Excel Part 3 Textbook Addendum 1. Lesson 1 Activity 1-1 Creating Links Data Alert and Alternatives After completing Activity 1-1, you will have created links in individual cells that point to data on other worksheet tabs in the same file, PLUS links to four different Excel files. This textbook note is simply a warning that the final numbers on the Summary sheet are not the same as the quarterly breakdown if the data was taken from the Develetech Sales file. The author doesn t tell us where the quarterly numbers came from in the Q1 Q4 Sales files they are clearly not the grand totals of all sales! Forgetting links altogether though if we wanted to summarize the data on the Data Tab in the Develetch Sales file by quarter, think about how you would accomplish that! Possible solutions all topics that are covered in the Part 2 Excel class: 1) Pivot table! 2) Subtotal feature (Data Ribbon Subtotal) Cindy Kredo 2018 Version Date: 4/13/18 Page 1 of 9
2. Lesson 1 Topic A Expanding the Textbook Coverage At this point, you have succeeded in creating links in an Excel file that point to four totally separate workbooks. The concepts in Topic A are not covered in activity format. The following activity will help you with hands-on examples of those important topics. Activity: 1. Close all four quarterly sales files. (We made no changes, you do not have to save them). 2. Re-open the My Develetech Sales.xlsx file after completing Activity 1-1. Observe the warning asking Enable Content that appears above the formula bar. Click Enable Content. This alert won t always appear but when it does, it is a warning that the file contains links to other data sources. 3. On the Summary tab, position the mouse cursor in Cell B3 and observe the formula contains the entire path to the external file. 4. On the Data Ribbon observe the Edit Links button is enabled. Click it to open the Edit Links dialog box displayed in Figure 1-2. 5. In the Edit Links dialog box, select the Q1 Sales file and click the button labeled Open Source as shown. 6. Navigate back to the My Develetech file using the CTRL TAB keys (if necessary) and observe that Cell B3 on the Summary tab no longer contains the full path to the external data source! 7. Navigate back to the Q1 Sales file using the CTRL TAB keys and change the quantity in Cell B2 to be a quantity of 100. Switch back to the My Develetch file and observe the Quarter 1 total sale amount in Cell B3 has been updated to $8,570. 8. Switch back to the Q1 Sales file and rename it Quarter One Test. (File Save As). Close the Quarter One Test file. Cindy Kredo 2018 Version Date: 4/13/18 Page 2 of 9
9. Observe cell B3 in the My Develetech Sales file! Oh my! The formula now points to the newly named file instead of the Q1 Sales file! The value is still $8,570. 10. Re-open the Edit Links Dialog box (Data Ribbon). Select the file named Quarter One Test, and click Change Source. In the next dialog, select the original Q1 Sales file. Close the dialog box. 11. Observe Cell B3 has reverted back to the original dollar amount. Key points: - An excel file that contains a link to one or more other files will typically alert the user that the file contains links - Any changes made to the source file when both the source file and destination file are open will appear automatically in the destination file - If a source file is renamed when the destination file is opened, the file path will be changed in the destination file - The Edit Links dialog box identifies external links. The external link sources can be opened directly from the Edit Links dialog box as long as you have network rights to the file. - The Edit Links dialog box can be used to change the files being referenced. 3. Lesson 1 Activity 1-2 Expand Textbook Coverage The exercise instructions state that the Q1-Q4 Sales files are open, but Activity 1-2 does not use those files. (That can be confusing!). Let s expand the concept of Activity 1-2 a bit by asking the following: 1. What if the totals on each Quarter worksheet tab were not all in Row 22? 2. Could you easily move the totals to the top of each sheet to avoid that being an issue in the future? 3. If you do, what happens to the 3D formulas on the Summary tab? Answers: 1. The 3D formula would not work. In the alternative, if totals are in different rows, you would have to change the formula to reference each individual cell in the sum formula. A couple examples, assuming totals are in these cells would be: Or how about this one? 2. Yes! Insert two new rows at the top of each worksheet. Tip: Put all four sheets in group mode first (see Topic B, Grouped Worksheets ) so that you can do the insert on just one sheet but have it impact all four sheets! Move the formula in Cell D22 into cell D1 using the four headed move arrow mouse cursor. Add a label in Cell C1. Ungroup the worksheet tabs by right mouse clicking on any tab, select Ungroup Sheets. 3. As a general rule, references to cell addresses that are moved automatically adjust themselves. In this situation, the sheet grouping might cause issues so if necessary, recreate your 3D formulas as shown in this next image: Cindy Kredo 2018 Version Date: 4/13/18 Page 3 of 9
4. Lesson 1 Topic C Consolidation Textbook Expansion Key Points related to consolidation 1. Column and row labels act as a group command, forcing all like items to be summarized using the type of consolidation function selected (i.e. Sum, Average) 2. The consolidation ranges do NOT have to be the same size, nor is there a requirement that the consolidated items appear in each of the individual consolidation ranges. 3. Limitations: a. Consolidated data is limited to one type of function. For example, in this activity, we could not display a sum of the Quantity and an average of the Price. b. With the exception of grouping labels (always the top row and/or left-most column), only number fields can be consolidated. If data includes text fields, nonsensical data will be returned in those columns. Tip: If the source data is modified after a data consolidation range has been performed, position the mouse cursor in the top left cell of the consolidated data, re-select the Data Data Tools Consolidate button, confirm the data ranges, and click OK to update the consolidation. Always re-verify the data: this process does not always work smoothly. To be totally safe, clear all the consolidated data using the Home Ribbon Editing Clear all button before going back into the Data Data Tools Consolidate button. The original data ranges will still appear in the Data Consolidation dialog box! Confirm the ranges and the label checkboxes before clicking OK. 5. Lesson 2 Activity 2-1 Expanding the Textbook to ask Why Step 5 of Activity 2-1 demonstrates the power of a vlookup function combined with the match function. One might ask why we would bother to write the formula this way since the method used in Step 6 is much more straightforward, right? But what if we are working with a file where users tend to insert new columns in the data. These two formulas accomplish the exact same thing: =VLOOKUP(B1,Data,4,FALSE) =VLOOKUP(B1,Data,MATCH(A5,A9:F9,0),FALSE) The latter formula would still work even if someone inserted a new column before Column D! 6. Lesson 2 Topic A A practical example of Index/Match Index and Match are an extremely powerful combination, but understanding how they are used can be a tough one to wrestle with! The following example might help: Working with the same file used in Activity 2-1, modify the Employees worksheet tab as follows adding text to cell F6 reading Find employee by extension. Goal? When a user enters an employee phone extension in Cell F7 (I have highlighted it with a yellow background), we want the employee name to appear in cell G7. Cindy Kredo 2018 Version Date: 4/13/18 Page 4 of 9
Remember that the Index function will return the intersection of row and column number. Enter this formula in Cell G7: Type different extension numbers in Cell F7 to test your formula. Why does this work? Remember that Row 1 of the Named Range called DATA is row 9. How do we know that? Select the Named Range called DATA and observe that it starts in Row 9. The Match function with a third argument of 0 will return the row position matching the entry in F7 but the row number is adjusted by the starting point! Extension 4307 is literally on Row 11 in the spreadsheet, but within the Named Range called Data, it is the third row down. The employee name is in the second column, hence the entry of 2 at the end of the Index formula. 7. Lesson 2 Activity 2-2 Expanding the Textbook Don t limit yourself to exploring Precedent/Dependent cells in this exercise. Be sure to check out the formula used in Cell F2 on the Employees tab. Use the Excel help screens to explore the IFERROR and AVERAGEIF functions! How? Position the cursor inside the letters of the IFERROR function in the formula and press the fx function wizard button to the left of the formula bar. Read the help screens. Then repeat with the cursor inside the word AVERAGEIF. 8. Lesson 3 Activity 3-1 Expanding the Textbook In addition to the track changes items covered in this activity, it is also possible to generate a worksheet that contains all of the changes made to a file. The option is accessed off the Review Changes Track Changes Highlight Changes menu, checking the box labeled List changes on a new sheet. The following is a sample of what the sheet looks like after completing Steps 3 through 5 in this activity! Cindy Kredo 2018 Version Date: 4/13/18 Page 5 of 9
There are significant limitations to the history tracking in Excel, and as a result you are unlikely to see wide use of the feature. Most significant, change history is only retained for 30 days by default, and unless someone changes that default, simply opening and closing a workbook will clear out the older history. The most common usage of this feature is related to projects done over relatively short periods. The Track Changes feature does not include any method to restore a file back to the original content. 9. Lesson 3 Activity 3-2 Expanding the Textbook Excel protection can be accomplished at different levels each level is set differently and a file can contain one or more of these protections: 1) Encrypt file requiring a password to OPEN the file 2) Modify rights require a password to make changes to the file (global, all worksheets) 3) Modify rights at a sheet level require a password to make changes to specified cells on a worksheet 4) Modify rights at a workbook level require a password to add/delete/move/rename/hide/unhide worksheet tabs 5) Modify rights at a range level require a password to modify cell ranges (not covered in textbook) Item 1 (in the list above) can be accomplished with the Encrypt with Password option. Settings for items 3 and 4 can be viewed with the next two items. Items 1 and 2 can be set from the File, Save As, Tools dropdown as shown below select General Options. Cindy Kredo 2018 Version Date: 4/13/18 Page 6 of 9
Items 3, 4 and 5 can be set using the Review Ribbon options. 10. Lesson 4 Activity 4-1 Exploring the Textbook Step 2 has you set Cell B3 to display a drop down list. The fonts in the list are small. After the item is selected, the text selected will take on the size assigned to the cell. For many years users have complained that they want more control over the font size in the dropdown: sadly, it s not yet in this version! There are 2 other ways to add drop-downs to an Excel file each with pros and cons. Check out the Work with Forms and Controls Lesson in Appendix I of the textbook. This lesson explores the Developer Ribbon, Data Forms, and Form Controls. 11. Lesson 4 Topics A and B Data Validation - Expanding the Textbook Adding validation rules to existing data doesn t result in any visible warning to the user. The Circle Invalid Data command covered in Topic B would be needed to find invalid data when the validations were entered after the fact. Two other limitations/potential problems related to data validation are: 1) Data pasted into cells containing data validation will NOT trigger any warnings but even more important, chances are the data validation rules will be REMOVED from those cells! 2) When formulas are used to output values that do not meet the validation criteria, no warnings are triggered. The format paint does NOT copy data validation. The easiest way to expand data validation to adjacent cells that do not have the validation rules applied is to select all of the cells where the data validation rules should be applied, INCLUDING at least one cell that already has the validation rules. Then use the Data, Data Validation ribbon choice and observe the message that appears: Cindy Kredo 2018 Version Date: 4/13/18 Page 7 of 9
12. Lesson 4 Activity 4-2 Intersect Formulas Expanding the Textbook After completing Step 3c in Activity 4-2, the verbiage on the error message might seem odd: The ranges in the formula do not intersect. What if they did intersect? What are they talking about? In an empty cell, type the following, noting there is a blank space between the two ranges (similar to the error example in the Activity). =SUM(B6:E9 C8:C10) The formula returns the number 347. What is that? 347 is the sum of the cells that are in BOTH ranges: in other words, where they intersect! How would YOU use an intersect formula? It s worth a google using this phrase: practical example intersect operator in Excel. End of mystery! 13. Lesson 4 Topic C Macros Personal Macro Workbook / Handout Figure 4-12 text states You must unhide the personal workbook to delete or edit macros that are saved there. This concept is also explained in detail in the second paragraph on this page in the section titled The Personal Workbook. If no other files were open in Excel, it is true that you would not be able to modify macros in the Personal Workbook without first unhiding it. However, since the Personal Workbook DOES open in a hidden view every time you open Excel, the Personal.xlsb workbook will be visible in the Project Explorer window of the Visual Basic Editor window (Alt F11). There is no need to unhide the Personal Macro workbook! You are also strongly discouraged from EVER unhiding the Personal Macro workbook since it is such an important storage tool for public macro procedures. The textbook conceptual coverage is well done, but extremely limited. Typically, about 50% of the students in this class hope for more coverage. To accommodate those students, a separate VBA handout is available that significantly expands the coverage, and that follows the scenario done in class! 14. Lesson 5 Topic A Sparkline Types The following example shows a good use of the three types of Sparklines: Observe that the win/loss output is limited to two symbols either win or loss, with loss being a negative number. 15. Lesson 6 Activity 6-3 Goal Seek Expanding the Textbook After completing Activity 6-3, let s add another step before we close this workbook. Copy the range A1:B10 into cell G1. Change the label to read Price Change to Break Even. Cindy Kredo 2018 Version Date: 4/13/18 Page 8 of 9
Complete the Goal Seek dialog as follows, asking for a change in the price per unit in order to break even: The difference between upping the price by 53 cents vs. selling almost three times the amount of units could be significant in other ways. That doesn t mean Goal Seek didn t accomplish the task requested: but be aware that there can be multiple ways to approach what if scenarios. An Excel Add-On tool called Solver lends itself to modifying multiple values to reach a similar goal. If you have statistics background, I encourage you to explore this tool (it is not covered in the textbook). How? Google the words Excel 2016 Solver Add-On. Cindy Kredo 2018 Version Date: 4/13/18 Page 9 of 9