XL5: Local Name Used Without Sheet Name Is Defined After Save

• Microsoft Excel for Windows, version 5.0

SYMPTOMS

In a Microsoft Excel workbook, if you create a local name on one worksheet, and you use the name without the sheet name on another worksheet, the value that the name refers to is used when you save, close, and open the file again.

CAUSE

When you use a local name on a worksheet other than the worksheet on which the name is defined, the #NAME? error value is returned if you do not precede the defined name with the sheet name. This behavior is by design because the name is local, or only defined on the sheet on which it was created.

However, if you use a local name on a worksheet other than the worksheet on which the name is defined, without the sheet name, and you save and close the file, the value of the name is returned when you open the file again. The local name behaves like a global name, that is, a value is returned even though the name is not defined on the current worksheet.

Note that if you enter the name again, the #NAME? error value is returned as expected. This behavior occurs only when you open the file again after saving it.

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 version 5.0c.

REFERENCES

For more information about Naming A Cell, Range, Or Formula, choose the Search button in Help and type:

   names, creating