selection of blocks of cells (97 SR-2)

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This is likely to be obvious or nonexistant.

Can the anchored corner of a block of cells be changed while they are being selected?
In 1-2-3, you could press the period key (if I remember right) while expanding a selection block and the anchored corner would rotate around the corners of the block.

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Ctrl-Period.

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Thank you. That is exactly what I was looking for.

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BTW, I just noticed something a bit counterintuitive about this capabilty. If you want to extend the range by altering the active cell using Ctrl-Period, you have to activate (reverse highlight) the cell at the OTHER end or side of the direction in which you want to extend; think of the highlighted cell as the anchor cell. Been a long time, but l think it was the other way around in Lotus – the highlighted cell was the point from which you would extend. And don’t forget to take your finger off the Ctrl key and move it to the Shift Key.

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The tab key also cycles you through the selected cells while keeping them selected. If that helps at all…

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I get to blame my inability to find the “control period” combo to that that bit of counterintuitiveness and to the poor help system.

Of course, I was trying various combinations of keys with the period (including control) while holding the shift key to extend the block. “control greater than” doesn’t shift the corner.

Leaving the highlighted cell in the anchor corner is consistent with the way blocks of cells are marked in Excel but if you have part of the range off the screen, it can leave you wondering when it is in the far corner from the one you want to move.

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I get to blame my inability to find the “control period” combo to that that bit of counterintuitiveness and to the poor help system.

Of course, I was trying various combinations of keys with the period (including control) while holding the shift key to extend the block. “control greater than” doesn’t shift the corner.

Leaving the highlighted cell in the anchor corner is consistent with the way blocks of cells are marked in Excel but if you have part of the range off the screen, it can leave you wondering when it is in the far corner from the one you want to move.

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Exactly. So if your selection extends beyond the current window, you have to select the “anchor” side with Ctrl-Period, then slide the scroll bar to show the “unanchored” edge you want to extend, then Shift-Arrow the selection to where you want to extend. Not an efficient keyboard operation.

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Correct, it cycles through ALL cells in the selection, as opposed to the corner cells.

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