Mac Forum / Applications / Excel / February 2006

Is there a SIMPLE way to distiguish numbers resulting from a calculated
formula from numbers just entered from the keyboard?

In a worksheet, the values in a column are calculated by formulas.
I now want to overrule some of the values (integers) by entering a
numerical value from the keyboard, while keeping the other values
calculated by formulas.

Of course I can choose the View formulas option as a preference/option,
but then all formulas are shown and I have to switch the option on and
off every time and it is far from transparant. Also, macros and added
columns will do the job, of course.

The workaround I use now is the following combination of Validation and
Conditional formatting:
1. choose "general" as the number format for all cells in the range
2. set the validation condition to =CELL("format";<cell reference>)="F0"
3. this forces the operator to change the cell format to "number, 0
decimal places" before any number can be entered
4. set the conditional formatting to Formula is: =CELL("format";<cell
reference>="F0" and choose any format, such as bold/red.
5. then every cell with a bold/red value indicates a keyboard entry,
whereas other values indicate an underlying formula.

Is there a more elegant way ?