Working with Spreadsheet Frames

All of the commands and features available to a "full screen" spreadsheet document are also available to spreadsheet frames when activated.  The environment inside a spreadsheet frame is identical to the environment of a full-page spreadsheet document.

Reminder:  When selected, a frame is like any other graphic item.  You can fill it with color, place a border around it with the pen color, or rotate it in any direction.  The options described in this section apply only to spreadsheet frames.

You can create a spreadsheet frame in any document type, including within a full-page spreadsheet document.  If you place a spreadsheet frame in a full-screen spreadsheet document, the frame "floats above" the cells in the full-screen document.  You might want to consider using layers to organize your frames.  See the topic, Views and Layers for more information.

There are essentially two methods for creating a new spreadsheet frame, both of which are described below.  In addition, you can always copy or cut a frame from one document or sheet to another.

To Insert a New Spreadsheet Frame

Method One

  1. From the Frame menu, select Insert Frame, then select the type of frame you wish to insert (spreadsheet in this case).  The examples in this topic are concerned with spreadsheet frames, however you can insert any type of frame in this way.

  2. The system places a default sized frame in the document. 

Method Two

  1. From the ToolBar, click the Frame Tool  .

  2. Select the type of frame you want to place in the document.  This topic is concerned with spreadsheet frames, but you can place any type of frame in a document in this way.

  3. The cursor changes to a cross-hair.  Draw the frame in the workspace.

To Clone a Frame

If you need an exact duplicate of a spreadsheet frame, cloning is the solution.

  1. Select the frame you want to clone.

  2. Select Clone Frame from the Frames menu.  An exact duplicate of the frame is created.

Cloned frames are not linked to the original frame set.  Moreover, when you clone one frame from a frame set, all the text in the original frame set is transferred to the new, cloned frame. 

To Display ScrollBars on a Frame

Spreadsheet frames can be configured to display scroll bars if desired.

  1. Select the frame you wish to configure. 

  2. From the Frame menu, select ScrollBars.  The frame displays vertical scroll bars.  Uncheck this option to hide displayed scrollbars.  

To Open a Frame

The Open Frame feature allows you to select any frame in your document and open the contents of that frame into a separate window.  This can be useful if you need to edit the contents of a particularly large frame.

  1. Select the frame you want to open. 

  2. Select Open Frame from the Frame menu.  The contents of the frame are opened into a new, full-screen document. 
NOTE:  The new document created when you open a frame is only for editing the contents of the frame.  You will not be able to add other frames to the document, this includes graphic items.

When finished editing the contents of the open frame document close the window.  You can save the contents of the frame to another document file if necessary. 


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