I have a master workbook which summarizes the jobs (workbooks) for each sales
person ... each sales person has a folder with workbooks with a standard
format (all totals are in the same cell location).

When I open the master workbook it asks if I want to update links ... I
answer yes ... for some workbooks Excel brings the name up on the screen for
me to highlight and click ""OK", for some workbooks it makes me go to the
correct folder where only the name for that specific workbook is on screen
.... then I highlight it and click "OK, for some workbooks ... Excel appears
to update the link without presently any information on screen.

There can be over 100 underlying workbooks towards the end of the calendar
year.

My problem is (1) how can I speed up the linking process so that all
workbooks are checked and their current information brought forward without
going one by one ... and (2) how can I be sure that all links are in fact
updated with the latest information from each workbook?

Any suggestions or add-on programs would be helpful.

Thank you.

If you say No to updating links and then go to Edit / Links, can you
see any difference between the links that are asking you to confirm the
filename and those that don't?

Can you give an example of a link source that doesn't update correctly
and one that does?

Which version of Excel?


Bill Manville
MVP - Microsoft Excel, Oxford, England
No email replies please - respond to newsgroup

Thank you for responding.

We are using Excel 2000.

The file names format is "30001_Ritz-Lot-13-C_________DJ-05-01.xls". The two
differences between the names would be the number of "_" spaces between the
last letter and the "DJ" part. Typically, the name fills the window where you
enter a new file name.

Is it possible that Excel just doesn't like names of this length?

"Bill Manville" wrote:

If you say No to updating links and then go to Edit / Links, can you
see any difference between the links that are asking you to confirm the
filename and those that don't?

Can you give an example of a link source that doesn't update correctly
and one that does?

Which version of Excel?


Bill Manville
MVP - Microsoft Excel, Oxford, England
No email replies please - respond to newsgroup

Presumably these unusual filenames are being generated by a program?
What would be the longest filename, including and excluding the path?
Does it look as though all the sources which have full path longer than
a certain length are the ones giving trouble?

If so, can you reduce the path length or the filename length?

Bill Manville
MVP - Microsoft Excel, Oxford, England
No email replies please - respond to newsgroup