Windows in Taskbar

[Chevy]

SYSTEM STATUS:

a.. Operating System: Windows XP Service Pack 2
b.. Word: 2002 (10.6612.6626) Service Pack 3
c.. Excel: 2002 (10.6612.6626) Service Pack 3
d.. Word: Tools - Options - ViewTab -Windows in Taskbar IS
checked.
e.. Excel: Tools - Options - ViewTab -Windows in Taskbar IS
checked.
a.. The Taskbar Properties has "Group similar taskbar buttons" UNCHECKED


TEST 1:

a.. Start Windows Explorer.
b.. Navigate to a folder which contains at least two Word files and two
Excel files.
c.. Double-click one Word file.
d.. Double-click a second Word file.
e.. Each Word document opens in its own Window.
f.. Each Word document has its own icon on the taskbar.
g.. The Task Manager Processes tab reports only one instance of WINWORD is
running.


TEST2:

a.. Double-click one Excel file.
b.. Double-click a second Excel file.
c.. Both Excel documents open in the same Window.
d.. Each Excel document has its own icon on the taskbar.
e.. The Task Manager Processes tab reports only one instance of EXCEL is
running.


NOTES:

a.. Word operates the way I want it to.
b.. Excel does not.
c.. I want Excel to open each document in a separate window.
a.. Excel has a key named ShowWindowsInTaskbar (REG_DWORD) 0x000000001 (1)
located in HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\10.0\Excel\Options.
b.. The value of this key will change to 0 if Tools - Options -
ViewTab -Windows in Taskbar is unchecked.
c.. Word does NOT have a similar registry key in
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\10.0\Word\Options.


QUESTION:

a.. Is the difference in operation between Word and Excel a bug?
b.. Is it possible to make Excel open documents that same way Word does?

 

[Guest]

hi,
excel does have each file in it own window.
on the xl toolbar goto window>arange>pick from list.
window>new window opens a second window of the same file.
word cannot open two files at once so when you open two
file word open a second session. not just the file. excel
only open once and keeps all the windows within 1 open
excel session.
so to answer your question
1. not a bug
2. no

 

[Chevy]

A couple of points:

In Word, click Tools - Options - View tab. Uncheck "Windows in Taskbar."
Now, Word works just like Excel; that is, double-clicking two .doc files in
succession opens them in ONE Word instance.
Since both Word and Excel have the "Windows in Taskbar" option, one would
think that Word and Excel would behave alike in this regard.
I can't believe this is by design.

In your explanation of Excel, your reference to "window" illustrates MDI or
Multiple Document Interface; that is, it opens one window of itself and each
file is in its own "child" window.

Word (with "Windows in Taskbar" checked) illustrates SDI or Single Document
Interface; that is, it opens multiple windows of itself, each containing a
separate file.

If you start Excel by repeatedly clicking Start - Programs - Microsoft
Office - Excel, it will open multiple windows of itself, each in its own
process as evidenced in Task Manager (note that when Word opens multiple
windows of itself, they all exist in a single process).

The bottom line is that Excel & Word do not work the same way with regard to
SDI, MDI, and the "Windows in Taskbar" option. Again, it seems to me that
they should. It also seems to me that there should be a way to make Excel
behave like Word with respect to double-clicking multiple .xls files within
Explorer.

 

[Gord Dibben]

Chevy

Open Excel and a workbook.

Go to Tools>Options>General and put a checkmark in "Ignore other
applications".

Open Windows Explorer and d-click on an *.xls file.

A new instance of Excel will open.

Not just a new Window, a new instance of Excel.

Gord Dibben Excel MVP

 

[Chevy]

Gord,

Well, you've got me pointed in the right direction at least.Your suggestion
does indeed work. But it doesn't work the way Word does.

If no instances of Excel are running, the FIRST time you double-click an
..xls file, Excel will start but it will not open the file. And
double-clicking any additional .xls files just runs additional instances of
Excel without opening the files.

It seems to me the Word programming group beat the Excel group when it comes
to properly implementing SDI and MDI. From my perspective, Word behaves as I
would expect it to; Excel does not. Running multiple processes is, of
course, a needless resource hog.

In your opinion, is Excel's behavior a bug? If so how does one report it?

 

[Dave Peterson]

My opinion is that excel is playing catchup with word. But lots of people
thought the way the SDI was implemented in MSWord is kind of ugly (I do).

I'd rather have it look more like excel--just one set of toolbars when I've
arranged my open windows.

 

[Chevy]

I'd rather have it look more like excel--just one set of toolbars when

I've
arranged my open windows.

Unless I misunderstand your point, Word exhibits the behavior you desire
when you click Tools - Options - View tab - UNcheck "Windows in Taskbar."

Excel should allow this same flexibility; that is, allow users to decide
which way they would like the application to open files.

Incidentally, from what I can see, (without testing in-depth):
.. Access operates the way that Excel does with respect to
checking/unchecking "Windows in Taskbar"; that is, not very well and opens
multiple processes.
.. PowerPoint seems to disregard checking/unchecking "Windows in Taskbar."
.. FrontPage allows multiple instances (in a single process) but
apparently does not have a "Windows in Taskbar" setting.

In that these applications are part of a suite, the lack of consistency in
the UI should be noted and addressed.

I should explain that since my eyes are not what they used to be, I have
multiple monitors attached to my PC and I often have several Word and/or
Excel documents open at once. I like to position each application and its
document on a particular monitor.

Does anyone know how one contacts Microsoft directly to pose
questions/suggestions of this kind?

 

[Dave Peterson]

Yep. You're correct about word's behavior. (I was messing with the windows in
taskbar and screwed up my thinking!)

Although, the software packages are packaged as a suite, I would bet that they
were developed by different departments/organizations. But with each new
version, they seem to look more and more alike.

There's an email address you could send your request to:

(e-mail address removed)
or
(e-mail address removed)

 

[Schlatts]

Chevy,

I noticed the very same problem you are describing in Excel after an upgrade
to Windows XP and Office XP (2002). I have the same software setup as you
except I have Service Pack 1 installed on Windows XP instead of Service Pack
2. Service Pack 3 is installed for Office XP.

I must say it seems very strange to me that this quirk only occurs with a
freshly loaded copy of Excel, and not when the default "book1.xls" file has
been closed or another file has already been opened. It would appear that
the check-box for "Windows in Taskbar" does not function the way it was
designed to. Very annoying!

Please post a reply if you find a workaround/fix!!! I'm thinking this is
just something I'm going to have to live with (unless of course the company I
work for decides to upgrade to Office 2003 <-- yeah right, NOT going to
happen within my career, I was amazed they upgraded to XP!)