Page 206 - Excel Progamming Weekend Crash Course

k540629 ch14.qxd 9/2/03 9:34 AM Page 181

Session 14 — Formatting a Worksheet 181

Figure 14-5 A table that has been formatted with the program in Listing 14-5

Cell Backgrounds
By default, all cells in an Excel worksheet have a white background. You can change a cell’s
background to a different color, and also display a background pattern. The background of a
cell or range is represented by the Interior object. This object has properties that deter-
mine its color and pattern, as described in Table 14-5.

Table 14-5 Properties of the Interior Object Control a Cell’s Background
Property Description Settings
Color The color of the background An RGB value (as described earlier in
this session)
Pattern The pattern displayed A constant specifying the pattern.
Permitted values include
xlPatternChecker, xlPatternDown,
xlPatternHorizontal,
xlPatternVertical, and
xlPatternNone
PatternColor The color of the pattern (if any) An RGB value; the default is black

While Cell Protection is found in Excel’s Format Cells dialog box, it is really
an aspect of worksheet security rather than formatting. For this reason it is
Cross-Ref covered in Session 24.

Different color backgrounds can make a worksheet easier to read. You can use
backgrounds to differentiate table headings from table data, for example.
Note