Microsoft Excel – Advanced Topics April 17, 2008 Abby Wiertzema

Topics Protecting your data Excel Tricks Customizing your workspace Macros Chart Wizard Link data on multiple worksheets Pivot Tables Importing data

Protecting your Data Multiple copies of different media & locations  Local hard drive  Server hard drive  Diskette, CD, flash drive Autosave – set a period of time you are willing to re-do your work Save before attempting something new and unsure; undo may not work (macros, some sorts, pivot tables)

Trick 1 – Different SAVE Options Save – for the first time and to save open file Save As – Saves the open file with different name/format  Text format -.csv,.dif,.prn,.slk,.txt  Database format -.dbf, wbx (Quattro Pro),.wks (MS Works)  Lotus format -.wk1,.wk3,.wk4  Previous Excel format -.xls  Web ready format -.htm,.html Save As Web Page Save Workplace – saves display information, not data Autosave – Use Tools, Options, Save tab; not a replacement for regular saves

Trick 2 – Pick from a List When you want to select from values already entered in a column of cells, right- click on the cell and select “Pick from Drop- down List”

Trick 3 – Insert Break in a Cell To start a new line of text at a specific point in a cell, click where you want to break the line, and then press ALT+ENTER.

Trick 4 – Hide Rows or Columns Highlight rows or columns to be hidden For Rows, select Format, Row, Hide For Columns, select Format, Column, Hide Select different ranges by holding CTRL Hidden rows show ‘missing numbers’ Hidden columns show ‘missing letters’ Easiest way to Unhide is to highlight entire spreadsheet, then select Format, Row, Unhide or Format, Column, Unhide

Trick 5 – Named Ranges Allow you to select a range of cells and to refer to them by a name rather than the range, i.e. Depts rather than A2:A4 Can be used in formulas & data validation How:  Type the values in a column  Highlight all values  In the Names field, type a unique name  Press Enter. Find them under Insert, Name, Define

Trick 6 – Data Validation Use this when you want to define data in a cell  For specific values from a list: On Sheet2, create a list of values that are valid Highlight and name the range On Sheet1, click on a cell, select Data, Validation On Settings tab, change Allow to a “List”. Type “=range- name” in Source. It is case-sensitive. Copy down to multiple columns.  Other validations – number minimum/maximum, length of characters entered, date interval  Can have Input Message or Error Message

Exercise Open both workbooks. Arrange as desired. Save As Workplace. Close & reopen. Save a workbook as a web page. Open to see how it looks. Practice hiding & unhiding rows & columns. On Trick5-Validation tab, enter several School names. Name the range “Schools”. Then use the range name to validate the School value in cells D23 through D27.

Customizing your workspace (1 of 3) Tools, Customize – allows you to change how the toolbars look and what is displayed  Toolbars tab – decide which toolbars to display  Commands tab – decide which icons appear  Options tab – show full menus, show Screentips To move icons on a toolbar  Select Tools, Customize, then go to the toolbar and drag-and-drop

Customizing your workspace (2 of 3) Tools, Options  View tab – display settings  General tab – Recently used file list, Sheets in new workbook, Standard font (name and font size), Default file location (where documents are saved), User name  Custom Lists  Save tab – Autosave time interval and location  Security – Password to open, Remove personal information

Customizing your workspace (3 of 3) Exercise – Add a Save As button and change its picture  Open Tools, Customize, Commands tab, button  Click on ToolBar  From File category, add Save As & move below Save  Click on Modify Selection or right-click icon  Select Test only (in Menus)  Select Change Button Image; change to diskette  Select Edit Button Image; make changes  Close

Macros (1 of 2) Practice the steps to create the macro Go to Tools, Macro, Record New Macro Give it a name and a Shortcut key Then record the steps to be included When complete, click on the Stop button Test the macro using shortcut It is possible to EDIT the macro Once a macro is run, you cannot undo the results

Macros (2 of 2) Exercise: Create a macro and a toolbar icon for it  Create a macro that will transpose a row of cells to a column  Using the Tools, Customize dialog box, add a new icon to the Formatting toolbar  Associate the icon to the macro  Change the picture on the icon  Test the icon

Chart Wizard Select the range of data Use Insert, Chart or the icon for Chart Wizard Select chart type and follow instructions on remaining wizard windows. Modify the chart afterwards by manual changes or by using the Chart menu Exercise – Add sales data for 2 more years. Change chart colors. Change the legend. Use the Chart menu to make other changes.

Link data on multiple worksheets "=SUM('c:\Documents and Settings\wiertzem\ My Documents\[Budget.xls]Annual'!a1:a6)" Exercise – Use the example in Excel_Adv_IncomeStmt.xls in the Mar tab, add values for Income (Sales, Donations, Other) in column G. Use a formula to create the YTD values in column H.

Pivot Tables (1 of 4) An interactive view of your data Think of it as a kaleidoscope Why to use a pivot table:  You have large amounts of data to analyze and summarize  You need to find relationships in the data  You need to find data trends  You anticipate frequent requests for changes  You need to create subtotals that frequently change  You need to make charts of the data.

Pivot tables (2 of 4) Components:  The Data area – numbers being summarized  The Page area – fields used for filtering  The Column area  The Row area

Pivot Tables (3 of 4) Cautions:  Make sure your data is in tabular layout.  The first row is labels for column headings  Use unique headings  Do not use row labels  Each row is one individual data element  Eliminate gaps and empty cells  Apply appropriate formatting to the cells

Pivot tables (4 of 4) Use the Pivot Table Wizard  Select the range of data  Determine where to place the pivot table  Drag the row, column, and data labels Changes to the data  Use the exclamation symbol (Refresh Data)  Only when the range of data has not changed

Importing data The easiest file type to import is tab-delimited text. Open Excel, then Open the text file. The wizard will walk you through the process. Any field that contains a leading zero must be marked as “text” to avoid Excel dropping the leading zero. This includes Social Security numbers and Zip Codes. Download Importing.txt. Import into Excel. Be careful of zip codes and SSNs.

Internet Resources – Free Excel Templates Financial Educational Business Scientific Microsoft’s Office home page, Templates tab:

Pivot Table Internet Resources 033&pid=CR &pid=CR rts.Macros.pdf rts.Macros.pdf Go to Help, Microsoft Excel Help or use the F1 key