Excel, like all Windows applications, is started by double
clicking the Excel Icon from Programs – Microsoft Office.
It is worth noting that Excel shares many features with the other Office
and Microsoft Windows applications. You will notice that the menu line and tool bar
contains items very similar to Word. Similar functions in
Excel are accessed exactly as they would be in Word.
When Excel starts you are presented with a workbook similar to the
diagram below
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Editing box |
 |
Current cell address |
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Sheet tabs |
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Current cell selected |
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Column names |
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Row numbers |
The workbook starts with a number of sheets (3 in
Excel97) of which sheet 1 is visible.
A worksheet is a rectangular array of rows and columns.
There are 256 columns named A - Z, AA - AZ, BA to IV and 65536 rows
numbered 1 - 65536
The intersection of a row and a column is called a cell. Each
cell has an address that is its column name followed by its row number. For example
A1 F2345 BQ34
Cells can hold:
Numbers 1, 23.56, £34.01, 30%
Text "sales", " Financial Forecast for year 1994-1995"
Formulae =3*A1
Functions =SUM(B5:B9)
As you move the mouse over the Excel window it changes shape to
indicate the availability of different functions. The five main shapes are shown in the
diagram below.
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General pointer for selecting cells singly or in
groups |
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Pointer used at bottom right of selection to extend
and fill data. Selected cells are shown by means of a heavy border as shown.
 The extension
point is at the bottom right of the border and is a detached square. (In earlier versions
this shaped pointer, with a small icon below and to the right is also used when marking
out an area to draw a graph.) |
 |
Insertion point. When pointer is like this you may
type in text in this area. You must first click the left mouse button to move the cursor
(a flashing vertical line) into the area. Insertion and editing can then be done in the
normal way. |
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Pointer for menus or moving a selection. When Copying
a selection a small cross appears |
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Used where you can change the dimensions of a Row or
column. This pointer indicates that you can drag a boundary in the direction of the
arrows. |
Moving around the work sheet |
|
To move to (and select) a given cell, point to the cell with the
mouse (pointer style A) and click the left button. To move to cells beyond the
current screen use the vertical or horizontal scroll bars.
Using the keyboard the arrow keys will move you cell by cell in any
direction. <Page Up> or <Page Down> moves up or down a complete
screen.
Special effects are as follows
<End> followed by an arrow key moves you to the edge of
the block in that direction. The sheet is divided up into blocks of occupied cells and
blocks of blank cells.
<Home> takes you to column 1 in the current row.
Pressing <F5> enables you to go to a specific cell.
Pressing <F5> brings up a Go To window:
Clicking in the box labelled Reference enables you to type in a cell
address, clicking on [OK] moves you to that cell. A list of visited cells is kept,
so you can click on one of these. (For an explanation of the $ symbol see the section on
absolute and relative addresses.)
Select the cell (point and click) and type the value required.
To enter it in the sheet either press <Enter> which then
moves you to the cell below or <Tab> which moves you one cell to the right.
You can also enter the value by moving to another cell by using one of the arrow keys or
by using the mouse and clicking on a cell.
By default text is left aligned and numbers are right aligned. See
formatting cells.
There is an Auto-complete option which will automatically complete an
entry in a column if what you type uniquely matches a cell in the same column. This option
can be turned off by selecting Tools – Options from the menu line and then choose the
Edit tab.
The effect of pressing <Enter> can also be changed (Tools –
Options – Edit) to move Up, Down, Left or Right as required. |
