4 - 1 Chapter 4: Advanced Excel Skills Management Science: The Art of Modeling with Spreadsheets, 3e S.G. Powell K.R. Baker © John Wiley and Sons, Inc. Power Point Slides Revised By: Tony Ratcliffe, James Madison University

Chapter Coverage Keyboard shortcuts Controls Cell comments Naming cells and ranges Advanced formulas and functions Recording macros and using Visual Basic for Applications

Useful Keyboard Shortcuts: Moving, Scrolling and Entering Data 4 - 3

Useful Keyboard Shortcuts: Working in Cells or the Formula Bar 4 - 4

Useful Keyboard Shortcuts: Inserting, Deleting, Copying, Selecting 4 - 5

Useful Keyboard Shortcuts: Working with Worksheets and Macros 4 - 6

Controls Excel controls allow the user to change the contents or behavior of a spreadsheet without interacting directly with individual cells. Controls can be added to a spreadsheet to assist users to choose parameter inputs and to assist the analyst in performing sensitivity analysis.

Standard Controls The eleven standard controls are: Check Box Text Box Command Button Option Button List Box Combo Box Toggle Button Spin Button Scroll Bar Label Image

Excel Tip: Using Controls Place the Control toolbar on the screen (Developer ► Controls ► Insert). 2. Select the desired control icon (under Form Controls). 3. Click on the desired location for placement. 4. Click on Controls ► Properties (or right-click on the icon and select Format Control...). 5. Edit Properties as needed.

Use of Controls

Cell Comments To insert a comment in a particular cell, highlight the cell and choose Review ► New Comment. Edit the comment by placing the cursor anywhere within the comment box. To delete a comment, click on the border to highlight the comment and choose Delete. All of the comments in a workbook can be displayed by choosing Review ► Comments ► Show All Comments. When a cell containing a comment is copied, the contents and the comment are both copied to the new cell.

Cell Comments (continued)

Naming Cells and Ranges Individual cells and ranges of cells can be given names, and these names can be used in formulas to make them more readable. The simplest way to define a range name for a single cell is to place the cursor on that cell and note that the address of the cell appears in the Name box above column A. Click in the Name box and enter the name of the cell there. An alternative means for entering range names is to choose Formulas ► Defined Names ► Define Name.

Naming Cells and Ranges

Documenting Range Names Using Paste List

Advantages and Disadvantages of Range Names Advantages:  Formulas are easier to understand  Useful in Pivot Table and other applications Disadvantages:  Range names may reference incorrect cells or ranges  Adds complexity to spreadsheet  Requires additional effort  Complicates copying

Advanced Formulas and Functions Some of the tools of advanced formulas and functions:  R1C1 references  Mixed addresses  Nesting calculations  Parameterization  Advanced functions

R1C1 Style Excel allows us to switch back and forth between the normal style and the R1C1 style of referencing. Some modelers use the R1C1 style when developing their models but switch to the normal style when the model is complete. They enjoy the benefits of the more logical and more easily debugged R1C1 style without imposing this less-well known style on users.

Mixed Addresses Using mixed addresses in copying

Nesting Calculations Excel allows functions to be used within other functions. This is referred to as nesting. So, for example, we could nest a SUM function within an IF function: IF(SUM(A1:A10)>0, F9*F10, G9*G10 In fact, we can nest functions as many times as we like (in most cases), as long as the resulting calculations can be performed by the functions themselves. For example, we can nest IF functions within IF functions (although there is a limit of seven IFs in one formula), as in: IF(D2>D3, G7, IF(B2>B3,G8,G9)) Or we can nest several different functions: MIN(MAX(D4:D10), SUM(E4:E10), MIN(F4:F10))

Parameterization A well-parameterized function is one which represents the relationship between two or more variables accurately, with parameters that have a natural meaning in the problem being modeled. Picking the best parameterization for the problem at hand is part of the art of modeling. For example, a demand relationship between the price of a product and the quantity demanded could be modeled using the constant-elasticity function: Q = aP b In this function, the parameter b measures the percentage change in quantity that results from a percentage change in price.

Example of Parameterization A flexible four-parameter function for market share growth.

Advanced Functions AND and OR SUMIF and COUNTIF VLOOKUP and HLOOKUP INDEX, SMALL and MATCH Text and date functions ROUND, CEILING, FLOOR, and INT RAND and RANDBETWEEN Financial functions

Using Nested Functions

Recording Macros and Using VBA* Macros are small computer programs that automate frequently-performed tasks. Macros are written in the Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) language and stored in Visual Basic modules. Excel provides a mechanism for creating macros simply by recording the steps involved, so many simple macros can be created by users who have little or no programming knowledge.

Calculating Cumulative Returns using Excel

Record Macro Window

Visual Basic Editor

Cumulative Return Macro as Recorded

Cumulative Return Macro as Edited

User-defined Function to Calculate Cumulative Return

Summary Keyboard shortcuts Controls Cell comments Naming cells and ranges Advanced formulas and functions Recording macros and using Visual Basic for Applications

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