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Once again, Microsoft has come up with a lot of nifty improvements
to this already powerful program. Some of them are enhancements that
will make your work easier, some are powerful new features, and
(almost) all of them are simple to use. If you're an experienced user,
browse through to see which of the new features may be useful to you.
If you're an Excel beginner (or anything less than a power user), have
a look to find out new ways to use Excel to make your work easier.
 PLEASE NOTE: These notes are taken
from Microsoft Excel 97 Help files, and include many of Excel's new
features. Look for additional information in Excel Help: select Key
Information, then click on If you are upgrading from a previous
version of Excel.
Finally, double click on the article What's New in Microsoft
Excel 97? for a list - by category - of all of Excel's improvements
and enhancements with links to additional information.
Some of the features listed here were introduced in Excel 95 or
before. They are included here (shown in blue text) since some of
us went directly from the Windows 3.1 version to Excel 97. Items
introduced in Excel 97 are shown in red text.
| Feature
|
Description
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| Multiple Undo |
Undo up to the last 16 actions for mistake-free
worksheets.
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| Easier entry of range
references in dialog boxes
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Dialog boxes that accept range references now
have a button that collapses the dialog box to a smaller size
so that it's not in the way while you select ranges on your
worksheet.
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| Yes to All option when
closing multiple files
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When you quit Microsoft
Excel 97 with multiple files open, you can choose to save all
the files before exiting, instead of being prompted to close
each open file. "A popular request from our customers."
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| Row and column headings
indicate the active cell
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As you move the highlight for the
active cell, the row number and column letter "light up," so
it's easy to see exactly where you are.
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| Better drag-and-drop editing
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Drag the border of a range of cells
to move the range to another workbook or worksheet window, or
hold down ALT to drag the range to a sheet tab in the same
workbook. When you drag a range with the right mouse button, a
shortcut menu with copy and paste options is displayed.
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| CellTips and ScrollTips
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CellTips automatically display the
comments (or notes) you've added to cells when you rest the
mouse pointer over a cell with a comment indicator (in version
97, a red triangle in the upper-right corner of a cell). When
you drag the scroll box to see other parts of a worksheet, a
ScrollTip shows the row or column you will move to.
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| Full Screen command
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The Full Screen command on the View
menu hides screen elements such as toolbars and menu bars so
you can view more of your worksheet.
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| Save a list of open workbooks as a
workspace file
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As in previous versions, the Save
Workspace command on the File menu saves a list of the open
workbooks, their sizes, and their positions so that the screen
will look the same the next time you open the workspace file.
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All of the Microsoft Office 97 programs share a set of tools that
work exactly the same way in each program. For the end-user, this means
that you only have to learn it once. For example, the drawing toolbar
is the same throughout the Office 97 suite. Once you learn how to use
the graphics tools in one of the programs, you know how to use the
graphics tools in all of the programs. This sharing makes your learning
time much shorter and gives you access to a similar set of tools in
each program.
| Feature
|
Description
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| More customization
of toolbars and menu bars
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In version 5.0, you could customize any of the
built-in toolbars or create your own. In version 97,
the menu bar is simply another type of toolbar. You can add
menus to toolbars or toolbar buttons to menus. The image
associated with a menu command shows you what the command will
look like if you choose to display it as a button.
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| Drawing toolbar
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Microsoft Excel shares new drawing tools with
other Office programs. Choose from several categories of
predefined shapes, and create interesting text effects with
the WordArt button.
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| More graphics filters
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The new Graphics!Interchange Format (.gif) and
JPEG File Interchange Format (.jpg) filters help you export
charts in common graphics formats so you can display them on
the World Wide Web.
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| Integration with Microsoft
Outlook Microsoft
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Outlook is the newest member of the Office family.
It includes an e-mail client and scheduling, task, and document
management features. With the Outlook Journal, you can locate
documents within a specific time frame, for example, by typing
the budget I worked on last Thursday
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| Shared Open and New dialog boxes on
the File menu
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Search for a file based on a word or phrase it
contains, or on properties such as author, subject, title, or
comments. Organize templates on tabs in the New dialog box.
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| Office Binder
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Group all your documents, workbooks, and
presentations for a project in one place. With Office 97, you
can organize and print the files that make up a binder as a
single document with one header and footer and continuous
pagination.
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| Office Shortcut Bar
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Quickly find and open documents or databases, set
up appointments, and even send e-mail messages. Customize the
Office Shortcut Bar to show frequently used files as buttons.
In Office 97, the Office Shortcut Bar is not included in
Typical installation unless it was part of your installation
of Office 95. To install the Office Shortcut Bar, rerun the
Office Setup program.
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| Shared proofing tools between
Microsoft Excel and Word
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Office programs share spelling dictionaries and
AutoCorrect exception lists.
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Microsoft Excel version 97 has increased capacity to handle larger
worksheets.
| Feature
|
Description
|
| Up to 32,000 characters
in a cell
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Increased from 255 characters, as requested by our
customers and independent software vendors.
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| Up to 65,536 rows per
worksheet
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Increased from 16,384 rows. A popular request
from our customers.
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| Background queries
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Queries now run in the background, so that you can
continue to work in Microsoft Excel while data is being
retrieved. You can also check the status of a query while it's
running in the background. For more information, see Excel Help
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| Feature
|
Description
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| Formula Palette and the
Paste Function command
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The Formula Palette makes it easier to create
formulas by automatically correcting common mistakes and using
the Answer Wizard to provide help as you work. The Paste
Function command in Microsoft Excel 97 incorporates features of
the Microsoft Excel 5.0 Function Wizard.
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| Recommended worksheet
functions
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If you use the Paste Function dialog box but don't
know which function generates the result you want, just type a
brief description of what you want to do. The Office Assistant
will suggest which worksheet functions to use.
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| Range Finder
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As you edit a formula, all cells and ranges that
the formula refers to are displayed in color, and a matching
color border is applied to the cells and ranges.
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| Natural-language formulas
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Use row and column labels in formulas to refer to
cells without using cell references or creating names.
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Built-in templates
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New templates provide online forms that can store
data in lists or databases. The new templates include an
expense statement and a purchase order. You can also download
additional Microsoft Excel templates from Microsoft on the
World Wide Web.
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| Template Wizard with Data
Tracking
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You can create your own custom forms that store
data in a list or database by using the Template Wizard with
Data Tracking.
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| AutoCalculate
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View the total value for a range of cells in the
status bar when you select the range.
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| AutoComplete
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Compares text you are typing into a cell with text
already entered into the same column, and then completes typing
the entry for you.
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| AutoCorrect
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As you type text into cells, common spelling errors
are automatically corrected.
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| Custom AutoFill series
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Create a custom series of labels, such as a list of
employee names or a department list, that you can automatically
fill into a range of cells.
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| Data entry and editing directly in
cells
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Enter and edit data directly in cells or in
the formula bar.
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| A Name box to easily name and
select cells
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Create named ranges in the Name box on the formula
bar, or quickly select a cell or range of cells by clicking the
name for the range in the drop-down list.
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| 3-D formulas and 3-D names
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Create formulas and define names that refer to the
same cell or range of cells on adjacent worksheets in a
workbook.
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| AutoSum
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When you select a range of cells and click the
AutoSum button, Microsoft Excel automatically enters a
formula to calculate the sum of the range into a blank cell
next to the range. The AutoSum feature can also create a
grand total for a range of cells that contain subtotals
within the same column.
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| Names with workbook scope
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When you define a name that represents a range of
cells, the name is available to all sheets within the workbook,
not just on the sheet that contains the range. Names that
represent formulas or values are also available to all sheets
in the workbook.
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| Data validation
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You can specify the type of data allowed in a cell,
such as text, whole numbers, or dates, and the range of valid
data, such as numbers less than an amount you specify or values
from a list you supply.
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| Custom data entry input
and error messages for data validation
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With data validation, you can display custom input
and error messages when a user selects a cell with restrictions
or enters invalid data into a cell.
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| Check for invalid
data on worksheets
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The Auditing toolbar contains a new Circle Invalid
Data button that finds cells that contain invalid data.
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MS Office Contents