Why doesn't Excel like "ACN"?

Cap'n Jack

Cap'n Jack

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Cap'n Jack
Acetonitrile is a commonly used solvent for liquid chromatography- instead of spelling it out I abbreviate it to ACN.

I typed ACN into an excel 2007 workbook. As I was closing the file I noticed it said CAN. It yped it again- it switched back to CAN. Ditto for #3.

I just triedit on excel 2002 at home- same thing happens. Type 'ACN it gets changed to CAN. Type ="ACN" and it shows up as CAN. I try putting a space just after the first quote- it still gets changed to CAN as soon as I close the quotes.

The only way I found to make ACN stick is with this little macro:

Sub AddACN()
ActiveSheet.Cells(1, 1).Value = "ACN"
End Sub

Spelling out Acetonitrile isn't so bad after all.

Anyone knows what gives? I hate software that thinks for you and gets it wrong.:incazzato:
 
I've ran into similar situations. The way I resolved it was to put a preceding * and change the font color to white. While there may be another or even better way, this is what worked for me in a pinch and still does.

I'll let the others tell you the correct way. :smile:
 
You need to check your autocorrect settings. In Excel 2007, your options

Proofing, AutoCorrect, replace as you type, has an entry to replace acn with can. Delete this entry and it goes away.

EDIT: This technique also works for the annoying HSI->HIS correction in Word. And the cool thing is you can make the change in any office application and it applies to all, as autocorrect is a shared module.
 
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Tim- that looks like the answer. In word, if I re-type an auto correction it sticks the second time. I do see CAN as a replacement for ACN.

I never noticed autocorrect- I guess my mistakes are different from everyone elses'.
 
You can fix that too - put HSI in the exception list for TWo INitial CApitals, and in the Auto Correct options like ACN.
 
When you type ACN and enter excel will auto "correct" the text. Immediately
hit cmd-Z to undo the stupid auto "correct" "feature".
 
If you are working with words, you should use WordPerfect instead of Word. Much, much better.
 
I gave up on Word imPerfect for Windoze back in the early 90's. I waited through 3 versions.
  • It was slow
  • It had compatibility issues since it insisted on installing its own video driver
  • I created a series of Indian language typefaces & sold them. They worked fine on MS Word, ChemDraw, Visual Basic, TurboPascal for Windows, Excel, MathCad, LabView and others- everything I tested EXCEPT Word imPerfect for Windows. I called WordPerfect- they said it was my typefaces (they followed TrueType standards). They held to this even though they worked fine in all the other programs tested.
Are you using Word Perfect 5.1 (for DOS)? That IMHO was the LAST good version of Word Perfect. It only got worse when Corel took them over (another loser company).
 
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Bob Noel said:
When you type ACN and enter excel will auto "correct" the text. Immediately
hit cmd-Z to undo the stupid auto "correct" "feature".
Click to expand...


Is the CMD button a MAC feature? I don't have a CMD button (I remember that term being used for the cloverleaf exit button on a MAC).

Nothing against MACS- my company gave me a PC.

I tried CTRL-Z and ALT-Z. Ctrl-Z is the undo button, but it "undoes" to before the my entry.

Thank you for the suggestion!
 
Simple solution....use VI :)

Or you will just have to come to terms with the fact that Excel, and most other M$ products are smarter than you, and know what you wanted to do. Just like Excel knows that you couldn't possible want to have leading zeroes in your data....
 
vontresc said:
Simple solution....use VI :)

Or you will just have to come to terms with the fact that Excel, and most other M$ products are smarter than you, and know what you wanted to do. Just like Excel knows that you couldn't possible want to have leading zeroes in your data....
Click to expand...

No kidding. Why would I want to do that? Maybe because I keep a copy of my amateur radio log in Excel, and times always have 4 digits, even if the leading one or two are zeroes? I've got to dig around and find a fix for that annoyance. Oh, and it always reformats the date as I enter it (don't recall this problem with Excel 2003, but Excel 2007 annoys the heck out of me with this quirk). I want it formatted the way I enter it, not the way some mushhead at MS thinks I wanted it.
 
Ghery said:
No kidding. Why would I want to do that? Maybe because I keep a copy of my amateur radio log in Excel, and times always have 4 digits, even if the leading one or two are zeroes? I've got to dig around and find a fix for that annoyance. Oh, and it always reformats the date as I enter it (don't recall this problem with Excel 2003, but Excel 2007 annoys the heck out of me with this quirk). I want it formatted the way I enter it, not the way some mushhead at MS thinks I wanted it.
Click to expand...

Format the column to text. Works in 2007, 2003, 2000, 1997...

In 2007, you can also set up custom formats.
Select cells you wish to format
Right click...format cells
Category: Custom
Enter 0000 in the field to the right.

It will display as 0506, and still remains a number for sorting purposes.
 
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Cap'n Jack said:
I gave up on Word imPerfect for Windoze back in the early 90's. I waited through 3 versions.
  • It was slow
  • It had compatibility issues since it insisted on installing its own video driver
  • I created a series of Indian language typefaces & sold them. They worked fine on MS Word, ChemDraw, Visual Basic, TurboPascal for Windows, Excel, MathCad, LabView and others- everything I tested EXCEPT Word imPerfect for Windows. I called WordPerfect- they said it was my typefaces (they followed TrueType standards). They held to this even though they worked fine in all the other programs tested.
Are you using Word Perfect 5.1 (for DOS)? That IMHO was the LAST good version of Word Perfect. It only got worse when Corel took them over (another loser company).
Click to expand...

Funny, some of what you describe above sounds like my complaints about Word. I do recall their special video drivers, though, which were a nightmare (I think it had to do with a hasty port of DOS to Win). THat's ancient history, though.

It was Novell, not Corel, that harmed WP, but I agree that 5.1 for DOS was the best word processor - still is, come to think of it, but I do not run DOS apps anymore.

I am up to WPWin X3, it is rock-solid and (unlike Word) there are no issues with files created on one version of WP not working on another which is either older or newer. I figure I save about $300.00 per desktop on each new machine purchase, and that's before the incalculable expense of lost productivity as a result of Word's "features."

Fortunately, WP continues to be well-supported, and for text use, it simply cannot be beat.
 
argh. yes. I should have typed ctrl-Z.

It should undo the auto "correct"...
 
SCCutler said:
Funny, some of what you describe above sounds like my complaints about Word. I do recall their special video drivers, though, which were a nightmare (I think it had to do with a hasty port of DOS to Win). THat's ancient history, though.

It was Novell, not Corel, that harmed WP, but I agree that 5.1 for DOS was the best word processor - still is, come to think of it, but I do not run DOS apps anymore.

I am up to WPWin X3, it is rock-solid and (unlike Word) there are no issues with files created on one version of WP not working on another which is either older or newer. I figure I save about $300.00 per desktop on each new machine purchase, and that's before the incalculable expense of lost productivity as a result of Word's "features."

Fortunately, WP continues to be well-supported, and for text use, it simply cannot be beat.
Click to expand...

My bad- you're right- it was Novell. I think Corel picked up WP though- or was it the other way around? I know Corel is still around.
 
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