Custom Templates

[wrecklessnancy]

Version: 2008
Operating System: Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard)
Processor: Intel

I am a consultant and track my billing time using iBiz, which allows me to export my data to Excel. i then have to spend a fair amount of time formating the data into an activity report that lists the date, the amount of time spent, the category of work based on client-specified categories and the total hours spent and amount due for each category for the month.

I would like to import the data into a custom report template that will pull the data into the appropriate cells. Some data are not relevant to me. That data I would like to filter out of the import. the data of course also changes from month to month.

Please advise whether or not I can create such a template and, if so, how.

Thanks.

 

[John McGhie]

OK, this question is too broad to give a useful answer.

In Excel, you "can" do almost anything you can think of. The answer to a
question like that can be anything from "Copy and Paste" to "Hire a
consultant like me, spend a squillion dollars and wait three years". I
suspect yours is closer to "Copy and Paste"...

In your circumstances, I would probably junk iBiz altogether and make the
entire application in Excel so I had control of the data from the get-go,
and did not have to bother filtering or getting rid of any. Just don't
collect what you don't need

Another suggestion I would make is "Nobody ever writes their own code in
Excel, they steal it from all over the Internet. Google furiously for what
you need, and pinch it." We do

Now: To bring data from "their" spreadsheet into yours, Select the data you
want (and NOT the data you don't) and COPY.

Click in YOUR spreadsheet where you want that data and choose Edit>Paste
Special>Paste Link. Whatever appears at the copied place in their
spreadsheet will appear in yours. Make sure both spreadsheets have been
saved before you start, or it won't work.

If you then look at the formulas in the cells you pasted, you will see how
Excel bought the data in. You can then use Excel's formula functions to
enhance those formulas to bring the data in or not, depending on the value
it finds. Or to change the data on the way through by adding, subtracting,
dividing, multiplying...

The hard part is knowing what you want. Once you know what you want, the
rest is just a matter of fiddling until you get it

Hope this helps

Version: 2008
Operating System: Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard)
Processor: Intel

I am a consultant and track my billing time using iBiz, which allows me to
export my data to Excel. i then have to spend a fair amount of time formating
the data into an activity report that lists the date, the amount of time
spent, the category of work based on client-specified categories and the total
hours spent and amount due for each category for the month.

I would like to import the data into a custom report template that will pull
the data into the appropriate cells. Some data are not relevant to me. That
data I would like to filter out of the import. the data of course also changes
from month to month.

Please advise whether or not I can create such a template and, if so, how.

Thanks.

--

This email is my business email -- Please do not email me about forum
matters unless you intend to pay!

John McGhie, Microsoft MVP (Word, Mac Word), Consultant Technical Writer,
McGhie Information Engineering Pty Ltd
Sydney, Australia. | Ph: +61 (0)4 1209 1410
+61 4 1209 1410, mailto:[email protected]