Courses Wayne State University College of Lifelong Learning Interdisciplinary Studies Program Computers and Society courses, Winter 2001     ( http://www.cll.wayne.edu/isp/drbowen/casw01) Mondays, 6 - 9:40 PM in 113 Rackham Computers and Society     GST 2710, Section 988, Call Number 95241, 4 credits Computers and Society     AGS 3360, Section 983, Call Number 98319, 4 credits Office hours: Mondays 4 - 6 PM in 113 Rackham	Instructor
	David R. Bowen 2311 A/AB Wayne State University Detroit, MI 48202	Daytime tel: (313) 577-1498 Evening tel: (248) 549-8518 FAX: (313) 577-8585 Home Page:     http://www.cll.wayne.edu/isp/drbowen Email: d.r.bowen@wayne.edu

Last updated: 2/19/01
Link back to course Welcome...

Excel is a "spreadsheet" program. Spreadsheets are often used for financial or business information, and for any information in the form of a table of rows and columns. Excel can also make charts such as pie charts and bar graphs, based on the information.

In Excel, a table of rows and columns is called a worksheet. This comes from accounting, where these tables are used for budgeting and other types of financial analysis.

This in-class exercise will not be enough for you to learn Excel. This is only an introduction. The lab assignments will take you through the details.

1. Worksheet - a series of cells arranged in rows and columns, with content in the cells
   1. Layout on information is freeform - you design it
   2. Rows labeled with numbers and column with letters, cell is labeled by row and column, e.g. A1, B3
      1. Label appears in Name Box in upper left
         
      2. Different than Access. In Excel, cannot change the labels
   3. What can you put in a cell?
      1. Usually numbers are most important cell content (budget)
      2. Can also be text - labels
      3. Other...
   4. Can be formula to calculate a result from other numbers
   5. Editing the contents of a cell: click in the cell, type <F2>
   6. Can also replace contents of a cell by clicking in it and typing the new content
2. Selecting - act on the selection as a whole, usually for formatting
   1. Click in a cell to select it
   2. Click on a column or a row label to select the whole row or column
   3. Drag over a range of cells, rows or columns to select the whole group
   4. Hold down <Ctrl> and click to add to selection (or, if it is already selected, to remove it from the selection)
3. Formatting a cell
   1. Formatting text as in word
   2. Format numbers - different types. Choose menu item Format / Cells...
      
   3. Auto formatting done for %, $, / (date), : (time) but you can override these
4. Default for extension in File / Save As... is .xls - do not change this
   1. Will also Save As HTML... - HTML table. Lose formulas, preserve displayed values, though
5. Formulas - calculate result in a cell based on numbers in other cells, for example adding or multiplying two cells
   1. ALL EXCEL FORMULAE BEGIN WITH "="
   2. Sum
      1. Type a column of four or five numbers
      2. Click in the cell just below the bottom number (can actually be anywhere)
      3. Type =sum(
      4. Drag over the numbers you typed
         
      5. Type ) to close the parentheses and tap the <Enter> key
      6. Also many other formulae - see textbook
      7. Will usually guess the formatting correctly, but you can override this by formatting the cell directly
6. Charts - Excel will make many different types of charts from the data in the worksheet
   1. Type two columns with labels, as in figure above
   2. Drag over the two column labels (F and G above) to select both columns
   3. Click Insert / Chart... to get Chart Wizard
      1. A Wizard is a series of dialogs with numbered steps on title bar (definition could appear on tests!)
   4. To follow along here, choose Column (top) / Clustered Column (top left), then click the Next> button.
   5. For Step 2, click on Series tab (Series refers to data sequence, for example Year or Sales here)
      1. We want the Year data to label the bars, not to part of the bars, so under the Series label click on Year to select it, then click the Remove button
      2. To label the bars with their years, at the end of the text box labeled Category (X) axis labels: click on the multicolored button
         
      3. A small dialog appears, temporarily replacing the large one (title bar has Category (X) at end). Drag over the years (do NOT include the word Years - just the years themselves). then click on the box at the end of the dialog.
         
      4. Click the Next> button. On Step3, click the Next> button. On Step 4, click the Finish button.
      5. Chart appears on the worksheet, with selection boxes (it is selected). You also have an option in Step 4 to put it on a separate sheet. Drag the chart so that it does not hide the data cells. Drag on the right middle selection box to make the chart wider. The year labels straighten out.
         
      6. Change one of the dollar figures by
         1. Click in the cell to select it
         2. You could just type a new number, but instead tap the <F2> key to edit the cell. You can use the arrow keys, Home, End, Delete and Backspace to position the cursor and delete digits, and then type in new digits. tap the <Enter> key to accept your changes.
         3. Notice that the chart changes to reflect the new value
7. Copying and pasting between Office applications (and other applications)
   1. Selecting
   2. Copying
      1. If your computer has less than 32 MB RAM, you may want to close the first application at this point, and then open the second
   3. Pasting
      1. Double-click item to edit in original application
      2. Paste what?
         1. Item
         2. Numbers, Formulas
         3. Chart
         4. Link