Microsoft Office

Part IV
Using Advanced Excel Features
Normally, you don’t want to save a workbook that has links to an unsaved document. To avoid this prompt,
simply save the source workbook first.
You also can create links to documents that don’t exist. You may want to do so if you’ll be using a source
workbook from a colleague but the file hasn’t yet arrived. When you enter an external reference formula
that refers to a nonexistent workbook, Excel displays its Update Values dialog box, which resembles the
Open dialog box. If you click Cancel, the formula retains the workbook name that you entered, but it
returns a #REF! error. When the source workbook becomes available, you can choose Office ➪ Prepare ➪
Edit Links To Files to update the link (see “Updating links,” later in this chapter). After doing so, the error
goes away, and the formula displays its proper value.
Opening a workbook with external reference formulas
If you open a workbook that contains links, the links are updated to display the current values in the source
workbook.
But what if the source workbook is no longer available? If Excel can’t locate a source workbook that’s referred
to in a link formula, it displays a dialog box, shown in Figure 27.2, that asks you what to do. If you click
Continue, the file opens, even though the links aren’t valid (it displays the previous values for the links). If
you click Edit Links, Excel displays its Edit Links dialog box, shown in Figure 27.3. You can use the Change
Source button to specify a different workbook or click Break Link to destroy the link.
You can also access the Edit Links dialog box by choosing Office ➪ Prepare ➪ Edit Links To Files. The
dialog box that appears lists all source workbooks, plus other types of links to other documents.
FIGURE 27.2
Excel displays this dialog box if it can’t locate a linked file.
FIGURE 27.3
The Edit Links dialog box.
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