cannot see an open spreadsheet

[raseron]

excel 2k3 in an xp sp2 environment

some odd behavior with various excel files.

one of my users will open an excel file but the spreadsheet is not initially
visible (it's not hidden, just not visible). as if it were merely off the
'workspace' that is the excel window. after performing a WINDOW - ARRANGE -
TILE, the spreadsheet becomes visible. the user estimates that this happens
with 50% of excel files he opens.

i open the same file(s) on my pc and they are visible as soon as they are
opened.

this smells like he's set some preference in his excel, but i don't know
what it is.

thanks in advance,
ross

 

[Dave Peterson]

To me, it sounds more like two people sharing the same file.

We used to see the same kind of behavior when someone on a laptop saved the file
while it was a window (not full screen within excel).

A person using a desktop may not see that window. And it depended on the
display settings that each user had specified. 640x480 or 1024x768 or ... would
all put that window in a different location. And sometimes, that location
wasn't visible.

 

[raseron]

thanks for the thought, dave.

the same file opened on another similar workstation doesn't bring the same
results, though. i can open that file on my pc and it comes up just fine.
then go over to the user, open it there and it is 'out of sight'.

ross

 

[Dave Peterson]

And both windows display settings are the same?

thanks for the thought, dave.

the same file opened on another similar workstation doesn't bring the same
results, though. i can open that file on my pc and it comes up just fine.
then go over to the user, open it there and it is 'out of sight'.

ross

 

[raseron]

yep. we've got a pretty vanilla setup here.

And both windows display settings are the same?

 

[Dave Peterson]

I don't have another guess.

Sorry.

yep. we've got a pretty vanilla setup here.

 

[raseron]

i want to refine this post. perhaps this is a better description of the issue:

i have a user who has certain excel files that open in the 'restore window'
size (as opposed to minimum and maximum), but don't appear in the viewable
workspace. when he selects Windows-Arrange-Tile, then the spreadsheet will
appear. at which point, he can maximize/minimize the worksheet with the
correct results. if he instead chooses the 'restore window' size, the
spreadsheet disappears again to an unviewable portion of the workspace. he
can save the file in either minimized/maximized form and all is viewable when
he next opens it.

is there an option in excel to always have excel files open in the viewable
workspace?

thanks again.

ross

 

[jaf]

Hi Ross,
Open regedtit and go to
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\11.0\Excel\Options (or your
version)
Look for the POS key (Position)
It should contain four numbers like this "33,540,1497,450"
That is the x,y position of the top left corner of the window followed by
the window width & height.
The top left corner of the screen is 0,0 and 1024,768 would be the bottom
right for a screen res of 1024 x 768.

Its been awhile but I believe the data is in pixels. Not all programs store
this data. Office programs do.
Its not file specific as far as I know but Excel seems to store all kinds of
stuff.
A negative number in the first set will place the top left outside the
"desktop"
You can figure where the bottom right corner is.
If they are both outside the desktop you wont be able to see the window.

If the values are off screen, change them. and reboot.

As Dave said it, can be cause by different people opening the workbook with
different screen res'.
It use to happen to my office "photo ed" all the time. Only way to fix it
was to edit the registry.

If the problem comes back you could use a before close event to resize and
reposition the window before Excel closes.

Good luck

John