NAMED Custom Number Format

  • Thread starter Thread starter mcalex
  • Start date Start date
M

mcalex

Is there any way of giving a custom number format a name, so that it
appears in the list of types when you bring up the custom number
format dialog? We use the same format all the time (comma separated,
no decimals), & I'd like to create this, call it Separated Ints (or
something) and then select it from the list of names, rather than
selecting custom and then scrolling through the custom list and trying
to make sense of all the semicolons, quotes and other guff.

tia
mcalex
 
Sounds like you are describing a "Style." Go to Format | Style... and
type a new name in the "Style name:" box. Then, click "modify.." to set it
the way you want. You can also customize your toolbar to include the Style
drop-down box.
HTH.
 
thx Dana. My ideal here would be to have a button on the toolbar that
automatically applies my modified style. I notice you can add Comma
style, and Currency style buttons to the toolbar, but that these use
the defualts. My follow up questions:

Can I create a button that refers to my particular style a-la the two
mentioned above, and then add this to the customized toolbar, or do I
have to modify the default Comma style in order to get a button that
does what I want?

If the latter, changing an existing style seems to only remain in
effect whilst that worksheet is open. Where (or how) do I save the
modified style so its available to all new (and existing) worksheets
(ie, what is Excel's 'normal.dot')? I vaguely remember a personal.xls
worksheet that may be my solution in this issue, but I'm a bit rusty
on Excel

thanks again, and cheers

mcalex
 
You could make a macro that applies the style (record the macro when you do it
manually). And then create an icon on your favorite toolbar that executes this
macro.

But there are two icons you could put on your favorite toolbar. The first is
"style..." (note the ellipses) and the second is "Style: (with a dropdown)"

If you add the second icon to your favorite toolbar, you'll be able to just
choose the style from that dropdown. I like this method over the macro/icon
because it doesn't destroy the undo stack. (After you run most macros, you
can't do an undo.)

And Styles exist in workbooks. You can merge styles across workbooks. There's
an option under Format|Style...|merge.

Probably the easiest way to create a style that's used for new workbooks is to
create a template workbook named Book.xlt. Store it in your XLStart folder.

In fact, you can do lots of stuff to this book.xlt file. Set up your print
settings (landscape/portrait), headers/footers/number of worksheets in the new
workbook and the like.

When you click on that new icon on the standard toolbar, you're new workbook
will inherit all these properties.

If you create a similar workbook (stored in the same XLStart folder)--but name
this one sheet.xlt, then any new worksheet you add will inherit all these
settings.

In my simple test (xl2002), when I put a style in sheet.xlt and inserted a new
worksheet in an existing workbook, it got that new style, too.

===
I've got these two template files in my XLStart folder. I created book.xlt--but
with only one sheet. I used windows explorer to copy it to sheet.xlt. It saved
a little work and I knew that they're exactly the same.
 
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