Transposing column to row doesn't work

Yes, I know the official way to do this..but it's not working.

I select a column in worksheet 1.
I click cell A1 in worksheet 2.
I select Edit>Paste Special, click the Transpose checkbox, and select OK.
I receive this message:
"The information cannot be pasted because the Copy area and the paste area
[dontcha just love the inconsistency in capitalization?] are not the same
size and shape. [of course not--i'm transposing!!] Try one of the following:
"* Click a single cell, and then paste. [which is what I did that didn't work]
"* Select a rectangle that's the same size and shape, and then paste."

Since neither of these worked, the next question is, why the @#$#$ not?

TIA,

"Joe" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Yes, I know the official way to do this..but it's not working.
>
> I select a column in worksheet 1.
> I click cell A1 in worksheet 2.
> I select Edit>Paste Special, click the Transpose checkbox, and select OK.
> I receive this message:
> "The information cannot be pasted because the Copy area and the paste area
> [dontcha just love the inconsistency in capitalization?] are not the same
> size and shape. [of course not--i'm transposing!!] Try one of the
following:
> "* Click a single cell, and then paste. [which is what I did that didn't
work]
> "* Select a rectangle that's the same size and shape, and then paste."
>
> Since neither of these worked, the next question is, why the @#$#$ not?
>
> TIA,
>

It doesn't work because Excel has far more rows than columns. Make sure you
don't select more than 256 rows in step 1

Best Regards,
Fredrik

If you selected the whole column -- all 65536 cells, how did you plan for that
to fit in the 256 columns when you transpose?

Try changing your range you Copied to SomeThinG SmallEr. <bg>.

Joe wrote:
>
> Yes, I know the official way to do this..but it's not working.
>
> I select a column in worksheet 1.
> I click cell A1 in worksheet 2.
> I select Edit>Paste Special, click the Transpose checkbox, and select OK.
> I receive this message:
> "The information cannot be pasted because the Copy area and the paste area
> [dontcha just love the inconsistency in capitalization?] are not the same
> size and shape. [of course not--i'm transposing!!] Try one of the following:
> "* Click a single cell, and then paste. [which is what I did that didn't work]
> "* Select a rectangle that's the same size and shape, and then paste."
>
> Since neither of these worked, the next question is, why the @#$#$ not?
>
> TIA,

--

Dave Peterson

Actually, I planned that Excel would create columns for each row I was
transposing. The fact that Excel has an archaic (and hidden) limit to 256
columns isn't my fault...it's a problem of the designers who continue that
limit.

So, my recommendation to MS is, redesign the product to fit a square, not a
rectangle--the number of rows should equal the number of columns available.
Secondarily, I recommend that the MS tech writers add the limitation info to
the help topic covering transposition.

Instead of forcing people to adapt to technology, maybe we need to force
technology to adapt to people.

joe
"Dave Peterson" wrote:

> If you selected the whole column -- all 65536 cells, how did you plan for that
> to fit in the 256 columns when you transpose?
>
> Try changing your range you Copied to SomeThinG SmallEr. <bg>.
>
> Joe wrote:
> >
> > Yes, I know the official way to do this..but it's not working.
> >
> > I select a column in worksheet 1.
> > I click cell A1 in worksheet 2.
> > I select Edit>Paste Special, click the Transpose checkbox, and select OK.
> > I receive this message:
> > "The information cannot be pasted because the Copy area and the paste area
> > [dontcha just love the inconsistency in capitalization?] are not the same
> > size and shape. [of course not--i'm transposing!!] Try one of the following:
> > "* Click a single cell, and then paste. [which is what I did that didn't work]
> > "* Select a rectangle that's the same size and shape, and then paste."
> >
> > Since neither of these worked, the next question is, why the @#$#$ not?
> >
> > TIA,
>
> --
>
> Dave Peterson
>

Joe

Try your luck at this site.....

http://register.microsoft.com/mswish/suggestion.asp

In the meantime, you are stuck with the not hidden(see Help on Specifications)
limit of 256 columns if you use Excel.

Quattro Pro has many more columns and rows available.


Gord Dibben Excel MVP

On Wed, 23 Mar 2005 08:57:05 -0800, Joe <[email protected]> wrote:

>Actually, I planned that Excel would create columns for each row I was
>transposing. The fact that Excel has an archaic (and hidden) limit to 256
>columns isn't my fault...it's a problem of the designers who continue that
>limit.
>
>So, my recommendation to MS is, redesign the product to fit a square, not a
>rectangle--the number of rows should equal the number of columns available.
>Secondarily, I recommend that the MS tech writers add the limitation info to
>the help topic covering transposition.
>
>Instead of forcing people to adapt to technology, maybe we need to force
>technology to adapt to people.
>
>joe
>"Dave Peterson" wrote:
>
>> If you selected the whole column -- all 65536 cells, how did you plan for that
>> to fit in the 256 columns when you transpose?
>>
>> Try changing your range you Copied to SomeThinG SmallEr. <bg>.
>>
>> Joe wrote:
>> >
>> > Yes, I know the official way to do this..but it's not working.
>> >
>> > I select a column in worksheet 1.
>> > I click cell A1 in worksheet 2.
>> > I select Edit>Paste Special, click the Transpose checkbox, and select OK.
>> > I receive this message:
>> > "The information cannot be pasted because the Copy area and the paste area
>> > [dontcha just love the inconsistency in capitalization?] are not the same
>> > size and shape. [of course not--i'm transposing!!] Try one of the following:
>> > "* Click a single cell, and then paste. [which is what I did that didn't work]
>> > "* Select a rectangle that's the same size and shape, and then paste."
>> >
>> > Since neither of these worked, the next question is, why the @#$#$ not?
>> >
>> > TIA,
>>
>> --
>>
>> Dave Peterson
>>