XL97: Diagonal Border Disappears with Rotated Text

ID: Q169168

The information in this article applies to:

SYMPTOMS

In Microsoft Excel 97, when you use rotated text (any angle between 90 and -90 degrees) and diagonal borders in the same cell, the diagonal border may disappear in some cases.

CAUSE

This behavior occurs because when text is rotated in a cell, the left and right cell borders automatically adjust to the same angle as the rotated text. Therefore, the diagonal border is unnecessary.

WORKAROUND

The following example shows you how to format a cell so that the cell contents are rotated and the cell borders (left and right) are rotated at the same angle as the cell contents:

1. Create a new workbook and enter the following into Sheet1: 

      A1:   B1:
      A2:   B2: sample data
2. Select cell B2 and click Cells on the Format menu.

3. In the Format Cells dialog box, click the Alignment tab. Then, under 

   Orientation, set the number of degrees to -45.
4. Click the Border tab. Then, under Presets, click the Outline 
   border style.
5. Click OK.

The cell text and the left and right cell borders are rotated 45 degrees.

NOTE: If you also click either diagonal border style in step 4, the diagonal border does not appear in the cell. As long as you use rotated text and apply a border to any one of the cell sides, the diagonal border is not displayed.

REFERENCES

For more information about Rotated Text, click the Index tab in Microsoft Excel Help, type the following text 

   rotating, text
and then double-click the selected text to go to the "Center, align, indent, or rotate data in a cell" topic.

For more information about troubleshooting rotated text, click the Index tab in Microsoft Excel Help, type the following text 

   rotating, text
and then double-click the selected text to go to the "Troubleshoot formatting cells" topic.

Additional query words: XL97 

Keywords          : xlformat 
Version           : WINDOWS:97
Platform          : WINDOWS

Last Reviewed: November 4, 1998