Why doesn't excel let me have two files of the same name open?

[Brad]

This "feature" enrages me more than any other. Is there
any way to turn it off?

 

[Leo Heuser]

Unfortunately no!

 

[Frank Kabel]

Hi Brad
unfortunately: No

 

[Lady Layla]

I don't think any program lets you have 2 identically named files open at the
same time. How would it know which one you were truly working in?


: This "feature" enrages me more than any other. Is there
: any way to turn it off?

 

[AlfD]

Even more to the point: how would _you_ know which one you were workin
on?

Al

 

[Dave Peterson]

There are programs that use the whole filename (path included) to avoid that
problem.

 

[Dave Peterson]

If you're not doing much between the two workbooks, maybe you could just open
another instance of excel.

(But I would find this more confusing than just renaming one of the files.)

 

[David]

Dave Peterson wrote

If you're not doing much between the two workbooks, maybe you could
just open another instance of excel.

If I do this in XL2000, I get 'File in Use' notifications on Personal.xls
and file I'm trying to open a second copy of, making them both Read Only.

 

[Dave Peterson]

You didn't want to open two different files with the same name (in different
folders)?????

You wanted to open the same file twice?

If that's true, I missed the question completely.

But you could just open the file once. Then use Window|new window to get
another view of the same workbook. (Nice for examining different areas.)

Ahhhh. You're not the original poster. So ignore my ranting. (Yeah, I could
have deleted it, but it's more fun to rant!)

The new window may be what you want.

Excel will try to help you by showing a colon # in the title bar:

book1.xls:1 for the first window

When you decide you don't want this anymore, you can activate the window you
want to close and hit ctrl-W. (then save??)

Unless the workbook is shared, only one person can own the file for updates.
(And sharing workbooks brings a lot of baggage--I wouldn't use it in this
situation.)

(It wouldn't bother me if my personal.xls were readonly in a second instance of
excel. I don't edit it that often anyway--just be careful to update the one
that's "live" if you must.)

 

[David]

Dave Peterson wrote

You didn't want to open two different files with the same name (in
different folders)?????

You wanted to open the same file twice?

If that's true, I missed the question completely.

But you could just open the file once. Then use Window|new window to
get another view of the same workbook. (Nice for examining different
areas.)

Ahhhh. You're not the original poster. So ignore my ranting.
(Yeah, I could have deleted it, but it's more fun to rant!)

The new window may be what you want.

Excel will try to help you by showing a colon # in the title bar:

book1.xls:1 for the first window

When you decide you don't want this anymore, you can activate the
window you want to close and hit ctrl-W. (then save??)

Unless the workbook is shared, only one person can own the file for
updates. (And sharing workbooks brings a lot of baggage--I wouldn't
use it in this situation.)

(It wouldn't bother me if my personal.xls were readonly in a second
instance of excel. I don't edit it that often anyway--just be careful
to update the one that's "live" if you must.)

New window it is if I have a need for it. I was just curious as to how I
could impliment your suggestion if I had a future need, so I jumped in.

 

[Dave Peterson]

No problem.

Sorry if I scared you off. About half the stuff I post is for my own
enjoyment--so I was having a little fun. (It's disappointing that that
qualified as fun for me, but that's another story! <vbg>)