Microsoft Excel references
When importing an Excel sheet into Vectorworks as a worksheet, you have the option to create a reference link. This allows you to quickly and easily update the worksheet whenever the Excel file changes.
The Organization dialog box and, if a Design Suite product is installed, the Navigation palette, list the referenced file and its status on the References tab. In the Resource Manager, the name of the worksheet is italicized to indicate that it's referenced. Also, the worksheet window and Object Info palette indicate that the active worksheet is referenced.
Excel referencing cannot be used to update data in a worksheet database and then transfer the data to associated records.
Updating references
If the Excel file has changed since the last update, the names of the worksheet and referenced file are highlighted in red wherever they appear in Vectorworks, to indicate that the worksheet needs to be updated.
You can set up the reference to automatically update when the file containing the worksheet is opened; see Adding and editing reference files. As needed, update the reference manually.
To manually update a reference, do one of the following:
From the References tab of the Organization dialog box or Navigation palette, select the reference and then select Update.
Open the referenced worksheet and select File > Recalculate Active Worksheet.
Right-click the worksheet image in the drawing and select Recalculate Selected Worksheet from the context menu.
Select the worksheet image and click Recalculate from the Object Info palette.
Editing a referenced worksheet
If you attempt to edit the referenced worksheet, an alert displays to warn you that the changes will be lost the next time the reference is updated. Select one of the following options.
Abort the operation: Cancels the edit.
Open and edit the referenced Excel file: Opens the Excel file so you can edit it; you can then update the worksheet to import the changes.
Break the reference and edit this worksheet: Breaks the reference and allows you to proceed with the edit. The worksheet is no longer linked to the Excel file.
Edit this worksheet: Allows you to proceed with the edit, leaving the reference in place. The worksheet window shows two asterisks (**) in the title bar to indicate that the worksheet contains data that will be lost if the reference is updated. To update the Excel file with the changes from the worksheet, select File > Push Data to Excel File from the worksheet window.
If you update the reference without pushing the data to the Excel file, an alert displays. You can then either proceed with the update (overwriting the Vectorworks edits), push the Vectorworks edits to the Excel file, or cancel the operation.
