Excel is a full featured Electronic
Spreadsheet package that is included as part of the Microsoft Office suite.
It is very widely used in office settings across the country. It is taught
in the CIS Department at Northwest-Shoals from beginning to advanced, as a part
of the CIS146, CIS147, and CIS148 classes.
Excel can be used to produce
workbooks that include worksheets, embedded charts, formulas, functions,
special formatting, charts on separate sheets, what if analysis, web queries, and static and dynamic web
pages which are taught as part of the CIS146 class. Excel can locate and
correct spelling and grammar errors in a variety of languages. Excel also can
format text such as headings, lists, fractions, borders, and Web addresses.
Within Excel, you also can e-mail a copy of your Excel workbook to an e-mail
address.
These are all taught as part of the CIS146 class. Excel also includes
various tools that enable you to create static and dynamic Web pages with ease
and you can upload these Web pages directly to a Web server if you have access
to one. Web pages are created as part of the CIS146 class but are not
actually published on the Web server.
Example of Workbook With Embedded
Chart
Example of Formulas Version of
Worksheet
Example of Worksheet With Special
Formatting
Example of Pie Chart on Separate
Sheet
Example of What If Analysis Using
Goal Seek
Example of Web Query
Example of Static Web Page
Excel can be used to create workbooks
that include financial functions, data tables, amortization schedules, and
hyperlinks. Lists can be created, sorted, and queried via Excel.
Templates can be created that can be used to standardize workbooks.
Multiple workbooks and worksheets can be consolidated or linked in Excel.
These are included as part of the CIS147 class.
Example of Workbook With Financial
Functions
Example of Worksheet With Data
Table
Example of Worksheet With
Amortization Schedule
Example of Template for Workbook
Macros and Visual Basic for Applications (VBA)
can be utilized in Excel to automate repititious tasks. Formula
auditing, data validation, and comlex problem solving can be accomplished in
Excel. Data can be imported into Excel, XML can be used, pivot charts,
pivot tables, and trendlines can be created in Excel. The specifics for
these are taught in the CIS148 class.
Example of VBA Code in Excel
Example of Formula Auditing in
Excel
Example of Data Validation in
Excel
Example of Complex Problem Solving
in Excel
Example of XML in Excel
Example of Pivot Charts in Excel
Example of Pivot Tables in Excel
Example of Trendlines in Excel
Excel has many features designed to
simplify the creation of workbooks. With Excel, you easily can include
borders, shading, tables, graphics, pictures, Web addresses, charts, and other
modifications in your workbooks. You can instruct Excel to generate a
template, which is a form that contains prewritten text that you can utilize
and customize to meet your needs. With appropriate hardware, you can dictate
or handwrite text instead of typing it in Excel. You also can verbalize
directions to Excel.
The Excel window contains an
assortment of
items to make your work more efficient and workbooks more professional.
When you run Excel the first time after installation, the Excel window will
presumably look similar to the one below. If Office Speech Recognition
software is installed on your computer, then either the Language Indicator
button will be displayed on the right side of the Windows taskbar or the
Language bar will be visible somewhere on the desktop.
By default, the getting started task pane is displayed on the
right side of the screen, and the
buttons on the toolbars are displayed on a single row. A task paneis a separate
window that enables users to carry out some Excel tasks more efficiently and it
will automatically be displayed when you are performing certain operations. For a
inexperienced Excel user, the toolbars should be shown on two separate rows instead of a
single row.
The Excel workbook
is similar to a notebook because it contains different worksheets. By
default a workbook opens with three sheets but you can add up to 255
worksheets to each workbook. The worksheets are identified by a sheet
tab located at the bottom of the workbook.
The worksheet itself is organized
into a grid of horizontal rows and vertical columns. The rows are
identified by a row heading which is a row number located on the left side of
the row. The columns are identified by a letter of the alphabet,
classified as a column heading, located above the column. A cell is the
intersection of a column and a row and is considered to be the basic unit of a
worksheet; it is the location into which you enter data. A worksheet
consists of 256 columns and 65,536 rows. Therefore, the column headings
actually begin with the letter A and end with the letters IV and the row
headings begin with number 1 and end with the number 65,536.
A cell has a unique cell reference,
which is the coordinates of the intersection of a column and a row. The
column heading is specified first in the cell reference followed by the row
number. Data can be entered into only one cell on the worksheet at a
time; that cell is refered to as the active cell and can be identified in
three ways. The active cell will contain a border that is darker than
the other cells, the active cell's cell reference will be displayed in the
name box on the formula bar, and the border around the active cell's column
heading and row heading will be darker than the others. Gridlines also
appear on the worksheet to easily separate the cells; they are the vertical
and horizontal lines that appear on the worksheet.
The worksheet window text, numbers,
graphics, and other items as you type or insert them into a worksheet. Only a
segment of your worksheet, however, is displayed on the screen at one time. You
view the portion of the worksheet displayed on the screen via the worksheet
window.
The mouse pointer different
shapes according to the task you are performing in Excel and the pointer’s
location on the screen.
Below the toolbars, the formula bar is used
to display the information that currently exists or is being entered into the
active cell. The active cell reference also appears in the Name Box on
the left side of the Formula Bar. As you type information, the cancel
and enter boxes will also appear in the Formula Bar area. The Insert
Function button is also contained on the Formula Bar.
By using the scroll barsyou can display
portions of your worksheet that are currently not shown in the worksheet window. At the right edge
of the worksheet window is a vertical scroll bar and at the bottom of the
worksheet
window is a horizontal scroll bar. On both the vertical and horizontal scroll
bars, the position of the scroll boxeflects the location of the portion of
the worksheet currently being viewed in the worksheet window. On the
bottom scroll bar, there is a tab split box that can be adjusted to show more
of the scroll bar or more sheet tabs.
The status bar at the bottom of the worksheet
window, above the Windows taskbar. The status bar offers information about
the selected command, the function of the button the mouse pointer is pointing
to, or the mode of Excel.
On the status bar, mode indicators. The Auto Calculate area is
located in the middle of the status bar and can be used instead of a
calculator to view specific statistics about a range of cells.
On the status bar, keyboard show which
keys are activated. For example, you will see CAPS when Caps Lock is
turned on. You will see NUM when Num Lock is turned on.
The menu bar
is a special toolbar that is located at the top of the screen just below
the title bar that displays the Excel
menu names. Each menua list of commands
available for performing tasks such as
retrieving, storing, printing, and formatting data in your worksheet. When you
point to a menu name on the menu bar, the part of the menu bar containing the
name transforms to a button. To open a menu, such as the View menu, click the
View menu name on the menu bar. If you point to an option on a menu that has
right pointing arrow, a submenu
displays another list of commands. If you select an option on a menu that
has an ellipsis after it, a dialog box will open for you to supply additional
information.
By default, when you click a menu name on the menu bar, a short menuis displayed
that shows your most recently used commands. If you wait a little while or click
the arrows at the bottom of the short menu, it expands into a full menu. A full
menu all the commands associated with a
particular menu. If you wish, you can display a
full menu by double-clicking the menu name on the menu bar. You can also
use the customize command on the tools menu to have the full menus show by
default.
Both short and full menus display some dimmed commands that
appear gray, or dimmed, instead of black, which indicates they are not available
at the current time for the current selection. A command with dark gray shading in the rectangle to
the left of it on a full menu is called a hidden command because it does not
appear on a short menu. As you use Excel, it automatically personalizes the
short menus for you based on how often you use commands; as you use hidden
commands from the full menu, Excel unhides them and places them on
the short menu.
The toolbars by
default appear on one row below the title bar or menu bar. You can change
the toolbars so that the two built in toolbars that are commonly used are
displayed on only one row. That is the best option for an inexperienced
Excel user. To do this, you click the double right arrows with a downward
pointing arrow beneath them and choose Show Buttons on Two Rows. This will
separate the toolbars and place each one on a separate row, enabling an
inexperienced user to locate the individual buttons more easily.
Excel has several predefined, or built-in, toolbars. A toolbarcontains buttons,
boxes, and menus that allow you to complete tasks more rapidly than using the
menu bar and related menus. For example, to open a workbook, you click the
Open button on a toolbar. To check a worksheet for spelling and/or grammar errors, you click
the Spelling button on a toolbar. Each button on a toolbar displays an image to
assist you in recalling its function. Also, when you point to a button or box on a
toolbar, a ScreenTip will appear below the mouse pointer. A ScreenTipis a short,
on-screen note to assist you with using the object to which you are pointing.
Two built-in toolbars
that are commonly used are the Standard toolbarand the Formatting toolbar. Each button on the toolbars displays an
image to assist you in remembering its function.
Toolbars may either
be docked or floating. A docked toolbar is attached to one side of the
Excel window. A floating toolbar dangles in the middle of the Excel window
and is not attached to an edge.
