Microsoft Office

Linking and Consolidating
Worksheets
In this chapter, I discuss two procedures that are common in the world of
spreadsheets: linking and consolidation. Linking is the process of using
references to cells in external workbooks to get data into your worksheet.
Consolidation combines or summarizes information from two or more worksheets
(which can be in multiple workbooks).
IN THIS CHAPTER
Linking workbooks
Consolidating worksheets
Linking Workbooks
When you link worksheets, you connect them together in such a way that one
depends on the other. The workbook that contains the link formulas (also known
as external reference formulas) is called the dependent workbook. The workbook
that contains the information used in the external reference formula is called the
source workbook.
When you consider linking workbooks, you may ask yourself the following question:
If Workbook A needs to access data in another workbook (Workbook B),
why not just enter the data into Workbook A in the first place? In some cases,
you can. But the real value of linking becomes apparent when the source workbook
is being continually updated by another person or group. Creating a link in
Workbook A to Workbook B means that, in Workbook A, you always have access
to the most recent information in Workbook B because Workbook A is updated
whenever Workbook B changes.
Linking workbooks also can be helpful if you need to consolidate different files.
For example, each regional sales manager may store data in a separate workbook.
You can create a summary workbook that first uses link formulas to retrieve specific
data from each manager’s workbook and then calculates totals across all
regions.
Linking also is useful as a way to break up a large workbook into smaller files.
You can create smaller workbooks that are linked together with a few key external
references.
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