Technology Q&A

by Stanley Zarowin

A dash to the dash…Remove your name from an Excel comment…
Word, heal thyself…Set sequenced due dates…Is it time to
switch to a Mac?…Calculator + gets an F–…Shortcuts

A DASH TO THE DASH
I know Word has an automatic way to add an em dash (—) while I’m typing, but I just can’t get it to work. What’s the trick?

Well, it’s not really a trick, but it does take some typing coordination. For example, take the sentence, Stan’s friend—George—is here. If you want the dash to appear between friend and George, press the hyphen key twice (the one to the left of the equal sign (=)) and then, without adding another space, type the next letter in the sentence. In other words, after you type the d, type two hyphens (without a space), and then type the G (also without a space). If you accidentally leave a space, it does no good to go back to eliminate it; that won’t produce the em dash. You must type the sequence in proper order without spaces.

Since I find the typing sequence awkward, I’ve taken a different tack: I’ve created a keyboard shortcut to the em dash.

Here’s how: Click on Insert, Symbol and go to the Font box and find the typeface you use. Then, in the Subset box, go to General Punctuation, highlight the em dash and click on Shortcut Key (see screenshot below).

The Shortcut Key I use is Ctrl+D (for dash). While you can use most any key combination, avoid the common ones—Ctrl+S for save, Ctrl+C for cut and Ctrl+V for paste. After you select your keys, click on Assign and Close (see screenshot below).

Now, whenever you want to insert an em dash, just press your Shortcut Keys.

REMOVE YOUR NAME FROM AN EXCEL COMMENT
Every time I add a comment in an Excel cell, it automatically inserts my name. Since I’m the only one using this computer and I don’t send my worksheets to anyone else, it’s a nuisance. How can I stop Excel from doing that?

This is another example of Excel’s second-guessing the user—and once again guessing wrong. Short of using a macro that you would have to trigger for each comment, I know of no simple way to stop the insertion. What I do is change the automatic full-name label to something innocuous—such as Note, a period or an asterisk (see screenshots below).

To do that, click on Tools, Options and the General tab. Then, in the box next to User name, delete your name and add the label of your choice. When you create the comment box, the colon will remain.

If you choose to use a macro instead, here’s what you do: Press Alt+F11 to start the Visual Basic Editor. Click on Module on the Insert menu and type the following macro code in a new module:

Sub New_Comment()

ActiveCell.AddComment ("")

ActiveCell.Comment.Visible = True

End Sub

Then, click on File and Close and Return to Microsoft Excel. To run the macro, select a cell in which you want the no-name comment to appear and click on Tools, point to Macro and click on Macros. Select the New_Comment macro and click on Run, which commands Excel to insert a new no-name comment for that cell. Finally, click in the text area of the comment and type away—anonymously.

If you want to add some fancy touches to your comments—such as changing the font style—consider this macro instead:

Sub Fancy_Comment()

'Create the comment.

ActiveCell.AddComment ("")

ActiveCell.Comment.Visible = True

ActiveCell.Comment.Shape.Select

With Selection

'Set the AutoShape.

.ShapeRange.AutoShapeType = _

msoShapeExplosion2

'Set background color.

.ShapeRange.Fill.PresetGradient _

msoGradientHorizontal, 1, _

msoGradientHorizon

'Set the font.

.Font.Name = "Arial"

.Font.FontStyle = "Bold Italic"

End With

End Sub

The good news about these methods is they provide a choice of whether to include your name—or anyone else’s for that matter—in the comment.

If anybody has a better solution, please send it to me and I will post it in a future column.

WORD, HEAL THYSELF
If you ever find Word acting oddly or documents becoming corrupted, consider running a program designed to find and fix Word problems. The program will guide you through a process of reloading your original installation CD.

To access it, open Word, click on Tools, Macro and then select Macros from the menu and choose Word commands.

Under the list of Word commands, select FixMe and then click on Run.

Then simply follow the instructions on the screen.

SET SEQUENCED DUE DATES
I prepare spreadsheets that list various due dates such as every Friday or every other Monday. Is there a fast way to do this?

Excel offers two choices. One uses simple formulas and the other applies Auto Fill Options.

Since dates that are a week apart are separated by seven days, the general formula is: =A1+7 where A1 is the starting date. Be sure to set the cells to the date format beforehand (see screenshot, below).

Then copy the formula in as many cells as you need. If you need a two-week spread, change the 7 in the formula to 14.

To set the schedule with the Auto Fill Options method, place a pair of one-week-apart dates in two adjoining cells and then right-click on the lower right corner of the cell with the later date (see screenshot, below).

Note: Don’t worry if a right-click on the corner of the cell fails to generate the drop-down menu shown above. Simply dragging your cursor down the column for as many cells as you need will produce the properly sequenced dates just as well.

IS IT TIME TO SWITCH TO A MAC?
I’ve been thinking about switching to a Macintosh computer. I’m hearing lots of good things about the Mac recently, and frankly I’m sick and tired of worrying about how vulnerable my PC is to viruses. Do you think a switch makes any sense?

Before I answer, I have to confess that I am biased. My first computer was a PC and I’ve never used anything but a PC. However, my wife is a Mac fan; she worked as a Mac support technician for many years and some of those sweet-little-nothings she whispers in my ear often are designed to undermine my Windows bias.

I will concede that the Mac has many technical advantages over the PC, not the least of which is that few nasty virus writers bother to try to infect the relatively few Mac computers. But as Mac use grows, so will its vulnerability.

The key question is: Is professional software available to meet your needs? If you think the new Intel-based Macs with Parallel Desktop for Mac not only runs Windows, but it runs it much faster than in the past, my response is: That is true, but not all high-end programs run well on that platform and some still run sluggishly. And while it’s also true that the next Mac operating system probably will overcome those obstacles by placing Windows in a separate partition on the Mac hard disk, that advantage also carries disadvantages. You can’t run Mac and Windows at the same time; you have to shut down and restart the Mac when you want to switch from Windows to the Mac operating system. And, of course, once you switch to Windows, you once again open the door to virus vulnerability.
So, my bias notwithstanding, I don’t think the accounting profession is quite ready for the Macintosh. However, I know there are a handful of CPAs out there who are Mac supporters. I’d love to hear their take on the question. Tell me how effectively—or poorly—Mac has served you. I’ll share your experiences and suggestions with readers.

CALCULATOR + GETS AN F–
The September column (page 83) featured an item on Microsoft’s new Calculator Plus, a free product that should have been renamed “Calculator Minus” or “Not Yet Ready for Prime Time.” The idea behind the product is superb: a handy little popup program that contains both a regular and scientific calculator and all sorts of conversion functions such as international currencies, volumes, weights and temperatures. As it turns out, this jack-of-all-tools cannot handle all the jobs it claims it can. An Edit function is suppose to expand the range of tools—for example, add a wide selection of currencies for rate conversion—but it provides more frustration than conversions. I apologize for not investigating the product further before recommending it.

SHORTCUTS
Excel: To toggle between displaying data and formulas, press Ctrl+~ (tilde).

Word and Excel: To cycle through all open documents or worksheets, press Ctrl+F6.

Word: To remove any added formatting to text, highlight the characters and press Ctrl+Space Bar or Ctrl+Shift+Z.

Word: To double underline text, highlight the characters and press Ctrl+Shift+D.

Word: To repeat the last word, phrase or other passage of text you just typed, move your cursor to the place you want it copied and press F4. The key must be used before you use any other Word command or type any other text.

Stanley Zarowin, a former JofA senior editor, is now a contributing editor to the magazine. His e-mail address is stanley@zarowin.com.