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Microsoft Office
Mark Kaelin
TechRepublic Staff
Mark Kaelin
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How to check for open Access objects
VBA code that refers to an open Access object will fail if the object isn't open. With good error handling you can capture the error and work around it. A better solution is to make sure the...
Posted by Susan Harkins | December 24, 2007, 12:00 AM PST | Latest comment by TKnyte
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A SpellCheck limitation in OneNote
I don't know how many of you actually use OneNote, but it's a handy enough application that first appeared with Office 2003. In a nutshell, it offers an easy way to enter class or meeting notes, a...
Posted by Susan Harkins | December 21, 2007, 12:00 AM PST
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Use charts to display data on Access 2007 forms
Access 2007 makes it easy to build a graph control for your form that will display calculated data -- and often better than with a text form control. Here's how to add a chart to your form.
Posted by Mary Ann Richardson | December 20, 2007, 12:00 AM PST
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Add odd and even page headers to Word 2007 documents
If you want to format Word 2007 headers with page numbers on odd-numbered pages appearing on the right and page numbers on even-numbered pages appearing on the left, follow these steps from Mary...
Posted by Mary Ann Richardson | December 20, 2007, 12:00 AM PST
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Use WordArt formatting in Excel 2007 charts
Excel 2007 lets you apply the same Text Fill, Text Outline, and Text Effects formats available for your WordArt objects to chart text -- even WordArt formatting to create an eye-catching title for...
Posted by Mary Ann Richardson | December 20, 2007, 12:00 AM PST | Latest comment by theoriginalplayac@...
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Online Help a blessing and a curse
Beginning with Office 2003, Help is online. When you access Help, Office automatically searches the Help files on your local system and on Microsoft's Web site. (Of course, you need an active...
Posted by Susan Harkins | December 19, 2007, 8:31 AM PST | Latest comment by ssharkins@...
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Have Access forms automatically close after use
If your users work with multiple Access forms, here's how to make their work easier by having a form close automatically once they are finished with it.
Posted by Mary Ann Richardson | December 18, 2007, 12:00 AM PST | Latest comment by castilloa52
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Use Excel's POISSON function to predict business volumes
You can use Excel's POISSON function to make operational decisions based on predicted business volumes, such as predicting the probable number of customers that will contact the help desk this...
Posted by Mary Ann Richardson | December 18, 2007, 12:00 AM PST | Latest comment by bevg
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Add the Date Picker control to Word 2007 forms
With Word 2007's new Date Picker control, you can make it easy for customers to enter dates in your forms. Follow these steps to add the corresponding Date Picker controls to your form.
Posted by Mary Ann Richardson | December 18, 2007, 12:00 AM PST | Latest comment by traianrus@...
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How to generate a cover sheet for your Access report
I'm always surprised when someone complains about having to use Word to print a stack of cover sheets and then manually collating the sheets with the reports. You don't have to work that hard!...
Posted by Susan Harkins | December 14, 2007, 11:49 AM PST
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The latest from the knowledge base on Office problems
MS's Knowledgebase is reporting a few more problems with Office 2007's first service pack: You receive an error message when you try to apply any of the 2007 Office Service Pack 1 packages on a...
Posted by Susan Harkins | December 14, 2007, 11:24 AM PST | Latest comment by kinniburgh@...
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New government report on Access security vulnerability
A new government report is warning about a security vulnerability in MS Access. The report was posted December 10 and is just beginning to hit major blogs. I won't repeat the information here,...
Posted by Susan Harkins | December 14, 2007, 11:04 AM PST
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Evaluate part of an Excel formula
Errors in Excel formulas with multiple functions and operations can be difficult to diagnose. To check these formulas, it's best to check each component separately to find out what is causing the...
Posted by Mary Ann Richardson | December 11, 2007, 12:00 AM PST
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Use a query to count specific Access records
The Count function helps you easily create a query that, based on any criteria, sums up the number of Access records you have. Here's how to use it.
Posted by Mary Ann Richardson | December 11, 2007, 12:00 AM PST | Latest comment by goldie6175
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Use Word 2007's new Alignment Tab feature to align text with margins
With Word 2007's new Alignment Tab feature you no longer need to adjust tabs when a document's margin changes. Alignment Tabs align data relative to the margin, so if you change the margin, Word...
Posted by Mary Ann Richardson | December 11, 2007, 12:00 AM PST
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How to get that phishy smell out of Outlook
I can't think of any industry that sucks up as much creative energy as online scams. Perhaps if evildoers put their creative efforts to good, we might all be living in a golden age of technology....
Posted by Susan Harkins | December 10, 2007, 11:01 AM PST | Latest comment by ssharkins@...
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More trouble with Office 2003 SP 3
Combo box controls and list box controls display no value or incorrect values in Access 2003 after you install Office 2003 Service Pack 3: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/945280/en-us?spid=2488
Posted by Susan Harkins | December 7, 2007, 11:36 AM PST | Latest comment by ssharkins@...
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How to guarantee color consistency
In Monday's entry, I showed you how to match a control's background color to the form's by using the same color for both. It's a simple cure for a larger problem -- keeping colors consistent from...
Posted by Susan Harkins | December 7, 2007, 12:00 AM PST
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Copy hundreds of rows of Excel formulas in three steps
Excel provides a number of ways to copy formulas -- all of which work fine, unless the column extends down hundreds of rows. Follow these steps for foolproof cell copying.
Posted by Mary Ann Richardson | December 4, 2007, 12:00 AM PST | Latest comment by balgowda
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Scale Word documents for different page sizes without reformatting
You realize that your Word document will fit in a smaller-sized sheet and doesn't need to take up a letter-size memo. The good news is that you don't have to reformat your Word document -- simply...
Posted by Mary Ann Richardson | December 4, 2007, 12:00 AM PST
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Two ways to add checkbox controls to a Word document
Use a customized bulleted list or a content control to insert checkboxes into a Word document, depending on how you are going to use it.
Posted by Susan Harkins | February 22, 2012, 8:16 AM PST | Latest comment by ian@...
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How to add a drop-down list to an Excel cell
Drop-down lists can greatly facilitate data entry. Here's a look at how to use Excel's data validation feature to create handy lists within your worksheets.
Posted by Susan Harkins | June 12, 2008, 12:00 AM PDT | Latest comment by dhivya.vasu01@...
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Transpose Excel data from rows to columns, or vice versa
When you need to flip-flop data in an Excel worksheet, don't waste time doing it manually. Excel offers a handy Transpose option that will quickly take care of the task.
Posted by Jeff Davis | June 23, 2009, 12:00 AM PDT | Latest comment by excelinexcel
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Use SUMIFS() to sum by multiple conditions in Excel
Excel's SUMIF() lets you sum values, conditionally. It's new sibling, SUMIFS() lets you sum values by multiple conditions.
Posted by Susan Harkins | November 14, 2011, 11:25 AM PST | Latest comment by peter.r7
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How to use Excel 2010's new conditional formatting with references
Excel 2010's new referencing option makes conditional formatting more powerful than ever before!
Posted by Susan Harkins | August 30, 2010, 8:40 AM PDT | Latest comment by jeboy.06
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Add horizontal lines to a Word document
Susan Harkins shows you two easy ways to insert a horizontal line into a Word document.
Posted by Susan Harkins | September 29, 2010, 12:00 AM PDT | Latest comment by Shrike49
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A quick and dirty way to compare columns of Excel data
Using this little-known feature in Excel, you can quickly compare one column of data to another.
Posted by Susan Harkins | April 6, 2012, 11:41 AM PDT | Latest comment by HAL 9000
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Four ways to insert an em dash in a Word document
When you need an em dash, you can let Word enter it for you the easy way. If that approach doesn't suit your needs, try one of three manual methods.
Posted by Susan Harkins | March 1, 2010, 12:00 AM PST | Latest comment by Marshwiggle
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Use COUNTIFS() to evaluate multiple count and criteria ranges
Excel's COUNTIFS() function is flexible enough to handle different ranges and data types.
Posted by Susan Harkins | May 21, 2012, 10:37 AM PDT | Latest comment by jbenton@...
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How to Alphabetize Lists In Word
I learned something new the other day—Word can alphabetize a list. I’m sure many users already know this, but it’s brand new to me. Years ago, I could do this with WordPerfect, but I’ve...
Posted by Susan Harkins | May 29, 2007, 12:13 PM PDT
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The secret to unhiding column A in an Excel worksheet
After you hide column A, it might seem like it's gone forever. Fortunately, there are two simple tricks for unhiding it.
Posted by Susan Harkins | March 16, 2009, 12:00 AM PDT | Latest comment by fallon.stuart@...
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Quickly fill blank cells in Excel
Blank cells can spell trouble. Here's an easy way to fill in those blanks and protect the validity of your data.
Posted by Susan Harkins | April 26, 2010, 10:50 AM PDT | Latest comment by Midhunmj
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Use Word's Vertical Alignment settings to center a page
Centering text vertically isn't difficult; you just have to know where to look!
Posted by Susan Harkins | July 28, 2010, 6:30 PM PDT
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Build a simple timesheet in Excel
Excel makes it easy to set up a system for tracking time. Follow these steps to create your own or download our sample timesheet template and customize it to fit your needs.
Posted by Susan Harkins | January 26, 2010, 9:43 AM PST | Latest comment by raj_as
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Create an Excel data entry form that includes check boxes
You can keep a lot of information on an Excel data entry form, but you can make it easier for your users -- and yourself -- to create tables by adding check boxes. Here's how to set up check boxes...
Posted by Mary Ann Richardson | July 31, 2007, 12:00 AM PDT | Latest comment by Corbybhoy
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Use a formula to trigger Excel's Conditional Formatting feature
If you need a visual clue to hype a worksheet, use Excel's Conditional Formatting feature to help values stand out.
Posted by Susan Harkins | January 5, 2009, 1:07 PM PST | Latest comment by JNirvaha
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Use a custom format in Excel to display easier to read millions
Use a custom format in Microsoft Excel to reduce the number of digits in a large number without losing its scale.
Posted by Susan Harkins | March 14, 2012, 11:16 AM PDT | Latest comment by jeng02@...
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A quick way to delete blank rows in Excel
Deleting blank rows in an Excel data range is easy with this technique, but watch out for unintended consequences.
Posted by Susan Harkins | January 5, 2012, 11:48 AM PST | Latest comment by jbenton@...
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Delete a stubborn page break in Word
Sometimes, Word won't let you delete a page break. The fix is usually simple -- although the cause might surprise you.
Posted by Susan Harkins | January 8, 2010, 7:13 AM PST | Latest comment by kramer22
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Two ways to build dynamic charts in Excel
Users will appreciate a chart that updates right before their eyes. In Excel 2007 and 2010 it's as easy as creating a table. In earlier versions, you'll need the formula method.
Posted by Susan Harkins | April 19, 2012, 11:48 AM PDT | Latest comment by chip_long@...
