Microsoft Excel
CSCE 101
Spreadsheets with Microsoft Excel 2010
Using: Goal Seek, Macros, Filtering, and Password protection
Table of Contents
1Getting Started
1Moving Around in a Spreadsheet
2Adjusting the Size of Rows or Columns
2Adding and Deleting Rows and Columns
3A Typical Spreadsheet Application
4Formatting
4Adding Notes
5Creating Formulas
5Spreadsheet Functions
7The Automatic Formula Function
9Filling Adjacent Cells with Data or Formulas
9Formula Inconsistency
9Displaying All Formulas
10Filtering
10Goal Seek
11Making Charts and Graphs from Spreadsheets
12Selecting Non-Adjacent Cells for Graphing
12Editing a Chart or Graph
13Macros
13Recording a Macro
14Running a Macro
14Worksheet Security and Protection
14Protecting a Workbook File
15Removing Workbook File Protection
16Protecting Worksheets
16Unprotecting Worksheets
A computer spreadsheet application can contain various types of
information including text, numbers, dates, and formulas.
Spreadsheets facilitate efficient computation of formulas while
providing organized storage for the data and the computed results.
They are effective tools for many business and bookkeeping
applications such as maintaining grade books, inventories, and
account balances to name a few.
Getting Started
The spreadsheet application can be opened by double clicking on
the Excel spreadsheet icon in the desktop window or by clicking the
Start Menu > All Programs > Microsoft Office > Microsoft
Excel. The spreadsheet user interface has a regular grid pattern,
with numbered rows along the left side and columns across the top
labeled with letters of the alphabet. The box at the intersection
of a row and column is called a cell and is identified by its row
and column designation. Each spreadsheet is called a worksheet. By
default there are three blank worksheets in a new spreadsheet file.
They can be accessed from tabs labeled: Sheet1, Sheet2, and Sheet3
at the bottom of the spreadsheet interface. Clicking on the tabs
will shift from one active worksheet to another. The tabs can be
given more meaningful names by double-clicking on the tab name
(Sheet1, Sheet2, or Sheet3) and typing a new name, or right-click
and then choose Rename. More worksheets can be inserted. Each
worksheet has 8 million cells. Similar to other Office 2007
applications, Excel 2007 uses the Ribbon menu. You may refer to the
Microsoft Word 2007 tutorial for more information about the
Ribbon.
Moving Around in a Spreadsheet
Just click inside a cell to make it active. To highlight an
entire row or column, click on the number of the row or letter of
the column. All the cells will be activated. Dragging over a range
of adjacent cells in any direction (over either row cells or column
cells) will highlight all of them. Dragging the mouse down
diagonally over several rows and columns will highlight all of
them. Alternatively you can select cells with the arrow keys (up,
down, left, and right) while holding down the Shift key. You can
also select one cell and select another while holding all the Shift
Key down to select all the cells in between.
Adjusting the Size of Rows or Columns
For widening columns, move the cursor carefully between column
letters without clicking the mouse. When the cursor turns into an
arrow pointing left and right, you can drag it with the mouse
button held down and widen or narrow the column to any desired
width.
Adding and Deleting Rows and Columns
To add a row or a column, click the mouse in the row where a new
row or column is wanted, right-click, and select Insert on the
pop-up menu that appears. On the dialog box that opens, select the
action that you would like to perform. Similarly, you may choose
Delete on the pop-up menu that appears after right-clicking on the
cell. You may then choose the desired action on the Delete dialog
box.
You may alternatively select Insert and Delete options on the
Home command tab. Simply click on the arrow for the Insert or
Delete icons on the Cells feature group and select what to
insert/delete on the pop-up menu that appears.
Remember by default a spreadsheet comes with three worksheets.
To add or delete a worksheet, right-click on the
worksheet tab and choose Insert or Delete.
A Typical Spreadsheet Application
Suppose that you wanted to include the following information
about your next paycheck in a spreadsheet:
Monthly Income (gross) $1500
Medical Insurance$65.00
Life Insurance
$39.00
Income tax
15%
Final Monthly Check
In cell B4, we use a formula, which calculates withholding at
15% of the monthly income. All formulas start with an equal sign.
The numbers used in the calculations are referred to by their cell
addresses. So the formula inserted in cell B4 will be typed
according to figure below.
We can now calculate the final take-home pay, based on another
formula inserted in cell B5. The final pay is equal to the monthly
income less all the deductions. (Final Monthly Check = Monthly
Income Medical Insurance Life Insurance Income Tax) The cell
addresses are used in the formula not the actual values. This
allows the values in the cells to be changed and the values in the
formula cells to be automatically recalculated. When that formula
is typed in B5, the value of the final monthly check will be
calculated and shown in cell B5. The complete spreadsheet is shown
in the figures below.
The What-if analysis is the biggest advantage of using an
electronic spreadsheet. All of the values can be changed and all of
the calculations are recalculated automatically because the
formulas refer to the values within the cell addresses not the
actual values. Suppose, for example, that the next month, you get a
raise to 1800 per month. You can use the same spreadsheet, since
all the cells that contain numerical data are dynamic. This means
that any formula, which refers to cell addresses, will use the
current values in those cells in the calculations. In the formulas
in B4 and B5, the monthly income is always referenced as cell B1,
not the values 1500 or 1800. Given a new value of 1800 for the
monthly income in cell B1, the formulas in B4 and B5 will pick it
up and properly figure out new values for withholding (B4) and net
monthly pay (B5).
Formatting
Formatting the data allows the cells to be represented in the
appropriate context, including numbers, dates and text. To add
formatting, highlight the desired cell or group of cells,
right-click, and select Format Cells on the pop=up menu that
appears. A dialog box will open with a list of choices for
formatting cell contents.
Adding Notes
Notes are character strings that are not part of the cells but
are attached to them, a kind of annotation. To add a note to a
cell, select the desired cell by clicking on it. Next, right-click
and select Insert Comment on the pop-up menu that appears. The
program inserts a yellow box with a black border for inserting
text. When you are finished inserting text, just click outside the
note box and the note will no longer be visible. To activate the
note, move the cursor over the cell near the tiny red spot in the
upper right corner (signifying that a note is there), and the note
appears temporarily.
The note feature can also be accessed by clicking on the Review
tab and then clicking on the New Comment icon on the Comments
feature group.
To delete a comment, select the cell containing the comment, and
click on the Delete icon on the Review command tab. alternatively,
you can right-click on the cell and select Delete Comment on the
pop-up menu that appears.
To make inserted comments remain visible, right-click on the
cell containing the comment and select Show/Hide Comment on the
pop-up menu that appears. This will keep the comment box visible on
the worksheet regardless of whether the cursor is placed on the
cell containing the comment. To hide the comment again, right-click
on the cell and select Hide Comment. The Show/Hide Comment toggle
is also available on the Comments feature group of the Review
command tab.
Creating Formulas
In Excel there are three ways to enter a formula: by typing it
directly into a cell, by typing it into the Formula box, and by
using the Automatic Formula function to create it. In our earlier
example, we could easily type the two formulas directly into cells
B4 and B5. Excel always uses the equal sign to start a formula. It
is the equal sign, which tells the spreadsheet program that a
calculation is coming in that cell, instead of a number or label or
date. When you press enter, the formula will be inserted into the
cell. Later, to see the formula, just click on the cell and the
formula will be displayed in this formula box. If it contains an
error or needs to be changed, it can easily be edited here before
pressing the Enter key again.
Spreadsheet Functions
Sometimes it is not convenient to create very long formulas. For
instance, to enter the following formula for 100 figures:
= (J1+J2+J3 J100) / 100
For cases like this, the spreadsheet software has already stored
functions for many common operations (mathematical, statistical,
and logical). One way in which you can access common functions is
by clicking on the Insert Function (fx) icon next to the formula
box. This will open the Insert Function dialog box. By default, the
most recently used functions appear in the Select a function box.
Having chosen a function, the Function Arguments dialog box appears
allowing you to enter the desired arguments. In this case, the
function needed is called AVERAGE, and the formula for averaging
would look like the following after it is filled in with the cell
addresses:
= AVERAGE (J1:J100)
Built into the function is the summing of the numbers in cells
J1 to J100 and dividing them by 100, the number of elements. In a
case like this with a range of cells, you specify them with
shorthand of the first and last separated by a colon. The AVERAGE
function can also be typed directly into the formula box with the
elements inserted within the parenthesis, using the colon as a
separator.
Another option for locating functions is using the Formulas
command tab. You may click on the arrow for the icon of each
category of functions (e.g. Logical, Financial) and a menu appears
displaying common functions in that category. Select the desired
function and the function shell appears in the selected cell.
The Automatic Formula Function
A feature of Excel which allows you to use functions easily is
the Automatic Formula function. Let us examine the Automatic
Formula function in detail.
The Function Arguments dialog box that opens after selecting a
function to insert, contains a description of the formula at the
bottom of the dialog box. Above that, the dialog box shows the user
how to fill in the arguments. After the correct arguments are
inserted, the result is displayed below the range in the menu box.
If it is correct, choose OK, and the formula will be inserted into
the cell.
It is possible to put literal numbers instead of addresses in
the argument of a function like AVERAGE or SUM, and the formula
will average them. Doing this, the user is forcing the function to
work on specific numerical data rather than the value typed into
the addresses, such as A1, B2, etc.
Excel has a great variety of built-in functions like AVERAGE or
SUM. Perhaps you should open the Automatic Formula function dialog
box and check some of them out before writing formulas for
yourself. As you move through the list of functions, one click on
any formula name in the dialog box will bring up a description
above the Formula text box (remember that a double click brings up
the formula for inserting arguments). Take a moment to look at some
of these possibilities to see how they work.
You can make your own formulas. For example, suppose cell A10
looks like this: = 2+3*4. In this case, the formula is calculating
with numbers, not cell addresses. A question remains: is the answer
20 (2 plus 3 times 4) or 14 (3 times 4 plus 2)? The answer is 14,
since the spreadsheet follows the rules of algebra, which carries
out multiplication and division before addition and subtraction. To
overrule this convention, use parenthesis liberally. In other
words, to get 20, the formula in cell A10 should be = (2+3)*4.
A spreadsheet cell can also be used to make logical choices for
the user with the IF function. As an example of its use, consider
the following case: if the price of Stock A reaches $40, then I
will sell; if not, I will buy more in the next month. A condition
is checked with two alternative actions. The IF function allows the
spreadsheet to examine a changing condition and carry out different
actions based on the changes.
The general construction of the logical IF function is as
follows:
=IF(logical-condition,true-value,false-value)
To see how it works, consider the following IF function located
in cell A12:
=IF(A6>A7,A11-A10,0)
The function will compare the values in cells A6 and A7. If the
value in A6 is greater than the value in A7, then the true case
applies and the value in A10 will be subtracted from the value in
A11. The result will be placed in cell A12, where the IF function
is located. If the value in A6 is not greater than the value in A7,
then the value 0 will be placed in the A12 cell.
The three part IF function can be understood in logical
terms:
IF the value in A6 is greater than the value in A7
THEN subtract the value in A10 from the value in A11 and place
the result in cell A12
ELSE put zero in A12
IF function makes the spreadsheet a very powerful tool for
making logical choices by having the ability to test and choose
what to do next depending on the results of the test.
In a large and complex spreadsheet, a good rule of thumb is to
consider adding a note to a cell containing any complicated formula
to remind yourself what you were intending when the formula was
created. Several weeks and hundreds of cells later, you may look at
this cell and forget what it is supposed to be calculating. The
text note will be a reminder of the thinking which created it.
Remember that we used a note in the take-home pay example which
introduced the discussion of spreadsheets.
Filling Adjacent Cells with Data or Formulas
One of the most useful features yet to discuss with spreadsheets
is the concept of filling adjacent cells with data of formulas
rather than typing or cutting and pasting them manually. For
instance, suppose that you have a cell, D6, with a number 10 in it.
The next several cells from D7 to D10 should be increased by 10
each so that D7 will have 20 in it and D10 will have 50. A shortcut
to typing all this involves filling. First put the formula =D6+10
in cell D7. That will take care of the 20 which goes there. With
that cell highlighted, place the cursor on the bottom-right corner
of the highlighted cell till you see a crossbar. Drag the mouse
over all the cells through D10. When you release the mouse, the
formula will be applied to all the cells, making each 10 larger
than the one above.
An even quicker solution to this example uses the automatic fill
handle. First put a 10 in cell D6 and a 20 in D7. Then select both
of these cells with the mouse. You can grab the fill handle on the
bottom-right corner of D7 as explained above and drag it down
through cell D10. When you have finished, all cells will have the
correct numbers, each one being 10 greater than the one above it.
The program recognizes the relationship between the first two cells
(the increment of 10) and continues to apply it across the whole
range. This will work with more complex relationships or with a
single value. If you need a column with all of the values equal to
100, you can type 100 in the first cell and drag the fill handle
down to fill the other cells.
Formula Inconsistency
If a formula is inconsistent with other formulas in nearby cells
the inconsistent formula will be flagged with a little green
triangle in the upper left corner of the cell. When the cell is
selected the AutoCorrect Options button appears. If you click the
button, a menu opens with more options including copying the
formula from other cells, correcting errors in formulas, and
ignoring the inconsistency.
Displaying All Formulas
Use Control+ ~ to display all of the formulas on the spreadsheet
instead of the values. You can then edit the formulas. Press
Control+ ~ again to return to the calculated values.
Filtering
To use the filter feature of Excel, first select the category or
categories according to which you would like to filter a set of
data. For example, Name, Artist, Year, and Genre can be used as
filtering criteria for data about music records. Click on any of
these categories and do the following to activate the filter.
1. On the Home command tab, click on the arrow for the Sort
& Filter icon, and select filter on the pop-up menu that
appears. You will notice a small dropdown arrow over the selected
criteria cell(s).
2. Using the drop-down arrow, choose the category of information
to filter. The first choice, Select All, is the default and simply
means all category values will be displayed. You may uncheck the
box for Select All and any other values that you do not want to be
displayed. In the example below, we use Pop as the desired value
for the Genre filtering criteria.
3. Click OK.
4. You will notice that all only the music records which belong
to the pop genre remain visible. You will also notice that a funnel
icon appears next to the drop-down arrow for Genre. This means that
Genre is being used as a filtering criterion.
5. You can also apply a Number Filter to a column that contains
numbers rather than text. To filter years more recent than 2004 you
would first click on the filter for the column Year. After clicking
on the drop-down arrow of the filter, hover over Number Filters and
select Greater Than. In the text box to the right of is greater
than enter 2004. The result would show only rows with a year more
recent than 2004.
6. To remove the filter, click on the drop-down arrow (and
funnel) icon for Genre, and select Clear Filter From Genre on the
pop-up menu that appears.
Goal Seek
Another powerful feature of Excel is Goal Seek. Before seeing it
in action, let us look at a situation where it is used. Suppose
that you are trying to sell 100 computers, fifty of which cost you
$400 apiece and the other fifty which cost $500 apiece, and want to
make a profit of $50,000. What price should you sell them for? Goal
Seek is the ideal for any situation in which you know the desired
result, a profit of $50,000 in this case, before you known one
important item that is needed to achieve the result, the sales
price for each computer. The relationships between the elements are
known:
50 * (sales price 400) + 50 * (sales price 500) = 50000
In the spreadsheet, the formula needs to be placed in one cell,
and another needs to be selected for the unknown value, the sales
price. For instance, cell A1 could contain the formula, with cell
B1 chosen for the unknown sales price. The formula above is then
typed in A1 as follows:
=50 * (B1 400) + 50 * (B1 500)
To access Goal Seek, click on the Data command tab and then
click on the arrow for the What-If Analysis icon on the Data Tools
feature group. On the pop-up menu that appears, select Goal
Seek.
On the Goal Seek dialog box, you will see the following three
boxes: Set Cell, To Value, By Changing Cell. In the Set Cell box,
enter A1, this is our formula cell. In the To Value box, enter
50000, the target value. Finally, enter B1 in the By Changing Cell
box. Cell B1 is where the unknown value will go. After all of these
are inserted and the OK button is clicked, the program returns a
message that Goal Seek worked. The unknown value is 950. In other
words, if all 100 computers are sold at $950, the profit will be
$50,000. This feature offers a powerful tool to someone who knows
the bottom line of some process but is missing a key component of
the process. After it is set up, Goal Seek also allows one to
change the bottom line quickly and see the results.
Making Charts and Graphs from Spreadsheets
Charts and graphs can be made in Excel from data in a
spreadsheet. To create a chart, to the following.
1. Highlight the cells that contain the data to be used to
create the chart. It is a good idea to organize the data to be
charted in a column-oriented manner in which each column represents
a different category of data similar to what was shown in the
Filtering and Sorting section. Do not highlight the column
headings. E default, the data in the left-most column will be used
for the horizontal (x) axis of the chart and any additional columns
will be used for the vertical (y) axis of the chart.
2. Click on the Insert command tab and click on the arrow for
the icon representing the category of chart you want to create.
3. On the pop-up menu that appears, select the specific type of
chart you would like to use. The chart is created with the default
format settings. (See next page)
4. In the legend, you will notice that each category of data
used for the vertical axis is given a name starting with the word
Series. The is the default naming convention used by Excel.
5. To change the names used for the data series, click on the
chart, and three additional command tabs will appear. Click on the
Design command tab.
6. Click on the Select Data icon and the Select Data Source
dialog box will open.
7. In the Legend Entries (Series) box, select the series which
you would like to rename, click the Edit icon, and the Edit Series
dialog box will open.
8. Place the cursor inside the Series Name box and then click on
the worksheet cell containing the text you would like to use as the
name for the series.
9. Click OK on the Edit Series dialog box and OK on the Select
Data Source dialog box.
Selecting Non-Adjacent Cells for Graphing
You may need to graph cells that do not lie adjacent to each
other in a spreadsheet. Click in the first cell, then hold down the
Control key, and click on the other cells to select, wherever they
are in the worksheet. When you have finished, you will have
selected a group of nonadjacent cells that can be graphed.
Editing a Chart or Graph
Often you forget something or need to make changes once a graph
has been created. Excel has options to allow further editing after
the graph is created. Simply select the chart to be edited and
three additional command tabs, namely Design, Layout, and Format
will appear. Click on each of the tabs to view the available chart
formatting options.
Macros
If you perform a task repeatedly in Microsoft Excel, you can
automate the task with a macro. A macro is a series of commands and
functionsthat are stored in a Microsoft Visual Basic moduleand can
be run whenever you need to perform the task. For example, if you
often enter long text strings in cells, you can create a macro to
format those cells so that the text wraps within the cell.
Recording a Macro
1. On the View command tab, click on the Macros icon.
2. Select Record Macro on the pop-up menu that appears and the
Record Macro dialog box will open.
3. In the Macro name box, enter a name for the macro. The first
character of the macro name must be a letter. Other characters can
be letters, numbers, or underscore characters. Spaces are not
allowed in a macro name; an underscore character works well as a
word separator. Do not use a macro name that is also a cell
reference or you can get an error message that the macro name is
not valid.
4. If you want to run the macro by pressing a keyboard shortcut
key, enter a letter in the Shortcut key box. You can use CTRL+
letter (for lowercase letters) or CTRL+SHIFT+ letter (for uppercase
letters), where letter is any letter key on the keyboard. The
shortcut key letter you use cannot be a number or special character
such as @ or #. The shortcut key will override any equivalent
default Microsoft Excel shortcut keys while the workbook that
contains the macro is open.
5. In the Store macro in box, click the location where you want
to store the macro. If you want a macro to be available whenever
you use Excel, select Personal Macro Workbook.
6. If you want to include a description of the macro, type it in
the Description box. Click OK.
7. Perform all the tasks that you want to record.
8. If you want the macro to run relative to the position of the
active cell, record it using relative cell references. To do this,
before you start recording a macro, select Use Relative References
on the pop-up menu that appears when you click on the Macros
icon.
9. Select Stop Recording on the pop-up menu that appears when
you click on the Macros icon once you are finished.
Running a Macro
1. Open the workbook that contains the macro.
2. On the View command tab, click on the Macros icon and select
View Macros on the pop-up menu that appears.
3. In the Macro name dialog box, you will see a list of all
recorded macros. Select the name of the macro you want to run.
4. Click Run. If you want to interrupt, press ESC.
5. If you have assigned a shortcut key to the macro, simply use
the shortcut. There is no need to use the Macros icon.
Worksheet Security and Protection
Microsoft Excel provides several layers of security and
protection to control who can access and change your Excel data.
For optimal security, you should protect your entire workbook file
with a password, allowing only authorized users to view or modify
your data. For additional protection of specific data, you can
protect certain worksheet or workbook elements, with or without a
password. Use element protection to help prevent anyone from
accidentally or deliberately changing, moving, or deleting
important data.
Protecting a Workbook File
You can help secure an entire workbook file by restricting who
can open and use its data and by requiring a password to view or
save changes to the file. Follow the steps below to set the
passwords for file access and modification.
1. Click on the Office button and on the pop-up menu that
appears, click on Save As and choose the file format to be used
when saving the file.
2. On the Save As dialog box that opens, click on Tools, and
select General Options on the pop-up menu that appears.
3. On the General Options dialog box, enter a password for
opening and modifying the workbook. The password for opening the
workbook is encrypted to help protect your data from unauthorized
access. The password for modifying the workbook is not encrypted
and is only meant to give specific users permission to edit
workbook data and save changes to the file. When you are done
entering the desired password(s), click on OK. After you click on
OK, you will get an additional pop-up box for each password asking
you to re-enter the password again. Retype the passwords and click
OK.
4. On the Save As dialog box, click on Save.
5. The file is now protected. Save the file, close it, and
re-open it to ensure that the passwords work properly. When opening
the file, you will first be asked to enter the password to
open/view the file and then asked to enter the password for
modification.
Removing Workbook File Protection
To remove the password protection for a file, you must first
have the passwords required to access and modify the file. The
removal of password protection is almost identical to the process
of protecting the file.
1. Repeat steps 1 and 2 used for protecting a workbook.
2. On the General Options dialog box, delete the password(s) for
the type of protection you want to remove, and click OK.
3. Click Save on the Save As dialog box to save the file.
Protecting Worksheets
To prevent anyone from accidentally or deliberately changing,
moving, or deleting important data, you can protect certain
worksheet or workbook elements, with or without a password. To
protect worksheet elements, follow the steps below.
1. Switch to the worksheet you want to protect.
2. Unlock any cells you want users to be able to change. To do
this, select each cell or range,
3. Right-click on the cell(s) and select Format Cells on the
pop-up menu that appears. Click on the Protection tab, and then
clear the Locked check box.
4. Hide any formulas that you don't want to be visible. To do
this, right-click on the cell(s) and select Format Cells on the
pop-up menu that appears. Click on the Protection tab, and then
select the Hidden check box.
5. On the Review command tab, click on the Protect Sheet icon on
the Changes feature group and the Protect Sheet dialog box will
open.
6. Type a password for the sheet. Make sure that the top
checkbox is selected. In the Allow all users of this worksheet to
list, select the elements that you want users to be able to
change.
7. Click OK. If prompted, retype the password. Save the
file.
Unprotecting Worksheets
To unprotect a worksheet that has been password-protected, do
the following:
1. When a worksheet is protected, you will see the Unprotect
Sheet icon on the Review command tab instead of the Protect Sheet
icon. Click on the Unprotect Sheet icon.
2. A pop-up box labeled Unprotect Sheet will appear asking you
to enter the password.
3. Enter the password and click OK. The worksheet is now
unlocked and can be modified.
4. If you want to protect the worksheet again, repeat the steps
outlined in the previous section.
The Ribbon
Worksheets
Cell
Formula Box
