I just noticed something strange about Excel...

[DaveVikingPE]

I've put together a snazzy Excel 2000/NT4 spreadsheet for computing lateral pressures on a sheet pile wall due to a strip load surcharge. It's snazzy in that I've used ActiveX controls that allow the user to change various parameters in the problem by means of scroll bars and thus simultaneously viewing such changes. That is, you move the scroll bar and at the same time (no waiting until you click off the scroll bar, unlike using a Form scroll bar), for instance, the distance between the strip load and the wall changes on a neat graphic.

That's not the strange part.

The strange part is this: each time I do a print preview, one of my text boxes is "nudged" a bit. I've never seen anything like this. I've got the text oriented vertically, if that matters. What on earth is going on? Is my computer possessed? (Probably...) This is sick!

 

[ivymike]

Does it move over a little bit more every time you preview, or just move over while you're previewing and jump back when you're done?

 

[DaveVikingPE]

Ho-ho! So I'm not the only one!

It doesn't jump back when I'm done. I checked out whether or not being in design mode or not mattered (didn't) - as two of my controls were jumping and getting resized, too! However, if I try to move 'em back, they jump back to where they were. It seems that the actual print looks like everything is normal, after I put the stuff back the second time.

I think, several years ago, I experienced this kind of stuff with an Access project I was working on. I figured M$ had worked out the bug a while ago.

 

[DaveVikingPE]

Hey! What's this obscure check box called "automatic size" in the "Format Text Box" dialogue? Ohhhhh...

Jeez, one more thing to "always" turn off.

 

[yakpol]

Just play a little bit more with this spreadsheet and some of the ActiveX controls will become frozen. I had to replace all of them with form controls.

 

[DaveVikingPE]

Argh! I'm going to have to do that since I want a Macintosh version as well - and Mac & ActiveX don't get along.

Form controls aren't "fast" enough, but they work.