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We wrote this FAQ to answer the many questions we receive on this topic from our clients and other inquiring minds in the many electronic communities we frequent.

This FAQ is taken from Excel 97 Annoyances (by Woody Leonhard, Lee Hudspeth, and T.J. Lee; ISBN 1-56592-309-X; O'Reilly and Associates). For additional information on this title, visit our site's page http://www.primeconsulting.com/annoyances/.

Click here to order Excel 97 Annoyances from Amazon.

(Annoyances, Excel 97) Custom Views

A custom view is like a style in that it allows you to store a number of view attributes in a collection. By selecting the custom view, you apply all of those attributes simultaneously. So what kinds of attributes can you store in a custom view? For starters you can store all of the settings in the Tools / Options / View dialog box tab.

As you can see in Figure 6-65 you can store Show, Comments, Objects, and Window option attributes in a custom view. In addition, the current sheet within a workbook, the current selection within a sheet, and split screen and freeze pane settings, can all be stored. This is very handy for creating different views of the same sheet, one for presentation, one for data entry, one for auditing, etc.

Set up the attributes you want for your custom view and select Custom View from the View menu. See Figure 6-66. These custom views are from a workbook that contains a single sheet.

To create a custom view click on the Add button. A dialog box appears, letting you name your view. See Figure 6-68.

Since the view defines the current worksheet within the workbook, you'll want to include the sheet name in the view name for multi-sheet books.

Note that hidden rows, columns and filter settings can also be saved as attributes of a custom view. This is handy for creating views that display columns that are usually hidden for presentation purposes.

The ability to include print settings lets you develop multiple print set-ups for the same sheet. Very, very handy for creating a summary report, a detail report, and an audit report, all for the same worksheet. Print settings include anything you can set in the Page Setup dialog and its assorted tabs: Page, Margins, Header / Footer, and Sheet.

The power of Custom Views is the ability to switch between different views with just a few keystrokes or mouse clicks, and once you start using them, you'll wonder how you got along without them.

That is not to say, however, that Custom Views are without their annoying gotchas! There is no way to determine what view you are in at any given time. Whenever you click View / Custom Views, the dialog appears with the first view name selected. Not even a hint of what the current view (if any) is. And updating a view is a tricky proposition as well. To update a view you have to wind through the following steps.

1. Switch to the Custom View that is to be updated.
2. Make the desired changes to the view, page setup, and/or hidden row and column settings.
3. From the View menu select Custom Views.
4. From the Custom Views dialog click on the Add button.
5. Type in the name of the existing view. Match this name exactly!
6. Click on OK.

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