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A number of OAK commands follow what Operis calls the One-Cell Rule. It is a rule that some built-in Excel commands also follow.
Here’s the rule:
If you have just one cell selected when you perform an action, the action applies to the whole of the active worksheet. But if you have two or more cells selected, the action is confined to the selected cells.
To understand this, try the following example:
| 1. | Select half a dozen or so cells on a blank worksheet; |
| 2. | Type the word “dog”; hold Ctrl down when you press ENTER, so that the word is typed into all of the selected cells; |
| 3. | Now select any one cell on the worksheet; |
| 4. | Use the Home | Editing | Find & Select | Replace command to change all occurrences of the word “dog” to “cat” (press the ‘Replace All’ button on the Replace dialog); notice that all the cells with text in them change; |
| 5. | Now select a portion of the worksheet that includes some, but not all, of the cells that now say “cat”; |
| 6. | Use the Excel Home | Editing | Find & Select | Replace command to change all occurrences of the word “cat” to “mouse”; notice that this time, only the cells that were inside the selected area are changed. |
Four Excel commands work in this way. They are:
| • | Edit Home | Editing | Find & Select | Replace, as we have just seen; |
| • | Edit Home | Editing | Find & Select | Find, which is related to it; |
| • | Home | Find & Select | Goto Special (at least for most of its options); |
| • | Formulas | Defined names | Defined name | Apply Names. |
Why this is useful
The following OAK commands intentionally work in the same way:
There are two OAK commands that notably do not follow this rule:
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