12 BASICS OF MS-EXCEL

1 12 BASICS OF INTRODUCTIONMS- excel 2000 is a Windows based application package. It isquite useful in entering, editing, analysis and storing of operations with numerical data such as addition,subtraction, multiplication and division can also be done withExcel. You can sort the numbers/characters according to somegiven criteria (like ascending, descending etc.)and solve simplefinancial, mathematical and statistical OBJECTIVESA fter going through this lesson you would be in a position tolexplain the basic features of MS Excellset pages and their printinglmodify a worksheetlenter and edit data in a worksheetlwork on keyboard shortcutsBasics of MS excel :: excel FEATUREST here are a number of features that are available in excel tomake your task easier. Some of the main features are:AutoFormat - lets you to choose many preset table - helps you to add the contents of a cluster ofadjacent AutoFill - automatically extends cell formatting when anew item is added to the end of a - feature allows you to quickly fill cells with repetitiveor sequential data such as chronological dates or numbers,and repeated text.

2 AutoFill can also be used to copy can also alter text and numbers with this toolbar will allow you to draw a number ofgeometrical shapes, arrows, flowchart elements, stars andmore. With these shapes you can draw your own - guides you to work effectively while you work bydisplaying various helpful tips and techniques based on whatyou are and Drop - feature will help you to reposition the dataand text by simply dragging the data with the help of - features will help you in presenting a graphicalrepresentation of your data in the form of Pie, Bar, Line chartsand - flips and sums data in seconds and allows youto perform data analysis and generating reports like periodicfinancial statements, statistical reports, etc. You can alsoanalyse complex data relationships Menus - commands that are appropriate to thetask that you are doing appear by clicking the right STARTING on (with the help of mouse) the Start button on theWindows 98 Taskbar at the bottom of the the Programs item.

3 The program menu will :: Basic Computing Microsoft excel from the list of programs. (these stepsare shown Figure ) on Microsoft ExcelSymbolically these actions are shown Start Programs Microsoft excel commands from yourmenu the text of your lessons on MS excel we will beshowing the symbol to indicate the direction (steps) you haveto can also use the Microsoft Office Shortcut Bar (MSOB) asshown in figure to start your work on excel WORKSHEETE xcel allows you to create worksheets much like paper ledgersthat can perform automatic calculations. Each excel file is aworkbook that can hold many worksheets. The worksheet is agrid of columns (designated by letters) and rows (designated by Microsoft excel MSOB BASICS of MS excel :: 229numbers). The letters and numbers of the columns and rows(called labels) are displayed in gray buttons across the top andleft side of the worksheet.

4 The intersection of a column and arow is called a cell. Each cell on the spreadsheet has a cell addressthat is the column letter and the row number. Cells can containeither text, numbers, or mathematical Selecting, Adding and Renaming WorksheetsThe worksheets in a workbook are accessible by clicking theworksheet tabs just above the status bar. By default, threeworksheets are included in each workbook. To add a sheet, selectInsert Worksheet from the menu bar. To rename the worksheettab, move the cursor to sheet tab, right-click on the tab with themouse and select Rename from the shortcut menu. Type thenew name and press the ENTER key. Sheet TabStatus Bar Cell Number BoxActive CellStandard Tool BarMenu BarFormattingTool BarFormulaBarColumn HeadingsWorksheetTab ScrollButtonsRow HeadingsHorizontalScroll BarVerticalScroll Bar230 :: Basic Computing Standard ToolbarThis toolbar is located just below the menu bar at the top of thescreen and allows you to quickly access basic excel - Select File New from the menu bar, or press CTRL+N,or click the New button to create a new - Click File Open from the menu bar, or pressCTRL+O, or click the Open folder button to open an - The first time you save a workbook, select File SaveAs and name the file.

5 After the file is named click File Save,or CTRL+S, or the Save button on the standard - Click the Print button to print the Preview - This feature will allow you to preview theworksheet before it Check - Use the spell checker to correct spelling errorson the , Copy, Paste, and Format Painter - These actions willbe explained to you later in this and Redo - Click the backward Undo arrow to cancelthe last action you performed like entering data into a cell,formatting a cell, entering a function, etc. Click the forwardRedo arrow to cancel the undo Hyperlink - To insert a hyperlink to a web site on theInternet, type the text into a cell you want to be the link thatcan be clicked with the mouse. Then, click the InsertHyperlink button and enter the web address you want thetext to link to and click , Function Wizard, and Sorting - These featuresare discussed in lesson of MS excel :: and Drawing - These feature are discussed inlesson - To change the size that the worksheet appears onthe screen, choose a different percentage from the SELECTING CELLS AND RANGESTo enter data into your worksheet you must first have a cell orrange selected.

6 When you open an excel worksheet, cell A1 isalready active. An active cell will appear to have a darker borderaround it than other cells on the worksheet. The simplest wayto select a cell is with your mouse pointer. Move your mouse tothe desired cell and click on it with right button. Whatever youtype goes into the cell. To select a range of cells, click on onecell, hold down the left mouse button and drag the mouse pointerto the last cell of the range you want to select. You can also usekeyboard shortcuts given at the end of this lesson for NAVIGATING THE WORKSHEETYou can advance through your worksheet by rows with the verticalscrollbar or by columns with the horizontal scrollbar (see ). when you click and drag the thumb tab on the scrollbar,a Screen Tip will appear alongside the bar identifying the row orcolumn to which your view is advancing.

7 You can also usekeyboard shortcuts given at the end of this lesson for navigatingthe DATA ENTRYYou can enter various kinds of data in a : Your numbers can be from the entire range ofnumeric values: whole numbers (example, 25), decimals(example, ) and scientific notation (example, +2). excel displays scientific notation automaticallyif you enter a number that is too long to be viewed in itsentirety in a cell. You may also see number signs (# # # # ##) when a cell entry is too long. Widening the column thatcontains the cell with the above signs will allow you to readthe : First select the cell in which data has to be enteredand type the text. Press ENTER key to finish your text :: Basic Computing SkillsThe text will be displayed in the active cell as well as in theFormula bar. If you have numbers to be treated as text usean apostrophe ( ) as the first character.

8 You cannot docalculations with these kind of data and Time: When you enter dates and times, Excelconverts these entries into serial numbers and kept asbackground information. However, the dates and times willbe displayed to you on the worksheet in a format opted byyou. You will learn about date and time formats later inlesson in Series: You can fill a range of cells either with thesame value or with a series of values with the help of EDITING DATAE diting your excel worksheet data is very easy. You can edityour data by any of the following the cell containing data to be edited. Press F2. UseBackspace key and erase the wrong entry. Retype the the cell and simply retype the correct you want only to clear the contents of the cell, select thecell and press Delete bring back the previous entry, either click on Undo buttonon standard Toolbar or select Edit Undo command or usekeyboard shortcuts CTRL+ CELL REFERENCESEach worksheet contains a number of columns and rows.

9 Eachcell of the worksheet has a unique reference. For example, D5,refers to the cell containing column number D and row FIND AND REPLACE DATA IN A WORKSHEETYou may want to locate a number or text that is already typed inthe worksheet. This is done through Edit Find. You can alsolocate your data and replace with new data withEdit Find A Adding Worksheets, Rows, and - Add a worksheet to a workbook by selectingInsert Worksheet from the menu of MS excel :: - To add a row to a worksheet, select Insert Rowsfrom the menu bar, or highlight the row by clicking on therow label, right-click with the mouse, and choose - Add a column by selecting Insert Columns fromthe menu bar, or highlight the column by click on the col-umn label, right-click with the mouse, and choose Resizing Rows and ColumnsThere are two ways to resize rows and a row by dragging the line below the label of the rowyou would like to resize.

10 Resize a column in a similar man-ner by dragging the line to the right of the label correspond-ing to the column you want to the row or column label and selectFormat Row Height or Format Column Width fromthe menu bar to enter a numerical value for the height ofthe row or width of the Selecting CellsBefore a cell can be modified or formatted, it must first be selected(highlighted). Refer to the table below for selecting groups to selectMouse action:One cellclick once in the cellEntire rowclick the row labelEntire columnclick the column labelEntire worksheetclick the whole sheet button (atthe intersection of rows andcolumns)Cluster of cellsdrag mouse over the cells or holddown the SHIFT key while usingthe arrow keysTo activate the contents of a cell, double-click on the cell or clickonce and press.