Linked table from Excel does not match excel format

[Roskens14s]

I am able to link a table from Excel to Autocad on a specific range.  I have been setting the options to keep the excel formatting at all times even on data refresh.  The biggest difference is there appears to be a size difference from the format of Excel to CAD.  These are the issues I'm noticing now

1.  Excel font size 9 (points) - should equal .125 inches.  

      - This is .0833 (roughly) in autocad font size.

      - excel font 13 (points) equals .125inches.

2.  Column Widths:  I measured the distance required to fit the table in a specific window in autocad, sized the column widths in excel using pixels and converted to inches to fit in the exact size window.  When it was brought in, the size did not match up.  

One point that I will note, with the table linked from Excel to Autocad, as I change the column widths in Excel and refresh the datalink, the column widths change accordingly.  

3.  Row Height:  Any changes to row height in Excel, are not reflected in CAD.  Why is this?  Am I doing something wrong?  Also, the same issue as above, row height was calculated in pixels and converted to inches and then when brought into CAD it did not match up.  

Any suggestions on how to bring in the table in and keep the original excel formatting?

Stephen

[dmfrazier]

I am certainly no expert on this subject, but since no one else has offered any suggestions, here's my 2-cents-worth:

"Any changes to row height in Excel, are not reflected in CAD."

If you change the row height in Excel without also changing the text size or the cell margins, you might not see a comparable change in AutoCAD because the row height there is controlled by the text size plus margins as defined in the table style (cell style).

This might also apply to the column width issue.

[Roskens14s]

"If you change the row height in Excel without also changing the text size or the cell margins, you might not see a comparable change in AutoCAD because the row height there is controlled by the text size plus margins as defined in the table style (cell style)."

Even doing drastic changes (row height of 18 to 240 in excel) there is no change in CAD when using "Update all Data Links".  If I change font size or column width, this does change in CAD.

When I use the table command, I see the option to use other table styles.  When I select From a Data Link, the table style is grayed out and cannot be selected.  That leads me to believe that when the data link is created you are using the style from Excel, not the table style from CAD.

Once the table has been linked and is in autocad, you can change the table style or cell style to a previously saved style.  But, if you have it selected to 'keep table udated to Excel Formatting' when you 'update all data links' the cells revert to what is in excel.  

I can only guess that CAD does not fully link to the row height in excel, which is why changes in the rows do not affect the table in CAD.

Another thing that I have noticed in the table I setup in excel using font size 13 and setting my column width, I had one column where the data was filling up the entire column and rolling over to the cell next to it (all in excel).  When the table was linked to CAD, that same cell was  just large enough to handle it.  

I dug a little deeper and tried bringing in a generic table from Excel in a clean file.  3 columns wide, each column doubling in width.  Using the standard 11 font size.  

Column A:  10 characters wide (standard excel column width) = 75 pixels = .8333 inches.  

Column B:  20 characters = 145 pixels = 1.666 inches

Column C:  30 characters = 215 pixels = 2.5 inches.  

Once linked in autocad, these are the widths I'm seeing, using the standard cell/row style.  A new document was created to do this test.  

Font size (.1111)

Col A:  .9578

Col B:  1.6800

Col C:  2.4161

I am not seeing a pattern in the numbers right now, but that could be because it is a little late for me.  They are definately not linear though.

[smurphy025]

I had the same issue and I was able to fix it by right-clicking the table and selecting "Size Rows Equally".  I'm not sure if this means equal to what is in the spreadsheet, or if it deselected this option, but either way it did what I was looking for.

[MGoins]

That just solved my problem. Thanks!