excel tables import into layout view

[nimitz]

Hi all,
I am trying to mimic a mxd that was done a year ago with updated data. The layout view has monitoring sites that have updated
data. The problem I have is I want to make the tables look EXACTLYthe same as the previous. The tables have been imported from
excel done through cut-and-paste. I am trying to copy the font, borders, color, etc, but it's a little different. I'm curious if there was a "better" way
to get the tables to look alike. I can get it close, but it's not exact.

Thanks all and have a good weekend,

R~

[DonovanCameron]

Two ways to do this.

1st, format the table in excel how you need it to look.
Highlight the cells you need and Copy (Ctrl+C) then Paste (Ctrl+V) into the arcmap layout.

That leads to a more static type of table.

A better way is to use the import tool.

From arcmap, select the "Insert" pulldown menu and select "Object...".
Click the radio button beside "Create from File" and "Browse..." to your file and once found, press OK.

This table that gets inserted can then be formatted on the fly.
Simply double click it, which will open up the table in excel where you can apply your required formatting and see it in the layout in real-time. No need to save the excel file, just format and close it to see the changes in the layout.

I've found only one small drawback for using the "Insert" method and that is that there seems to be a limit to the amount of records that will be brought in.

I can't remember what the row limit was or if it was a bug that got patched for 10.1....

[nimitz]

Hey Don,
Thanks for the reply. The second method you cite is keeping the size and font EXACTLY what I need, HOWEVER, when I insert the
excel spreadsheet, it's adding on extra rows (blank ones). I'm wondering how to just insert the rows I need. I assume it has
something to do with the excel formatting in the file I'm insert?

Thanks

[DonovanCameron]

The second method you cite is keeping the size and font EXACTLY what I need, HOWEVER, when I insert the
excel spreadsheet, it's adding on extra rows (blank ones). I'm wondering how to just insert the rows I need. I assume it has
something to do with the excel formatting in the file I'm insert?

I've never had that happen. My only issues were the opposite with not all records being displayed because there were too many.

Sounds like there could be a suspect character (like a space) or some type of formatting (border lines applied, cell format -number or text is explicitly defined) in a cell somewhere down there.

I would open a new excel spreadsheet, and copy and paste from the old file to the new file, then insert that new file into the layout.

[nimitz]

I would open a new excel spreadsheet, and copy and paste from the old file to the new file, then insert that new file into the layout.

PERFECT! This worked out great!