Chapter 1: Building WorksheetsIn This Chapter✓ Creating a spreadsheet from a template✓ Designing a spreadsheet from scratch✓ Understanding the different types of cell entries✓ Knowing the different ways of entering data in the worksheet✓ Using Data Validation to restrict the data entries in cells✓ Saving worksheets

Before you can begin building a new spreadsheet in Excel, you musthave the design in mind. As it turns out, the design aspect of the creativeprocess is often the easiest part because you can borrow the designfrom other workbooks that you’ve already created or from special workbookfiles, called templates, which provide you with the new spreadsheet’sform along with some of the standard, or boilerplate, data entries.After you’ve settled upon the design of your new spreadsheet, you’re ready tobegin entering its data. In doing the data entry in a new worksheet, you haveseveral choices regarding the method to use. For this reason, this chapternot only covers all the methods for entering data — from the most basic tothe most sophisticated — but also includes hints on when each is the mostappropriate. Note, however, that this chapter doesn’t include information onbuilding formulas, which comprises a major part of the data entry task in creatinga new spreadsheet. Because this task is so specialized and so extensive,you find the information on formula building covered in Book III, Chapter 1.Designer SpreadsheetsAnytime you launch Excel (without also opening an existing workbook file),the Excel screen in the Backstage view presents you with a choice between✦ Opening a new workbook (with the generic filename, Book1), consistingof a single totally blank worksheet (with the generic worksheet name,Sheet1) by selecting the Blank Workbook template✦ Opening a new workbook based on the design in one of the othertemplatesdisplayed in the Start screen or available for download byconducting an online search