Discussion:
Linked Excel Data
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General Confusion
2006-02-10 19:45:15 UTC
Permalink
I created a word document and did "Paste Special", then "formatted text" and
"link" to bring in data from a spreadsheet. While playing around with this
locally, everything was working fine; any time I made a change to a figure in
Excel, the table in word updated automatically. When i copied both the Excel
file and the Word file to our network, and tried again, all I get now is
"Error; Not a valid link". All I can think of is that I changed the file
name of the Excel spreadsheet (and the Word doc). But then I went into Word,
deleted the table containing the Excel data from the "old" file name, and
re-"paste-special"ed it. As long as I do that each time, there's not a
problem. However, I want the automatic update because I've created this for
some users who need things easy. I"d appreciate any suggestions. Thanks.
SVC
2006-02-10 20:33:27 UTC
Permalink
Try editing your links. Edit > Links, select all the links, click Change
source, and point to the file on your network for each link. Then click
Update and OK.
Post by General Confusion
I created a word document and did "Paste Special", then "formatted text" and
"link" to bring in data from a spreadsheet. While playing around with this
locally, everything was working fine; any time I made a change to a figure in
Excel, the table in word updated automatically. When i copied both the Excel
file and the Word file to our network, and tried again, all I get now is
"Error; Not a valid link". All I can think of is that I changed the file
name of the Excel spreadsheet (and the Word doc). But then I went into Word,
deleted the table containing the Excel data from the "old" file name, and
re-"paste-special"ed it. As long as I do that each time, there's not a
problem. However, I want the automatic update because I've created this for
some users who need things easy. I"d appreciate any suggestions. Thanks.
General Confusion
2006-02-13 13:57:10 UTC
Permalink
Thank you!
Post by SVC
Try editing your links. Edit > Links, select all the links, click Change
source, and point to the file on your network for each link. Then click
Update and OK.
Post by General Confusion
I created a word document and did "Paste Special", then "formatted text" and
"link" to bring in data from a spreadsheet. While playing around with this
locally, everything was working fine; any time I made a change to a figure in
Excel, the table in word updated automatically. When i copied both the Excel
file and the Word file to our network, and tried again, all I get now is
"Error; Not a valid link". All I can think of is that I changed the file
name of the Excel spreadsheet (and the Word doc). But then I went into Word,
deleted the table containing the Excel data from the "old" file name, and
re-"paste-special"ed it. As long as I do that each time, there's not a
problem. However, I want the automatic update because I've created this for
some users who need things easy. I"d appreciate any suggestions. Thanks.
MG
2009-03-06 01:59:11 UTC
Permalink
I'm having the same issue (although it is 3 years after the last post)....

When I edit the link location in the dialog box, return to the document and
"update" it works. Saving the file, closing Word 2007, and then opening it
and right-clicking on the link, selecting "update", the "Error! Not a Valid
Link" message again. Is this an issue with Excel 2007?

I've made sure to save the Excel and Work files in the new .xlsx and .docx
formats, so it can't be a compatability issue.....
Post by General Confusion
Thank you!
Post by SVC
Try editing your links. Edit > Links, select all the links, click Change
source, and point to the file on your network for each link. Then click
Update and OK.
Post by General Confusion
I created a word document and did "Paste Special", then "formatted text" and
"link" to bring in data from a spreadsheet. While playing around with this
locally, everything was working fine; any time I made a change to a figure in
Excel, the table in word updated automatically. When i copied both the Excel
file and the Word file to our network, and tried again, all I get now is
"Error; Not a valid link". All I can think of is that I changed the file
name of the Excel spreadsheet (and the Word doc). But then I went into Word,
deleted the table containing the Excel data from the "old" file name, and
re-"paste-special"ed it. As long as I do that each time, there's not a
problem. However, I want the automatic update because I've created this for
some users who need things easy. I"d appreciate any suggestions. Thanks.
Peter Jamieson
2009-03-07 10:42:38 UTC
Permalink
There are at least four possibilities (but I'm guessing really)
a. Word is changing your links when you save the document - try
unchecking Word Office Button->Word Options->Advanced->General->Web
options button->File->Update Links on save.
b. you are trying to make the link relative but Word changes it to an
absolute URL. Try (a).
b. there are characters in the link (such as spaces) that are
converted to hex format and then do not work. Not sure how you might fix
that.
c. a "Hyperlink base" has been set (look at the Document Properties).
It has never been obvious to me exactly how these are supposed to work
anyway, but either /removing/ one or /adding/ one may make a difference.

Peter Jamieson

http://tips.pjmsn.me.uk
Post by MG
I'm having the same issue (although it is 3 years after the last post)....
When I edit the link location in the dialog box, return to the document and
"update" it works. Saving the file, closing Word 2007, and then opening it
and right-clicking on the link, selecting "update", the "Error! Not a Valid
Link" message again. Is this an issue with Excel 2007?
I've made sure to save the Excel and Work files in the new .xlsx and .docx
formats, so it can't be a compatability issue.....
Post by General Confusion
Thank you!
Post by SVC
Try editing your links. Edit > Links, select all the links, click Change
source, and point to the file on your network for each link. Then click
Update and OK.
Post by General Confusion
I created a word document and did "Paste Special", then "formatted text" and
"link" to bring in data from a spreadsheet. While playing around with this
locally, everything was working fine; any time I made a change to a figure in
Excel, the table in word updated automatically. When i copied both the Excel
file and the Word file to our network, and tried again, all I get now is
"Error; Not a valid link". All I can think of is that I changed the file
name of the Excel spreadsheet (and the Word doc). But then I went into Word,
deleted the table containing the Excel data from the "old" file name, and
re-"paste-special"ed it. As long as I do that each time, there's not a
problem. However, I want the automatic update because I've created this for
some users who need things easy. I"d appreciate any suggestions. Thanks.
MG
2009-03-10 01:04:00 UTC
Permalink
Peter,
Wow, thanks for replying- I was sure no one would, but I'm always
surprised....

I tried your suggestions but none of them worked. HOWEVER....

I looked into the issue a bit more and found the solution to the problem. My
Mapped Network drives' paths contain FQDN for the computer's shared drive. If
I just have the computer name rather than the FQDN in the path, then
everything works perfect.

If I switch it back to the FQDN, it breaks.

So this looks to be an issue with the way Word and Excel handle FQDN, but
then that might be getting into a more complex issue of DNS, LMHost,
IPLookUP, etc. issues between my server and workstations. hummmm.

On a possiblely related issue, I've been having issues with Outlook lagging
which may also be linked to the FQDN issue. I'm going to change my VBS
scripts back to using computers names only and see if my network speeds up.
I'll let ya know what I find.
Post by Peter Jamieson
There are at least four possibilities (but I'm guessing really)
a. Word is changing your links when you save the document - try
unchecking Word Office Button->Word Options->Advanced->General->Web
options button->File->Update Links on save.
b. you are trying to make the link relative but Word changes it to an
absolute URL. Try (a).
b. there are characters in the link (such as spaces) that are
converted to hex format and then do not work. Not sure how you might fix
that.
c. a "Hyperlink base" has been set (look at the Document Properties).
It has never been obvious to me exactly how these are supposed to work
anyway, but either /removing/ one or /adding/ one may make a difference.
Peter Jamieson
http://tips.pjmsn.me.uk
Post by MG
I'm having the same issue (although it is 3 years after the last post)....
When I edit the link location in the dialog box, return to the document and
"update" it works. Saving the file, closing Word 2007, and then opening it
and right-clicking on the link, selecting "update", the "Error! Not a Valid
Link" message again. Is this an issue with Excel 2007?
I've made sure to save the Excel and Work files in the new .xlsx and .docx
formats, so it can't be a compatability issue.....
Post by General Confusion
Thank you!
Post by SVC
Try editing your links. Edit > Links, select all the links, click Change
source, and point to the file on your network for each link. Then click
Update and OK.
Post by General Confusion
I created a word document and did "Paste Special", then "formatted text" and
"link" to bring in data from a spreadsheet. While playing around with this
locally, everything was working fine; any time I made a change to a figure in
Excel, the table in word updated automatically. When i copied both the Excel
file and the Word file to our network, and tried again, all I get now is
"Error; Not a valid link". All I can think of is that I changed the file
name of the Excel spreadsheet (and the Word doc). But then I went into Word,
deleted the table containing the Excel data from the "old" file name, and
re-"paste-special"ed it. As long as I do that each time, there's not a
problem. However, I want the automatic update because I've created this for
some users who need things easy. I"d appreciate any suggestions. Thanks.
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