Is Formula Bar floating going to be fixed?

[Bill Weylock]

Is this an acknowledged bug, or is this (please say ³no!²) a new feature
that we have to request? Since it has always docked and continues to dock in
Windows and docks in every other spreadsheet program, I am hoping it is
viewed as a bug and a candidate for an immediate fix.

If anyone tells me to request it, I think I may scream. It¹s like requesting
that the keyboard type m when I hit the ³m² key instead of qxr. There is no
conceivable advantage to having a floating formula bar. It¹s a window into
cell contents. How basic can a function get? The fact that it¹s not even
listed as a toolbar implies that MS knows that.

What¹s next? A floating ruler?

Having had all this sarcastic fun in the post, please know that I realize no
one here is responsible for it. But I figure that MS should hear just how
silly we think this decision is, and I am still hoping it slipped through
beta testing somehow and will be fixed in the next three or four days.


Best,

Bill
Imac 2.8Ghz -10.5.1
Office 2008/2003 - Windows XP Pro SP2

 

[CyberTaz]

You can dock it, but it can only be docked at the bottom edge of the Menu
Bar, not within a file window. There have been a number of complaints about
this behavior, but to add your comments to the database where it will do the
most good go to Excel Help> Send Feedback.

Regards |:>)
Bob Jones
MVP Office:Mac

 

[JE McGimpsey]

Is this an acknowledged bug, or is this (please say ³no!²) a new feature
that we have to request? Since it has always docked and continues to dock in
Windows and docks in every other spreadsheet program, I am hoping it is
viewed as a bug and a candidate for an immediate fix.

If anyone tells me to request it, I think I may scream. It¹s like requesting
that the keyboard type m when I hit the ³m² key instead of qxr. There is no
conceivable advantage to having a floating formula bar. It¹s a window into
cell contents. How basic can a function get? The fact that it¹s not even
listed as a toolbar implies that MS knows that.

What¹s next? A floating ruler?

Having had all this sarcastic fun in the post, please know that I realize no
one here is responsible for it. But I figure that MS should hear just how
silly we think this decision is, and I am still hoping it slipped through
beta testing somehow and will be fixed in the next three or four days.

Don't know *exactly* what you mean by "this" in your first sentence, and
not sure why you're having trouble docking the Formula bar - it floats
or docks to the top (or bottom, left, right) of the screen as it always
has in MacXL, so it doesn't need to be "fixed", per se.

It's true that the formula bar, like many other toolbars, doesn't dock
within a Workbook window, any more than it docks within a Workbook
window in WinXL (it docks in the WinXL *application* window, but that is
distinctly different, and more a function of the OS differences).

Appreciation of your sarcasm aside, just because *you* can't conceive of
an advantage to a floating toolbar doesn't mean that someone with more
imagination, or perhaps just a different way of working with XL, cannot.

I can think of at least one, and possibly several advantages to the
floating Formula Bar (you even imply one advantage with your observation
about the bar - well, at least the edit control - being a "window into
cell contents", so the detached bar provides more interworkbook
functionality than, say, the docked bar of NeoOffice), though *on
balance* I tend to side with making it dockable.

In any case, it's NOT a bug, it's a design decision, so requesting a
different design is precisely what you have to do if you want to see it
implemented.

 

[JE McGimpsey]

There have been a number of complaints about this behavior, but to
add your comments to the database where it will do the most good go
to Excel Help> Send Feedback.

I can hear the scream now...

 

[JE McGimpsey]

I hesitate to challenge your recollection of 2004 behavior, but the formula
bar most certainly docked within the application window.

I think I'm on pretty safe ground here - since Office applications are
document-based, they don't *have* application windows...

Besides, I run XL04 every day. I'm confident.

 

[ed rosenblum]

I want to be able to doc the formula bar. I spend so much time searching for the floating formula bar that it is aggravating. Don't you guys do any usability testing?

 

[CyberTaz]

Hi Ed -

Who is "you guys"? We're users just like anyone else. The overwhelming
majority of the participants here *do not* work for MS (those who do use
[MSFT] in their sig.), and even though some may have participated in the
beta testing it doesn't mean that their feedback would be implemented.

If you read the entire thread you'll find that the Formula Bar *can* be
docked - it just isn't a part of the workbook window. Nor was it a part of
the workbook window in 2004. In fact, it docks just like it did in 2004 -
top, bottom, left or right just like John said - although it behaves a
little differently. The *real* difference is that the Standard & Formatting
toolbars *are* located in the wkbk window - they're the ones that can't be
moved to where they used to be.

If you are dissatisfied don't hesitate to follow the other suggestions
routinely offered throughout the thread & the newsgroup - use Excel Help>
Send Feedback to substantiate your needs directly to MS. I'm afraid carping
here doesn't do anything constructive in terms of change to the program.

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