F2 Edit Cell Shortcut Bug in VMWare

[longhenry]

I have read that CTRL + u is the Excel edit cell shortcut alternative to F2
when using an Apple keyboard. However, I am running Excel 2007 on Vista via
VMWare on my iMac, and CTRL + u does what it regularly should in Excel - it
underlines the contents of the cell. As F2 is permanently assigned to screen
brightness on the Apple keyboard, I am stuck without an edit cell shortcut.

Any ideas would be most appreciated! Thanks.

 

[CyberTaz]

Hello -

Keep in mind that when you're running any software in an emulator (such as
Parallels, Fusion, etc.) you are truly running on the Windows operating
system. Therefore, the keyboard shortcuts will *most closely* match those of
the program just as if you actually were working on a PC. However, each
emulator seems to "interpret" some things a bit differently.

There's also bound to be some "conflicts" not only because of the
differences between the PC key board layout & the Mac, but further
complicated by the fact that there are so many *different* Mac keyboard
layouts. Compound that with the above & the potential variations are fun to
contend with - especially if you work with differently configured Macs

For example, running XL 2007 in VPC7 on my G5 (Tiger) - on which I use an
iMediaKey keyboard from Macally - F2 works exactly as you expect it to...
Although that doesn't do you much good I just offer it as an example for
comparison purposes.

I also run XL 2007 in VMWare Fusion on my Intel MBP (Leopard), where F2 also
adjusts brightness *if* the fn key is used along with it. However, F2 by
itself does in fact put me into an Edit Cell mode although not the way I'd
expect on a "real" PC. It puts the insertion point into the Formula Bar even
though there is no indication of that directly in the cell, itself. Could
that be what's happening for you too, perhaps just unnoticed? I know it
caught me by surprise because I was looking at the cell, not the Formula
Bar. It wasn't until I decided to go ahead & replace the whole cell content
that I noticed I was actually in Edit mode.

If that isn't the case for you there's a setting in XL to check. Go to XL
2007's Office Button, Excel Options, then to Advanced. In the top group
(Editing Options) make sure the box is checked for "Allow editing directly
in cells". Should that not put your F2 back to what you want perhaps a query
to VMWare might be in order.

HTH |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

 

[longhenry via MacKB.com]

Thanks Bob. Actually just tested Excel via Bootcamp (as opposed to via
VMWare) and see the same issue. Must be a keyboard-specific issue (hence no
mention of this problem on other chat boards). Thanks for pointing me in the
right direction.

Cheers, Paul.

Hello -

Keep in mind that when you're running any software in an emulator (such as
Parallels, Fusion, etc.) you are truly running on the Windows operating
system. Therefore, the keyboard shortcuts will *most closely* match those of
the program just as if you actually were working on a PC. However, each
emulator seems to "interpret" some things a bit differently.

There's also bound to be some "conflicts" not only because of the
differences between the PC key board layout & the Mac, but further
complicated by the fact that there are so many *different* Mac keyboard
layouts. Compound that with the above & the potential variations are fun to
contend with - especially if you work with differently configured Macs

For example, running XL 2007 in VPC7 on my G5 (Tiger) - on which I use an
iMediaKey keyboard from Macally - F2 works exactly as you expect it to...
Although that doesn't do you much good I just offer it as an example for
comparison purposes.

I also run XL 2007 in VMWare Fusion on my Intel MBP (Leopard), where F2 also
adjusts brightness *if* the fn key is used along with it. However, F2 by
itself does in fact put me into an Edit Cell mode although not the way I'd
expect on a "real" PC. It puts the insertion point into the Formula Bar even
though there is no indication of that directly in the cell, itself. Could
that be what's happening for you too, perhaps just unnoticed? I know it
caught me by surprise because I was looking at the cell, not the Formula
Bar. It wasn't until I decided to go ahead & replace the whole cell content
that I noticed I was actually in Edit mode.

If that isn't the case for you there's a setting in XL to check. Go to XL
2007's Office Button, Excel Options, then to Advanced. In the top group
(Editing Options) make sure the box is checked for "Allow editing directly
in cells". Should that not put your F2 back to what you want perhaps a query
to VMWare might be in order.

HTH |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

I have read that CTRL + u is the Excel edit cell shortcut alternative to F2
when using an Apple keyboard. However, I am running Excel 2007 on Vista via

[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]

Any ideas would be most appreciated! Thanks.