Need help please! Excel question!

[bcmind]

I have an excel file on labtop and a copy of the exact file on server in office.

Here is the problem I ran into now:

The excel file on server will be update frequently by my assistant in office and I'll be updating the excel file on my labtop also. How do I make the 2 files synchronize, so that I don't have to worry about missing data?

My guess is that I have to "Link" the 2 files together, but I just don't know how to do it.

Please help me out!

 

[Valhalla1]

its "laptop" by the way


you could write a small batch file that copies the file from the server to your local hard drive, and schedule it with the task scheduler to run as often as you like.. say, once an hour - so once every hour the server file is copied to your drive and its updated.

 

[bcmind]

oops... thx for pointing that typo out! 😉

so how do I make a batch file and what should be in it?

Please let me know!

 

[Workin']

There is no way to synchronize 2 different Excel files. Valhalla1's suggestion will make sure the same version of the file is on both machines, but it WILL NOT merge the contents of the 2 files.

If you are both making changes at the same time, you on your laptop, and your assistant on the file server, you will have to merge the changes using cut and paste manually, which is a huge pain in the ass.

 

[Argo]

You can also use briefcase, but once again that won't merge the files.

 

[Bglad]

Or offline files which will update automatically at predetermined times, unlike briefcase. But it still won't merge if changes are made in both files.

 

[Shadjakin]

So if you are both entering data in separate areas of the spreadsheet, you could break the workbook into 3 parts.

1) Your main page with links to the two other data pages
2) Your data page
3) Your assistants data page

Then you have a copy of 1, 2 and 3 on your laptop while your assistant has the same at the office. You send them copies of your workbook when you make changes... so he / she has current data. And they send copies of their changes to you.

But this solution is entirely dependant upon you both entering separate data sets. If you both enter some of the same data then you get to do it by hand.