MS Office 2007 PowerPoint won't group tables + lines + equations

[Jonathan Williams]

I'm using MS Office 2007 Powerpoint 2007, and, for some reason, I just
can't GROUP a set containing (a) text + (b) a table + (c) lines.

I'm creating a quiz for algebra 2, and it's driving me crazy that
the GROUPING is not working with Powerpoint.

Here is the file "20141021_quadratic_fcts_in_vertex_form_quiz3.pptx".
http://www.filedropper.com/20141021quadraticfctsinvertexformquiz3

NOTE: This is a Microsoft Office 2007 Powerpoint PPTX file.
If you prefer a non-powerpoint file, here is the PDF of that PPTX file:
"20141021_quadratic_fcts_in_vertex_form_quiz3.pdf"
http://www.filedropper.com/20141021quadraticfctsinvertexformquiz3_1

In the quiz, you'll notice 4 similar sets of graphs.
For any one of the 4 sets, all I want to do is group the items.
But, PowerPoint will select them, but the group button is grayed out!
Why can't I group them?
I can select all these objects, but they won't group.

Why not?

NG:
alt.windows7.general,microsoft.public.powerpoint,microsoft.public.office
Title: MS Office 2007 PowerPoint won't group tables + lines + equations

 

[Paul]

I'm using MS Office 2007 Powerpoint 2007, and, for some reason, I just
can't GROUP a set containing (a) text + (b) a table + (c) lines.

I'm creating a quiz for algebra 2, and it's driving me crazy that
the GROUPING is not working with Powerpoint.

Here is the file "20141021_quadratic_fcts_in_vertex_form_quiz3.pptx".
http://www.filedropper.com/20141021quadraticfctsinvertexformquiz3

NOTE: This is a Microsoft Office 2007 Powerpoint PPTX file.
If you prefer a non-powerpoint file, here is the PDF of that PPTX file:
"20141021_quadratic_fcts_in_vertex_form_quiz3.pdf"
http://www.filedropper.com/20141021quadraticfctsinvertexformquiz3_1

In the quiz, you'll notice 4 similar sets of graphs.
For any one of the 4 sets, all I want to do is group the items.
But, PowerPoint will select them, but the group button is grayed out!
Why can't I group them?
I can select all these objects, but they won't group.

Why not?

NG:
alt.windows7.general,microsoft.public.powerpoint,microsoft.public.office
Title: MS Office 2007 PowerPoint won't group tables + lines + equations

I opened it in LibreOffice (Spreadsheet tool) and the gridded area
goes off the bottom of the page. Is that important ? Well, some
tools freak out if content goes off an edge.

You could try copying the file, then changing the page size so all the content
fits. Or, start a new document, with a larger page size, select all
the content from the suspect document, and copy it over to the new
document. See if the behavior is different or not.

*******

This support page, near the bottom, doesn't admit to many limitations.

https://support.office.com/en-us/ar...-objects-a7374c35-20fe-4e0a-9637-7de7d844724b

*******

(posted from the Windows 7 group)

Paul

 

[Jonathan Williams]

Paul wrote, on Wed, 22 Oct 2014 00:56:34 -0400:

I opened it in LibreOffice (Spreadsheet tool) and the gridded area goes
off the bottom of the page. Is that important ? Well, some tools freak
out if content goes off an edge.

Thanks for trying. I opened it in LibreOffice and it was screwed up also.
But, the PDF should show what it is SUPPOSED to look like.

You could try copying the file, then changing the page size so all the
content fits. Or, start a new document, with a larger page size, select
all the content from the suspect document, and copy it over to the new
document. See if the behavior is different or not.

Actually, it's only screwed up in LibreOffice.
It shows up fine in Microsoft Powerpoint 2007.

The problem is that I can select *some* stuff (like the graph x and y
axis, for example), but I can't select those axises and the table itself
at the same time.

So, I wanted to know if anyone else could, or if I was doing something
wrong.

 

[Jonathan Williams]

Jonathan Williams wrote, on Wed, 22 Oct 2014 05:31:11 +0000:

The problem is that I can select *some* stuff (like the graph x and y
axis, for example), but I can't select those axises and the table itself
at the same time.

Actually, I should clarify that I can SELECT all of them, but, I can't
get the group button to show up.

If I select, for example, just the x and y axis, then I can group them.
But, if I then try to select the table, in addition to the (now grouped)
x and y axis, the "group" button is grayed out.

It's sooo frustrating.

All I want to do is group the objects together and Powerpoint 2007 won't
let me.

Does anyone else have this problem with PowerPoint 2007 on the file I
provided?

 

[Mike Fried [ex-msft]]

I'm using MS Office 2007 Powerpoint 2007, and, for some reason, I just
can't GROUP a set containing (a) text + (b) a table + (c) lines.

I'm creating a quiz for algebra 2, and it's driving me crazy that
the GROUPING is not working with Powerpoint.

It has been about 8 years since I worked on that... but... If my memory is correct that's by design: Some sets of Tables, Smart Art Objects, Embedded OLE Objects (Excel Spreadsheet, Media Players, Visio, etc), and maybe also Placeholder shapes are special from ordinary shapes and can't be grouped inPowerPoint 2007 (you can test my memory on that by trying it out). What you want to do in this case is to make a grid with line shapes and group thatand then group that group shape with the remaining shapes. Perhaps make a rectangle for the outer grid (do that first or move it to the back before grouping) so you can put something as a background behind all the grid lines.. You can use the Selection Pane to keep track of the tree of shapes and groups of shapes by giving them useful names.

Another alternative is to copy your table and paste special as an image shape, but you fix the resolution of that image in a way that might not renderor print optimally and lose certain elements of control with regards to style options (line thickness, shadow, color, etc) by doing that.

FWIW It's also not possible to group sub-shapes of different group shapes together without first ungrouping their parent shapes and regrouping the others, which destroys the group shapes, animations applied, backgrounds on the group, etc.

Hope this helps.

 

[Jonathan Williams]

Mike Fried [ex-msft] wrote, on Wed, 29 Oct 2014 00:00:16 -0700:

maybe also
Placeholder shapes are special from ordinary shapes and can't be grouped
in PowerPoint 2007

Well, I could *not* group them, so, unless there is a special
trick, I have to believe you.