Ms Excel Experts Please Help!

[jayhech]

Usually when I work on Ms Excel I work on more than one tables in one worksheet fine without a problem. But recently there's this challenge of Excel work which I found there are more than one table in a worksheet, the difficult and unfamiliar part is that they are in different numbers of column and those columns are in different sizes. I am totally puzzled. When I looked up for help on google I found that this is possible when you work on iWork's Numbers on Mac. (See example from this website I found: http://flickr.com/photos/98165134@N00/1295432745 ). And, as mentioned in another website-- http://wuhrr.wordpress.com/2007/08/13/expo...mbers-to-excel/ -- when transferring worksheet in Numbers to MS Excel, they look messy.

Is there any way I can do this in MS Excel? Your help and enlightenment will be highly appreciated.

JH.

[JSixpack]

Is there any way I can do this in MS Excel? Your help and enlightenment will be highly appreciated.

JH.

Do what, exactly?

[PhilHarries]

I also am not sure what exactly you are trying to do but here goes.

I assume you want to arrange two, or more, tables with different numbers of columns and different column widths on the same spreadsheet vertically above each other.

Only way I can think of doing this is to globally reduce all column widths to a minimum (say width of 2) and then creat your tables merging cells on each row to the desired column arrangement and width. A right pain in the proverbial particularly if you change your mind halfway through but maybe someone will come up with a clever method.

[Veazer]

Would it be sufficient to have the tables in the same file but on different sheets? Then it's still easy to grab data from the other tables without worrying about formatting conficts.

[jayhech]

Would it be sufficient to have the tables in the same file but on different sheets? Then it's still easy to grab data from the other tables without worrying about formatting conficts.

Normally this will work but for the work I'm doing it's essential to have at least 4 different tables in the same worksheet. Thanks for your advice.

[jayhech]

Is there any way I can do this in MS Excel? Your help and enlightenment will be highly appreciated.

JH.

Do what, exactly?

Read the above, thanks.

[jayhech]

I also am not sure what exactly you are trying to do but here goes.

I assume you want to arrange two, or more, tables with different numbers of columns and different column widths on the same spreadsheet vertically above each other.

Only way I can think of doing this is to globally reduce all column widths to a minimum (say width of 2) and then creat your tables merging cells on each row to the desired column arrangement and width. A right pain in the proverbial particularly if you change your mind halfway through but maybe someone will come up with a clever method.

You assumed correctly.

Your advice is practical I was thinking about it too. However, even when I merged the cell, the border of each cell still need to match the above table.

Thanks for your answer.

I'm wondering if MS Excel can do what iWork's Numbers can do. Thanks for all the answer though I appreciate it.

[Veazer]

Would it be sufficient to have the tables in the same file but on different sheets? Then it's still easy to grab data from the other tables without worrying about formatting conficts.

Normally this will work but for the work I'm doing it's essential to have at least 4 different tables in the same worksheet. Thanks for your advice.

Just a few more idea:

How about a horizontal layout where none of the tables are sharing columns?

Embedding 4 sheets from the same file into a single word doc? That would be more visually appealing...

I assume that some amount of decent style is needed, otherwise you could just put every table to the right and below the previous. That would look mighty ugly for printing, etc. of course.

[scifi]

I'm wondering if MS Excel can do what iWork's Numbers can do.

Unfortunately the answer to that question is probably no. The clue is in the description of the Flickr image you posted:

Traditionally, spreadsheet programs have presented users with a full-screen grid of rows and columns. Numbers, however, is more like a page layout program—you start with a blank canvas, into which you can drag as many tables as you need onto the work area. Each table is a miniature spreadsheet of its own, complete with its own grid of rows and columns, cell formatting options, and row and column heights and widths ...

... This free-form layout feature overcomes one of the big problems with traditional spreadsheet programs: it's difficult to make all of the rows and columns look attractive when printed (wide cells in one column will throw off rows above and below, for example). Since each table in Numbers is an independent object, setting differing heights and widths for rows and columns has no impact on other tables, and you can easily align tables wherever you want them on the page.

Excel can do a lot of things, but it can't do that. You might be able to simulate the same appearance with some really detailed/planned merging, but as said already in this thread, there would be a lot of pain on that path. I think you might need to start from scratch and take a whole new approach, based on what Excel can do (if that is the tool you have to use).

[jayhech]

Thanks Veazer and Scifi...you gave me this great idea I should have tried before posting here heheheh Well, right after reading you's, I tried inserting different tables with different numbers of column and width on a same whole page in MS Word and it works! Great idea. Thanks very much

I have to wonder though, I'm pretty sure they have great human resources with great minds in MS but how come they haven't produced something like Numbers for iWorks so far. Maybe I should right MS Office people

[Simmo]

Arghh .. my pet peeve.

Excel is not intended to be a layout tool for office documents.

Either use MS Word and mail merge your raw data from excel or build a relational database and use and Access Report or something like Crystal Reports to SQL server .

[torrenova]

You can do it by having data run over two or more columns for visual clarity and simply centring it or whatever across the specific columns. Other cells would not be affected.

If you still need to manipulate the data and if it changes in size and length then I'd just do it in Access or write some VBA to automate the process. However, I am reasonably confident that what the OP wants is merely a matter of utilising the graphics in Excel rather than anything more complicated. It just needs some planning.

[scifi]

Jayhech, I think you have found the right solution (Veazer's suggestion) - happy that it works for you.

As for your question

how come they haven't produced something like Numbers for iWorks so far.

I think the point is that there is no intention to make Excel do that kind of thing. Excel is a great number cruncher, but it is not intended to be a layout application. That doesn't mean to say that people like you don't need to put Excel tables in a formatted layout for presentation - sure you do, but the answer is: use Word (or some other app that can import and link to Excel). That is the easy method. The pro method, as Simmo says, is to build a database with the kind of reporting you need.

Or switch to a Mac and get iWorks. Hehe.