Sue,
It shouldn't matter if you are linking to X:\ Y:\ or Z:\ compared to
\\server\folder\source. They should work either way.
The only reason it is good to use \\server\folder\source over a mapped
network drive is if the workbook you are creating is going to be used by
other users. They may not have the same network shares mapped to the same
drive letters on their computers. If you use \\server\folder\source, then
other users will be able to open the files and update the values (depending
on their permissions on the network shares). If you are the only one using
this file, then you could probably get away with X:\ Y:\ & Z:\.
The other thing I noticed is that you have many worksheets on 3 different
servers. You are creating one worksheet/workbook (linking to all these
others) to bring all this info into one place. Then you are creating 2 more
(a morning and an afternoon book) to link to this "middle man". My only
concern with that is that when you open the morning or afternoon book, it
will go find the middle man and pull data from that, BUT I DON'T KNOW if the
middle man will automatically update its values from all of the other
worksheets before sending values onto your morning/afternoon book. I don't
know enough about XL to know what the process is here.
Some other questions: Are all of the first level files password protected?
Do you have permissions on all of them? When you open your "middle man"
file, will it update values from all of the first level files?
Once again, I don't have experience in all of these different scenarios, so
I don't know for sure what exactly the problem could be.
Maybe one suggestion is, if your "middle man" is working, but the
morning/afternoon files are not working.....cut out the middle man! Maybe
do a morning and an afternoon sheet in the middle man and eliminate the 2
separate files linking to the middle man.
If anyone else more knowledgeable than me knows what might be going on here,
please feel free to chime in.
HTH,
Conan
Sue said:
Conan,
Thanks... to clarify, I networked the drive to my desktop... in three
separate drives (X, Y and Z) There were several spreadsheets in each
drive
that came from 3 different servers. I built one spreadsheet to gather
information from each of the spreadsheets that all updated twice daily. I
set up a separate spreadsheet for the morning and another for the
afternoon.
At first I linked the cells to the drive number (x, y or z) corresponding
that held the source sheet that I needed for each cell. That did not
work -
it would give me an error that the source could not be found. Then I did
some research and found that I needed to link to a fully qualifed name,
e,g,
\\server\folder\source) rather than by a drive letter. It still is not
working, I get an error that it can't find the source.
When I go into the error box to find the solution, it will allow me to
find
the source, but when I go into the correct link, it comes back as error
again. I am beginning to think that it may be a glitch with the 2003
version.
Is my explanation clear? It is a bit hard to explain. Thanks for your
help.
Sue
Conan Kelly said:
Sue,
What do you mean that it won't "auto update"? Are you getting error
messages? Are you getting values, just not the ones you expect?
Are you the only one that will be using these files?
What do you mean by:
I used the fully qualified addresses to link each cell, (not
X,Y or Z)...
Do you mean in your cell, the formula looks something like this:
='\\Server\Share\SubFolder\[File Name.xls]Sheet Name'!D6
If that is the formula that you are entering, then I don't see any reason
why you would need to "network" each spreadsheet to your desktop.
If you "linked" to the other file (while it was already open) by typing
an
equal sign and then switching over to it and navigating your way to the
sell
you want, that may cause problems depending on where (network location)
the
file was opened from, who all will need to open this file, and what
computer
you (or others) will open this file on.
Please pose more info so we can be of more help,
Conan
Sue said:
I am linking 2 spreadsheets using information from 9 spreadsheets from 3
different locations. I have networked the 9 spreadsheets and networked
them
to my desk top. I used the fully qualified addresses to link each cell,
(not
X,Y or Z), however it still will not auto update my spreadsheet. I am
using
Excel 2003. Any ideas?
