Why use Excel? 2

[fumei]

I know this forum is a bit top-heavy with Excel users. May I ask a question?

Why do people use Excel for text-only (ahem...) documentation?

I get these Excel files (listing of courses) that contain nothing but text. No numbers, no formula or calculations. Just text.

They are a major pain in the butt for me. Depending on how the cells have been sized, you get things like:

Microsoft
Office 2000:
Deployment
and
Administratio
n

Or cell text that is visibly truncated. Like:

11090

which is actually 110906_Eng (a hyperlink to a page on the course).

This seems to me to be poor understanding of documentation, and to me, difficult to use as documentation. And frankly, from a maintainence point of view, HARDER to - ahem - edit.

I don't get it.

faq219-2884

Gerry
My paintings and sculpture

 

[SkipVought]

Gerry,

I don't get it either.

Maybe, if you're only comfortable using a pen knife, you might try to turn a screw with a knife blade, rather than venturing into the unknown of screwdriver "technology".

Skip,
[sub]
Just traded in my old subtlety...
for a NUANCE![/sub]

 

[mintjulep]

Because some people don't know any better.

Because some people think that Excel is the thing to use if what you really want is a table-formatted report.

Because some people think that if you do something in Excel, and call it at "database", it actually is a database.

 

[TonyJollans]

Don't forget the other side of the coin - the people who use a table in Word and expect it to behave like Excel. People are happiest using a familiar tool, even if it's not the best for the job at hand - even, perhaps especially, if they're not competent with it.

Enjoy,
Tony

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[Madawc]

Excel does have tabs. This can be more convenient, a quick look at different sections rather than going via a 'Table of Contents.

Madawc Williams (East Anglia, UK). Using Windows XP & Crystal 10

 

[MakeItSo]

But there is always the outline view which you can use in Word...
;-)

[navy]"We had to turn off that service to comply with the CDA Bill."[/navy]
- The Bastard Operator From Hell

 

[AnotherHiggins]

I think Tony hit the nail on the head. People tend to stick to what they're comfortable with.

I used to work with a guy who wrote an entire manual in Excel. The manual was to be printed, so cell truncation wasn't an issue for him. He was just more comfortable formatting in Excel.

While I think writing a many-paged document in Excel is a bit silly, I can kind of see where he was coming from. I don't have any formal training in Word and, to be honest, it sometimes seems erratic and/or 'magic'. I know that it's just me, not the software. But still, there have been times when, in my perception at least, everything has been going just fine and then, BANG. I press enter and the formatting of the previous paragraph changes (or some other annoying change occurs).

Like I said, I know that it's just my lack of understanding that's to blame. And goodness knows that Excel has it's own quirks where it 'tries to help' by assuming it knows what you're trying to do. But it is still frustrating.

Perhaps one reason that people use the wrong tool is that when you're using a product 'off-label', you're less likely to trigger it's auto-correct features (like Word changing line spacing or Excel changing "1-11" to a date).

[tt][blue]-John[/blue][/tt]
[tab][red]The plural of anecdote is not data[/red]

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[fneily]

Interesting. Having for the past 11 years teaching in college and in businesses, most "administrative assistants" know Word. So do their bosses. So anytime they need a table, they create one in Word. Then try to do things like sort/filter. They also do their math in Word. Reason - nobody ever taught them Excel or wouldn't pay for any training in Excel. And when they do take an Excel course, you can see the panic set in when you mention they'll at least have to use Algebra, something they ignored in eight grade and never took again.
In business, I've found that Excel is used mainly in the accounting department.

Shoot, most users of word have trouble with cut/paste. They're simple amazed at what Paste Special can do.

 

[fumei]

Well of course Tony is quite correct, and he and I have had many comments together over the years regarding this. Skip as well has posted many comments about people trying to do things in Word that would be better done in Excel.

It really was a rhetorical question I suppose, and reflected my frustration rather than an attempt to get a real "answer".

People will indeed use what they are familiar with, but it is most frustrating when they use something they are NOT truly familiar with, and use it badly.

Is there any, even partial, solution? I doubt it. It is a matter of knowledge/training, which unfortunately - especially for me as that is my job! - generally gets a low priority.

Sigh. Just got a "Installation Guide" (that is, the "documentation" for an in-house application)...60 "pages" of text. It is an Excel file.

I certainly hear mintjulep's comment. People (some of whom really should know better) constantly calling an Excel spreadsheet a database.

Oh well. Thanks for letting me rant. Time to soldier on.

faq219-2884

Gerry
My paintings and sculpture

 

[herkiefan]

I use Excel for EVERYTHING. Even when its not the right tool for the job.

Mainly because I loathe Word, Powerpoint, and some of the other MS products.

“Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former.”-Albert Einstein

 

[Madawc]

herkiefan, you should have Notepad and Wordpad available as simple options for word processing.

Madawc Williams (East Anglia, UK). Using Windows XP & Crystal 10

 

[dham63]

From my own experience one of the issues is that I ususally have multi functional documents that have elements in them that may be better suited to one or another application. I try to look at the whole document and decide what is the best app for the majority of the functionality, but invariably I am left with an element that isn't best suited to that app and I have to struggle with a work around for that one piece. Often when I am looking for help on here, that is the situation I am dealing with.

 

[fumei]

multi functional documents" - this is a trend I strongly object to.

First of all, to me, "documents" mean just that. Documents.

That being said, I agree that we are seeing more and more multi-funtional....ummmm..."things". Experiences?

Information sources that span local machine/network server on-screen documents combined with intranet/internet web pages.

I suppose it is, in theory, an improvement. However, practically speaking, IMO, they simply are not done very well, and are not - so far - an improvement.

herkiefan, if you are the only one using the files, and that works for you, who could possibly object? Use whatever you want to. The point being is that if files are to be used by others this can be an issue.

The reality is that Word handles text very well - far better than Excel can - and if the contents of the "document" is text, that to me is the application most appropriate.

I use Word for text.
I use Excel for numbers (first), and/or numbers and text.
I use a database (Oracle here) for a database.
I use Powerpoint for presentations.
I use Quark for real layout, that is, content that is going to press (formal, professional level printing).

I do NOT use Word for layout, as it is not a layout application.

I do NOT use Word for numeric manipulations, as it is not a spreadsheet application.

And on and on and on.

The blurring of applications (Microsoft in particular) into some sort of generalized application that does EVERYTHING (usually one thing well, and everything else poorly...) is, to me, a dumbing down of the use of applications.

For example, is there even one serious professional level web developer (even just simply HTML) who uses Word as a HTML editor? OK...there may be one somewhere. But if there is, they are not serious enough to actually look at the HTML that Word produces.

I wish they would totally remove all HTML output from Word entirely.

faq219-2884

Gerry
My paintings and sculpture

 

[TonyJollans]

That being said, I agree that we are seeing more and more multi-funtional....ummmm..."things". Experiences?

We need a replacement for Binder - preferably one that works

Enjoy,
Tony

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[fumei]

one that works"...

LOL!


Gerry