1. Exploring Microsoft Excel 2003
Chapter 2 – Gaining Proficiency: The Web and Business Applications
Robert Grauer and Maryann Barber
Committed to Shaping the Next Generation of IT Experts.
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2. Exploring Office 2003 Vol 1 2/e- Grauer and Barber
Cell Referencing
Absolute reference: remains constant throughout a copy operation
Specified with a dollar sign before the column and row, i.e. $B$4
Relative reference: adjusts during a copy operation
Specified without dollar signs, i.e. B4
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3. Absolute and Relative Cell References
Use absolute cell references for withholding rate and FICA rate
It is very common to use absolute references to refer to assumptions, since they normally remain the same for each row in the table. For values that change in each row, in this case, an employee’s gross pay, use relative references.
Notice that assumptions are clearly labeled and isolated from the body of the worksheet. This makes editing the values at a later date much easier.
Use relative cell references for each employees gross pay
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Isolate Assumptions
Base your formulas on cell references, not values
The cells containing the values (assumptions) should be clearly labeled and set apart
Change the assumptions in the worksheet and see the effects instantly
Also minimizes the chance for error: you change the assumptions in one place
Exploring Office 2003 Vol 1 2/e- Grauer and Barber

5. Example of Isolated Assumptions
It is very common to use absolute references to refer to assumptions, since they normally remain the same for each row in the table. For values that change in each row, in this case, an employee’s gross pay, use relative references.
Notice that assumptions are clearly labeled and isolated from the body of the worksheet. This makes editing the values at a later date much easier.
Assumptions are isolated and clearly labeled
Exploring Office 2003 Vol 1 2/e- Grauer and Barber

6. Using Excel Effectively
Enter cell addresses in formulas and functions by pointing
Use the mouse to select the cell(s)
More accurate than typing cell references
Use the fill handle to copy
Select the cell(s) and drag to copy to a destination range
Insert comments
When creating formulas, cell addresses can be entered by typing them into the cell or by using the mouse to point to the desired cell. Pointing is much more accurate. Later, when students learn how to enter references from other worksheets and/or workbooks, pointing will be even more helpful.
When demonstrating how to use the fill handle, pay particular attention to the shape of the cursor. It must be a crosshair to use the fill handle to copy cells. Students often end up selecting a cell range rather than using the fill handle. Remind them they must release the mouse button to copy the cells. Also, the fill handle can only be used to copy to contiguous cells.
Comments can be used to explain why certain values were chosen, the logic behind formulas, the creator of the workbook, along with the date it was created, or any other free-form text entry. In that way, they are much like creating comments when writing computer code.
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Pointing
Use the mouse to select the cells to be included in the formula
Notice the color coding between the borders around the selected cells and the formula in the formula bar
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Using the Fill Handle
Select cells E2:H2. Dragging the fill handle will copy all four cells to lower rows.
The cursor will change to a black crosshair. Students sometimes confuse the crosshair with the larger plus sign that indicates that a cell is selected.
Border around selected area. Release the mouse and formulas are copied
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Inserting Comments
Comments provide explanation for values and/or descriptions of formulas
Comments are indicated by a small triangle in the upper right corner of a cell.
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Excel and the Internet
Insert a hyperlink into a worksheet
Save a workbook as a Web page
Download information from the Web through a Web query
Hyperlinks are typically references to other documents on the Web, that is, other Web pages. They can be links to other Microsoft Office files, locations within the same document, or links to any other document stored on a server that the user’s machine can access. The computer must either have an active Internet connection or must have a modem properly installed and configured for the hyperlink to work, if the hyperlink is to an external document.
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Round-Trip HTML
Round trip HTML: allows you to edit a web page in the application that created it
An Excel document can be saved as a Web page, then edited in Excel.
HTML is not a programming language. It is simply a markup language that describes how a document will appear when viewed through a browser. It uses tags to define the elements of the page. The browser interprets the tags and formats the document the way you see it on the Web.
The Single File Web Page is new to Excel Prior versions of Microsoft Office allowed you to save documents as Web pages, but stored the documents as an html file with folders containing the elements of the page. When you uploaded the Web pages to your Web server, you had to upload the folders with the elements or the page did not function properly. This feature will make saving documents as Web pages much easier, but it will also give the Web developer less flexibility in editing the document after it has been posted.
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Round-Trip HTML
Edit with Microsoft Excel button lets you start Excel and edit the worksheet
Clicking the Edit with Microsoft Excel button allows you to start Excel to edit the worksheet. You will then be back in Excel. Any changes must be saved. Students will not see the changes in their browser until they click the Refresh button, which will retrieve the most current version of the document from the server.
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13. Selecting a Non-Contiguous Range
Drag through cells to select destination range
This is not included in the body of the text, but is covered in the hands-on exercise. Users can use the Ctrl key to select non-contiguous cells. This is a very handy feature when the worksheet is irregularly shaped or when you don’t want to copy a formula to an otherwise empty row. In this case, we did not want the formula in rows 10 or 13.
Hold the Ctrl key, then select additional cells
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14. Conditional Formatting
Use this dialog to set criteria, in this case <0
Click Format button to open Format Cells dialog
Conditional formatting is also covered in the exercise rather than in the chapter. It is a very useful feature for quickly identifying cells where the values fall within a given range. As an example, given the gradebook exercise that was used in Chapter 1, all students with averages above 90 could be formatted in one color and all students with averages below 70 could be formatted in another color. This would allow the professor to easily identify those students who were doing very well and those that needed assistance.
Select cells to apply conditional formatting
Format  Conditional Formatting
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Web Queries
Allows Excel to retrieve information from the Web
Requires an active Internet connection
Data  Import External Data
Created with the Import External Data command
Can be updated anytime with the Refresh command
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Creating a Web Query
Enter cells containing the criteria for your web query, in this case, A5:A10
The criteria you specify must match the criteria in the Web data source. Otherwise, the query will not return the correct values. When creating a new Web query, you may need to go to the Web site a few times to see how the data is listed.
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Refreshing the Query
Context-sensitive menu appears when you right-click in the query area
External Data toolbar
Queries are not automatically updated every time you open the worksheet. Instead, they will display the last saved values. To update, you need to use the Refresh command. This command will retrieve the latest data from the Web, using the criteria you have already provided.
Refresh External Data command retrieves the latest data from the Web
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Date Arithmetic
Excel stores all dates as integers
Serial numbers, beginning with January 1, 1900
The difference between dates is determined by subtracting one number from another
Today() function always returns the current date
Occasionally, a student will claim they entered a date, yet you’ll see an integer. Check the formatting on the cell.
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