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MS Office Forum / Word / Tables / May 2004Protecting a single cell in a table
I am working with a table and would like to protect the contents of a single cell. I have tried inserting continuous breaks before and after the cell that I want to protect and then selecting protect document and forms from the Tools menu. The problem occurs when I try to insert the section break. It only seems to create the break at the row above the cell - not before the cell itself. Likewise if I attempt to insert a break after the cell. At that point the table physically breaks into 2 sections. Any suggestions? I am using Word 2003. Thanks This type of protection is not possible in Word (it is in Excel). You cannot protect less than a single row in a table (and in fact, inserting a section break splits the table, so it will no longer behave as a single table). -- Suzanne S. Barnhill Microsoft MVP (Word)  SignatureWords into Type Fairhope, Alabama USA Word MVP FAQ site: http://word.mvps.org Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so all may benefit. > I am working with a table and would like to protect the > contents of a single cell. I have tried inserting [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > sections. Any suggestions? I am using Word 2003. > Thanks Actually, in Word 2003 you can protect a single cell -- or anything, even as little as a single character. This new feature has been requested for so long that I'm surprised MS hasn't made a bigger effort to publicize it. It can't be done in any earlier version without splitting the table by inserting section breaks around the entire row, and protecting that section. If you set protection on one cell in Word 2003 and then open the document in any earlier version, the entire document will be protected there -- so this will be of very limited value unless all the recipients also have 2003. I'm away from my 2003 installation at the moment, so I'm not going to try to quote the exact procedure. If someone else hasn't already posted it when I get home this evening, I'll follow up... SignatureRegards, Jay Freedman Microsoft Word MVP FAQ: http://word.mvps.org > This type of protection is not possible in Word (it is in Excel). You > cannot protect less than a single row in a table (and in fact, [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] >> sections. Any suggestions? I am using Word 2003. >> Thanks This is the procedure for locking a single cell in a table and leaving the rest of the document editable. Remember, this works only in Word 2003. In a sense, this feature works backwards. Rather than protecting specific parts of the document, it lets you specify which parts of the document *can* be edited, either by specific users or by all users. You can easily choose to have one part editable by one group, and another part editable by another group -- for example, subordinates can enter their hours in a table, and only the supervisor can edit the totals. These instructions assume you want everyone to have access to all parts of the document except one cell. - Display the Protect Document task pane. - Check the box under Editing Restrictions. - If the dropdown below that checkbox shows anything else, set it to "No changes (read only)". - Select all the parts of the document before the locked cell, and click the checkbox under Exceptions for "Everyone". - Select all the parts of the document after the locked cell, and click the checkbox under Exceptions for "Everyone". - Click the "Yes, Start Enforcing Protection" button. If you want a password, type it twice (and remember it!), otherwise leave it blank. If the document is opened in any earlier version of Word, the entire document is "protected for comments" -- that is, the user can insert comments, print, and save but can't edit anything. As with earlier protection schemes, though, you can break this protection just by using Insert > File to pull the text of the "protected" document into an unprotected blank document. If you sign up for Microsoft's new Document Rights Management scheme, you can encrypt the protected document so it can be opened only by people to whom you grant access. I haven't tried to break that (yet <g>). >Actually, in Word 2003 you can protect a single cell -- or anything, even as >little as a single character. This new feature has been requested for so [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] >quote the exact procedure. If someone else hasn't already posted it when I >get home this evening, I'll follow up... -- Regards, Jay Freedman Microsoft Word MVP FAQ: http://www.mvps.org/word Those are good instructions. The only problem is that when I try to do this on my PC the "Yes, Start Enforcing Protection" button is greyed-out. Is there something I need to switch on to enable document protection? Thanks! > This is the procedure for locking a single cell in a table and leaving > the rest of the document editable. Remember, this works only in Word [quoted text clipped - 47 lines] > >quote the exact procedure. If someone else hasn't already posted it when I > >get home this evening, I'll follow up... Hi Carl, I don't know enough yet about this feature to say what the problem is. On my PC the procedure just works. >Those are good instructions. The only problem is that when I try to >do this on my PC the "Yes, Start Enforcing Protection" button is [quoted text clipped - 55 lines] >> >quote the exact procedure. If someone else hasn't already posted it when I >> >get home this evening, I'll follow up... -- Regards, Jay Freedman Microsoft Word MVP FAQ: http://www.mvps.org/word |
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