Sql Server Error 3154

I created a new database today and was wanting to restore this new database from another exisitng database using the restore option available in the wizard.

But I got the 3154 error as below.

So I had to restore to the restore database command in the SSMS. So here is the first option I tried

restore database databasename
from disk 'filepath.bak'
with replace

but this gave an error because the database and log files were in use for the exisitng database and had to use the with move command as follows.

restore database databasename
from disk 'filepath.bak'
with move data file to 'file path',
move log file to 'file path',
replace



The database was restored successfully.

Workbook is larger than the maximum workbook size

I use sharepoint 2010 to display the data analysis tool I have created in excel 2010 to manage the Microsoft licenses as well as to utilise the excel 2010 capabilities of slicers and dicers. This has been going pretty smoothly until yesterday when I stumbled with this error below.

 

"Workbook is larger than the maximum workbook size"

 

So I had to go through the Excel web services properties on the sharepoint server and increase the maximum file size.

 

 

Here are the steps that I followed.

 

 

• Logged into the Central Administration of the Sharepoint on the relevant server.
• Clicked on Application Management
• Clicked on Manage Service Applications
• Cicked on Excel Service Application which is a hyperlink in blue
• Clicked on Trusted File Locations and clicked on the relevant link as shown below

• Under the file size properties I have changed from 10 to 15 as shown below. Once this is done the page needs to be reloaded and the excel web part works beautifully.

 

Scroll Lock problems in Excel

Yesterday I had this problem in moving between the cells within excel. This problem usually occurs if the scroll lock is on. I tried to find the scroll lock button on my keyboard but it was not there. So I got the idea of using the On screen keyboard function to diable the scroll lock.

So I clciked on Start button -- All Programs -- Accessories -- Ease of Access --On Screen keyboard.

The following screen appears and I click on the scroll lock as shown below.



This same funcationlity can be used when we use remote desktop to access the keyboard of the remote computer.

Remove the compatibility mode from excel files

As you all know Excel 2007 has lot more features compared to Excel 2003. The extension with which the excel files are saved alos differs based on the version of excel.

For excel 2003 the file is saved as .xls and for Excel 2007 the file is saved as .xlsx

The other day I realised that when I opened a file in Excel 2007 all the features of Excel 2007 are not available for use.

So when I tried to investigate what was happening I found that the file was saved as .xls. So I saved the file as excel 2007 workbook and tried to use all the features.

I was not able to use all the features until I reopened the file in excel 2007.

I thought I would mention this tip here for everyone's benefit.

Resolving #NUM error in excel

I was using excel to display data from a cube. I tried to do a caluclated cell in excel to display number of months between two dates. Here is the formula I used to do this.

=Datedif(H1,G5,"m")

But I received an error -- #NUM

Then I again looked at the dates entered. To make sure that the datedif function works you need to give the earlier date as the first parameter and the later date as the second parameter to avoid the #NUM error. You also need to ensure that the dates are in the correct format otherwise you will receive a #VALUE error.

So to avoid the #NUM error I changed the formula to

=Datedif(G5,H1,"m"). This retunrs the difference between the two dates in months.

Multiply and Divide a group of cells in Excel

I just now realised that it has been more than a month since I have posted anything on my blog. So here I am with the most recent tip I learnt in Excel.

If you have a column of cells that need to be divided by 1000 for example. Here are the steps that you need to follow.

• Type 1000 in a cell lets say A2



• Copy the cell A2 using Ctrl+C



• Select the cells in the column where you would like to let us say multiply the values by 1000.



• Right click and select Paste Special



• Click on Multiply as shown below.

You can do the same for adding or subtracting a specific value from a group of cells.

This tip is particularly useful if you want to show the data that is in millions but want to reduce the number of digits by dividing them by 1000.

Hope this heps.

Using Countif in Excel

I was using excel today and I wanted to count all the cells in a range only when there is a value greater than 2. So I started hunting for a funciton in excel and found the countif function.

Countif(range,criteria)

But when I started using it like this -- Countif(A1:A100,>2) it didn't work. It was coming up with an error.

So I tried Countif(A1:A100,">2"). This worked. So if we include the criteria in quotes then the formula worked.

I also noticed a sumif function that also works in a similar way. It populates the sum of all the cells in the range specified that satisfy the criteria given.

Copy Paste problem in excel 2007

Today one of my colleagues was working in excel. He had a dataset that in one sheet which was filtered. He wanted to copy those records that were filtered into a new worksheet. But when he copied and pasted the cells into another sheet the cells that were pasted contained all the rows. What he wanted to copy was only the filtered rows. This becomes a problem sometimes in Excel 2007

To overcome his paste problem I have suggested the following steps

Go to the Editing group in the Home tab
Click on the "Find and Select" button
Click on the "Go to Special" from the list
And click on "Visible cells only " radio button and click ok

Now you can copy and paste only filtered rows in excel.

Another quick turn around is open the workbook in another computer where the filtered cells copy paste works and do the first copy and paste and close the worksheet.
Now if you open the spreadsheet on the first computer the filtered cells copy and paste works !

When my joystick started giving in...........

The other day I had about 20 excel workbooks to work with in a single day to complete some outstanding work in a tight timeframe. In each one of the excel workbook I was working on, there were about 20-25 worksheets. I use a joystick instead of normal mouse, and we didn't have any spare joysticks. My joystick thought that I have had enough of this and started giving in to my moves. I didn't want to increase my RSI by uisng a normal mouse. Instead I thought I will use some excel key board short cuts to work in these excel files.

Here are the shortcuts that I thought will come handy to everyone.

• CTRL + PgUp -- To switch to the right hand side of the sheets
• CTRL + PgDn -- To switch to the left hand side of the sheets
• F4 -- To repeat last action in Excel (This works only in Excel, I wish it worked in word as well!)
• CTRL + --> -- To move to the last populated cell on the right hand side
• CTRL + <-- -- To move to the last populated cell on the left hand side
• CTRL + down arrow -- To move to the last populated cell in the downward direction
• CTRL + --> -- To move to the last populated cell in the upward direction.
• If you hold down the SHIFT key as well for the above four commands the cells are selected.
• CTRL + Spacebar -- To select an entire column in a worksheet
• SHIFT+ Spacebar -- To select an entire row in a worksheet

All the above shortcuts helped me in doing my job quickly that day in spite of having a problem with my joystick.

Count number of months between two dates in excel

The formula I used for this is

datediff(cell1,cell2,"m").

This will give you the number of months.

Shortcut key to display Macro dialogue

In excel the shortcut key to display the macro dialog box is Alt+F8. This can then be used to create, run, edit, or delete a macro.

Disable report filter selection in a Pivot Table in Excel

I had to work on disabling a field (report filter) on a Pivot Table in Excel 2007. I googled a lot on this and there was no straight forward answer. Hence thought of sharing my solution with anyone who wants to do the same thing

Here is the code that I have used to achieve this

Right click on the sheet where there is a pivot table and click on View Code
Add the following code

Option Explicit
Private Sub Workbook_Open()DisableSectorSelectionEnd Sub
Sub DisableSectorSelection() Dim pt As PivotTable On Error Resume NextSet pt = Selection.PivotTableIf Not pt Is Nothing Then pt.PivotFields("Sector").EnableItemSelection = False
End Sub

Save and reopen the file.
The filter should not be disbaled on the worksheet.

Convert date to text in excel

If you have a date in a cell, when you try to use it as it is for example in concatenation, the date gets converted to a number and does not retain the date format.

In order to retain the date format and still be used as text -- the formula that can be used is TExt(datecell, "dd-mm-yyyy")

Add a line break in an Excel cell

Sometimes you might have a need to add a line break (press enter so that a new paragraph is created). To do this the key combination is Alt + Enter

Project Gemini gets a new Name........

Microsoft has now given a new name for Project Gemini. It is called Power Pivot.

The official blurb about it is: "PowerPivot provides business users with BI at their fingertips while enabling organizations to efficiently monitor and manage collaboration using Microsoft SharePoint 2010 and SQL Server 2008 based management tools"

You can find more information at the powerpivot site.

Project Gemini

Project Gemini is a powerful data analysis tool. Here is the link for the sneak preview of Project Gemini.