Brain fart. Can't find button properties to change button name.

[9tanstaafl9]

Sorry for the idiotic question but I've searched for an hour now and can't find it. I have an old excel worksheet with a button on it that needs to be renamed. Last time I renamed a button I thought I had just right clicked on it and properties was an option and I could type over the button name. Now I'm using Excel 2013 (possibly I was using an earlier version before?) on a new computer, and I do not see this option. It looks like Excel thinks my button is a picture. It definitely is NOT.

Any help appreciated.

 

[9tanstaafl9]

Ok, I give up. I'm just going to make all new buttons. Now just thinking I'm getting senile because I can't remember how I used to do this.

 

[Snakehips]

9tanstaafl9,

Select the button then you can edit the name in the Name Box, to the left of the formula bar, and hit enter.

 

[9tanstaafl9]

Thank you. I tried that and it didn't work. It just continued to show the old name.

This is a VERY old workbook, at least three generations of Excel old, so I suspect that may have had something to do with it. I realized there was no reason I couldn't use non-ActiveX buttons so that solved the problem. I thought that in the past you could just right click on them and edit the properties that way and now I'm not sure if I'm just crazy or if they changed the behavior.

Even on the new buttons I made (using Insert Form Controls from the ribbon), I am still having issues. I am able to name them just fine, but assigning them to macros seems to be rather hit and miss. Sometimes it accepts the macro assignment and sometimes it just doesn't. It all feels very voodoo. Excel should do work the same way every time, so this is unsettling.

 

[SpillerBD]

Take two vodka martini's and try again in the morning.
Right Click the Control/ EditText...
Or Active-X controls
Right Click/Command Button Object/Edit... edit directly on the button
Of course there may have been some way the "button" was created that is going to foil you no matter how much vodka is applied.

 

[9tanstaafl9]

Great idea! I will try the martini solution tonight.

With regards to the other suggestion I am still foiled. When I right click my choices are: edit picture, change picture, assign macro, size and properties (which brings up a bunch of properties that do not include the name of the button), and format picture.

What I really hate is that when using the regular control buttons, the only way I can find to assign the macro is using the right-click Assign Macro option on the button, and the window that pops up only lets you assign macros that are visible, no Private macros can be chosen here. If I do it that way I have to make my macros visible to where any half-savvy user could find them under the Macros button on the ribbon, which really isn't what I want considering they may be on the wrong sheet at that point. I guess if my code was better that wouldn't be an issue, I'll go fix it. Hmph!

 

[SpillerBD]

"Edit Picture, change picture...." hmmm
So there shouldn't be Text. "This is not the object you were looking for." (Expecting) I was expecting a "button" type object and I think you were too. To change the text would require changing the picture in this case.

 

[Snakehips]

Are you sure you haven't already had a glass or two??

If you still wish to try and get to the bottom of this, before you get to the bottom of the Martini, are you able to share an example via DropBox or the like?

 

[shg]

... and the window that pops up only lets you assign macros that are visible, no Private macros can be chosen here.

It won't show it among the available macros, but you can still enter the name in the box to assign it.

 

[9tanstaafl9]

Thanks, that's good knowledge to have! And I'm sorry I didn't respond earlier. I have a new computer with a multi-monitor setup and I had this window open so I could see replies, but I didn't realize it wouldn't refresh automatically.