Nudge paragraphs in a Word document
Thursday, October 08, 2009 11:57 AM
Sometimes you need just a little more space before a paragraph. You have to update the style to reflect a little more space before or after each paragraph.
Microsoft Word
Nudge paragraphs in a Word document
Sometimes you need just a little more space before a paragraph. If you want that extra space distributed evenly throughout the document, update the style to reflect a little more space before or after each paragraph.
But if you need a quick fix for a single paragraph, use the [Ctrl]+0 (that's a zero) keystroke combination.
- Press [Ctrl]+0 to add a little space before the current paragraph. Doing so will add 12 points of space before the paragraph--it's just a slight nudge really.
- Press [Ctrl]+0 again to remove 12 points of space. This keyboard combination works with or without text so you can add the space before you even type the paragraph.
Microsoft Excel
Four ways to speed up Excel calculation time
Complex formulas and repeated references can bog Excel down in a hurry. These basic rules will help optimize your workbook operations.
How, when, and what Excel calculates is a huge subject. In general, cell references and calculation operations are the main performance vampires. Reasonable formulas and even lots of data don't usually slow things down. Complex formulas and repetitive references are the real culprits.
Here are a few basic guidelines that should help you avoid calculation bottlenecks:
- Avoid complex and array formulas. Use more rows and columns to store intermediate values and use fewer complex calculations.
- Reduce the number of references in each formula to the bare minimum. Copied formulas are notorious for repeating references and calculations. Move repeated calculations to a cell and reference that cell in the original formula.
- Always use the most efficient function possible: Sort data before performing lookups; minimize the number of cells in SUM and SUMIF; replace a slow array with a user-defined function, and so on.
- Avoid volatile functions if possible. Excel recalculates these functions with each recalculation, even if nothing has changed. Too many volatile functions (RAND(), NOW(), TODAY(), and so on) can slow things down.
VBA
Use VBA to return the next Saturday
Looking ahead is part of most projects. Whether you're scheduling downtime or a special event, knowing the date of the next Saturday can come in handy.
In that case, the following VBA function procedure should help:
Public Function FindNextSaturday(dte As Date) As Date
'Return the first Saturday following dte
FindNextSaturday = dte + (7 - Weekday(dte))
End Function
Simply pass a date to the function--but be sure to delimit it properly using the # character as follows:
#09/30/09#
The dte + (7 - Weekday(dte)) component adds the number of days between the passed date and the next Saturday to the current date--the result being the next Saturday. This function should work in any application that supports VBA.
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