Technology for Merchandise Planning and Control

Transcription

1 Technology for Merchandise Planning and Control Module One - Introduction Contents: SUBJECT Computer Concepts Review REFERENCE/PAGES COMPUTER CONCEPTS Getting Started with Excel XL 2007 Unit A Spreadsheet software... Excel 2 Excel 3 The Excel 2007 Window... Excel 4 Excel 5 Understanding Formulas...Excel 6 Excel 7 Labels, Values and AutoSum... Excel 8 Excel 9 Editing Cell Entries...Excel 10 Excel 11 Simple Formulas...Excel 12 Excel 13 Worksheet Views...Excel 14 Excel 15 Print Options...Excel 16 Excel 17 Assignments: EXCEL SPREADSHEET (1)Tour Guide Payroll Calculator See Step 4 Page Excel 4 (2)Weather Statistics Skills Review Pages Excel 19 Excel 20 Quiz on Concepts Review Review for practice Pages Excel 18 Excel 19 Note: 1 XL2007 = Microsoft Office Excel 2007 Illustrated Complete, Elizabeth Eisner Reding/Lynn Wermers

2 REVIEW OF BASIC COMPUTER CONCEPTS DEFINITION OF A COMPUTER A computer is defined as an electronic device that accepts input, processes that input; provides interim or permanent storage; and generates output. Used properly, a computer will accept the data we enter and convert it into meaningful information. It can combine speed and accurate processing with our human effort to effectively extend our productivity. Note that when it is not used properly, a computer can actually be counter-productive. If it is not set-up and maintained or if it is not used prudently, we can waste time and money by losing data and by generating errors. To take advantage of proficient computer competencies, study the following four functions of a computer and develop habits to avoid the common problems arising from the misuse of this important business and personal asset THE BASIC FUNCTIONS OF A COMPUTER: Hardware The Input Function and Devices The Processing Function The Output Function The Storage Function Communications Software The Operating system Applications HARDWARE Hardware is defined as any of the physical components of a computer system, including the computer (processor) itself. Computer hardware components have physical mass and can therefore be identified easily. The devices other than the computer are referred to generally as peripheral devices.

3 Input Devices The keyboard is a major input device for personal computers (PCs) whether in a stand-alone or a networked environment. Although this is the primary input device we will use in this course, you will supplement this mode significantly by importing files already developed or by successively updating files you create in previous or subsequent exercises. This subject will be covered in the discussion of The Storage Function, below. Keyboarding skill is an important competency to develop and maintain. If your typing speed is less than 40 words per minute, take advantage of the many programs available for training and enhancing your competency in this area. Typing speed is not the only measure of competency in keyboarding. Note the differences between a typewriter and the computer keyboard. Although it contains a "typewriter style" section, the computer keyboard has several other sections that you must use effectively. In the figure above, note the location of the Alt and Ctrl keys, the separate Function Keys at the top of the keyboard (F1 through F12), the Editing Keys and the 10-Key Pad at the lower right of the keyboard. These keys are used to enter commands which control and direct processing. Output Devices Although there are other output devices, in this course we will primarily use the printer for hard copy and the monitor for soft copy. Soft copy will allow you the opportunity to check and verify accuracy and validity of your results. Hard copy is a used for filing away the printed results of your efforts. The so-called paperless operation is not yet a reality, mainly because of the frequent problems involved in storing and

4 retrieving electronic files. It may seem that saving your files to storage is a function of an output device, but that activity is considered to be a storage function and is covered below. Processing The main competency to develop regarding the processing function and its related devices stems from the characteristic of volatility in a major portion of the device and activity. The portion of the processing functionality of a computer that affects us as users is called Random Access Memory (RAM). This is our workspace during a computer work session. As we all find out sooner or later, with often disastrous results, if the power is disrupted, or if we fail to save, or if some other error enters into our session, we may lose all of our hard work. This may be maddening for us personally, but it could be even worse for our business or our employer. It is not unusual to spend a lot of money on acquiring data (mailing lists or customer lists, for example) and if this data is lost or mishandled, it could mean a significant loss in dollar investment. Even if only temporarily lost, it could mean the wasted cost of a great deal of human resource time required to recover. The key to avoiding losses from this time-bomb style trap is good file management habits. We need to save often and keep back-ups of our critical data and information resources. Storage Devices Even more often than processing errors, lacking information and poor habits with storage devices and activities may cost us a lot of time and money. Most computer systems have multiple storage devices, including floppy disk drives, CD players or CD burners, ZIP Disks and Hard Disk Drives. We need to be sure when we save a file that it is being written to the right place with the right name in the right format. At your workplace, this responsibility usually falls to your Information Technology department. Policies and procedures are normally put in place to ensure (automatically, if possible) that data is protected and that files are properly handled to provide security from theft, loss and/or destruction. In this course we will be working with Microsoft Excel Spreadsheets. We will be creating a few spreadsheets from scratch and we will be loading others from a CD, modifying by adding functionality and saving them to a different location with a different name. It is important to pay close attention to the details surrounding this activity. Filenames should be accurate and correct, even including case (capital versus lower-case characters). The identification within files should be carefully and accurately constructed as well as the filenames and the storage locations. Errors and omissions in this regard will be graded as well as the content of the files themselves. SOFTWARE Software is defined as any instructions to the hardware in a computer system. There are two basic types of software; system software and applications. Systems software includes the operating system for any computer while application software includes instructions for the computer to perform specific, user desired tasks.

5 The Operating System The operating system consists of instructions to the computer in performing two basic functions. First to manage the computer's various components and resources. The operating system acts as a "traffic cop" in managing memory, storage, printing, and communications while integrating these functions into seamless operations. The second function of the operating system is to provide a "user friendly", intuitive interface to facilitate computer operations. Operating systems are specific to particular brands of computers. The operating system for the PC platform is different from and will not run on the Macintosh platform. The current PC operating system is Microsoft Windows. It is a requirement of this course that students have a Windows-based PC with an Intel Pentium III, or comparable, processor of at least 512 MHz. Applications Application software consists of programs instructing the computer to complete user-oriented jobs such as creating memos or letters (Word Processing), spreadsheets, database management, processing a payroll, playing games, accessing the Internet, or any of thousands of other tasks. As different from the operating system which is usually purchased with the hardware, applications are purchased separately (sometimes in related groups or suites of programs such as Microsoft Office) and loaded onto the hard disk drive to be launched when needed. The application is usually the point of interface with the user and interacts with the operating system, which coordinates the use of hardware resources. The operating system, for example, controls access to printers, storage devices. As a multi-tasking system, the Windows operating system will allow running of multiple applications at any one time. Completing this course requires the student to have access to a number of applications. You should have access to Microsoft Excel, a web browser (such as Internet Explorer version 5.0, 5.5, or 6.0), Word Processing software, client (Outlook, Eudora, etc.), Microsoft Media Player 7, Adobe Acrobat Reader 5 and Macromedia Flash 5 Player. (Please refer to your elearning Survival Guide, pages 38 and 39.) EXCEL: WORKBOOKS AND SPREADSHEETS Microsoft Excel 2007 is a number crunching application. The program consists of spreadsheets (within workbooks) used to perform calculations for analyzing numeric data and for preparing reports on the results. The following table describes some of the advantages of using spreadsheet software. You can use spreadsheets to: Perform calculations Do graphs and charts Generate reports Organize data Analyze data Create what-if data scenarios By: Adding formulas and functions to worksheet data; for example, adding a list of sales results or calculating a car payment Creating charts based on worksheet data; for example, creating a chart that displays expenses Creating workbooks that combine information from multiple worksheets, such as summarized sales information from multiple stores Sorting data in ascending or descending order; for example, alphabetizing a list of products or customer names, or prioritizing orders by date Creating data summaries and short lists using PivotTables or AutoFilters; for example, making a list of the top 10 customers based on spending habits Using variable values to investigate and sample different outcomes, such a changing the interest or payment schedule on a loan

6 STARTING MICROSOFT EXCEL 2007 Excel is started, as with any other program in the Microsoft operating system, by clicking on the start button and following the menu items to launch the program. Alternative methods are to double click the Excel shortcut icon on the desktop or double click an existing Excel filename to launch the program. Figure 1 When it is launched, the Microsoft excel application will open in its own window. Inside the main application window you will see the spreadsheet window, which consists of a grid of columns and rows. The columns are labeled with upper case letters of the alphabet starting with A through Z and continuing with AA AZ, BA BZ, etc., out to IV (256 columns). The rows are numbered from 1 through 65,536. A cell is formed at the intersection of each column and row. In creating a spreadsheet, cells are selected and data is entered. Each cell will hold 256 characters of data. Cells are named with the coordinates of their locations, for example the first cell in the upper left corner of the spreadsheet is named cell A1. The cell formed at the intersection of column G and row 56 is named G56. As you will see later in the course these names can be changed to fit user requirements. Follow the steps on page Excel 4 of your text to study the terminology, to learn or refresh on how to navigate the spreadsheet, and to become familiar with the window components and the controls in the excel window. Carefully review The illustrations on page Excel 5 and complete the exercises detailed on these two pages ( Excel 4 and Excel 5). As you will see from the exercises in this section a cell will accept three types of entries: numbers, text ( referred to as labels),and formulas ( manually entered or entered as pre- program formulas called functions).

7 UNDERSTANDING FORMULAS Excel is a truly powerful program because users at every level of mathematical expertise can make calculations with accuracy. To do so, you use formulas. Formulas are equations in a worksheet. You use formulas to make calculations as simple as adding a column of numbers, or as complex as profit and loss projections for a global corporation. To use the full power of Excel you need to understand how formulas work. Use the tour guide payroll calculator workbook in this exercise to track employee hours prior to submitting them to the payroll department. You ll be using this workbook regularly so you need to understand the formulas that it contains and how Excel calculates the results. Details Know where the formulas should be: Excel formulas are created in the cell where they are viewed. This means that the formula calculating Gross Pay for the employee in row five will be entered in cell G5. Know exactly what cells and arithmetic operations are needed: don t guess; make sure you know exactly what cells are involved before creating a formula Create formulas with care: make sure you know exactly what you want a formula to accomplish before it is created. An inaccurate formula may have far reaching effects if the formula or its results are referenced by other formulas. Use cell references rather than values: whenever you change a value in a cell, any formula containing a reference to that cell is automatically updated. It is important that you use cell references rather than values wherever possible. Determine what calculations will needed: anticipate what statistical information is required. for example, if there are columns of numbers, chances are good that both column and row totals should be present. LABELS VALUES AND AUTOSUM You can type a formula into the formula bar or directly into a cell. It often works best to enter all of the labels first. Labels are entries containing text and numerical information not used in calculations. Labels help identify data in worksheet rows and columns making your worksheet be easier to understand. Values are numbers, formulas, and functions that can be used in calculations. To enter a calculation type the equal sign (=) plus the formula for the calculation. Some examples of Excel formulas are =2+2 and =C5+C6. Functions are built in formulas covered in the next unit. Follow the steps on page Excel 8 to practice a label and using the AutoSum function. Figure 2

8 EDITING CELL ENTRIES You can change (edit) the contents of a cell at any time. Double click the cell, select the cell and click in the formula bar, or just start typing. Excel switches to edit mode when you re making or editing cell entries. Different mouse pointers (see table A-3 on page Excel 11 in your text) tell you where you are in the editing process. Follow the steps on page Excel 10 to practice editing cell entries. SIMPLE FORMULAS Formulas perform calculations such as a adding, multiplying, and averaging. Formulas start with the equal sign (=) also called the formula prefix, followed by cell addresses, range names, and values, along with calculation operators. Calculation operators indicate what type of calculation you want to perform on the cells, rangers or values. They can include arithmetic operators, which perform mathematical calculations such as adding and subtracting, comparison operators, which compare values and generate true/false evaluations, text concatenation operators, which join strings of text in different cells, and reference operators, which enable you to use ranges in your calculations. Follow the steps on page Excel 12 to enter and edit a formula. WORKSHEET VIEWS You can change how you view your worksheet window at any time, using either the view tab on the ribbon, or the View buttons on the status bar. Changing the view does not affect the contents of a worksheet it just makes it easier for you to focus on different tasks, such as entering content or preparing a worksheet for printing. The view tab includes a variety of viewing options, such as view buttons, zoom controls, and the ability to show or hide worksheet elements such as grid lines. The status bar offers fewer view options, but can be more convenient to use. Follow the steps on page Excel 14 to practice switching worksheet views. CHOOSING PRINT OPTIONS Before printing worksheets, use the Page Layout tab and Print Preview to review your pages. You should also review your settings in the Print Dialog box to make sure you re printing the right number of copies and you are using the correct printer. Tools on the Page Layout tab include a Page Setup group, where you can adjust print orientation, paper size, and page breaks. The Scale to Fit group makes it possible to fit a large amount of data on a single page without making changes to individual margins. In the Sheet Options group, you can turn on and off grid lines and column/row headings. Reviewing the final worksheet in print preview shows exactly how the worksheet will look when printed. Follow the steps on page Excel 16 to preview and print your completed project. You may want to file the paper print out for future reference. Remember to save and back up your completed file and send a copy to your instructor as directed in the elearning directions (send to the course inbox address). Complete the Skills Review exercise on pages Excel 19 and Excel 20. Print out the results and file the printed copy with your records for the course. Save the file as directed in the exercise and a copy to your instructor (send to the course inbox). Please return to the Modules tool to access the link for this week s quiz.