Excel

Sen Zhang

What is a spreadsheet?

• Spreadsheets have been used for many, many years in business to keep track of information such as expenses, help make decisions and for other calculation purposes.

• Spreadsheets allow you to organize information in tables (which are composed of rows, columns and cells).

The formal definition of the traditional spreadsheet.

• A piece of paper with rows and columns for recording financial data for use in comparative analysis.

If using paper and pencilThe math that goes on behind the scenes on the paper spreadsheet can be overwhelming. If you change the loan amount, you will have to start the math all over again (from scratch), and you probably will make mistakes somewhere even with the aid of calculators and you have to start again.

What is an Excel spreadsheet?

• Simply put, it is the computer equivalent of a paper-based spreadsheet, processed by Microsoft Excel software.

• More than simulating the paper-based spreadsheet, Excel spreadsheet, however, is more powerful than the simple spreadsheet for its added bonus of automatic mathematics.

What is an Excel spreadsheet?

• Excel is an environment that can make number manipulation easy and somewhat less painfull than otherwise.

• Excel eliminates the tedious recalculations required by manual methods.

If using Excel

•All you need to do is to design your formula precisely once, then formulas will do all the calculation for you, always precisely and correctly! •The best thing is that you can experiment with numbers without having to RE-DO all the calculations.

What makes up a spreadsheet in Excel?

• Spreadsheets are made up of – COLUMNS. Letters are used to designate each

COLUMN'S location. – ROWS. Numbers are used to designate each

ROW'S location. – CELL is defined as the space where a specified

row and column intersect. Each CELL is assigned a name according to its COLUMN letter and ROW number. When referencing a particular cell, you should put the column first and the row second.

More about names (addresses or identifiers)

• In computing world, everything is modeled an object, and every object has a name. (That is why computers can do things precisely.)

• Operating system manages data in different files, folders, drives, computers or network domains etc.

• In Excel, every object here stands for a cell, a column, a row, a worksheet or a workbook file.

Locate a cell

• For example, the cell in the uppermost left corner would be "A1." The current cell(s) will always be listed in the "Name Box," which appears on the left below the standard and formatting toolbars (you can drag it to different places.)

Navigating the Spreadsheet

• You can use the "Up," "Down," "Left," "Right," to move (one cell at a time) throughout the spreadsheet. You can also simply click the cursor into a cell). The "tab" button will move one cell to the right. The "Enter" button will confirm the entered information and move one cell down.

What can you do with those cells?• A cell is the basic unit of a worksheet into

which you enter data or information.

• In each cell there may be the following types of data – text (labels) – number data (constants)

–formulae (mathematical equations that work on number data, always being prefixed by an assignment sign, “=”.)

Formulas

• They are entries that have an equation that calculates the value based on the values of other cells or constants.

• Formulas reflect business rules.• In formulas cells, we DO NOT type in the

numbers; we type in the equation, because the values of these cells are supposed to be derived from the values of other cells.

reference

• This cell reference can either be a relative or an absolute reference

Use formulas as much as possible!

• When we are entering formulas into a spreadsheet we want to make as many references as possible to existing data.

• If we can reference that information we don't have to type it in again.

Intelligence need to be designed.

• Excel is good at repeating and precise calculation.

• But Computer is not as smart as human beings. It is your responsibility to precisely tell the Excel what you want it to do by defining right formulas in proper cells.

How can Excel make calculation easier?

• Excel will keep track of numbers you place in cells. Furthermore, if you have defined formula cells to refer to each other, any changes made in one cell will be reflected in these referring cells.

• It sounds a bit complicated, but Excel makes it all a breeze.

Two stages

• Design stage. Implement all business rules using formulas. You are the designer, not necessarily to be the final user.

• Production stage. you give your well-designed Excel workbook which consists of pre-allocated blank cells and preset formula cells to the final users, who might or might not be yourself.

• Layout design, – text, label and row header and column header

information.– Numerical data directly input from users. – Derived data defined by formulas (including both

straight formulas and predefined functions.)

• Format and lighten up the dry data appearance• Generate charts• Web support (two ways)

– Some data could be retrieved from Web. – Save as webpage

An example• This is what a basic spreadsheet may look like, keeping track of the

grades for five students. As you'll notice, numbers automatically align to the right, while text automatically aligns to the left. Room has been allowed at the top and the left for column and row headings, which have been placed in bold.

• We will show grade 1, 2, 3 can be generated easily.

Simple Formulas:

• "92.67" was not entered as the contents for cell "E2." The "formula bar" has the following entered into it:

• =(B2+C2+D2)/3

repeating

• If you wanted to do the same for students 2 through 5, you would enter in similar formulas for each cell from "E3" to "E6" replacing the column letters and row numbers where appropriate.

Copying by dragging fill handler

• An easy method to replicate formulas is to select the cell which contains the original formula ("E2" in this case), click the bottom right corner of the selection box, and drag down several rows (to "E6" in this example). The formula will be copied down in each cell, and will change itself to reflect each new row.

Relative addresses used in formulas

• Cells information is copied from its relative position. In other words in the original cell (e2) the equation was =(B2+C2+D2)/3. When we paste the function it will look for the three cells to the left. So the equation pasted into (e3) would be =(B3+C3+D3)/3. And the equation pasted into (e4) would be =(B4+C4+D4)/3.

Absolute address in formulas

• Sometimes it is necessary to keep a certain position that is not relative to the new cell location.

• This is possible by inserting a $ before the Column letter or a $ before the Row number (or both). This is called Absolute Positioning.

Absolute address

If we were to fill down with this formula we would have the exact same formula in all of the cells C1, C2, C3, and C4. The dollar signs Lock the cell location to a FIXED position. When it is copied and pasted it remains EXACTLY the same (no relative).

A B C

1 5 3 =$A$1+$B$1

2 8 2 =$A$1+$B$1

3 4 6 =$A$1+$B$1

4 3 8 =$A$1+$B$1

Relative position & Absolute position

• Relative position, AB12• Absolute position, $AB$12• Mixed reference $A2 with only one dollar sign

before either the column or the row .• Unless you use absolute positions in your

formula, the smart Excel will take it for granted that the reference is relative, that means they will change positions based on its intelligence!

More examples about relative position in formula

• D5 cell contains a formula, which is d4+c4.

• If this formula is copy to d8 what is the result?

• D7+c7, why.

• D5=d4+c4

• What is the relative position.

• Compared with d5, d4 means same column, denoted 0; one row above denoted as -1.

• Compared with d5, c4 means one column left, denoted -1; one row above denoted as -1.

• This relative information will be maintained in new cell

• D8=D7+C7

Absolute position in formula

• D5=$d$4+$c$4

What are Excel functions?

• An Excel function is a predefined formula.

• Sum, max, average etc.

• Many more

A function exampleGenerate a random value between two limits

• Enter the following values in cell A1 and A2: 65, 84 (these values will act as the lower and upper bound limits)

Enter the following formula in cell B1: =RANDBETWEEN(A1,A2)

A random number between 65 and 84 will be generated

• Different views ctrl+ ` (accent symbol)

A new Excel Workbook

• Microsoft Excel will automatically open with a blank spreadsheet spanning many columns and rows. You will notice a number of toolbars with many more options included.

A Workbook window

• Title bar

• Menu bar, tool bars, floating and docking at top or bottom of the window.

• Status bar

• Worksheet windows

Excel Fundamentals

Standard Toolbar

FormattingToolbar

StatusBar

Cells

B12

C6

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Worksheet Layout

Excel Fundamentals

• Worksheet Layout, continued Formula Bar

Name Box

SheetTabs

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Worksheet Layout

f

Excel Fundamentals

AutoSum ToolFormula Bar

Formula inCell

Use a function to analyze the data ...

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Excel Capabilities

Printing Worksheets

PrintSelection Number of

Copies

Select Printer

PrintPreview

• Select File, then Print• Always a good idea to select Print Preview

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?

General Options

• Select Tools, then Options

Manage“Recently

used file list”

Set the number of blank worksheetsto start with

Set FileLocation

Set StandardFont

Set User Name

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Custom Formats

• Select Format, then Cells• Select the Number Tab, then Custom. Type the format in the box

SelectCustom

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Excel Fundamentals

Enter and edit some data ...

Text is Boldand

Centered

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Entering Data

Linking Worksheets, identifying cells across multiple sheets

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Cell D4

“On-Hand”Worksheet

Formula

Sorting• One of Excel’s powerful features is its ability to

sort, while still retaining the relationships among information. For example, let’s take our student grade example from above. What if we wanted to sort the grades in descending order? First, let’s select the information we want to sort.

Sorting• Now let’s select the “Sort” option from the

“Data” menu.• A new window will appear asking how you

would like to sort the information. Let’s sort it by the average grade, which is in Column E; be sure to set by “Descending” order. If there were other criteria you wished to sort by as secondary measures, you could do so; let’s select “Then by” as “Grade 3” just for the practice of doing so (“Descending” order, as well).

Sorting

Sorting

• Excel will sort your information with the specifications you entered. The results should look something like this:

•

Dry spreadsheets

• Spreadsheets full of numbers can be pretty dry, so we need some tools to dress them up a little.

• You can add bells and whistles to not only decorate the appearance of your sheets, but also improve their and readability.

• We can use most of the tricks in our word processor to do the formatting of text. We can use : bold face, italics, underline, change the color, align (left, right, center), font size, font, etc.

Design for Looks

2001 Book Tour ResultsCity Date Fee Attendance Books SoldNew York 23-Jan-01 $1,180 205 147Boston 25-Jan-01 $821 385 146Washington27-Jan-01 $1,724 499 151January Total $3,725 1089 444Miami 4-Feb-01 $757 221 41Memphis 6-Feb-01 $910 93 45Atlanta 8-Feb-01 $1,880 149 95February Total $3,547 463 181Los Angeles 5-Mar-01 $941 265 47San Francisco7-Mar-01 $904 171 145Seattle 9-Mar-01 $934 279 109March Total $2,779 715 301Grand Total $10,051 2267 926

• Here is some (fictitious) data from an author’s book tour.• When unformatted, the table is hard to read and understand

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Design for Looks

City Date Fee Attendance Books SoldNew York 23-Jan-01 1,180$ 205 147Boston 25-Jan-01 821$ 385 146Washington, D.C. 27-Jan-01 1,724$ 499 151

January Total 3,725$ 1089 444Miami 4-Feb-01 757$ 221 41Memphis 6-Feb-01 910$ 93 45Atlanta 8-Feb-01 1,880$ 149 95

February Total 3,547$ 463 181Los Angeles 5-Mar-01 941$ 265 47San Francisco 7-Mar-01 904$ 171 145Seattle 9-Mar-01 934$ 279 109

March Total 2,779$ 715 301Tour Grand Totals 10,051$ 2267 926

2001 Book Tour Results

• The same data, with some formatting.• Give this a try!

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Cell Formatting

• You may have noticed that, by default, Excel will leave as many decimal points as possible within the cell’s width restraints; as you increase the cell’s width, the number of decimal points increases.

• Select “Cells” from the “Format” menu. A new window will appear with a wide variety of ways in which to customize your spreadsheets.

• For example, if we wanted to set the percentages fixed to only two decimal points, you can make this selection under the “Number” category within the “Number” tab. You can also set the formatting for things such as the date, time, currency, etc.

• The “Font” tab will also allow you to change the default font used on the spreadsheet. The other tabs provide even more ways to customize your spreadsheet and its appearance; experiment with the settings to see what works best for you.

A picture is worth a thousand words.

• People communicate all the time in graphical languages.

• In many cases, you can get a message across more quickly with graphs, charts, or maps than with words or tables of numbers.

• Excel allow the users to make information. graphically articulate.

• Not only chart, but you can also add picture, art work and so on.

Chart Wizard

• Excel allows you to create basic – to – intermediate charts based of information and data within your spreadsheets.

• Let’s create a column chart from the student grade data from before. First, highlight the data.

• Next, select “Chart” from the “Insert” menu.

• A new window will appear asking which type of chart you would like to create. For this example, let’s do a basic pie chart. Select “Column” from the “Chart Type” on the left side, and pick the first sub-type on the right (a normal, 2D column chart).

• Click “Next.” In this window, you’ll be asked to select your “data range”; this is the area of your spreadsheet that you wish to generate a chart from. Since you’ve already selected the area before, it should already be entered into the appropriate area. “Series in” allows you to choose by which value you want to arrange the chart. Let’s arrange it by rows; this will break it down by “Grade” (such as Test 1, Test 2, etc.) and comparing the student scores next to each other.

• Click “Next.” In step three you can give the chart a name (“Chart Title”), label the X and/or Y axis, etc.

• Click “Next.” The final step will ask whether you want the chart as an object in your current spreadsheet or in a new one; generally, you will place it within the same spreadsheet.

• Click “Finish,” and your chart will appear in your spreadsheet!

•

Charts• The completed chart can be placed to enhance presentation, yet remains linked to its data source. If the data changes, the chart will too. In orther words, if you change values in the data source, Excel automatically updates the chart to reflect the change.

Quarterly Sales

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40

60

80

100

120

140

NORTH EAST SOUTH WEST

Region

$ M

illio

ns Jan

Feb

Mar

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• Pictures

• Cliparts

• borders and shading

Web Feature

• Save as a webpage

• More importantly, it can receive alive data online through web services. (Hot!)

Web queries

• Grab dynamic data from the Internet through web service support.

• Can retrieve information from the Internet.

• Data -> import data …

Save as web pages

• Static

• Dynamic

Orientation & preview

• Orientation– Portrait– Landscape

• Preview

Some unexpected symbols?

• #### Excel use this string of symbols to represent a value that is so large that it cannot be displayed within the width of the cell. To view the value in the cell, you must either increase the width of the column or hover your mouse pointer over the cell.

• Something starts with a # sign

• #REF! indicates that there is an invalid cell reference in the formula

Recognizing Errors

•Excel error messages begin with “#” •Common Error Messages

• ##### Cell isn’t wide enough to show the data• #VALUE! Wrong type of data for a function• #DIV/0! Tried to divide by zero• #NAME? Cell name not defined or (usually) misspelled• #REF! Cell reference is not valid• #NUM! Function requires a number• #NULL! Called a non-intersecting range of cells

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• If you enter text or numbers that span further than the column allows, simply place your cursor on the line dividing two columns next to their respective letters, and drag to the right or left until the desired width is achieved. You can also double-click this dividing line to have Excel automatically choose the best width.

Conditional function

• =IF(B2>90,"a", IF(B2>80,"b", "c"))

Conditional Formatting

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• Excel can be set to “watch” for certain values in your spreadsheet• It responds to the values by changing the cells to a format you specify

Conditional Formatting, user friendly appearence

• Apply conditional formatting to “Forecast Example.xls”• Highlight cells to be formatted (C3 to O26)• Set values between 0 and 5 to be filled with red, 6 to 10 yellow, and 11 and above green

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Comments• When additional information is necessary in a worksheet, a comment can be inserted• Select Insert, then choose Comment• A cell with comments is marked by a red triangle at the upper right corner of the cell

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• What does a green triangle mean in Excel?

• Answer: Error

Windows

• Ctrl + W = close current windowCtrl + P = print current documentCtrl + F = find certain text in current document

• Alt + F4 = quit current program

INTERNET EXPLORER

• Tab = moves selection between address bar and links on current page

• F3 = find certain text in current document• F5 = refresh current page (also Ctrl + R)

F6 = set text input to address bar (also Ctrl + Tab)

• F11 = switch to full-screen mode• Ctrl + D = add current page to favorites list• F4 = expand address bar downwards to view list

of recently visited sites

EXCEL KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS

• Ctrl + D = fill up

• Ctrl + G = go to some position

• Ctrl + H = find and replace

• Ctrl + R = fill right

• Ctrl + 1 (one) = format cells

• F7 = spelling and grammar

• Ctrl + K = insert a hyperlink

• Renaming worksheet name

• Adding new worksheet

• Options & customization

Goals

• After completing this lecture you will be able to:– Do math by typing simple formulas to add,

divide, multiply, and subtract. – Use cell references in formulas, so that Excel

can automatically update results when values change or when you copy formulas.

– Use functions (prewritten formulas) to add up values, calculate averages, and find the smallest or largest value in a range of values.

Excel Exam Study Outline

• Spreadsheet (Functional part)

• Charts and Graphs

• Formatting

Spreadsheet• Change print alignment• Enter text• Cell alignment (right, center, left)• Indenting text in cells• Formatting cells (percent, currency, decimal places, font, text wrap,

fill, etc.)• Merge and Center command• Formulas

– Multiplication, subtraction, division, etc. of cells with each other and/or by constants

– Copying formulas using Relative, Mixed and Absolute cell reference– Writing complex formulas involving more than one calculation.

• Adjusting column width• Using the AutoSum feature• Using common functions

Charts and Graphs

• Accenting data in multiple rows or columns.• Building a chart using the Chart Wizard• Changing appearance

– Move legend– Change colors– Change title– Change background– Change font, etc.

• Data labels• Embedded chart resizing

Entering multiple lines of Text within a Cell

• Alt+enter

End

• After you try Excel, you'll never go back to a calculator, pencils or paper.