Spreadsheet help please

[MerlinsBeard]

I may not explain this very well so please bear with me

Basically i have a list of thousands of songs to re catalogue for a friend. I will need to do artist, song title. disc number and track number. THAT i can do; it's easy typing a list into a spreadsheet prog(works in my case)

BUT

What i want to do is have it do 1 page at a time, fill all cells downwards and then go back to the top of the page and start on those cells and work down so that going across the page i have title-artist-disc-track (space) title artist disc track

I need to be able to alphabetise the list and add to it every month or 2.

Also, when i print it i don't want it to say A B C etc along the top or 1 2 3 etc on the side

Is there any hope? Or have i volunteered for the impossible?

Or did that make no sense and i should go away and figure it out on my own?!

Alphabetse is easy - select all columns. Go to the tools menu and select "sort". Make sure you tick the box which says you have a hader row so the titles of the columns stay at the top.

Do you want the headers (title-artist-disc-track) at teh top of each page? I am working on that one. I know you can do it in wexcel - but works doesn't do everything.

Oh and I don't think it prints the ABCD and 123 anyway. If it does shout there is a way to make it go away - but teh default settings shouldn't print them.

I do want it to say artist track disc etc

and i can't see how to get rid of the ABCD 123 which it does print.

I need to get 2 lots of the 4 columns on 1 A4 piece of paper though or there are not enough spaces in the folder!
(Am re doing a friends karaoke books and the front section has the 2 "tables" but the back section of newer songs is just a list)

OK to solve the ABC...123

Go to File>Page set Up >Other Options

Make sure "Print column and row headers" is unchecked.

Not sure I can solve teh top row on every page thing in Works. Still looking though.

Also not sure that i can do 2 blocks on 1 page without some C&P fiddling....

OK....for your row headers...I can't do exactly what you want - but you can cheat with a bit of fiddling.

Go to View -->Header & footer.

Then type in teh header boxes the column headings. You will have to fiddle with the spacebar to get teh positions to line up with your columns but it should solve your problem. There may also be a bit of space between the header and the start of each column - but might actually look better?

If you don't want to cheat there is a program called OpenOffice which is free to download and has a few more functions (is very like excel).

OK - the only way that I can think of to get 2 sets of columns and stay alphabetised is to create 1 long list. Use the Sort menu to get it in alphabetical order.

Then copy and paste 50 (or however many fit downwards) rows into a new spreadsheet. Then rows 51-100 next to them

Then 101-150 next with teh 151-200 next to them etc.

thank you SMS, there are lots of things to try there. Had only come up with the master list and C&P thing. Will have a mess around when i have sorted the DSs. Have already re typed 409 songs long hand so didn't want to start again!

Will also have a look at OpenOffice too

At minimum, you should use the filter command to sort your lists by whichever heading you want.

If you are continually adding to your spreadsheet, it would be worthwhile to create a macro that incorporates and input form.

a macro?

sorry you have lost me!

i'm not sure if yours has this, but in excel you can get a few rows to reprint at the top of each page. It's in page set up, the under the 'sheet' tab, you can select certain rows to reapeat at the top of each page when the spreadsheets printed.

Macros are program commands within excel using the Virtual Basic language (VBA). You can do wahtever you want with Macros - very exciting.

i've not managed to fathom macros yet, they sound good, but mindboggling

If you are doing something big and repetitive, then I would recommend that you get your mind wrapped around macros. They are really quite amazing. If you google them, you may even find that someone else has already come up with the code for what you want to do.

Macro's are good...but don't work with MS works!

You also can't do what Eddas said in Works.

its big but not repetitive

i am basically typing (longhand) the song titles, artists, track numbers and disc numbers of every song that my friend has to combine several lists that he already has that are, quite frankly, a mess!

I don't have excel, only works and the karaoke song list creator will cost $99 which we are trying to avoid (the free version will not let me print, export or copy lists - i have already tried)

The other option with the type of thing MoM wants to do is to use a database. Openoffice has a fairly easy to use database interface.

am d/l OpenOffice now

will see if that's any easier

I am trying to think (maybe ST/Eddas can help me think) if you could use the print 2 pages per sheet option could help - but I don't think so as you wouldn't get them long and narrow.

managed to get a karaoke track list maker thingy but thank you so much for your help