Please see attached file

Hi all.

It’s interesting to sometimes step back from problem-solving/answering queries to have a look at what may have changed on the forum over a certain period.

One of the things I couldn't help noticing is that, recently, the proportion of threads which seem to amount to little more than an exchange of file downloads has increased considerably.

Quite often you will come across a thread in which, after an initial formulation of the problem by the OP (or sometimes not even that, but an attachment with a comment along the lines of "See attached file for details of what I require") the posts in the thread alternate between a series of attachments with no more than a "Please see attached file"-type comment and a response from the OP as to whether that solution worked or not and, if not, why.

Of course, you could argue that there is nothing whatsoever wrong with this. An OP comes to this forum looking for a solution and so, if they get that solution then they are generally going to be happy. What’s more, if that solution doesn't consist of some formula which they then have to copy, perhaps with some instructions as to in which cells and under what conditions, but instead has already been provided in an actual workbook for them, then they are most likely going to be even happier.

In fact, the possibility to upload attachments is not a feature which all Excel forums share, and so may well be the deciding factor for an OP who is trying to decide on which of those various forums they should post their question.

That said, some part of me can’t help but think that those threads which consist of little more than a series of exchanges of attachments aren't somehow missing something. And, particularly after seeing several such threads in the space of a few minutes, that they aren't also somehow making this forum a less attractive place for discussion of Excel-related questions.

It’s not about laziness on my part, I assure you. I understand that I can open each and every one of those attachments quite easily, and also navigate to the necessary cells in the worksheet to view the solution being offered. But then there’s also something about those times when you open a thread and are confronted with a formula staring you in the face, perhaps one which offers something new, something unusual, or whose very elegance and simplicity is pleasing, both to the eye and to the mind, which, for me, no amount of "Please see attached file" comments can come close to matching.

And it doesn't even have to be a particularly novel or beautiful solution. Sometimes I just want to open the thread and see the required formula solution laid out in front of me, so that I can compare it instantly to the one on which I was working, and even comment upon it. Agreed, I can get to the same point via opening the attachments, but when you have to do this for a series of sometimes four or five files just to see the corrections to previous formulas, it can be a little difficult not to lose interest.

Of course, this is just my personal opinion. This forum is designed (I presume) primarily to give solutions to Excel problems. Whether that solution comes in the form of a pasted formula or an attached workbook is a moot point.

I also understand that language versions make the pasting of formulas a more laborious and difficult process for some. Attaching a workbook gets round that issue neatly, since Excel translates the formulas into the language of whatever version is being used to open it. Fair enough.

But then there are many perfectly good Excel formula translators out there, for example:

http://en.excel-translator.de/

which I personally use whenever I post on a French site, and it really only takes a second to use.

I guess all this boils down to some sort of argument for more than a purely practical, solution-driven forum, one which perhaps appreciates that discussions over the ins and outs of a particular formula are best discussed "in-thread", and not via a series of wordless posts accompanied by an attachment. And one which perhaps also attaches some value to the aesthetic side to Excel formulas, that there is something of an appreciable nature in having a formula displayed in a post, there for whichever visitors may stumble across it at some future date.

If I’m struggling to convince you, perhaps I can finish by asking you to imagine this: what exactly would you feel about Excel Forum if every post in every thread was of the form:

"Please see attached file"

and nothing else?

Regards