AX2284
Configuring sheet visibility for Axiom files
Each sheet in an Axiom file can be visible or hidden when the file is opened.
To configure sheet visibility settings, use the Sheet Visible/Hidden setting in the Sheet Options section of the Control Sheet. This setting takes the following values:
- Visible – The sheet is visible to all users.
- Hidden – The sheet is hidden by default.
Whether users can unhide a hidden sheet depends on whether the file also has workbook protection enabled:
-
If workbook protection is enabled for the file, then hidden sheets cannot be unhidden using Axiom Software functionality unless the user is an administrator, or unless the user has the global Remove Protection permission or the file-specific Allow Unprotect permission. Plan files always have workbook protection enabled; for other files workbook protection is optional depending on the Control Sheet setting.
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If workbook protection is not enabled for the file, then users can unhide hidden sheets using normal spreadsheet functionality.
Sheet visibility settings are applied when the file is opened. If you change the setting on the Control Sheet, the new setting will be applied the next time the file is opened. If you manually unhide a hidden sheet, the sheet will be hidden again the next time the file is opened.
NOTE: The ability to hide a sheet should not be used as a substitute for security. Hidden sheets are useful to hide setup information that end users do not need to see, but they should not contain data that end users could not otherwise access.
Using very hidden
Axiom Software supports a third visibility option of "very hidden." If a sheet is very hidden, then you cannot use Microsoft Excel functionality to unhide it. The only way to unhide a very hidden sheet is from within the VBA module (or to change the sheet visibility settings on the Control Sheet).
The "very hidden" option is not available from the drop-down list on the Control Sheet; you must manually enter it into the cell. To do so:
- Unprotect the Control Sheet, and then remove the data validation from the cell using standard spreadsheet features.
- Type
veryhidden(with no space) into the cell.
Hiding control sheets
The default Control Sheet has special behavior to control whether it is visible or hidden by default. For more information, see Viewing the Control Sheet.
Other control sheets are automatically hidden or visible depending on whether the user has the security permission for the corresponding feature. You do not need to manually hide these control sheets in order to hide them from end users. The hide behavior is the same as described earlier for the Sheet Visible/Hidden setting.
The following table summarizes the security permissions necessary for a control sheet to be visible in a file. If a user does not have this permission, the sheet is hidden automatically.
| Control Sheet | Security Permission |
|---|---|
| Alerts | Allow Unprotect and Read/Write access |
| Batch | Allow File Processing |
| Collect | Allow File Processing |
| Drilling | Allow Sheet Assistant |
| File Processing | Allow File Processing |
| Form |
Allow Sheet Assistant |
NOTE: If you have manually hidden a control sheet in a file, then this behavior will not apply because Axiom Software cannot override the manual hide. It is not recommended to manually hide any sheets in Axiom files.
