11 thoughts on “Two popular tools updated.”

1. Name Manager continues to be my favorite and most used Excel add-in. I appreciate your work and the work of all others involved. I also appreciate your tolerance of suggestions and willingness to offer support.

   Dank u!

2. Thanks Matthew. You know, the suggestions, comments and complaints are always a big help in improving a product.

3. I’ve also used this one, and found it very useful. Jan, I have a question for you, and for others that create all of this great software and give it away for free.

   I have been writing VBA code for years to help in my work, and have some stuff that I think could others would find very useful. I’m not sure I have the time or energy to try selling it though.

   My latest thought is to make it open-source, post it at sourceforge.net or code.google.com, and let anyone download it or modify it. Do you think this model works with Excel/VBA programs, or do they do best with a single owner/creator? Of course I want to see it take off, and have 50,000 people download it and use it!

4. JKP,

   A small Suggestion (For Excel 2003 and below)… why not add button that will resize the namebox (to fit the Longest name in the File)

   Sam

5. Hmmm, my comment seems to have been chewed up and spit out. Here’s a shorter paraphrase:

   Sam: Chip Pearson shows how to do this. I’ve placed his code in my personal.xls’ start up routines.

   http://cpearson.com/excel/NameBox.aspx

6. So what comments did you have Jon?

7. Matt: I’d just put it up somewhere where people can download it. Solicit them for comments by including an email address in the code or on an about message somewhere. Then advertise your “product”… Good luck.

   The best learning experience is by making your tools available; if they’re useful, you’re bound to get comments.

8. I was merely telling Sam about Chip’s code. When the first comment didn’t appear I posted a much shorter link to Chip’s site, rather than telling all about the code.

   I suppose you could incorporate it into the Name Manager though.

9. Gotcha. I have been working an a Name Manager toolbar a long time ago. Might be something to add (and a ribbon equivalent of course).
   What do you think guys?

10. Hi Jon,
    There is a slightly modified code by XL-Dennis/Ivan-F…(I think)

    It adjust the width to the max available name in the name box….
    sam

11. Very nice tool!

    I happened on Name Manager when I hit a complete roadblock writing a tool of similar functionality in VBA for another group in the company here… They have spreadsheets that have been passed down for (seemingly) *generations*, and through their many modifications to them have managed to create literally hundreds of defined names that fit into one or more of these categories:
    * The name itself is invalid (contains spaces)
    * The RefersTo is an external link that does not exist at all
    * The RefersTo is an external link that has been moved (my tool does bulk search/replace for all external links by file, folder, or structure of folders)
    * The name is a sheet-level define whose sheet doesn’t exist
    * The name refers to a sheet that doesn’t exist
    * The name has #REF in the RefersTo
    * The name is not used anywhere

    At least those are the items that I check for…

    By the way, this is NOT an ad for the tool I am writing as I will make it readily available to anyone who wants it… It’s GPL and unpolished.

    My point.. I hit a brick wall when trying to rename the defines whose names are invalid. It’s completely ludicrous that you can’t delete a defined name whose name is invalid.

    I downloaded Name Manager and saw that it successfully deletes / renames invalid defines by changing the Application.ReferenceStyle (App level change). I take it that there is no reasonable way to rename a SINGLE define or at least to provide valid alternate define names in the dialog box that Application.ReferenceStyle shows?

    Jim
    (CmputrAce)

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