w97: merging columns but not rows
Joe Stern
I support a user who claims that in previous versions of Word, she was able
to select columns and combine them into one mono-column without losing the
distinction between rows.
(If it helps you to picture what she wants, imagine the game show Hollywood
Squares. Now imagine my user insisting that the the celebrities sitting on
the left side of the grid slide over and sit with their neighbors in the
middle column.)
In Word 97, highlighting a pair of columns and selecting "merge cells"
combines all the cells in both columns into one huge cell.
My options seem to be as follows:
1) using the eraser from the table toolbar, which is not really a good
option because the tables span many pages.
2) selecting one row at a time, merging the cells, and repeating for each
row in the table. The user started screaming at the mere mention of this
idea.
3) ...and don't even think about getting her to talk about macros.
4) Using Excel or Access as her mail merge database (an idea I strongly
endorse.)
Can anyone confirm that what she wants to do cannot be done in W97? Or
better still, tell us how to do it?
Thanks so much for your help and attention
Joe Stern
National Analysts
Philadelphia, PA
joes@nationalanalysts - dot - kom (kiss my spam)
Andrea Wagner
I have a weird way of handling this, but it works. Select the columns you
want to merge, then choose Split cells instead of Merge cells. Change the
number of columns to 1.
Hope this helps.
--
Andrea Wagner
Payne Consulting Group, Inc.
http://www.payneconsulting.com
Joe Stern <joes@na-dot-com> wrote in article
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Andrea Wagner
I see what you mean now. I was doing it without text in the columns so I
didn't notice this. yuck. I'm sure one of the experts here gives us the
answer, I'd like to do this too.
--
Andrea Wagner
Joe Stern <joes@na-dot-com> wrote in article
<01bc8bc5$aea999e0$a92d...@na-joes.nat-analysts.com>...
> Oh, Andrea, you got my hopes up, but your suggestion does not work for
me.
> In Word 97, "splitting" cells into one column still leaves me with a
> super-cell containing the content of all rows.
>
> However, you're leading me closer to confirmation that this practice
_was_
> possible in a previous version of Word, yet missing from 97.
>
Bob Buckland
Hi Joe,
See if this will work for you.
1. Highlight table.
2. Select convert Table to Text, separate with Tabs.
3. Still highlighted select Convert Text to Table,
split at paragraph marks, number of columns = 1.
On 1997-07-08 joes@na-dot-com said:
<< I support a user who claims that in previous versions of Word, she
was able to select columns and combine them into one mono-column
without losing the distinction between rows.
(If it helps you to picture what she wants, imagine the game show
Hollywood Squares. Now imagine my user insisting that the the
celebrities sitting on the left side of the grid slide over and sit
with their neighbors in the middle column.)
In Word 97, highlighting a pair of columns and selecting "merge
cells" combines all the cells in both columns into one huge cell.
My options seem to be as follows:
1) using the eraser from the table toolbar, which is not really a
good option because the tables span many pages.
2) selecting one row at a time, merging the cells, and repeating
for each row in the table. The user started screaming at the mere
mention of this idea.
3) ...and don't even think about getting her to talk about macros.
4) Using Excel or Access as her mail merge database (an idea I
strongly endorse.)
Can anyone confirm that what she wants to do cannot be done in W97?
Or better still, tell us how to do it?
Thanks so much for your help and attention
Joe Stern
National Analysts>>
Bob Buckland ?:-)
Businessware, since 1979, Simi Valley, California
Net-Tamer V 1.08X - Test Drive
Charlie Munro
She's right, but nothing's been broken. Since the older versions of Word
couldn't merge rows if you wanted to, merging cells worked only across
columns, leaving rows intact. In Word 97, you can merge rows, or columns,
or as your user has discovered (much to her dismay) both.
Point out to her that it's a trade off. She has to be more careful about
what she's merging, but now she can do different merges and even align text
vertically in a cell. If that's not enough, give her back Word 95. ;-)
Charlie
Joe Stern <joes@na-dot-com> wrote in article
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