What are these sort triangles and the border?

[kevs1]

Version: 2004
Operating System: Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger)
Processor: Power PC

I got a file back from an intern and it has these little sort triangle next to every column. There is also a thick grey border around the key text and numbers. Anyone know what this is and how to get rid of it? thanks.

Kevs
OFFICE 2004
MAC OS 10.4.11

 

[IanF]

It sounds like at least part of the spreadsheet has been set up using
the "List Manager" feature of Excel.

To turn it back to a regular spreadsheet hold down the control key and
click in the table of data.
In the popup menu that appears select "Remove List Manager"

If you want to find out more about the List Manager select Excel Help
from the help menu and then type in List Manager. It's generally used
to manage simple databases within a spreadsheet.

 

[kevs1]

Thanks Ian, interesting.
I will keep it this way, until I talk to the intern to ask why this helps.

Do you find any real world need to use list manager? its a bit complex for me, so I have not explored it yet.

 

[IanF]

Have not used List Manager extensively. One spreadsheet I work on uses
it quite a lot. The spreadsheet contains data for all many projects -
I have to filter down the data relevant to me using those sort/select
triangles you see.

One advantage I've found with my own spreadsheets is if you're
maintaining a table of data which contains calculated columns - say a
difference or ratio between two columns. As you add new rows to the
table the calculations for the new rows get added automatically. You
can do the same thing with some simpler knowledge though e.g. copy and
paste, fill down.

I think List Manager also integrates well with the Pivot Table
function. Now that's a feature worth exploring if you want to
summarize or tabulate data in different ways. You can use Pivot Tables
without List Manager though.

 

[kevs1]

Thanks Ian, bit over my head, but I trust is has purpose.