XL97: Automatic Styles and Apply Styles Do Not Apply Format

• Microsoft Excel 97 for Windows

SYMPTOMS

When you group cells and apply an automatic style in the Settings dialog box, cells that contain formulas are not formatted with bold characters.

CAUSE

This problem occurs when the following conditions are true:

• You select a range of cells that contains a formula (for example, subtotal or grand total formulas), point to Group And Outline on the Data menu, and then click Auto Outline (or Group) to group the cells.

      -and-
  

• You select the cells you grouped, point to Group And Outline on the Data menu, and then click Settings. In the Settings dialog box, you click the Automatic Styles (or Apply Styles) check box.

WORKAROUND

To work around this problem, follow these steps to change the style to include bold characters:

1. Select a cell in the outline that you want to format with bold characters.

   For example, select a cell that contains a formula that sums a range of values.

2. On the Format menu, click Style.

   The Style Name box displays a style name (for example, RowLevel_1 or ColLevel1).

3. Click Modify.

4. In the Format Cells dialog box, click the Font tab. In the Font Style box, type or select Bold.

5. Click OK twice.

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

Microsoft Excel can automatically create an outline if your worksheet contains formulas that refer to cells in adjacent rows or columns. To create an outline automatically, point to Group And Outline on the Data menu, and then click Auto Outline. If you add subtotals using the Subtotals command on the Data menu, Microsoft Excel automatically creates the outline. However, Microsoft Excel 97 does not apply the expected formatting to the subtotals within the outline.

REFERENCES

For more information about outlining and formatting, click the Index tab in Microsoft Excel Help, type the following text

   outlines