"Group"ing adjacent columns independently

[Ralph.B.Roncoli]

I was hoping that someone might know how to do the following - or
whether it is possible at all ...

I am using Excel's "Group and Outline" capability and I would like to
independently group adjacent columns (or rows). For example, I'd like
to be able to create a group of columns A and B and a separate group
of columns C and D - with each group being independently selectable
via the "+" and "-" buttons. As far as I can tell, if you try to
group adjacent columns, the two groups get merged into a single
group. Also, if I play games by trying to insert an additional column
to act as a separator between the grouped columns and then "hiding"
the separator column (so the columns appear to be adjacent) I don't
have ready access to the "+" or "-" buttons and I don't have complete
independent control of the grouped columns. (I would like to do this
repeatedly in a spreadsheet).

If possible, I'd like to end up with something like the following ...

.....................|-|
.....................|-|

| A | B | C | D | E |


Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thank-you,

Ralph


P.S. This is my first posting, so if I'm not following the proper
protocols, please let me know.

 

[Shane Devenshire]

Hi,

If the ranges (rows) overlap then the new group will be a super/sub group of
the existing group. That is how the Group and Outline feature work.

You could create a pivot table from the data in columns A & B and another
one from the data in columns C and D. Pivot tables allow grouping that is
more powerful grouping then Group & Outline, and they can do so much more.