Can't Effectively Copy and Paste from Excel to Layout 2020

For what it’s worth, Copy and Paste from Numbers seems to work ok.

But copy and paste into LayOut creates other problems, Colin! It works fine as long as you don’t mind dealing with those issues.

And stay updateable?

This is what I get with copying from a spreadsheet and pasting into LO.

The spreadsheet looks like this:

Upon pasting into LO, it looks like this:

Expanding the text box, it looks like this. Not the same formatting or even font.

And here’s the list of references in the LO file.

Nothing to update from.

The exact same data from the spreadsheet inserted into LayOut the correct way matches the spreadsheet font and formatting and creates a usable reference for later updating.

What are the issues he gets when pasting from Numbers?

See my post above.

Why do you insist on instructing users to do things that will create problems for them down the road?

Yup, that’s what I get, too. It wasn’t like this in LO 2018 (or maybe even 2019?). It worked fine when just copy and pasting. Losing the reference after a while doesn’t really matter too much to me. I’m willing to try inserting cells from the workbook, but that still isn’t working for me either. I haven’t heard anything from Adam yet.

Did you hear from Adam?

Not yet. I DM’d him but I’m presuming he’s quite busy.

Probably is busy.

I’m sure it has something to do with the special formatting in your spreadsheet that LO can’t deal with.

Sorry, there was a mention of how to do it on a Mac, and I hadn’t confirmed that the OP was on Mac. It seems he isn’t.

For the interest of Mac users, here are screen shots of copy and paste from Numbers to LayOut.

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That’s a good hypothesis and I may have to agree with it. Nonetheless, that’s the file I’m working with. My business depends on the use of it. I really need Trimble to accommodate it or else I’m in a tough situation.

Understood.

PC user here :slight_smile:

I looked at his profile to determine that.

And do you get a reference to the original file so that updates to it will update the information in the LO file?

It’s a good thing that you think of all of the angles of the problem.

Export to Excel from Numbers, Insert into LayOut, make changes and export again, update table reference in LayOut does work well, and looks good. So, for Numbers users they would have to replace the usual Save with an Export.

Comes from years of trying to help people avoid creating future problems with their files.

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One option to avoid the problem with the special formatting is to copy the sheets to a new workbook using Paste Special and avoid pasting the formulas.

This is in LibreOffice Calc but it’s similar in Excel.
Screenshot - 10_14_2020 , 12_33_12 PM

A pasted clipboard image is not the same as a table, try stretching it or zoom in. All though tables in LayOut are merely ‘visual’ objects (you cannot enter data and export it or do (simple) calculations), at least when you insert it, it becomes referenced and ‘relinkable’. (images don’t have that option to be notified when changed upon opening)

You would still have to have a high level of discipline and take a few steps if you change something in SketchUp:

  • change something in SketchUp
  • run an extension or generate report for new data
  • import in spreadsheet
  • save the spreadsheet
  • remember to update reference in LayOut (upon starting or while working with current file)
  • figure out what other files depend on that data.

I would like to have some metadata in the SketchUp file to see what LayOut files, generate Report Templates and even Generated reports are ‘linked’ to that model.

Thanks for this idea, Dave. I’m going to try it out. Although it’s not ideal, at least I’ll still be able to give my clients a finished product. Do you work for Trimble as well? I mainly bought SU/LO 2020 because it’s the last year to buy it as a full program w/o the yearly renewal. While I’m happy with the updates (faster zoom, etc.), I’m a bit frustrated that there is an issue with this function. I’d be ecstatic if Trimble could fix the issue before my free update period ends.