<f>Excel 97 is the spreadsheet application in the Microsoft Office 97 suite of applications.
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A spreadsheet is an application that simulates an accountant's worksheet on-screen. It lets you embed hidden formulas that perform calculations on visible data.
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It is usually viewed as a matrix of rows (usually numbered) and columns (usually assigned letters) that form individual cells.
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Each cell has distinct cell coordinates, such as B4 or D19.
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The letter indicates which column the cell is in and the number indicates the row.
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By default, Microsoft Excel uses the A1 reference style, which ascribes letters to columns (A through IV, giving a total of 256 columns) and numbers to rows (1 through 65,536).
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You can place a value or a label in a cell. A value is a number or a hidden formula that performs a calculation, while a label is a heading or explanatory text. You can also enter text, dates and times into cells.
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The cornerstone of Excel's functioning is the workbook.
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A workbook is the file in which you work and store your data.
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Because each workbook can contain many worksheets, you can organize various kinds of related information in a single file.
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The default number of worksheets in a workbook is 3, while the maximum number is 255.
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You use worksheets to list and analyze data.
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You can enter and edit data on several worksheets simultaneously.
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You can also perform calculations based on data from multiple worksheets.
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Using Excel 97 you can
ò do budgets
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ò make financial projections
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ò perform data analysis
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ò generate sorted lists
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ò create forms
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As well as a large number of small improvements, you will notice some major differences between this and older versions of Excel.
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The most obvious and useful addition is the Office Assistant.
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The Office Assistant can answer your questions, offer tips, and provide help for a variety of features specific to the Office application you are using.
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The Assistant can display any of the following:
ò tips to point out how to
use the features or
keyboard shortcuts of the
application more effectively
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ò help with wizards
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ò suggested Help
relevant to the specific task
you are performing
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The Assistant is shared by all the Office 97 applications.
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Any Assistant options you change, such as the types of tips displayed in the Assistant, affect the Assistant in all of the applications.
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You start Excel by clicking the ^UStart^u menu on the Windows taskbar.
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You then click the ^UPrograms^u option in the ^UStart^u menu.
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Now you click the ^UExcel^u option in the Microsoft Office application group.
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The Excel banner is displayed momentarily while the application loads.
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Here the Office Assistant makes its first appearance with the Tip of the day.
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You click the ^UClose^u button when you have read the Tip of the day.
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You right-click the ^UOffice Assistant^u to access a menu specific to the Office Assistant.
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Choosing ^UOptions^u from the menu allows you to set parameters for the Office Assistant to suit your particular needs.
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The default Office Assistant is a cartoon character called "Clippit".
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Selecting the ^UGallery^u tab allows you to browse through a range of characters, from Albert Einstein to William Shakespeare.
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You click the ^UNext^u button to page through the available characters.
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When you find the character you prefer, simply click ^UOK^u.
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The media from which you loaded Microsoft Office 97 must be available to the system for the change to take effect.
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You hide the Assistant by clicking the ^UClose^u button in the top right-hand corner.
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You reactivate the Assistant each time you click the ^UHelp^u button in the top right-hand corner of the screen.
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When the Assistant appears, it routinely asks how it can help you.
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You overtype the field which reads "Type your question here, and then click Search".
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In the example, we want help on workbooks.
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The Office Assistant returns with various options.
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And the list continues if you click ^USee more^u.
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You choose the item from the list which best matches your query.
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For example, clicking the button next to ^UAbout workbooks and worksheets^u produces an extensive help file.
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On closer examination of a clear Excel screen, you will find that there are a number of toolbars across the top of the screen.
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The default toolbars are
ò the standard toolbar
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ò the formatting toolbar
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The menu bar contains drop-down menus you can use to perform every operation in Excel.
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An icon next to an option in a drop-down menu means that there is a corresponding shortcut on one of the toolbars.
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The Standard toolbar provides you with short-cuts for the most common operations, such as Save and Print.
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The Formatting toolbar provides you with the most used formatting operations such as font changes and alignment.
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The Status bar is displayed at the bottom of the screen.
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It displays information about a selected command or an operation in progress.
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The right-hand side of the bar shows whether keys such as ^UCaps Lock^u are turned on.
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The ^UView - Toolbars^u menu allows you to select which toolbars are displayed.
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Examples of toolbars are
ò Chart
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ò Control Toolbox
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ò Drawing
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ò External Data
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ò Forms
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ò Reviewing
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When you start Excel, it automatically creates a new (empty) workbook called Book1.
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If you're starting a new project from scratch, you can use this blank workbook.
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You can create another workbook in one of three ways
ò use the ^UFile - New^u option
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ò click the ^UNew^u icon on the
Standard toolbar
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ò press ^UCtrl+N^u
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We will use the ^UFile - New^u option to create a new workbook.
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You click the ^UNew^u option in the ^UFile^u menu.
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The New dialog box opens.
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The Workbook icon is already selected, so all you need do is press ^UOK^u.
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The new workbook is titled Book2.
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To save Book2 under a different name, you select the ^USave As^u option in the ^UFile^u menu.
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Book2 is the default name for the second new document accessed.
Excel defaults to the ^USave As^u dialog box to allow you to choose a new name and location for the file.
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The Save As dialog box opens with the filename Book2 highlighted.
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You overtype the filename with a filename of your own, and select where you want to save the file.
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In our case, the filename is Stock1.
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You click ^USave^u when you're finished.
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You will notice that the new name is displayed in the top left-hand corner.
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To close the current workbook, you click the ^UClose^u option in the ^UFile^u menu.
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To close all open workbooks, press the ^UShift^u key and choose the ^UFile - Close All^u command.
This command appears only when you hold down the ^UShift^u key while clicking the ^UFile^u menu.
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If the file you closed was the only open one, you will see a blank screen without an active workbook.
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To access existing files, you click the ^UOpen^u option in the ^UFile^u menu.
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The Open dialog box is displayed.
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The Open dialog box has a search facility for those times when you can't remember a filename.
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You click the ^UOpen^u button in the Open dialog box to access the workbook you selected, for example Stock1.
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When you click anywhere in the grid area of the worksheet, the column and row markers will appear in bold.
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In the example, column D and row 6 are the coordinates for the selected cell.
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When you need to select more than one cell, you hold down the ^UShift^u key while clicking the last cell in the intended selection, or drag the mouse over the cells to be selected.
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To select an entire row or column, you simply click the heading.
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For instance, if you wish to select all of column C, you click ^UC^u.
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You can move to anywhere within a worksheet simply by clicking it.
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If you want to move to cells that are not in view, use the horizontal and vertical scroll bars.
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If you want to move to Sheet2, simply click the ^USheet2^u tab at the bottom of the Excel screen.
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The display above the Status bar highlights Sheet2.
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If you need to divide a worksheet into compartments so that you are better able to view various parts of the worksheet at the same time, you use the ^USplit^u option in the ^UWindow^u menu.
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Depending on the position of the cursor the active window may split into two or four active windows, each with it's own scroll bar.
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If the cursor is placed in row 1, the split will be vertical in front of the column where the split has been accessed.
If the cursor is placed in column A, the split will be horizontal.
If the cursor is placed in both the first row and the first column, the split will be both horizontal and vertical.
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A quick way around a large spreadsheet is to use the ^UGo To^u option in the ^UEdit^u menu (or F5).
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You type the cell reference of the cell you need to find, in our case Q2, and press ^UOK^u.
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Excel takes you to the specified cell immediately.
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Excel 97 allows you to print workbooks, or selected parts of workbooks and worksheets, in various ways according to your requirements, such as draft quality and scaling printed output.
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Before actually printing a worksheet on the printer, you may want to see how the sheet will look when it is printed.
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You click ^UFile - Print Preview^u to see how it will look.
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It is advisable to preview printing as worksheets sometimes look different on-screen.
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The status bar at the bottom of the screen shows the current page number and the total number of pages in the selected sheet.
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You can see the following pages of the worksheet by clicking the ^UNext^u button in the menu bar or by pressing the ^UPage Down^u key.
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To see the previous page viewed, click the ^UPrevious^u button or use the ^UPage Up^u key.
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For a closer look at the data, click the ^UZoom^u button and use the horizontal and vertical scroll bars to see the entire sheet.
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Clicking the ^UZoom^u button again returns you to full-page view.
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Alternatively, you can switch between full-page and magnified views of a sheet by clicking any area of it.
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The Zoom feature does not affect printing size.
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When you click the ^UPrint^u button, the Print dialog box appears.
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This is the same dialog box that appears when you choose the ^UPrint^u option from the ^UFile^u menu.
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It is important to note that the ^UPrint what^u radio buttons allow you to choose from three options:
ò ^USelection^u
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ò ^UEntire workbook^u
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ò ^UActive sheet(s)^u
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You click the ^USelection^u radio button if you have manually selected the part of the worksheet you want printed.
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You set a print area to define the total area of a worksheet which you want to print frequently.
Excel does not print anything outside the print area unless this is explicitly selected.
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You set the print area by marking out exactly which cells you want in the printed copy.
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You then set the print area through the ^UFile - Print Area -^u ^USet Print Area^u command.
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You can easily see the selected area.
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A dotted line differentiates it from the unselected areas of the worksheet.
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You click ^UPrint^u in the ^UFile^u menu.
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Then you click the ^USelection^u radio button.
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You click ^UOK^u to send the print request to the printer.
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You click ^UFile - Print Area -^u ^UClear Print Area^u to deselect the previous print selection.
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You can print a workbook (any number of worksheets and other files) by selecting the ^UEntire workbook^u button and clicking ^UOK^u.
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If you wish to print only certain pages of a worksheet, select those pages in the ^UPrint Range^u field.
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You can select to print only the sheets you are currently working on, or a selection thereof.
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To select two or more adjacent sheets, click the tab for the first sheet, then hold down ^UShift^u and click the tab for the last sheet.
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To select various sheets, click the tab for the first sheet, then hold down ^UCtrl^u and click the tabs for the other sheets.
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Once you have selected the sheets you want to print, click the ^UActive sheet(s)^u radio button.
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You click the ^USetup^u button in the Print Preview screen to set options that control the appearance of printed sheets.
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The Page Setup dialog box which appears has four tabs:
ò ^UPage^u which is used to set
orientation, scaling, and paper size
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ò ^UMargins^u which is used to set the
margins between the text and the
page edges, as well as header and
footer margins
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ò ^UHeader/Footer^u which is used to add
the content of headers and footers,
such as page number and date
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ò ^USheet^u which is used to set the print
area, printing titles and page order
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You click ^UMargins^u to display or hide margin handles that you can drag to adjust page margins, header and footer margins, and column widths.
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You click ^UPage Break Preview^u to adjust the page breaks on the active worksheet.
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You can also resize the print area and edit the worksheet in this view.
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Choosing the ^UView - Normal^u menu option takes you to the normal view of the active sheet.
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You click the ^UClose^u button to close the Print Preview window and return to the previous view of the active sheet.
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You click the ^UHelp^u button to open the Help file.
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When Excel 97 is launched, the Office Assistant appears automatically.
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The Office Assistant offers different, useful tips each time Excel is started.
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To access the Help facility in Excel 97, you can
ò call up the Office Assistant
by using the question mark on
the Standard toolbar
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ò use the comprehensive
^UHelp^u menu
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You can call the Office Assistant by selecting the first option in the ^UHelp^u menu.
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Selecting the second option, ^UContents and Index^u calls up Excel's comprehensive Help facility which is divided into three tabbed pages:
ò Contents
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ò Index
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ò Find
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The tabbed page last selected by the user is the default.
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You can type any word related to the information you need and the Help will search for all relevant information.
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Let's assume that you need information on printing.
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You simply type the word ^Rprinting^r at the first input field.
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Then you narrow down the search range to ^Rprinting, areas^r.
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Excel displays the Topics Found dialog box.
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You select the topic you wish to see and click the ^UDisplay^u button.
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The topic you needed information on is displayed.
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As with all Microsoft Office 97 products, Excel 97 has a What's This? facility.
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When you select ^UHelp - What's This?^u, your mouse becomes a question mark.
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By positioning the question mark over an item you need information on and clicking the mouse button, you are given information relevant to that item, in our case, the formula bar.
