EXCEL 2010 BASICS JOUR 772 & 472 / Ira Chinoy

EXCEL 2010 BASICS JOUR 772 & 472 / Ira Chinoy Virus check and backups: Remember that if you are receiving a file from an external source a government agency or some other source, for example you will want to take some preliminary steps as cautions. The first is to make sure that make sure that you scan the file (and any portable medium used to get it to you, such as a CD) for viruses. We ll review that process in class. The second is to make backup copies. NEVER work on the original file. You will make a copy of it and work on that. In addition, it is good practice to make two backup copies of the original data file. Keep one where you work on the data and make a second copy to store in another physical location. This will safeguard the data which you may have worked very hard to get in case of some sort of rare but not unavoidable problem (flood, fire, theft, etc.). Of course, it is also good practice to make backup copies as you continue to work on a data file. One more thing We will discuss this later in the course, but it bears mentioning at the outset: do not modify the original data. If you have a column with cells that have errors say, misspellings you will want to make a copy of that column and make the corrections in that copy. This will always allow you to see the data in its original state. Getting started: Excel 2010 makes use of a similar arrangement of icon-based menus arranged in groups on under various tabs on the Microsoft Office ribbon, along a Quick Access toolbar at the top left. To find and open a file, click on the File tab and then the Open icon. Files created with Excel 2007 and 2010 use the.xlsx extension. Files created in earlier versions of Excel us the.xls extension, and the can be used in Office 2007 and 2010. We ll use the files Budget.xlsx and Soft100K_95-96.xlsx in this tip sheet. Navigating and cell addresses: Excel is arranged in columns and rows. Each cell has an address, a combination of column letter and row number. In the spreadsheet below, the label Category is in the first column of the first row, or cell A1. When we click on that cell, its contents also appear in the Formula Bar and its address appears in the Name Box. 1

Cursor shapes that change with function: As we move around the spreadsheet, the cursor is a traditional white pointer until it changes shape for particular purposes. Here s a brief guide to a few of the key shapes to know now: The white plus is used to select a cell or cells: The pointer with a compass shape attached is for moving cells: We will not use it our work here, but you need to know about it to avoid unintentionally relocating a cell. A cursor that becomes a solid black arrow facing down is used to select a column: A similar arrow facing right is used to select a row. One more useful cursor shape is the copy tool:. It is used in conjunction with the fill handle a small, solid black square that appears in the lower right corner of a selected cell. Together, the copy tool and fill handle are one means for copying cell contents or formulas from one cell to another, and we will learn how to use them. When you put your cursor between two column hearings, you will see this: It s used to change the width of a column. A similar cursor lets you change the width of a row. You may want to widen columns to see all the text. Or if you see only hash marks, which means the cell contains a large number or a date and needs to be widened to see the contents. Entering and removing data: To enter data in a cell whether text or numbers just click on the cell and start typing. If you make a mistake as you go, you can use the backspace key. Or to undo everything you have typed in a cell before you leave it, hit the escape key marked ESC on your keyboard. Once you have typed what you want into a cell, you need to do one of several things to lock in what you have entered: 1. Hit the Enter key. This will move you down to the next row. Hitting Shift-Enter (together) will move you up one row 2. Hit the Tab key. This will move you to the right one cell. Shift-Tab will move you to the left. 3. Hitting one of the four arrow keys will move you to the next cell in that direction. To remove the contents of a cell, you can also highlight the cell and hit the backspace key. And don t forget the undo button for reversing your recent actions. Entering formulas: One of the most powerful features of Excel is the ability to do calculations right in the data set and then copy those formulas without having to type them all over again. When entering a formula in a cell, begin with an equals sign 2

Typically, formulas will be expressed using cell references, such as A1+A2. This one, in cell C1, adds the contents of cells A1 and B1: When I m done and hit Enter, the resulting value appears: If I click on cell C3, the formula appears in the formula bar: Formulas can be edited in the cell or in the formula bar. Formatting cells: Excel 2010 has a variety of useful ways to format cells. Numbers can appear as percentages, currency, or with decimal places. Dates can appear in a variety of ways, too. There are ways to color-code cells and even sort them based on color. And there are often a variety of routes to the same formatting options. For example, let s type 1000 in a cell, with no commas. If you right-click on a cell containing a number, you will see a menu that includes Format Cells as an option If you then click on Format Cells, you will see a menu of categories. Select Number and you will see that the default has two decimal places. Click on the box that says Use 1000 Separator (,) Then click on OK. The cell that began as 1000 now appears as 1,000.00. 3

There are additional menu options for formatting cells. These appear on the Home tab in the icon groups Number and Styles. We will explore them in class. Also, the Format Painter on the Home tab is also useful in formatting, and we will talk about that We could also just have typed 1,000.00 directly into the cell when we began, and that s what we would see: But two cautions here: First, in some older versions of Excel, you must enter the number as 1000 and then format it as 1.000.00. And if you look at the Formula bar, you ll note that Excel actually sees your 1,000.00 as 1000, but has adopted the formatting of 1000 as 1,000.00 in the spreadsheet cell Second, and more importantly, we will soon create formulas elements separated by commas. In these formulas, you will get an error if you type the commas in numbers greater than 999 which may appear in your formula. So you may find that as a matter of habit, it is best when entering numbers into cells to leave out the commas as you type and then use the various formatting options to display them with commas. The same is true for dollar amounts you can enter then as plain numbers and then format the cells to include dollar signs. And we will use formatting options when we work with percentages or when we want to increase or decrease the number of decimal places we see in a cell. 4

Setting up the spreadsheet for analysis: Assigning record numbers and naming the database It is often useful to work with as ranges of data that we name and treat as tables. The newer versions of Excel have sophisticated options to help automate the process of designating tables, and we will have a look at them later on. But these automatic features can also get us into trouble if we are careless. So we will start out by learning how to designate a table step by step. First, it is often useful and good standard practice to give each record (that is, each row) a unique identification number before naming the array of cells with which we are working. Assigning a name will help avoid certain pitfalls when we add columns of calculations and rows of totals, averages, and so forth, and this step will also be useful later on when we learn to generate summary data in a pivot table. We ll start with the Budget.xlsx file. In cell D1 type a new label, RECNO, and in E1 type END. Type a 1 in the cell below RECNO (D2), but do not hit the ENTER key yet. (If you do hit ENTER, just go back and click on cell D2 again so it s highlighted) While the cells from D2 to D7 are highlighted, find the Fill button. It s on the Home tab in the Editing group. With cell D2 still highlighted, hold down the SHIFT key and, while you are holding it, click on D7, the cell in column D next to your last row of data. Click on the Fill button to see a list of choices. Click on Series ~~~~~~~ 5

Leave the default settings as they are in the box that comes up and click OK. You have used the RECNO column to give each record its own unique ID number. We ll talk in class about the value of doing this. The next step is to give our data table a name. First, click on cell A1 the cell with the first label, Category, to highlight it: Next, while you hold down the SHIFT key, click on cell E7, the last cell in our data table. You should see every cell in the table, including the labels, highlighted: With the range of cells from A1 to E7 still highlighted, click in the Name Box above column A. Type the word Database and this is an important step hit the ENTER key. To confirm that you have given the table a name, click on the drop-down arrow in the Name Box. You should see that you now have the choice to click on Database. Do so, and you will see that your data table is highlighted. 6

Highlighting the database will be useful for some of the types of analysis we will do, so you want to be sure you have named it properly. Have you made a mistake? Have you accidentally left out the row of labels at the top or leaving out the END column? We can fix that. From the ribbon s Formulas tab, find the Defined Names group: Highlight Database and click Delete. This does not get rid of the data, it just removes the name Database You can now go back and define the table correctly. Another way to name the table is to highlight it in the spreadsheet, as we did earlier and then click on the Define Name icon on the Formulas tab: In the New Name box that comes up, type in the word Database in the area for name. And check to see that next to Refers to you see the data range. In this case it says =Budget!$A$1:$E$7. This means that you have selected the range A1:E7 on the Budget worksheet. (The meaning of the dollar signs will come up later on). If you click in the Name Box now, you will see that Database appears. Click on it to make sure you have named the right area. 7

Creating and copying formulas Excel lets us generate summary information by means of formulas. To get the column totals, first the word Total in cell A8 to serve as a label: There are some buttons that can help us generate summary information, but for now we re going to learn how to generate summaries and other calculations by means of formulas. Beneath the data in column B, type in this formula that will add up the contents of that column from B2 to B7: =sum(b2:b7) Hit ENTER and the total will now appear in the cell. The formula can be seen in the Formula Bar just above the table We do not type the formula again to get the total for the next column. We can just copy the formula. One way to do this is with the fill handle and copy tool. Notice that when cell B8 is selected, it is outlined in bold and a small black square the fill handle appears in the lower right corner of the cell border. If you place your cursor over that fill handle, the cursor shape changes to a black plus. If you now click the left mouse button and drag it one cell to the right you should see that the total for column C now appears in cell C8. All the references to cell numbers have shifted accordingly. Where the formula in cell B8 was =SUM(B2:B7), the formula in cell C8 has become =SUM(C2:C7). This is a feature of Excel know as relative reference cell references change automatically as formulas are copied. 8

A word of caution: When you are trying to grab the fill handle with the copy tool, make sure the cursor looks like this and not this. The latter is the pointer used move cells, not copy them. If you accidentally move a cell from one place to another, use the undo button cell to its proper location. to restore that Because it is easy to make this sort of mistake when you are using the fill handle, a better way to copy cell formulas is with a series of commands from the toolbar. First, click on cell B8, which has the total for Column B. While that cell is selected, hold down the SHIFT key and click on the cell to the right, C8. Both should be highlighted You should see this: On the Home tab, find the Editing group and click on the Fill button, then select Right to copy the formula over Let s look at copying formulas downward from one cell to the ones below it. First, we need to add a new column. We will do this inside the Database area that we defined earlier. Hold your cursor on the letter D above the RECNO label. A new pointer shape a downward arrow appears. Click on the D and the whole column will be selected. You should now have a blank column under the letter D: On the Home tab, in the Cells group of icons, find the Insert icon and click on the drop-down arrow. From the choices that appear, choose Insert Sheet Columns. You will see a paintbrush icon. If you click on it, you will see some options for formatting this column. We ll stick with Format Same As Left, which is formatted for currency 9

In cell D1 type the label CHANGE. In cell D2 type the formula to get the change from FY 1997 to FY 2002 for the first record, which is National Defense. The formula is =C2-B2. Then hit ENTER. To copy that formula down for the other records, select cell D2 (the one with the formula). While it is selected, hold down the SHIFT key and click on the cell in column D in the last row of data cell D8, which is in the TOTAL row. With those cells selected from D2 to D8, find the Fill icon (again, in the Editing group on the Home tab). Click on it and select Down from the choices. You should now see that the formula has been copied down the column, giving you relevant figures for each row. You should notice that some of the entries in this column that are negative numbers are formatted with parentheses instead of minus signs. Let s change that formatting. And let s use it by using a context menu that we get by highlighting the cells from D2 to D8 and clicking the right mouse button. 10

You should now see a menu of choices. Select the one at the bottom, Format Cells Then click on the Number tab on the left, and the Number category. Choose the first format for negative numbers, using a negative sign, instead of the options using parentheses or red for negative numbers. The negative numbers should now appear with minus signs: Deleting columns To delete a column, highlight it first (and make sure you have highlighted the entire column rather than a single cell or several cells).. then right-click, and from the menu that appears, click Delete. To restore the deleted column or reverse a mistake you may make use the Undo button at the top of the window: Sorting data: The first step in sorting a table is to highlight the entire data set (rather than a single column) by selecting the named range in this case, the name Database from the Name Box. 11

There are several ways to initiate the process of sorting. On the Home tab, you can find the Editing group and click on the Sort & Filter icon, and from there pick Custom Sort Or, from the Data tab, find the Sort & Filter group and click on the icon that says Sort Either of these routes brings up the Sort dialog box. In the text box next to Sort by, click on the drop-down arrow for a list of fields, and pick FY 2002: In the text box for Order, pick Largest to Smallest. Then click OK. The records are now sorted from highest to lowest value in the FY 2002 field: 12

Splitting the screen to work with larger data sets: The process of setting up a table for analysis assigning unique record numbers and naming the data range is a bit more involved for larger spreadsheets that have more columns and rows than can be seen on a single screen. To show how to handle this, we ll use Soft100K_95-96.xlsx. The first step will be to split the screen in order to see all four corners of the table. Click on cell D4. On the View tab, find the Window group and click on the icon that says Split. If the label is not visible, this is the icon: There are now horizontal and vertical grey divider bars and the spreadsheet is divided into four visible parts. You can navigate around each part as if it were the entire spreadsheet. If you look to the right side of the screen and the bottom, you will see that where there had been one scroll bar in each place, there are now two scroll bars on the right and two scroll bars on the bottom. Use the two scroll bars closest to the lower right corner of the window to change the view in the two right quadrants so that you can see the right top of the table in the upper right quadrant and the right bottom of the table in the lower right quadrant. If you left the other two quadrants alone, you should now be looking at the four corners of the table, cells A1 to K402. Leave enough room so that you can also see columns L and M on the right. In cell L1 type RECNO. In cell M1 type END. Then type a 1 in cell L2, under RECNO. 13

Click on cell L2 (with the 1) so that it is highlighted. Then hold down the SHIFT key and click on cell L402. You should now see that the range from L2 to L402 is highlighted (though only the top and bottom are visible). While the cells from L2 to L402 are highlighted, find the Fill button. It s in the Editing group on the Home tab. Click on the Fill button to see a list of choices. From those, select Series ~~~~~~~ In the box that comes up, leave the settings and click OK. You should now see that the unique record numbers have been added from, number 1 through 401, in cells L2 through L402. Again, with the four corners of the table visible now from A1 to M402, click first on cell A1: 14

Then hold down the shift key and click on cell M402. You have now selected all the data: NOTE: IF YOU GOT LOST as you worked with the split table, remember that you now have four scroll bars two on the right that let you see the first and last records in the table, and two along the bottom that let you see the left and right sides of the table. Use these so scroll bars so that cell A1 is in view on the upper left and cell M402 is in view on the lower right. With the table highlighted from cell A1 to cell M402, click in the Name Box. Type Database and hit ENTER. Removing the split screen: To remove the horizontal and vertical dividers, go back and click on the Split button which may just look like this: It s on the View tab. Freezing columns and rows: With large spreadsheets, it is useful to be able to freeze column headings and the left side of each row in place as you navigate from right to left and from top to bottom. To do this, click on cell B2 the cell below the labels and to the right of the donor names: Then, from the View tab, click on the icon Freeze Panes and then the Freeze Panes option. 15

Lines now appear showing that row 1 and column A have been locked in place: This can be undone by clicking on the Freeze Panes icon and choosing Unfreeze Panes. Sorting on multiple fields: We saw earlier how to sort on a single field. We can also sort on multiple fields. Pick Database from the Name Box. On the Home tab, click on the Sort & Filter icon, and pick Custom Sort We now see the Sort dialog box. Choose first to sort by the Amount column from Largest to Smallest: Then click on the Add Level button, and choose to sort Donor in order from A to Z. Then click OK. 16

You can see that the table is sorted first in descending order by amount, and then where there are identical amounts, the donors are sorted in alphabetical order. Where did my spreadsheet go? With this latest version of Excel, we will undoubtedly discover both new functionality and new frustrations. The latter include files that seem to disappear but fortunately, they just disappear from view. A number of the icons look quite similar, which can lead you to make your file disappear inadvertently. This is the icon we were using before for viewing files with a split screen: This is the icon used to hide a file from view: They sit adjacent to each other in the Window group on the View tab If you mistakenly hit the Hide button and your file vanishes, do not panic. The Unhide button -- beneath the other two will show you what file or files are hidden. Select the name of your missing file and click OK, and it will be back in view. 17