Range Names : Good or Bad programming practice?

[TonyJollans]

OK, my turn.

Range Names are very useful and generally good and I would recommend appropriate use of them.

I stress appropriate because they are just one tool in Excel's toolbox. If I try and screw in a screw with a hammer it won?t go very well ? that does not mean there is something wrong with the hammer and it does not mean I shouldn?t recommend the hammer for knocking in a nail. One should use the tool appropriate for the job in hand. The fact that some people don't know when or how to use named ranges is not an argument against them any more than the fact that some people don't know how to use Excel itself is an argument against Excel. Untrained users of almost anything are a liability.

[Bob Phillips]

Range Names are very useful and generally good and I would recommend appropriate use of them.

I stress appropriate because they are just one tool in Excel's toolbox. If I try and screw in a screw with a hammer it won?t go very well ? that does not mean there is something wrong with the hammer and it does not mean I shouldn?t recommend the hammer for knocking in a nail.

Cliched metaphors aside, can you give an example of an inappropriate use of a name.