XL: Consolidated Labels Use Name of Workbook Instead of Sheet

• Microsoft Excel for Windows, versions 5.0, 5.0c
• Microsoft Excel for the Macintosh, versions 5.0, 5.0a
• Microsoft Excel for Windows NT, version 5.0
• Microsoft Excel for Windows 95, version 7.0
• Microsoft Excel 97 for Windows
• Microsoft Excel 98 Macintosh Edition

SYMPTOMS

In Microsoft Excel, when you use the Consolidate dialog box to consolidate data on worksheets that are contained in the same workbook, if you choose to display the left column labels, and you click the Create Links To Source Data check box, summary labels in the left column display the name of the workbook instead of the sheet name.

CAUSE

This behavior occurs because the Consolidate dialog box does not determine that the consolidated data is contained on worksheets in the same workbook and that the workbook name does not distinguish where the data is located.

For example, if you consolidate data from Sheet1 and Sheet2 in BOOK1, and you click the Left Column check box (under Use Labels In) and the Create Links To Source Data check box, the consolidated data may appear as follows:

   A1:         B1: BOOK1   C1: 1000
   A2:         B2: BOOK1   C2: 1000
   A3: sales   B3:         C3: 2000

WORKAROUND

To work around this behavior, on each of the worksheets that you are consolidating, create the local name sheet_title that refers to a cell that contains the worksheet name or the title that you want to appear in the consolidated data. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Select a worksheet that contains data that you want to consolidate.

2. In an empty cell on the worksheet, enter the worksheet name or any other title that you want to appear in the consolidated data.

3. Select the cell that contains the data that you entered in Step 2 above.

4. On the Insert menu, click name, and then click Define. In the Names In Workbook box, type "SHEET1!sheet_title" (without the quotation marks) where SHEET1 is the name of the selected worksheet.

5. Click OK.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in the Microsoft products listed at the beginning of this article. We are researching this problem and will post new information here in the Microsoft Knowledge Base as it becomes available.

MORE INFORMATION

When you use the Consolidate dialog box, the Use Labels In check box allows you to choose whether to use labels from the top row of the source areas, from the left column, both, or neither. These check boxes are meaningful only when you consolidate data by category. Multiple source areas must be laid out and labeled identically for this option to work accurately. When you consolidate data by category, be sure to include the category labels in the source areas you select for your consolidation. Microsoft Excel transfers these labels to the destination area for you.

The Create Links To Source Data check box creates links from the destination area to the source areas when you consolidate data so that the destination area will be automatically updated whenever the source data changes. Microsoft Excel creates a linking formula for every cell and inserts rows or columns into the destination area to hold the linking formulas for each piece of source data. The destination area is then grouped with linking formulas placed in hidden rows or columns subordinate to positions or categories in the destination area.

REFERENCES

"Microsoft Excel User's Guide," version 5.0, pages 528-535

For an overview of consolidating data, choose the Search button in Help and type:

   consolidating data