Article ID: 172857
Article Last Modified on 10/19/2000
APPLIES TO
- Microsoft Excel 97 Standard Edition
This article was previously published under Q172857
SYMPTOMS
In Microsoft Excel 97, when you link a text box that is contained in a chart to a cell in a worksheet, Excel may create a second text box in the chart.
CAUSE
This problem occurs when the following conditions are true:
- The text box is contained in a chart that is embedded in a worksheet. -and-
- You create the link from the text box to the worksheet cell as follows:
- While the text box is selected, you type an equal sign (=) in the formula bar.
- You click a cell in the worksheet, and then press ENTER.
NOTE: This problem does not occur in earlier versions of Excel, or when the text box is contained in a chart sheet.
WORKAROUND
To prevent this problem from occurring, do not link a text box to a worksheet cell by clicking the cell; instead, type the reference to the cell in the formula bar. To do this, follow these steps:
- In an embedded chart, either select an existing text box, or create a new text box by clicking the Text Box tool on the Drawing toolbar and then drawing the text box in the chart.
In the formula bar, type an equal sign (=), followed by the name of the worksheet that contains the cell, an exclamation point (!), and the address of the cell that you want to link the text box to. The formula bar should contain a formula similar to the following:
=Sheet1!A1
Note that if the name of the worksheet contains any spaces, you should enclose the worksheet name in apostrophes, for example:
='My Worksheet'!A1
- Press ENTER.
Excel links the currently selected text box to the specified cell. Excel does not create a second text box.
STATUS
Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in the Microsoft products listed at the beginning of this article.
MORE INFORMATION
In Excel, text boxes can either contain text or a link to a cell in a worksheet. To link a text box to a cell, select the text box, and then enter a formula in the formula bar that refers to the cell.
Additional query words: XL97
Keywords: kbchart kbprb KB172857