Microsoft ® Office Excel ® 2003 Training Sorting and Filtering Data MorningStar Education presents:

Contents Overview: Working with data easily Lesson 1: Sorting data Lesson 2: Filtering data Lesson 3: Using Advanced Filters

Overview: working with data easily Excel is Microsoft’s premier spreadsheet application, part of Microsoft Office Suite, and the most popular spreadsheet in the world. Excel 2003 is simple to use. Many features are automated, and anyone with a basic knowledge of spreadsheets can begin using Excel in minutes. This course assumes you have a basic knowledge of Excel and are familiar with spreadsheet architecture.

Goals During this presentation, you will learn how to… sort data using the AutoFilter filter data using simple criteria with Advanced Filters filter data using complex criteria with Advanced Filters

Lesson 1 Sorting data

What is “sorting?” Sorting arranges data in your worksheet numerically, alphabetically, or chronologically.

Open the Excel file you’re working with.

This worksheet is sorted alphabetically by last name, in ascending order, starting with “Buffet” and ending with “Smith.”

To reverse the sort order, click on the header “Last” in column A, then in the menu bar, “Data”, then “Sort.” The Sort dialogue box will open.

Select “Last” in the “Sort by” drop down menu, then check the “Descending” radio button to the right. Make sure the “My data range has” header row radio button is selected, or Excel will sort your data WITH the header row. Then just click “OK.” Your data is sorted alphabetically, in descending order, by last name from Smith to Buffet.

Lesson 2 Filtering data

What is “filtering?” Filtering removes data from your worksheet that you don’t need or want to see. It effectively selects only that data you wish to see and shows only that data.

After creating a database and assembling a large amount of data, you may want to know who your best customers are, which inventory items cost less than a certain amount, or which employees work the least amount of hours. Excel includes several tools you can use to analyze your data so you can make better decisions.

The simplest way to filter data in Excel is the AutoFilter. Before we start, a few tips: Use headings The top row of each column should have a heading that describes the contents of the column, such as "Product Name" or "Employee Name." Don't mix The data in each column should all be of one type only. Do not mix text in a column with numbers, or numbers in a column with dates.

Don't interrupt Data should not be interrupted by blank rows or blank columns. Individual blank cells are okay. Keep separate The data you want to filter should be on its own worksheet. If that's not possible, it should be separated from other data by a blank row or blank column.

Click “Data,” “Filter,” then “AutoFilter.” A drop down menu arrow will appear in each column header. To see only the five highest zip code numbers, click the drop down menu in the “ZIP” column, then “(Top 10…).” The “Top 10” dialogue box will open. Change the number of items to “5,” then click OK. Your data is now filtered by the five highest zip code numbers.

To see your original data, click ”Data,” then “Filter,” Then “Show All.” Your original worksheet reappears!

Lesson 3 Using Advanced Filters

What are “advanced filters?” Advanced filters are used in Excel to filter data by more than two criteria (AutoFilter has a maximum of two criteria). This might be useful, for example, if you want to filter sales data by: 1.product name 2.customer name 3.sales by quarter I need to filter this by three criteria… what do I do?

Let’s open a new Excel file. This Excel file, “customer spreadsheet,” contains data on products, customers, and sales for a restaurant food supply company.

As the sales manager, I want to see the sales figures for several products: Boston Crab Meat, Camembert Pierrot, and Uncle Bob’s Organic Dried Pears. I only want to see these figures for two customers: Savea and Quick. Finally, I only want to see sales that were over $500 in each quarter.

Let’s do this step by step. The first thing I need to do is set up a criteria range, which is a range of specific criteria placed above the worksheet. Let’s set up an advanced filter ONLY for the three products I mentioned: Boston Crab Meat, Camembert Pierrot, and Uncle Bob’s Organic Dried Pears. I’ll need a criteria range of at least four rows: one for the header and three for the criteria. Click on the first cell of the spreadsheet, A1, and select the first four rows. Then click on “Insert  Rows” in the menu bar. Four rows will be inserted into the criteria range.

The first cell will be the header, “Product.” It’s easiest just to copy and paste it in. In the next several rows, type in the names of the three products: Boston Crab Meat, Camembert Pierrot, and Uncle Bob’s Organic Dried Pears. Now click “Data  Filter  Advanced Filter” to set the list and criteria ranges. The Advanced Filter dialogue box will open.

It’s very important to understand the difference between a list range and a criteria range: List range: the area on the worksheet that contains the original data. Criteria range: the area on the worksheet that contains the specific criteria that is being filtered. The list range for this worksheet starts at the first cell of the header, A5, and ends at the last filled cell, F952. The criteria range begins at A1 and ends at A4.

Type the list range in the list range box, separated by a colon. A5:F592 Do the same for the criteria range. A1:F4 Click “OK.” Your data is now filtered by the specific product names specified.

To filter the data using several criteria, it’s important to understand the concept of and/or operators and how they work in Excel. And/or operators work by specifying whether a specific criteria is to be filtered with another criteria (“and”) or whether it is to be filtered instead of another criteria (“or”) If a record meets all the criteria in a row in a criteria area, it will pass through the filter. AND/OR ?

In example 1, the customer must be MegaMart AND product must be Cookies AND total must be greater than 500. Criteria on different rows are joined with an OR operator. In the second example, the customer must be MegaMart OR product must be Cookies OR total must be greater than 500. By using multiple rows, you can combine the AND and OR operators. In the third example, the customer must be MegaMart AND product must be Cookies OR product must be Cookies AND total must be greater than 500.

So… I’m going to need a lot of rows. 25 rows of 6 columns, to be exact. Select the first 25 rows of the worksheet (one for the header and 24 for the criteria). Click “Insert  Rows” in the menu bar. Your rows will appear above the worksheet header. Select the worksheet header, and copy and paste it into the first row.

I need 24 rows because I’ve got three products, two customers, and four quarters I’m filtering for (3X2X4=24). Each value for the quarter must be listed separately, as an “AND” operator. It’s easiest to type the values in, then repeat them by selecting them. The values for the quarters can be typed in once, then copied.

When all the criteria have been added, click on any cell inside the original worksheet, then “Data  Filter  Advanced Filter” in the menu bar. The Advanced Filter Dialogue box will appear. In the list range, type A26:F978 In the criteria range, type: A1:F25

Your spreadsheet is now filtered by product, customer, and sales by quarter!