Routing Files with e-Mail

You may have noticed that Excel has the ability to send a file as an e-mail or as an e-mail attachment directly from inside of the Excel worksheet.  Simply click on the File menu and select Sent To – Mail Recipient or Send To - Mail Recipient (as Attachment).  In the first case the recipient will receive an e-mail with the current worksheet as an email.  If your default mail format is rich text or HTML then all the formatting will also be part of the e-mail.  If you choose to send as an attachment, then the entire file (all sheets included) will be sent as an attachment to an e-mail you will have the opportunity to write.

The File Send To – Routing Recipient Command 

The Routing Recipient option adds a whole new dimension to sending an e-mail attachment to others for review.  When you create a “routing slip” that slip becomes part of the file.  Each of the individuals you route the document to will have the opportunity to read and alter the document.  When they go to exit the document they will be asked to route the document on to the next person in the list.   

If you have selected to track the status in the Routing Slip dialog box, you will know who is holding the in route document as you will be informed by e-mail every time the document is routed to the next person on the list.  If you have selected “Return when done” in the Routing Slip dialog box, you will be sent the document after the last recipient in the list is finished with it.   

The Routing Slip Dialog Box 

If you turn on the Track Changes feature you will be able to see which routing recipients made changes to the document and exactly what changes they made.  With this feature you also have the ability to accept or reject any of the changes made by any of the recipients. 

This is the message box you will see when you close a routed file

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