Making A Cell Entry

Did you ever stop to think of what goes on behind the scenes in Excel when you enter something into a cell? I came up with a rough list:

First keystroke:

  • If the cell locked and the sheet is protected, display error
  • Update the formula bar and/or the cell
  • If it’s an equal sign, at symbol, minus sign, or plus sign change status bar and Name box
  • Disable inappropriate menu items
  • Suggest Autocomplete, if possible and enabled

Other keystrokes:

  • Update the formula bar and the cell display
  • Monitor keyboard for things such as Ctrl+B and Ctrl+I
  • Monitor keyboard for things such Shift+F3 to insert a function
  • Monitor toolbars for formatting changes
  • Suggest Autocomplete, if possible and enabled

Enter key (or arrow key):

  • Check for valid formula and display error or pop-up
  • Check for names used
  • Check for external references, and retrieve values if necessary
  • Check for dependent formulas and recalc if necessary
  • Check the 1-2-3 formula evaluation setting
  • Check for data validation
  • Check of conditional formatting
  • Check the AutoCorrect list and adjust if necessary
  • Check if the cell has a style, and adjust appropriately
  • Check to see if it’s part of an array
  • If it’s a number, display it using appropriate number format
  • Display it using correct alignment
  • Display it using correct font, size and attributes
  • Adjust row height, if necessary
  • Autoadjust column width if appropriate
  • Update formula bar
  • Check for a VBA event-procedure (e.g., Worksheet_Change)
  • Check if it’s a hyperlink
  • Activate next cell if appropriate
  • Display formula error SmartTag if necessary
  • Check to see if the cell is in the Watch list
  • Check to see if cell is contained within a camera tool picture
  • Update charts, if necessary
  • If text-to-speech is active, speak the cell contents

What have I missed?

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9 thoughts on “Making A Cell Entry

  1. Always monitor the keboard for the F1 Help key

    On random arrow key presses shut excel and display BSOD

    Hui…

  2. If the keystroke is the last character in a cell address, Excel colors the text in the address bar and adds a colored outline to the referenced cell on the worksheet.

  3. John,

    You missed

    Disable Macros – You cant run macros in the cell edit mode

    Regards
    Sam

  4. Related to “display error or pop-up” for Enter key, show circular error and reference in status bar if necessary.

  5. With respect to:
    Check for dependent formulas and recalc if necessary

    The cell needs to be tagged as dirty (if appropriate) to be recalced

  6. You missed … if I can’t work out what the h*ll’s going on, go to the error routines and display something beginning with #


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