preserve the link to a single Excel cell when updating link

[John_Craighead@adobeforums.com]

I want to import a single cell from an Excel spreadsheet into InDesign CS. Initially, I am placing a single cell into a text frame and get the correct text. However, after editing the spreadsheet, the link changes and imports the entire speadsheet (all cells) to the frame rather than 1 cell.

Is there a way to preserve the unique cell when updating the link? My ultimate goal is to enter all my prices into the spreadsheet, then update my sales brochure by editing the spreadsheet and updating the link (rather than editing the text directly in hundreds of places in the InDesign document).
- JC

[Stu_Bloom@adobeforums.com]

Here is a rather crude first attempt at a program that associates cells in an Excel range with individual cells in an InDesign table and allowa the InDesign table cells to be updated with changed values from the Excel range, without affecting the formatting of the InDesign table.

This program has been tested with Excel 2002 for Windows and InDesign 3.0 (InDesign CS) for Windows. It may or may not work with other versions of either application.

The program consists of a single Excel template file, with VBA code in one code module and one class module. The VBA code is not protected in any way, so it can be examined and modified as desired.

This program is hereby placed in the public domain.

Use at your own risk. No warranties are expressed or implied. The author specifically disclaims all liability, and by using the program, you agree to be bound by the disclaimer of liability. I strongly recommend you save your InDesign file before updating values and that you check the results before you save over your saved file.

This is very much a quick-and-dirty solution, with minimal error handling. It has also received very minimal testing. The interface is as crude as it gets.

Download the Zip and read the PDF file included in it at:

<http://www.earlvillepost.com/InDesign%20Table%20Manager>