Exploring Microsoft Excel 2003 Chapter 1 – Introduction to Excel: What is a Spreadsheet? Robert Grauer and Maryann Barber Committed to Shaping the Next Generation of IT Experts. Exploring Office 2003 Vol 1 2/e - Grauer and Barber

Introduction to Spreadsheets Spreadsheet – a computerized ledger Divided into rows and columns Columns identified with alphabetic headings Rows identified with numeric headings Cell – the intersection of a row and a column Cell reference uniquely identifies a cell Consists of column letter and row number Exploring Office 2003 Vol 1 2/e - Grauer and Barber

Exploring Office 2003 Vol 1 2/e - Grauer and Barber Rows, Columns, and Cells Cell referenced by column, then number Active cell surrounded by heavy border Column headings above each column. Columns designated with letters Row headings to the left of each row. Rows designated with numbers Exploring Office 2003 Vol 1 2/e - Grauer and Barber

Exploring Office 2003 Vol 1 2/e - Grauer and Barber Types of Cell Entries Constant – an entry that does not change Can be a numeric value or descriptive text Function – a predefined computational task Formula – a combination of numeric constants, cell references, arithmetic operators, and functions Always begins with an equal sign Functions are predefined tasks; users cannot change them. Formulas often include functions, but all the logic is supplied by the user. The fewer constants a formula or function contains, the more flexibility the worksheet will have. Emphasize using worksheets as a general problem solving tool, rather than using them to solve a problem with a specific set of data. Exploring Office 2003 Vol 1 2/e - Grauer and Barber

Introduction to Microsoft Excel Common user interface with other Office applications Menus and toolbars are similar to Word and Power Point Workbook – contains one or more worksheets Worksheet – an Excel spreadsheet Exploring Office 2003 Vol 1 2/e - Grauer and Barber

Exploring Office 2003 Vol 1 2/e - Grauer and Barber An Excel Workbook Menu bar gives lists of commands Formatting toolbar Spend time going over the Excel environment. Many people are so accustomed to using icons they get confused when you mention the menu bar. Title bar shows name of workbook Standard toolbar Exploring Office 2003 Vol 1 2/e - Grauer and Barber

The Active Cell, Formula Bar, and Worksheet Tabs Formula bar displays contents of active cell Active cell is highlighted Click tabs to move to a different worksheet Exploring Office 2003 Vol 1 2/e - Grauer and Barber

Modifying the Worksheet: The Insert Command Can be used to add rows, columns, or cells Exploring Office 2003 Vol 1 2/e - Grauer and Barber

Modifying the Worksheet: The Delete Command If deleting a cell, specify whether to move other cells up or to the left Students will often press the Delete key. Pressing that key performs the Clear command, which removes the contents of the cell, but does not delete the cell from the worksheet. It is the best choice to simply erase data from a cell. Students need to check formulas after using either the Insert and Delete commands to ensure the formulas don’t rely on a cell that was deleted. Specify whether you’re deleting cell, row, or column Exploring Office 2003 Vol 1 2/e - Grauer and Barber

Display the Cell Formulas Ctrl ~ Press the Ctrl key and the ~ to toggle between displaying cell values and formulas. Printing a sheet that displays the formulas and storing it in a safe location can help rebuild the worksheet, should it ever be lost or corrupted. It also provides a frame of reference, should modifications be needed in the future. As often as most businesses install new computers and servers, worksheet files are lost all the time. Exploring Office 2003 Vol 1 2/e - Grauer and Barber

Exploring Office 2003 Vol 1 2/e - Grauer and Barber Using Cell Ranges Range – a rectangular group of cells May be a single cell or the entire worksheet May consist of a row (or part of a row), a column (or part of a column) or multiple rows and/or columns To select a range: Click left mouse button at the beginning of the range Hold left mouse button as you drag the mouse Release left mouse button at the end of the range Exploring Office 2003 Vol 1 2/e - Grauer and Barber

Exploring Office 2003 Vol 1 2/e - Grauer and Barber Cell Referencing Absolute reference: remains constant when copied Specified with dollar signs before the column and row Relative reference: adjusts during a copy operation Specified without dollar signs, i.e. B4 Mixed reference: either the row or the column is absolute; the other is relative Specified with a dollar sign before the absolute part of the reference, i.e. B$4 You cannot overemphasize the distinction between these types of cell references. On tests, especially MOUS certification tests, students will need to be able to copy formulas. Learning the distinction between the types of references is easy, but unless students know which type to use, they will struggle. Exploring Office 2003 Vol 1 2/e - Grauer and Barber

Absolute and Relative References Absolute references are used to refer to the weight of each exam. These weights do not change for each student, so absolute references are needed to keep those references constant as the formula is copied Relative references are used to refer to each student’s exam scores. These scores do change for each student, so relative references are needed to make sure each student’s average reflects his/her scores Exploring Office 2003 Vol 1 2/e - Grauer and Barber

Compute the Student Semester Averages Absolute and relative references used in formulas Again, stress why absolute and relative cells references are used. Create the formula in cell E4 and copy to other cells Exploring Office 2003 Vol 1 2/e - Grauer and Barber

Isolating the Assumptions New student averages are automatically recalculated Assumptions (the exam weights) are isolated physically from the formulas. All formulas refer to the cells containing the exam weights (the assumptions), not the values of those weights. Building formulas in this way makes the worksheet more flexible and easier to use. If formulas referred to the exam weights, rather than the cells containing the weights, and you wanted to change the weights, you would have to change the formula, then copy the formula with the new weights to the other cells. Notice that the absolute references in the formulas refer to the assumptions. This is often the case. Enter new exam weights in row 13 Exploring Office 2003 Vol 1 2/e - Grauer and Barber

Exploring Office 2003 Vol 1 2/e - Grauer and Barber Formatting Cells Format Cells command – controls the formatting for numbers, alignment, fonts, borders, and patterns (color) Select-then-do Select the cells to which the formatting will apply Execute the Format Cells command Demonstrate how to use the Ctrl key to select a non-contiguous block of cells. Demonstrate how to use the Shift key to quickly select a large block of cells. Consider showing students the AutoFormat command. It supplies built-in formats for professional looking spreadsheets. It is useful to use on its own, or can be tweaked and customized. Exploring Office 2003 Vol 1 2/e - Grauer and Barber

The Format Cells Command Number tab allows you to specify appearance of numbers Alignment tab specifies vertical and horizontal alignment Font tab allows you to specify font type and size One of the most important formatting decisions is the number of decimal places numbers should have. If a column contains any mixed numbers, all numbers in that column should contain the same number of decimal places. Numbers are right-aligned by default and should remain that way, so that decimal places line up. If the column is wide, change the alignment of the text label for that column to right; otherwise, when the worksheet is printed, the text label won’t look like it belongs to that column of numbers. Use borders and patterns sparingly and only for emphasis. If everything is emphasized, where is the emphasis? Borders and Patterns tabs allow you to create special effects Exploring Office 2003 Vol 1 2/e - Grauer and Barber