanation
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10. When you have a question in a Function
while you are punching it, and you try
to do the same, that "professor" appears and you have a long way to
go
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10. There is not a fast way to have your
straight doubt cleared. That professor is not very smart.
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Page 2
The Lotus Way
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The Excel Way
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My Complaint
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11. Lotus allows you to combine a file or
part of a file into a specific cell of
the current worksheet by using a simple File-Open-Combine command
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11. Excel allows the same operation but
using a 7-step-command sequence after the primary File-Open, using Copy and
Paste Special , thus needing the punch of more than 15 keys
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11. The Excel way is much more subject to
mistakes.
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12. The PRINT button leads you to the
Print options screen
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12. The PRINT button prints last
selection
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12. The PRINT screen is accessed only
with a double File Print command.
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13. To print a new range, you only
selects it and punch the PRINT button
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13. To print a new range you have to use
a unnecessary Set Print Area command and, then, proceed
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13. Why simplifying if we can complicate!
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14. Lotus identifies a file by its long
name (complete path), thus allowing the simultaneous opening of files with
the same short name in different directories
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14. Excel does not allow the simultaneous
opening of files with the same short name even though they are located in
different directories
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14. Sometimes we need to jointly work
with files of the same type named with the same name but appropriately
located in different sub-directories
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15. @XINDEX function allows the user to
locate a cell in a range at the intersection specified by row/column/sheet
headings
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15. There is not an Excel function to do
that
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17. This absence limits a wide number of
data base operations.
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16. Lotus has no kind of restriction for
a Paste-Special-Formulas-as-Values command
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16. Excel does not allow a
Paste-Special-Formulas-as-Values command if the source range presents merged
cells
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16. This kind of operation should be free
of restrictions.
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17. When you click the right/bottom
corner of a cell and drag it both horizontally and vertically, you copy the
cell contents to this new bi-dimensional range
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17. When you click the right/bottom
corner of a cell and drag it horizontally for instance you are not allowed to
drag it vertically as well to copy the
cell contents to this new range
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17. Excel requires a double operation
instead of the single one required by Lotus.
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18. Style, Lines & Color, in Background color and Text color have options of 15 base colors and 16 different tonalities.
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18. Format, Cells, in Patterns and Fonts
offer fewer options of colors and
tonalities.
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18. Excel should turn up his options
of colors and tonalities in order to
provide a wide range of possibilities.
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19. @SUM, @SUMPRODUCT and other
mathematical functions can search ranges in more then one sheet
simultaneously
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19. SUM,SUMPRODUCT and other mathematical
functions search only ranges within a
same sheet
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19. This limitation prevents the use of a
frequently appropriate sheet-by-sheet data organization.
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20. When you copy a column-range or a
row-range to the clipboard, you can paste its format
(Edit-PasteSpecial-StilesOnly) in a series of other columns / rows,
simultaneously
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20. Excel lets you paste the formats
(Edit-PasteSpecial-Formats) to just ONE other column or row by time
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20. Excel is obliging me to repeat a
paste special operation as many times as are the columns or rows to paste.
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Page 3
The Lotus Way
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The Excel Way
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My Complaint
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21. You are able to increase or decrease
decimals of cells in a range composed by numbers AND labels using a single
button
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21. The buttons for increasing/
decreasing decimals don’t work when the range is composed by numbers AND
labels, only when there are only numbers
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21. You are obliged to make the long way
of Format-Cells-Number and so on.
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22. The Shift-Ctrl-PgUp and the
Shift-Ctrl-PgDn keys allow you to
select a range that crosses several sheets keeping the same source cell in
every sheet
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22. The Shift-Ctrl-PgUp and the
Shift-Ctrl-PgDn keys don’t allow you
to do the same because they only send you to other sheets in the last cell
you were
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22. The absence of this feature prevents
you, for example, to copy the same range to several sheets by using a single
command, simultaneously.
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23. When you use the {GOTO} key, Lotus
opens a dialog box presenting the whole list of range names. When you punch
the first letter of the name to go, it spans the list down to the first
occurrence of that letter in the list
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23. When you use the {GOTO} key, Excel
also opens a dialog box presenting the whole list of range names but it
remains static as you punch the letters
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23. Sometimes you do not remember the
exact name of the range an the Lotus span gives you a clue on that.
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24. Any cell being referred to by another
cell only gains status of absolute address when associated with a $ signal to
the left of its row and column definitions or to the left of its name.
Otherwise it is treated as a relative address
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24. If the cell has a name and you refer
to it by its name, from another cell, said cell is treated as an absolute
address no matter if it has or not a $ signal to the left of its name
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24. I usually name the top cells of
columns in order to explain the main operations I am doing. Then, when I copy
a formula using such cell to other cells in the same column, Excel keeps,
unwillingly for me, the absolute reference!
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25. When you cut or copy a range to the
clipboard and for any reason decides to close this file, saving it or not,
the clipboard contents can be pasted in other files
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25. When you cut or copy a range to the
clipboard and for any reason decides to close this file, saving it or not,
you will never paste it again, because the clipboard contents are cleared
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25. The clipboards contents should be
preserved independently of the status of its source file.
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26. The @CELL function returns not less
than 40 attributes of a given cell. Row, Col, Sheet ,
etc
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26. The CELL Excel function returns not
more than 12 attributes of a given cell. The Sheet attribute is
missing, amongst other 30
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26. The absence of the Sheet
attribute is unforgivable, since it is part of the Cell location!
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27. The @CELLPOINTER Lotus function
returns not less than 40 attributes of the cell pointer.
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27. The @CELLPOINTER Excel function …
didn’t come into existence!
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27. No words!
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28. Lotus allows you to choose where to
create a new sheet, if after or before a current sheet
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28. Excel always understands your desire
for a new sheet as if it you wished it to be inserted before the current
sheet
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28. No freedom of choice is left!
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29. The @DATEDIF Lotus function is able
to interpret the distance between two dates in 6 different ways
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29. There is not such a cool function in
Excel
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29. The only positive point of such
absence is that the user is obliged to exercise his mind in complex date
conversions.
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30. The @DATEINFO Lotus function is able
to display a date or an information about a date in 13 different ways
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30. There is not such a practical
function in Excel
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30. The only positive point of such
absence is that the user is obliged to create macros and/or formulas to get
the same result.
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Page 4
The Lotus Way
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The Excel Way
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My Complaint
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31. The @DATESTRING Lotus function
transforms a date number on a date string
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31. There is not such an useful function
in Excel
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31. It is very common for me to include a
date in a string formula.
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32. The @ROUNDDOWN and @ROUNDUP Lotus
functions rounds a number down or up to the nearest multiple of 10
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32. There is not such a function in
Excel. But anyway ..... they are not
that useful at all
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32. No complaints!
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33. The @RADTODEG and @DEGTORAD Lotus
functions are built-in within the spreadsheet to convert radians to degrees
and vice-versa
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33. For Excel, the RADIANS and DEGREES
functions are Add-ins stored on an external library in the Program Files
Directory
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33. If, by an accident, such library is
cleared, you have your spreadsheet full of
#VALUEs!
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34. The @WEIGHTAVG returns the weighted
average of a data-range over a weights range
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34. You can get the same result by the
combination of SUM and SUMPRODUCT Excel functions
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34. Just a matter of optimization!
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35. The @SHEET Lotus function returns the
number of sheets of a given range
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35. I could not find out what is the
Excel way for that
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35. Now I know! Excel has serious
troubles with the management of sheets!
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36. The @CHOOSE Lotus Function returns
the value or label of list of cells,
given its offset number
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36. I could not find out what is the
Excel way for that
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36. Good substitute of @INDEX when list
of values are not grouped in a range!
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37. The @MAXLOOKUP and @MINLOOKUP Lotus
functions return the cell reference of a max/min value in a range
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37. I could not find out what is the
Excel way for that
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37. Excellent in some search procedure in
macros!
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38. You can give a Name for a Range that
crosses 2 or more sheets
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38. You are not allowed to do the same.
Ranges in Excel should not exceed the limits of a single sheet
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38. This reduces an enormous number of the advantages of having a
multiple sheet data organization! Again the Sheet problem
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39. @SUM & @SUMPRODUCT Lotus
functions can easily perform their tasks even if the ranges are spread beyond
one single sheet
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39. SUM & SUMPRODUCT Excel
functions are restricted to perform
their tasks within a single sheet
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39. The old already detected problem of
Excel with sheet management!
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40. Tables can be assembled to show a
variable value according to up to 3 dimensions: row, column and sheet
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40. Tables can be assembled to show a
variable value according to up to 2 dimensions only: row and column
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40. That’s it again. The sheet trouble!
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41. A data table keeps the result values
up to another table command is performed.
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41. A data table has its values
constantly changed with any change in a parameter that affects the table
variable
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41. Sometimes I am performing tests in
the variable and this automatic change is not desired.
I prefer to recalculate tables at my
will!
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42. This last complaint presents a wider
dimension so I decided to change the form. In Lotus, the Jurassic Slash
commands allow the user to perform macros that interact with the contents of
the spreadsheet. Please try the very simple Lotus Macro \A of the file named
Challeng.WK4 attached to the message. It is only a sample of what I am trying
to say. This macro saves a portion of the current spreadsheet (File Xtract)
given a different file name that is defined in a cell of the same spreadsheet
after a choice of oil and gas prices scenario over a price list. The example
might seem naive but be sure that I use this technique in much more noble
tasks. I would be very pleased if you could teach me how Excel would perform
the same, let’s say, trick! I know that even Lotus can not perform such task
without the use of the Slash commands so I imagine that Excel will not do it,
too!
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43. EXTRA - A very new one! When performing a Data Table sensitivity in a certain sheet, I can use variables in ANY sheet os the file | 43. Excel requires that the table AND the variables be located at the same sheet! | 43. Again the undesirable Sheet Trouble, that i have listed ein som many points here (4, 19, 22, 26, 35, 38, 38 abd 40).I t's unforgivable. I say more, by renaming it... it's not a Sheet Trouble, but a Shit Trouble. |
