I wish to insert (paste special/Object/Link) 3 columns of an Excel worksheet (the 3rd column having values and an addition formula at the bottom) into an existing Word table.




I've tried this many times before and have given up trying to figure out how to get the imported data to 'fit' properly within the target cell.


Two questions:


1. Would someone provide an information link that explains how to do the above wherein Word/Excel will automatically adjust in size and format?


2. Does the source Excel file and the target Word file need to be in the same directory for the Word table to automatically adjust to changes in the Excel cells?


Thanks,


Mark

1. Insert cell-by-cell links in Word to the individual Excel cells.
2. No.

__________________
Cheers,
Paul Edstein
[Fmr MS MVP - Word]

Did so, works & thanks.


The destination Word table is two columns wide. Without changing that format for the entire table, I need more cells in column A for the pasted Excel data. I split column A row whatever in half. I pasted text from Excel to Aa and numbers/formula to Ab. Very nice. The pasted object retains Excel's format. So in Word table Ab for example, the result is the pasted number sitting within a fine cell outline and the 'remainder' of the Word table's Ab width as excess, blank space. Is what I describe what you would expect and live with or is there a further step I'm missing that, once I've pasted the Excel cells to Aa and Ab, the pasted objects can be told to automatically fit the target table widths?


Mark

I'm not quite sure what you're getting at. If the pasted content isn't formatted quite how you'd like it, you might try one of the other 'Paste Special (paste link)' options. Paragraph alignments, though, would be controlled within Word.

__________________
Cheers,
Paul Edstein
[Fmr MS MVP - Word]

Don't bother, I sort of knew the post was unintelligible to others when posted.


No problem, I've got an easier one.


I have doc 1, which is comprised of a table having 2 columns and lots of row as generated by Word. Some rows are then merged to 1 cell, most are as initially generated by Insert/Table/select how many rows wide and how many down and a few that I've split the first column into 2 'sub' columns within the cell.


Then I created a new doc to experiment. I created the table just as I had done above. Then I created the split cell, 2 wide and tested the concept of copy from Excel, paste special as object and link.


After I understood how the procedure worked, I copied/pasted the experiment table into doc 1.



Problem: the vertical line that separates column 1 and column 2 is misaligned. The vertical separator is off by ~3/32" between that of doc 1 and the pasted experimental.


That shouldn't be. If both tables were created identically, automatically by Word then the centerline of the two columns should match perfectly.


In that they do not, is there a way to tell the complete doc 1 table (with pasted experiment table) to 'make the two columns' equal in width?


Mark

Without seeing both tables, it can be difficult for anyone to diagnose the issue. Can you attach a document to a post with those tables (delete anything sensitive)? You do this via the paperclip symbol on the 'Go Advanced' tab at the bottom of this screen.

__________________
Cheers,
Paul Edstein
[Fmr MS MVP - Word]

I'm okay ending up with unequal columns (the two main Word table columns) after the paste provided there's a way of equalizing all the resulting column widths afterward.


And curiously, as asked before, if both the original table of 2 columns and the experimental table of 2 columns were both created by Word, automatically, in the exact same way--I would think that the left and right column in both instances would be precisely the same width--which they are not.



Secondarily, I think now you can see what I previously meant about 'excess' space after the paste of the Excel object. Look to the right of '30,000'.


Btw, I looked up Macropod--learn something every day ;-)


Mark

Attached Files

Example upload to Macropod.docx (32.6 KB, 7 views)

The alignment problem is due to your use of a table that doesn't have the column widths defined with a 'preferred width' (even the table lacks a 'preferred width') and the fact you've inserted the links as pictures. If you press Alt-F9 to expose the field codes and change the \p switches to, say, \t and delete the \* MERGEFORMAT switches wherever they appear, you'll get outputs whose formatting you can manage in Word.

__________________
Cheers,
Paul Edstein
[Fmr MS MVP - Word]

<<<<<table that doesn't have the column widths defined with a 'preferred width' (even the table lacks a 'preferred width')<<<<<


Okay, I incorrectly presumed, hardly ever using tables, if I Insert/Table/click boxes wide & down, that what you point to as 'even lacks...' would have been provided as basic formatting by MS using their 'automatic' table or at least be prompted in the process given the apparent importance of the format.



I didn't set out to insert a 'picture'. I followed online Word/Excel instructions and your assistance with the operation. As far as I knew and as stated by Word in the paste process, I was pasting, special, object, link to allow for an automatically updating table cell to a corresponding Excel cell. Intuitively, I wouldn't expect a picture to equate to a pasted Excel, updating formula.



I'm not interested in deleting resulting formatting codes or dealing with switches that should or shouldn't be present owing to an incorrect table creation. I'd just as soon get the table correct from the outset.



Is there a way, other than trial and error, guessing how many inches wide (which is one of the reasons I've abandoned tables previously) to initially set a new table comprised of 2 columns with equal widths and those widths added together come close to the L/R document margins thereby providing the most space within the two equal columns?


Further, since you're implying that inserting the Excel cell as an object is in fact a picture and that is not the best method to copy/paste an Excel updating, numeric/formula cell, then what is the correct/better Word, paste special procedure?


Mark

The auto-updating is achieved via the 'paste link' option. Also I also said, though:
That's all very well but, unless you want to re-do all the copying & pasting, that's the easiest way of remedying the issue. For the future, do one copy and experiment with the different 'Paste Special (paste link)' options to see which one best meets your formatting requirements.
By default, Word will insert a table that fills the space between the margins and will evenly-space the columns. However, unless you edit the table properties to set the preferred widths for the table and its columns, plus uncheck the 'automatically resize to fit contents' option, none of those dimensions is fixed. The same applies to row heights.
See previous comments.

__________________
Cheers,
Paul Edstein
[Fmr MS MVP - Word]