LEARNING MICROSOFT EXCEL 2000
Copyright CIT, 1999-2000. All rights reserved.

CHAPTER 1. STARTING EXCEL

Running Excel

To start Excel, choose

Start-Programs-Microsoft Excel.

The window shown below should appear

Figure 1.1

By default, Excel always opens up with a blank unformatted worksheet. The Office Assistant may also open up on top of the worksheet, depending on the configuration.

Figure 1.2

The Excel worksheet
The diagram below shows the standard components that make up the Excel worksheet. Take a minute now to locate these components on your worksheet.

Figure 1.3

Having worked through an Introduction to Windows and Word, you are now familiar with the four bars at the top of the screen.

A cell is the basic unit of the spreadsheet. The address of a cell is specified using a column letter and a row number, for example A1 as in figure 1.3. You will see to the left of the formula bar a display of the currently selected cell, called the active cell.

On the toolbar click on the downward arrow (to the right) of the 100%. This is the zoom control button. Choose 25%, then 200% and then return to 100%. This shows you that you can get an overview, or a detailed look of your spreadsheet. You will notice that all the cells are the same size. This gives us problems when we want to enter large values. You will be shown how to extend the size of the cells in chapter 3.

To the right of the zoom button is a button with an arrow and question mark. This is the Office Assistant help button. If you click on the button, the Office Assistant will appear (if it was currently hidden) and prompt you with some help options.

Another great “help” tool you can use is the “What’s this?” pointer. To bring this tool up, choose Help….What’s This? from the menu bar.

Figure 1.4

Your cursor should now look like this

This tool enables you to get help or information on an object or icon on the screen, simply by clicking on it. Try clicking on the scroll bar on the right hand side of the screen. The following information should appear.

To clear the information off the screen, either press ESC on the keyboard or click anywhere outside the information help dialogue box.

With these two help tools you should be able to answer most of your own questions.

Types of data
When you enter something into a cell, Excel decides on the type of value by the first character keyed. Excel recognizes three types of data

Numbers
To enter a number, click on a cell and enter the numeric value. Numbers can be entered as either positive or negative and include fractional parts, for example 1, 2, -6, +7.767

Equations
To enter an equation, click on a cell and enter an equation. In Excel, equations always start with an equals sign, for example =2+3. Entering this equation would display the value 5 in the cell, but if you move the cursor over the cell, the equation will appear in the formula bar.

Text
To enter text, click on a cell and begin typing text (by default text does not start with a digit or the equal sign), for example Sales for 1997

Try to remember these, but don’t worry, it will be reinforced throughout these lessons.

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