Microsoft Knowledge Base

• Microsoft Excel for Windows version 5.0
• Microsoft Excel for the Macintosh, version 5.0
• Microsoft Excel for Windows 95, version 7.0
• Microsoft Excel 97 for Windows

SUMMARY

In Microsoft Excel, if you have a local name "sales" and a global name "sales" that refer to Sheet1, and you make a copy of Sheet1 in that same workbook, you may receive one of the following messages:

   Use existing definition of 'sales'

   -or-

   A formula or sheet you want to move or copy contains the name 'sales',
   which already exists on the destination worksheet

MORE INFORMATION

The following example shows what happens when you have identical local and global names on the same sheet and you copy the sheet within the workbook.

Example

1. Open a new workbook.

2. On the Insert menu, point to Name, and then click Define.

3. Type "sales" in the Names In Workbook box.

4. Click OK. This creates a global name, accessible from every sheet in the workbook.

5. Select cell C1.

6. From the Insert menu, choose Name, and then choose Define.

7. Type "Sheet1!sales" (without quotation marks) in the Names In Workbook box.

8. Click OK. This creates a local name accessible only from Sheet1 that overrides the global name.

9. Hold down the CTRL key and drag the Sheet1 tab past the Sheet2 tab. The message, "Use existing definition of 'sales'," is displayed.

If you choose No, you are asked to enter a new name which is assigned to the cell that contains the original global name. This new name, however, is now a local name. The local name "sales" is copied to the new sheet.

REFERENCES

"User's Guide," version 5.0, pages 142-151