In powerpoint, how do I make a link keep its relative position?

[Guest]

In powerpoint I have a textbox in which I want to write text and link to an
excel cell, e.g. "The surplus is USD". In between "is" and "USD "I want to
link to a cell in an excel spreadsheet. I want the link to keep its position
relative to the text, i.e. if I want to change the text, add text or delete
text, the link should keep its position - "move along" with the insertions or
deletions that are being made. Any suggestions?

 

[Steve Rindsberg]

In powerpoint I have a textbox in which I want to write text and link to an
excel cell, e.g. "The surplus is USD". In between "is" and "USD "I want to
link to a cell in an excel spreadsheet. I want the link to keep its position
relative to the text, i.e. if I want to change the text, add text or delete
text, the link should keep its position - "move along" with the insertions or
deletions that are being made. Any suggestions?

Our commercial add-in, PPTMerge at http://merge.pptools.com, would let you
accomplish more or less the same thing, though via a slightly different route
(merging Excel + PPT data to produce a static presentation rather than a
presentation with live links). If that'd work have a look at the free demo.

I can't think of a workable way to do this otherwise, other than linking from an
Excel cell that contains the whole string, eg: "The surplus is XX USD"

No. Wait, here you go:

Set the sheet up like so:

A1 B1 contains this formula
42 = "The surplus is " & A1 & " USD"

Link from B1 rather than A1. Change the value in A1 and the the text in B1
updates to what you need.

Bingo.