Excel Lecture 3

Opening a workbook

Workbook – is actually a file in which you accumulate information so that we could study them closely and systematically

 

Appearance and part of a workbook

1. Row and column headings – you will know the exact location or address of an active cell through its column and row headings. You can also adjust the dimensions of cells via column and row headings.
2. Active cell – the highlighted or marked cell.
3. Select all button – located between the row and column headings. When you click on this button it automatically selects the whole worksheet, making it susceptible to all kinds of commands available in Excel.
4. Tab scrolling button – these buttons allows you to view your sheets from the beginning or the last sheet.
5. Sheet tabs – shows you which worksheet you are working at the moment.
6. Scroll bars – allows you to see the worksheet area that cannot be seen.

 

Adding and Deleting Worksheets to a Workbook

 

What if you need a new worksheet in the current workbook? Simply click the sheet that should be to the right of the new sheet and choose Insert | Worksheet. The new sheet appears to the left of the active sheet and becomes the new active sheet. Of course, once you’ve added sheets, you might need to rearrange them. To move sheets, just drag the sheet tabs with your mouse.

Deleting sheets is also quite simple but should be done with great care, especially if there’s data on them. If you realize you have an unnecessary sheet in the workbook after entering data onto the sheet, you’ll want to make sure that data isn’t essential to the workbook (the data will be deleted along with the sheet) or that you’ve copied it to another sheet in the workbook for safekeeping.

To get rid of a sheet, click its tab and choose Edit | Delete Sheet, or you can right-click the tab and choose Delete from the shortcut menu. If there is no data on the sheet, the sheet disappears immediately. If there is any data—even a single character in a single cell—Excel will prompt you that there might be data lost if you proceed.

 

Naming Sheets

Double-click the tab, and when the existing name turns black, simply type the new name and press ENTER or click in a cell on the sheet when you’re finished typing the name.

Moving Within a Worksheet

Using the Keyboard

To Move	Press This
Up one cell	Up-arrow key
Down one cell	Down-arrow key
Right one cell	Right-arrow key
Left one cell	Left-arrow key
Up one screen	Page Up
Down one screen	Page Down
Leftmost cell in a row (column A)	Home
Lower-right corner of the data area	Ctrl+End
Cell A1	Ctrl+Home
Last occupied cell to the right of a row	End+right-arrow key

You can also quickly go to a specific cell address in a worksheet using the Go To feature. Press Ctrl+G (or select Edit, Go To). Type the cell address you want to go to into the Reference box, and then click the OK button.

Using a Mouse

To Move	Click This
Move the selector to a particular cell	Any cell
View one more row, up or down	Up or down arrows on the vertical scrollbar
View one more column, left or right	Left or right arrows on the horizontal scrollbar
Move through a worksheet quickly	The vertical or horizontal scrollbar; drag it up or down or right and left, respectively (as you drag, a ScreenTip displays the current row/column number)

 

 

Understanding Excel Data Types

When you work in Excel, you enter different types of information, such as text, numbers, dates, times, formulas, and functions (which is a special built-in formula provided by Excel). Excel data basically comes in two varieties: labels and values.

A label is a text entry; it is called a label because it typically provides descriptive information such as the name of a person, place, or thing. A label has no numerical significance in Excel; it’s just there to describe accompanying values.

Label Any text entry made on an Excel worksheet

A value is data that has numerical significance. This includes numbers, dates, and times that you enter on your worksheet. Values can be acted on by formulas and functions.

Values Entries, such as numbers and dates, that have numerical significance and can be acted upon by formulas or functions.

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