Formatting Worksheet Cells

Set the appearance of worksheet cells with a variety of formatting options. Formatting applied to a database header row applies to all of the associated database sub-rows. The worksheet formatting also applies to worksheets placed on a drawing.

You can apply Fill and Pen attributes to the worksheet image on the drawing (from the Attributes palette). However, it is not recommended to apply both cell formatting and attributes to the same object, because the results can be unpredictable.

To format worksheet cells:

1. Select the cells to format.

2. Select the command.

The Format Cells dialog box opens.

On the Number tab, set the number format for the selected cells.

Click to show/hide the parameters.

Parameter	Description
General	Specifies the default general format for any purpose
Decimal	Uses decimal numbers; enter a value for the number of decimal places, and if desired, select to use commas as separators
Scientific	Uses scientific numbers; enter a value for the number of decimal places
Fractional	Uses fractional numbers; enter the rounding value for fractions
Percentage	Uses percentages; enter a value for the number of decimal places
Dimension	Uses dimension numbers
Dimension Area	Uses the dimension area format (precision and units) as specified for this document; also displays the area units after the number
Dimension Volume	Uses the dimension volume format (precision and units) as specified for this document; also displays the volume units after the number
Angle	Determines the accuracy of angles and the measurement system used; the measurement system can be degrees/minutes/seconds, or decimal numbers up to eight decimal places
Date	Uses date formats; select the desired format from the list
Boolean	Select to evaluate the cell data to either True or False
Text	Select to enter a string of characters; the cell contents are treated as text, even if a number is in the string
Leader	Displays the specified leader text before the cell value (except for Boolean and Text formats)
Trailer	Displays the specified trailer text after the cell value (except for Boolean and Text formats)

3. Click the Alignment tab to specify text alignment options.

Click to show/hide the parameters.

Parameter	Description
Alignment	Sets the alignment of text in relation to the cell border
Horizontal	Specifies horizontal text alignment; select General to align text strings on the left and numbers on the right
Vertical	Specifies vertical text alignment
Text Orientation	Sets the text orientation
Vertical Text	Orients text vertically
Horizontal Text	Orients text horizontally
Wrap Text	Select to wrap text that exceeds the cell width (automatically adjusting row height); deselect to allow text that is longer than the cell width to “float” over empty adjacent cells. If adjacent cells contain content, unwrapped text may appear truncated. Numbers that exceed the cell width are displayed with # characters.
Merge Cells	Merges a range of selected spreadsheet cells into one cell; cell and border formatting and text wrapping are applied to the cell group rather than to the individual cells. The cell contents and format of only the upper left cell in the group apply to the merged cells. Data and formatting in the other cells will be lost during the merge. To split merged cells, select the merged cell group and then deselect Merge Cells.

4. Click the Font tab to specify the font, font size, style, and color of text in selected cells. See Formatting Text.

5. Click the Border tab to set cell border formatting options.

Select the Line Attributes, and then use the Presets or Preview buttons to add or remove border elements.

Click to show/hide the parameters.

Parameter	Description
Line Attributes
Style	Sets the line style and thickness for the border element
Color	Sets the line color for the border element
Presets
None	Removes all border formatting
Outline	Adds or removes a border only on the outside edges (top, bottom, left, and right) of the cell selection
Inside	Adds or removes a border only on the inside (horizontal and vertical) edges of the cell selection
Preview
Top	Adds or removes a border at the top of the cell selection
Horizontal	When more than one cell is selected, adds or removes a horizontal border between cells
Bottom	Adds or removes a border at the bottom of the cell selection
Left	Adds or removes a border on the left edge of the cell selection
Vertical	When more than one cell is selected, adds or removes a vertical border between cells
Right	Adds or removes a border on the right edge of the cell selection

6. Click the Patterns tab to specify fill options for the selected cells.

Click to show/hide the parameters.

Parameter	Description
Style	Select Solid or Pattern to apply a solid fill color or pattern to the selected cell
Color/Pattern	If Style is set to Solid, select the fill Color; if Style is set to Pattern, select the Pattern and the foreground and background colors

7. If Vectorworks Design Series is installed, click the Images tab to specify the type, size, view, and margin for images in the selected cells. For more information, see Inserting Images in Worksheet Cells.

Click to show/hide the parameters.

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The Attributes Palette

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