XL5: Reference to Remote Link Not Updated

- Microsoft Excel for Windows, version 5.0

SYMPTOMS

In Microsoft Excel version 5.0, a reference to a cell that contains a remote link is not updated if the following conditions are true:

• The cell that contains the reference refers to a cell on a following worksheet in the same workbook.

  -and-

• The following worksheet is linked to an external workbook.

  -and-

• The external workbook is not open when you open the linked workbook.

CAUSE

This behavior occurs when you open the linked workbook while the source workbook is closed. If the cell A1 on Sheet2 in BOOK2.XLS contains an external link to a value in BOOK1.XLS, and cell A1 on Sheet1 in BOOK2.XLS contains a link to cell A1 on Sheet1, when you open BOOK2.XLS while BOOK1.XLS is closed, the value in cell A1 on Sheet1 is not updated.

The value in cell A1 on Sheet2 in BOOK2.XLS (external link) is updated when you choose Yes in the dialog box that prompts you to re-establish the links. However, the value in cell A1 on the previous worksheet, Sheet1 in BOOK2.XLS, that refers to the cell that contains the external link is not updated.

WORKAROUNDS

To update a linked cell that refers to a cell on another worksheet that contains an external link, do either of the following:

• Update the external link by doing the following:

  1. In the workbook that contains the links, choose Links from the Edit

        menu.
  

  2. In the Links dialog box, choose the Update Now button.

  -or-

• Open the source workbook either before or after you open the linked workbook.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in the Microsoft products listed at the beginning of this article. This problem was corrected in Microsoft Excel for Windows version 5.0c.

REFERENCES

"User's Guide," version 5.0, pages 161-164, 716

For more information about the Paste Special Command (Edit Menu For Worksheets), choose the Search button in Help and type:

   links, pasting