1. Excel Workshop Excel Fundamentals
SURESH NAIR, Ph.D.
Professor and Robert Cizik Chair in Manufacturing and Technology Management,
Operations and Info Management
School of Business
University of Connecticut, Storrs, USA

2. Preliminaries
Go to the Workshop website and download the file First Spreadsheet
Basic skills
Entering serial numbers
Write 1 and 2, choose both cells, leave cursor
Notice the black square at right bottom of selection. This is the Handle
Hover on top of the handle and the cursor become a +
Hold down left button and pull down to the extent needed
Prof. Suresh Nair, University of Connecticut

3. Preliminaries (contd.)
Freezing panes
Used for large spreadsheets to freeze header rows and columns
Place cursor on E6
Go to \View and choose Freeze Panes
Filter
Used to filter (show) all rows with the same data in a column
Place cursor on D5 and go \Home\Sort&Filter\Filter
Note the pull down menu indicators for each column
Under Teams, filter for team 1, and copy all HW grades for all members. Do the same for other teams.
Remove filter indicators \Home\Sort&Filter\Filter
Insert/delete columns
Choose column or row Header
Click \Home\Insert or \Home\Delete
Insert a column at Column I. Call this HW Total

4. Entering formulas Always start an equation with an = (equal sign)
Simple formulas
In row 31, calculate the average for HW, Ex1 and Ex2 scores for the class.
=average([select data cells])
In column I, find HW total. In I6
=sum([select data cells E6..H6])
Or, use the icon S on top
Copying formula down column
Select I6. Hover on handle (bottom right of cell) and double click
This is an extremely useful feature for large spreadsheets
Prof. Suresh Nair, University of Connecticut

5. Entering formulas Simple formulas (contd.)
In column L, calculate the HW score out of 20. In L6
=[point to I6]*20/400
Copy formula down column using handle
In column M, calculate the Total Score. In M6
=0.4*J6+0.4*K6+0.2*L6
Or, =sumproduct($J$4..$L$4,J6..L6) – Notice $ (more on this later)
Prof. Suresh Nair, University of Connecticut

6. Sorting
Sorting files
Select all data except bottom totals. Include headers
Sort the file down (descending) on column M Total score
Go \Home\Sort&Filter\Custom Sort
Under Sort By choose Total
Under Order, choose Largest to smallest
Click OK
Now that the file is sorted in descending order, assign letter grades in column N (manually)
PASTE SPECIAL - VALUES
At times you want to get rid of the formula in a cell and only leave the value in place (e.g., in simulations).
[select cells] CTRL-C to copy
\Home\Paste\Paste Values (2007)
Right click and choose 123 (2010)

7. VLOOKUP We can assign grades without sorting by using VLOOKUP
On the right of the spreadsheet create a small table. Suppose the address of the numbers in the table (do not include header) is T5..U15
In cell N6
=vlookup(M6,$T$5..$U$15,2)
The way to read this formula is
M6 is the number to be converted to grade
$T$5..$U$15 is the conversion table address
2 is the column from the table to return here when there is a match.
Copy formula down column using handle
Prof. Suresh Nair, University of Connecticut

8. Summarizing Data
If you cannot recall a function, use the fx button on the formula bar
Measures of Central Tendency
Arithmetic mean
=average(a1.a5)
Median (the central value)
=median(a1.a5)
Mode (the most frequently occurring value)
=mode(a1.a5)
Measures of Variation
Range (the difference between the max and min value)
=range(a1.a5)
Standard deviation
=stdev(a1.a5)
Prof. Suresh Nair, University of Connecticut

9. Other Useful Functions to Summarize Data
=sum(a1.a5)
Sumif
=sumif(a1.a5,”<25”,b1.b5). Check for condition in a1.a5, and if true sum corresponding values in b1.b5 (Optional).
Count and Countif. Counts occurrences.
=count(a1.a5) or =countif(a1.a5,”<25”,b1.b5).
Min or Max
=min(a1.a5) or =max(a1.a5)
Quick Summaries for Numeric Data
Select Numeric data cells
At bottom frame of Excel find the summary data such as Average, Count, Max, Min, Sum, etc.

10. Presenting Data - Pie Charts and Line Charts10
Example: We illustrate the drawing of Pie charts and 2 Axis charts using data in Auto_sml.xlsx. Select the data (including headers), go to the \Insert\Pie icon and choose the Pie Chart. Next choose Line.
Add chart title and axis titles by choosing Layout under Chart Tools – do this for Vertical Axis (call it “Specs”), and Horizontal Axis (call it “Weight, lbs.”). Title the chart “Car Weight vs. Specs.”

11. Presenting Data - Pie Charts and Line Charts11
Add Chart Elements
Click on the Chart and see the + sign on the top right. You can choose the Chart Elements to add to the chart.
Add chart title and axis titles by putting checks against Chart Title and Axis titles
Enter the Chart title and axes titles you wish by overwriting the default text that was created.

12. 2 Axis Charts 12
Since the values of variables are of different size, it would be better to move Rleg Room to the right axis.
Right Click the line corresponding to Rleg Room. On the right panel choose Secondary axis.
For good measure, on the paint can on right (Format), choose Border color and Rounded Corners.

13. XY Charts and Bubble Charts
None of the previous charts are to scale on the X axis. They simply consider the X values to be categories. Therefore 2,5, 23 and 107 will be equal-spaced on the x axis, as if they were M,T,W or colors or brands. If you need to show scaled values, you need to use Scatter charts
If you need to show 2 y-axis values to scale you may use the Bubble chart. First choose two columns and choose Bubble Chart. Then click on the chart to show data selected. Then extend the data to include the third column.
The left most column chosen is shown on the X-axis, the second column is the Y axis and the third column is the bubble size
I have found Scatter charts to be the most important type of chart in Excel

14. Elements of Charting Style14
First let Chart Wizard do its thing.
Then pretty it up
Fix scale. Double click on scale to fix. Choose Scale tab. Change Min and Max
Get rid of grid line. Click on any grid line. Delete.
Add markers and lines. Click on line drawn, then right click, choose Format Data Series, and then choose different weight and style for different lines (colors do not print well). On the right panel choose markers on some of the lines which may have same weight and style.

15. Excel Workshop Excel ADVANCED
SURESH NAIR, Ph.D.
Professor and Robert Cizik Chair in Manufacturing and Technology Management,
Operations and Info Management
School of Business
University of Connecticut, Storrs, USA

16. Anchoring This is the most important aspect of Excel
Get used to anchoring cell references
If in cell B2 you say =A1, this is a relative reference. You are simply meaning the stuff one row above and one column to the left
If in cell B2 you say =$A1, this is an absolute reference to column A, but relative reference to one row above. That is, if you copy this formula to B3, it will show up as =$A2
If in cell B2 you say =A$1, this is an relative reference to the column of the left, but absolute reference to row A. That is, if you copy this formula to C2, it will show up as =B$1
If in cell B2 you say =$A$1, this is an absolute reference to column A and row 1. That is, if you copy this formula to B3, it will still show up as =$A$1
Prof. Suresh Nair, University of Connecticut

17. Formulas and Anchoring (contd.)17
Download file Anchoring.xls from the website
After doing the exercises on the second tab of the spreadsheet, you should be able to enter a formula in one cell and copy it to all other cells to obtain a table as shown below:
Prof. Suresh Nair, University of Connecticut

18. Importing Text Data Use the Text Import wizard18
Use the Text Import wizard
Example: The file Mutual.txt has information on Mutual funds and is delimited by comma. First save this file to disk.
From any Excel document, \Office\Open and select this file (under Files of Type, choose Text Files). The Text Import Wizard screen comes up. Choose Delimited.
On the next screen take off the check against Tab and put a check against Comma. Click Finish.
Save file as an Excel Worksheet, Mutual.xls
The file Auto.txt has information on automobiles and is delimited by the character |
Do exactly as above, but on the second screen choose Other and put a | in the box. Save as Auto.xls
Prof. Suresh Nair, University of Connecticut

19. Histograms Let’s draw a histogram on car widths from file Auto.xls19
Let’s draw a histogram on car widths from file Auto.xls
\Data\Data Analysis\Histogram and leave Bin Range blank. Put a check against Chart Output
After you see the output, go back to Histogram menu and enter the Bin Range (incl header) for better display. Start at 60 and increase by 2.5 for each bin.

20. Filtering Choose \Home\Sort and Filter\Filter Hides unimportant rows20
Choose \Home\Sort and Filter\Filter
Hides unimportant rows
Can specify multiple column filters, and custom filters

21. Conditional Formatting21
Similar to filtering, but simply highlights important cells, does not hide the other cells.
Choose \Home\Conditional Formatting
There are many options available

22. Pivot Tables (Important)22
This is an extremely useful way to examining whether there is any relationship or pattern between two or more variables.
Use the Pivot Table wizard in Excel
Select the data including the headings
Choose \Insert\Pivot Table, then OK
Select the Filter, Column and Row variables, and the body of the matrix (S value) by dragging

23. Pivot Tables (contd.) 23
Group the data for the row or column, if necessary (right click on any row value (say) > Group). Enter start, end and interval size
Prof. Suresh Nair, University of Connecticut

24. Pivot Tables (contd.) 24
Change the way to summarize data as needed (count, sum, etc.) and change the format of the numbers as needed. Right click on top left cell, choose Summarize Data By…More Options…second tab Show Values As. Say % of row. Choose Number Format (Custom, #.## for zero suppression) as needed.

25. Excel Workshop Structured data from unstructured text
SURESH NAIR, Ph.D.
Professor and Robert Cizik Chair in Manufacturing and Technology Management,
Operations and Info Management
School of Business
University of Connecticut, Storrs, USA

26. Converting to Structured Data26
Many a time you may get text that looks unstructured, say on a website and you need to make into structured form for analysis.
Let’s say you want to send a mass to people you have selected in LinkedIn. You want to customize the for each person.
Let’s do an Advanced Search in LinkedIn for keyword “Talent” within 100 miles of our zip code

27. Copy/paste pages in Word27
Let’s copy/paste several of these pages into a Word document as Keep Text Only
I have done 11 pages of this. Download file LinkedIn Hits - First File

28. Converting to 1 line per person28
Click on the ribbon to show the paragraph marks
Note that each person ends with two paragraph markers
Go to Replace and replace ^p^p with $$, Replace All

29. Converting to 1 line per person (contd.)29
Now replace the single paragraph marks with $
Finally replace the $$ back to single paragraph marks

30. Converting to 1 line per person (contd.)30
Finally replace the $$ back to single paragraph marks

31. Converting to 1 line per person (contd.)31
If you are lagging the class, download file LinkedIn Hits Second File.
Now select the whole file, Select All (Ctrl-A), and copy (Ctrl-C) and paste as Values in an Excel file

32. Converting to 1 line per person (contd.)32
Voila! You have one row per person.
What is more, there are $ between each field, so we can break each row into several columns

33. Converting each line to columns33
Simply do what we learnt earlier about converting Text to Columns.
Select Column A, go \Data\Convert Text to Columns, use Delimiter $

34. Converting each line to columns34
Simply do what we learnt earlier about converting Text to Columns.
Select Column A, go \Data\Convert Text to Columns, use Delimiter $

35. You have your Structured File35
You may download this file, LinkedIn Hits Third File.
You can further clean up the file by (will require quite a bit of manual clean- up, but with practice you will be able to do this fast)
Removing 2nd, 3rd, PremiumBadge, etc.
You can split the first name and last name into two columns – delimiter is space
You can separate the company name into another column – first replace all “at” with S, and then use $ as delimiter to separate title from firm name
You can Concatenate to create an guess
See LinkedIn Hits Fourth File

36. Using Mailmerge 36
You need to be sure that the you guessed is correct.
One good site for making guesses of format is
You can then use Mailmerge in Word to send customized s to everyone in the file
Several will bounce due to bad guess
For these use another guess, send only to these another
Good luck!
The LinkedIn example was simply illustrative. However, this idea of $, ^p, etc., is very useful for several other real applications you will come across.