Microsoft KB Archive/184176

= XL98: Select Method May Select More Cells Than You Expect =

Article ID: 184176

Article Last Modified on 6/17/2005

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Excel 98 for Macintosh

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This article was previously published under Q184176





SYMPTOMS
When you run a Visual Basic for Applications macro that uses the Select method to select a specific range of cells in a worksheet in Microsoft Excel 98 Macintosh Edition, the macro may select a larger range of cells than you specified.



CAUSE
This problem may occur when you run a macro that uses the Select method to select a range of cells and performs an action on the selected cells.

If you programmatically select a merged cell in a range, the selection may be enlarged so that it encompasses the columns or rows that are occupied by the merged cell. For example, if the range A2:C2 is merged, the following statement selects cells A1:C10 and not A1:A10 as you expect: ActiveSheet.Range("A1:A10").Select The selection is expanded to include B1:C10 because range A1:A10 contains a merged cell that extends into cells in columns B and C.

NOTE: In this scenario in Microsoft Excel 98, you cannot select only cells A1:A10 with the mouse. Microsoft Excel automatically extends the selection to include cells B1:C10 because the range A2:C2 is merged.



WORKAROUND
Microsoft provides programming examples for illustration only, without warranty either expressed or implied. This includes, but is not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. This article assumes that you are familiar with the programming language that is being demonstrated and with the tools that are used to create and to debug procedures. Microsoft support engineers can help explain the functionality of a particular procedure, but they will not modify these examples to provide added functionality or construct procedures to meet your specific requirements. To work around this behavior, use one of the following methods.

Method 1
Apply the property or method to specific a Range object rather than a Selection object if the selection contains merged cells that span cells outside of that specified range.

For example, the following macro selects cells A1:A10 and applies a bold font format to the selection: Sub FormatCells

ActiveSheet.Range("A1:A10").Select Selection.Font.Bold = True

End Sub If cells A2:C2 are merged, this macro applies a bold font format to the cells A1:C10. If you want to limit the bold font format to cells A1:A10, use the following macro instead. The following example applies a bold font format to the specific Range object: Sub FormatCells

ActiveSheet.Range("A1:A10").Font.Bold = True

End Sub

Method 2
When you use this method, you check whether merged cells exist in the range prior to performing an action. The following macro determines if there are any merged cells in the range A1:A10 prior to formatting the cells: Sub FormatCells

ActiveSheet.Range("A1:A10").Select

'Apply Bold to the selection if it does not contain merged cells. If Not(Selection.MergeCells = True) Then Selection.Font.Bold = True End If

End Sub



STATUS
This behavior is by design in Microsoft Excel 98.



MORE INFORMATION
Additional query words: XL98 selected selecting code

Keywords: kbprogramming kbprb kbdtacode KB184176

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