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Working with Name Manager
Note that you can also have buttons with descriptive text instead of icons for the commands:
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(Last option in the options list).
If your active workbook does not contain any names, you will get a warning message.
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Name Manager is Modeless
The Name Manager’s dialog screen is in Modeless state for Windows Excel 2003 and Mac Excel 2016 and up.
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You can use name manager with many workbooks open at the same time. When you select a different workbook and then click on the Name Manager Window, it will update with the names in the current workbook.
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Modeless means you can have the dialog open and work in Excel at the same time. Not all changes made in excel will be automatically reflected in the names list though. For example: names deleted or added from the normal Excel interface (“Insert”, “Name” menu choices) or from VBA whilst the name manager is showing will not be immediately reflected in the dialog. Clicking inside the names list will update the list when Name manager detects that it has changed. Clicking the Refresh button will rebuild the list.
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If you want to change names using Excel’s normal methods or through VBA we recommend:
Either close the name manager before making the changes.
Or click the Refresh button after making the changes.
Name Manager is Resizable
The Name Manager form is dynamically resizable: just drag the resize button in the bottom right-hand corner to make the form the size you want.
Name Manager Splitter Bars
There are two splitter bars on the Name Manager form, which allow you to control the way the space is divided horizontally between the Names and their Refers-to formulas, and vertically between the Names ListBox and the Refers-To Edit box.
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Just drag the splitter bars to the position you want.
The Names Listbox
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The names Listbox shows the names that are currently selected by the filters.
Sorting the Names Listbox
You can sort the names ascending or descending by the names or their refers-to formulas by clicking the arrow buttons next to the Name or Refers to headings.
Dividing the Space between Name and Refersto
You can control the way the space in the Names Listbox is divided between the Names and their Refersto by dragging sideways the small splitter bar located just to the left of the Refersto Label.
Selecting one or more Names
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Select multiple names using control+click
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You can click on any name to perform actions on that name. You can select more than one name and perform actions on all selected names in one go.
Note that certain controls will be enabled or disabled, depending on whether or not one name is selected.
You can select multiple specific names by control+click on the names; you can select a sequence of names by clicking the first and shift+click on the last or by dragging the mouse over the names you want to select.
Control-A will select all the names currently shown.
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Refers-to edit box
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Below the Name Listbox is the Refers To Edit box. Use that to edit a name’s refers to property. When more than one name is selected, the Refers To Edit box is not available.
If a name contains a relative reference, the result of changing the refers-to property is influenced by which cell is the active cell during the update.
Therefore, the Name Manager will prompt you for the active cell when you enter the edit box whilst a name with a relative reference is highlighted, and will warn you if you change a name from absolute to relative.
Important: Due to an internal limitation of Excel, it is not possible to have a name with a refersto string longer than approximately 240 characters. When you edit a name’s refersto in this box, it will be truncated at 240 characters automatically.
As from FastExcel 2.1 there is an exception: as long as the name refers to areas of cells directly (does not contain a formula), names can be edited up to 224 areas of cells.
Refers-to Splitter Bar
The raised bar that tells you how many names are showing is also a splitter bar that you can drag up and down to divide the space on the Name Manager form between the Names List box and the Refers to Edit box
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