Making A Cell Entry

Did you ever stop to think of what goes on behind the scenes in Excel when you enter something into a cell? I came up with a rough list:

First keystroke:

  • If the cell locked and the sheet is protected, display error
  • Update the formula bar and/or the cell
  • If it's an equal sign, at symbol, minus sign, or plus sign change status bar and Name box
  • Disable inappropriate menu items
  • Suggest Autocomplete, if possible and enabled

Other keystrokes:

  • Update the formula bar and the cell display
  • Monitor keyboard for things such as Ctrl+B and Ctrl+I
  • Monitor keyboard for things such Shift+F3 to insert a function
  • Monitor toolbars for formatting changes
  • Suggest Autocomplete, if possible and enabled

Enter key (or arrow key):

  • Check for valid formula and display error or pop-up
  • Check for names used
  • Check for external references, and retrieve values if necessary
  • Check for dependent formulas and recalc if necessary
  • Check the 1-2-3 formula evaluation setting
  • Check for data validation
  • Check of conditional formatting
  • Check the AutoCorrect list and adjust if necessary
  • Check if the cell has a style, and adjust appropriately
  • Check to see if it's part of an array
  • If it's a number, display it using appropriate number format
  • Display it using correct alignment
  • Display it using correct font, size and attributes
  • Adjust row height, if necessary
  • Autoadjust column width if appropriate
  • Update formula bar
  • Check for a VBA event-procedure (e.g., Worksheet_Change)
  • Check if it's a hyperlink
  • Activate next cell if appropriate
  • Display formula error SmartTag if necessary
  • Check to see if the cell is in the Watch list
  • Check to see if cell is contained within a camera tool picture
  • Update charts, if necessary
  • If text-to-speech is active, speak the cell contents

What have I missed?

9 Comments

  1. Hui...:

    Always monitor the keboard for the F1 Help key

    On random arrow key presses shut excel and display BSOD

    Hui…

  2. Mpemba:

    If rand()

  3. etcwarrionr:

    If the keystroke is the last character in a cell address, Excel colors the text in the address bar and adds a colored outline to the referenced cell on the worksheet.

  4. Sam:

    John,

    You missed

    Disable Macros - You cant run macros in the cell edit mode

    Regards
    Sam

  5. Kruncher:

    Related to “display error or pop-up” for Enter key, show circular error and reference in status bar if necessary.

  6. Bob:

    Color code the parentheses

  7. Bob:

    In the other keystrokes section, color code the parentheses.

  8. Jim Thomlinson:

    With respect to:
    Check for dependent formulas and recalc if necessary

    The cell needs to be tagged as dirty (if appropriate) to be recalced

  9. Zorba Eisenhower:

    You missed … if I can’t work out what the h*ll’s going on, go to the error routines and display something beginning with #

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