Block V

UNIT 1 –WORKING WITH WORKSHEETS

Structure

1.0 Introduction
1.1 Objectives
1.2 Features
1.3 Create worksheets
1.3.1 Entering Data
1.3.2 Editing in a worksheet
1.4 Add and rename worksheet
1.4.1 Adding a worksheet
1.4.2 Rename worksheet
1.5 Customize worksheets
1.5.1 Select one or more worksheets
1.5.2 Select the last cell of a worksheet
1.5.3 Insert page numbers in the worksheet
1.5.4. Protecting worksheet in a workbook
1.6 Add and remove columns and rows
1.7 Summary
1.8 Solutions/Answers
1.9 Further Reading

1.0 INTRODUCTION
MS Excel is a powerful worksheet that is easy to use and to store, manipulate,
analyze, and visualize data. It is used to handle financial transactions for regular
people, businesses and government agencies. In accounting, it helps to identify,
record, and document the monetary transactions of any kind. Students use Excel
to help draw conclusions from the data they gathered on a science project.

1.1 Objectives

After completion of this unit, you should be able to:

• Create a worksheet;
• Know the features of worksheet;
• Adding and renaming worksheets;
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• Customizing worksheets;

1.2 Features

Some features of Excel are:

¾ Excel has toolbars, shortcut menus, AutoCorrect, Online help and Wizards.

¾ Workbooks are containers of one or more worksheets. Keeping all sheets in one-file of same
project reduces the need to maintain different files.

¾ Worksheet auditing is a feature that checks a worksheet for errors.

¾ Excel worksheets can contain any object, like a picture, a document or a video clip.

¾ Excel can maintain large volumes of data at a time. A worksheet can contain 65,536 rows and 256
columns. A single cell can contain a maximum of 255 characters and each workbook contains 255
worksheets.

¾ Excel contains powerful tools like Pivot tables, Microsoft Query and Data Map tools.

¾ By using Excel you can create the custom data entry forms within a worksheet. Validation rules
and formatting can be included within a form..

¾ Worksheets allow you to enter, calculate, manipulate and analyze data such as numbers and text.
The worksheet contains all the data that you enter. When you start up Excel, you should be greeted
with a blank spreadsheet like the one we have below.

¾ When you create a workbook, the Microsoft Excel window displays a worksheet with rows and
columns. The Standard and Formatting toolbars are located at the top of the screen.

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 Fig. A Blank Workbook

There are three basic parts of an Excel Spreadsheet:

1. Column - The vertical segments that you see on the spreadsheet are called
columns.
2. Row - The horizontal segments are referred to as rows.
3. Cell - Each box that is created from a row and column intersecting is
referred to as a cell.

Title Bar
The Title Bar displays the name of the application, document, group, directory, or
file. If more than one window is open, the title bar for the active window (the one
in which you are working) has a color or intensity different from other title bars.

Menu Bar
The Menu Bar contains the available menus from which you can choose command

Tool Bar
The Tool Bars provide you with a quick method of working with various parts of
the worksheet.

Scroll Bar
The Scroll Bars enable you to move through a spreadsheet when the entire
spreadsheet does not fit in the window. Click the scroll arrows with the mouse to
move through the spreadsheet or to see one line at a time.

Buttons
Maximize Button

Clicking this Maximize Button enlarges the active window so that

it fills the entire Desktop.

Minimize Button

Clicking the Minimize Button reduces the window to the Task

Bar.

Close Button

Clicking the Close Button causes the file to close. If you have not
saved your file recently, you will see a dialog box that asks if you want to save the
file.

Restore Button

The Restore Button returns the window to its size before the
maximize or minimize button was used.

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1.3 CREATE WORKSHEETS

When Excel first opens, a workbook is opened. Each workbook consists of sequence of worksheets. A
powerful feature of a worksheet is that it recalculates the result of a mathematical formula automatically if
the source data changes. Thus, worksheets are fast and accurate tools for performing complex data
analysis. Worksheets are organized into a rectangular grid containing columns and rows. In each
worksheet every column identifies a number on the left side of the grid identifies each row. Each
worksheet in a workbook has 256 columns and 65,536 rows.

The cell is the basic unit of the worksheet and data is entered in cells. A cell is referred by its unique
address (cell reference), that is composed of the coordinates of the intersection of a column and a row. To
identify a cell, specify the column letter first, followed by the row number. Data can be entered in the
active cell. The active cell has a heavy border surrounding the cell. In addition, the active cell is listed in
the “reference area” immediately above column A of the worksheet.

1.3.1 Entering Data

Data is entered in cells, and the most common types of data entered are text, numbers and formulas.

Text
Excel left justifies the text. if the text is longer than the column width , Excel displays the overflow
characters in adjacent cells to the right.

Numbers
Numbers consist of the digits 0 through 9 and any one of the following
special characters:

+ - () , / . $ % E e

Formulas
In Excel, we can assign a formula to a cell to calculate and display the result. Formulas can be entered in
uppercase or lowercase with spaces to make the formulas easier to read. A formula is a sequence of values
and cell references in a cell that produces a new value from existing values.

AutoSum Feature
By using AutoSum feature the total will be calculated and the formula bar will show the resulting formula.

Fill Handle Feature

The fill handle feature of Excel makes copying a formula in one cell to adjacent cells
easy. The fill handle is the small rectangular box located in the lower right corner of the heavy border
around the active cell

1.3.2 Editing in a Worksheet

The different ways of editing data in a cell is:

• When the information you are working with changes or when you need to correct an error, you can
edit data directly in the cell. The general steps to edit a value are:

- Select the cell whose value needs to be edited

- Double click the cell to edit it.

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 - If you need to replace entire value, type in the
new value without double clicking the cell If
we notice the error while typing the data into the
cell, use the backspace key to erase the portion of
the data which is an error and retype the correct
information.

• If we notice the error after the data has been entered into the cell, double
click the cell to enter the “Edit Mode”. Place the cursor at the point of the
error and use the backspace key to erase the portion of the data that is in
error, then retype the correct information.You can also edit the content of
the cell right on the formula bar. Place the cursoranywhere on the text to
edit the data.

• Move to desired cell with the mouse or arrow key in the keyboard. Cell
contains letters and numbers. Press Enter to insert your entry into the
current cell.

• All formulas must begin with an equal sign. The example calculations are:

• Excel supports built-in formulas like SUM, AVERAGE, MAX, MIN, and
COUNT.

• Editing is performed by three ways, that are

I. Select the cell(s) to edit and type over to change the contents.

ii. Select the cell(s) to edit and press delete to remove contents.
.
iii Select the cell(s) to edit and make changes by clicking in the edit area,
then use the delete and backspace keys or insert text.

• To perform copy, you have to select the cells containing the item(s) you
want to copy. To fill in adjacent cells, drag the fill handle of the selected
cell(s) to the copy destination.

• Formatting is done by selecting the cells to format and use the formatting
Toolbar to obtain the desired appearance Formatting is performed by
applying the bold, italics, underline, alignment, etc.

• Sorting is done by click and drag over the items to sort. Include all of the
items, but not the column name. Click on Data and Sort. Under Sort by,
specify the column by which you want to sort data. Select an option.
Choose OK.

• Chart is developed by Click and drag over the labels and data that you
want to place in your chart. In Chart Wizard you can choose the desired
:

• To size chart, click and drag on one of the diagonal handles.

a. To move the chart, click on an empty space within the chart and drag it
to the desired place.

b. To change the chart titles: Double-click on the titles.

• Page Setup
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 a. Orientation and Paper Size: To change the paper orientation to landscape or to change
the paper size, choose File, Page Setup, and Page and make desired choices.

b. Margins: Choose Margins under Page Setup to adjust the margins of the worksheet.

c. Page Numbering: Choose Header/Footer, click on the down arrow in the

Header or Footer area and choose the desired page number style.

d. Printing titles on each page: Choose Sheet and type in the row (A1) to include
as a title on each page.

e. Printing lines (gridlines) on the worksheet: Choose Sheet and check the gridlines box.

Print Preview
File, Print Preview allows you to see how the worksheet will look when it is printed out.

Printing
File, Print. Select print range (all or specific pages). Choose OK.

Saving Your Worksheet

In Excel the saving is perfomed by giving the name for the worksheet with .xls extension.

Opening a File - File, Open. (Or click on the Open button)

Double-click on the folder if it is not selected.

1.4 ADD AND RENAME WORKSHEET

In MSExcel, adding and renaming is done basing upon the options that are selected in the menu. The menu
consists of Insert, Delete, Rename, Move or Copy, Select All Sheets, View Code and Tab Color. By
selecting the Insert option you can insert the new worksheet to the existing workbook. Rename option is
used to Rename the existing worksheet in the workbook. The following blanksheet Book1 shows the existing
options.

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Fig:Workbook shows before adding new worksheet

The existing workbook consists of three worksheets. If you want to insert a new
worksheet click on any one of the existing worksheet name and choose the insert
option. Now it opens the insert dialog box with options ‘General’ and
‘Spreadsheet Solutions’. By default it opens the General Tab which select the
worksheet option.

1.4.1 Adding a worksheet

This Insert dialogue box is shown as:

Fig: Insert dialogue box with General and Spreadsheet Solutions

In this, we can select ok to open the new worksheet. Like this , we add a new
worksheet to the existing worksheets list in the workbook.The following Book1
consists of new worksheet with name sheet4.

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 Fig: Book1 with new worksheet Sheet4

1.4.2 Rename Worksheet

Renaming worksheet is also choosen by the above Fig . By using the rename option in the menu , we
rename the existing worksheet with the new name. If you want to change the name of the existing
worksheet sheet4 to next, select the existing worksheet name and click the right button . now it opens the
menu that consists of the list of options. From these options select the rename and then click. Then it
highlights the existing worksheet name and allows you to rename the worksheet what everyou want. This
is shown as:

Fig. Workbook with Next Worksheet

From this workbook, now we can allow you to change the name of the worksheet Sheet4 to Next. This is
shown in the following workbook Book1. Now the Book1 consists of Sheet1, Sheet2, Next (renamed
worksheet) and Sheet3.

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1.5 CUSTOMIZE WORKSHEETS

1.5.1 Select one or more worksheets

The tabs of the worksheet are used to select the sheets and to navigate from one
sheet to another. If you want to enter or edit (change) the data on several
worksheets at the same time, you can group worksheets by selecting multiple
sheets. You can also format or print a selection of sheets at the same time.

All sheets in a workbook - Right-click a sheet tab, and then click Select All
Sheets on the shortcut menu.

When multiple worksheets are selected, Group appears in the title bar at the top
of the worksheet. To cancel a selection of multiple worksheets in a workbook,
click any unselected worksheet. If no unselected sheet is visible, right-click the tab
of a selected sheet, and then click Ungroup Sheets on the shortcut menu.

For example, the following sheet displays 3 sheets named as sheet1, sheet2 and
sheet3. To select all the sheets, select the Select All Sheets option in the shortcut
menu.

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 Fig. Worksheet with Select All Sheets

Data that you enter or edit (change) in the active sheet is reflected in all selected
sheets. These changes may replace data on the active sheet and to other selected
sheets.

If sheet tabs have been color-coded, the name of the sheet tab will be underlined
in a user-specified color when selected. If the sheet tab is displayed with a
background color, the sheet has not been selected.

1.5.2 Select the last cell of a worksheet

The following steps are used to select the last cell of a worksheet:

1. On the Edit menu, click Go To.

2. Click Special.
3. Select Last cell.

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Fig. Workbook with Go To Special

By applying the above steps the cursor moves to the last cell of the worksheet as
follows:

Fig. Workbook showing last cell

1.5.3 Insert page numbers in the worksheet

1. On the View menu, click Header and Footer

2. Header and Footer open the Page Setup dialogue box.
3. Choose Custom Footer from Page Setup dialogue box.
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4. Enter the page number in the required position (Left Section, Center Section, Right
Section) and click appropriate button.

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1.5.4Protecting Worksheet in a Workbook

I. Choose Protect sheet from Protection in the Tools menu

II. Opens the Protect Sheet dialogue box and prompts for password.
III. Then it opens the confirm password dialogue box and asks for re-enter
password.

If you want to enter the data in the protected worksheet, select Unprotect Sheet
from Protection in the Tools menu.

1.6 ADD AND REMOVE COLUMNS AND ROWS

Steps to add a row or column in the worksheet:

1. Select the cell below where the row has to be inserted or the cell to the
right where the column has to be inserted.

2. 2. To add multiple rows or columns, select the number of rows or

columns equal to the number to be inserted by clicking and dragging the
mouse over the worksheet.

3. 3. Select Rows or Columns from the insert menu. Excel inserts row below
the selection or columns to the left of the selection.

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In Insert dialog box select the Entire row or Entire column option to insert a row
or column in the worksheet. The Insert dialog box consists of Shift cells right,
Shift cells left, Entire row and Entire column in the following figure.

Fig. Workbook showing Insert dialogue box

A row or column can also be inserted by right clicking the row number or column
header and by clicking the Insert... from the pop menu.

Removing Rows and Columns

When rows are deleted in the worksheet, the row below the deleted row move up
to fill the space. When columns are deleted, the columns to the right are shifted to
the left.

To delete a row or column, click the row number or column letter on the row or
column to be deleted and then select the Delete option from the Edit menu. To
delete more than one row or column drag over the row numbers or column letters
for selecting them. Alternatively, right-click the selection and choose Delete from
the pop-up menu. The rows and columns are renumbered automatically.

Fig. Workbook showing Delete dialogue box

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 1.7 SUMMARY

This unit is focused on the basics of MS Excel. With the help of this unit you can
create the worksheets to perform the detailed analysis of data in financial
transactions. It includes how to create the worksheet, how to enter the data in the
worksheet and modify the data in the worksheet.

After completion of this unit, you are in a position to customize the existing
worksheet by using various techniques and also learnt how the renaming is
performed for the existing worksheet. In addition of this you know how the
addition and deletion of rows and columns are performed. You also learnt how to
customize the worksheet by inserting page numbers, selecting the last cell in the
worksheet, protection mechanism and in selecting two or more worksheets at a
time. By the knowledge of this unit you can easily understand the topics in editing
and formatting.

1.8 CHECK YOUR PROGRESS – SOLUTIONS

1.Create a Student workbook (with 3 worksheets) containing the details of
attendance report, sign-in-sheet, lab-sheet.

I)NAMES(REGD_NO, NAME and TOTAL_CLASSES)

II)SIGN-IN-SHEET(REGD_NO,NAME and SIGNATURE)
III)LAB-SHEET(REGD_NO, NAME ,PRG_NO and SIGNATURE)

Fig. Student Workbook with Names worksheet

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 Fig. Student Workbook with SIGN-IN-SHEET

Fig. Student Workbook with LAB-SHEET

2. Add a new Worksheet (template) SUBJECTS (LP,DS,OS,ITF,CO) to workbook

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 student.
Solution:

fig. Student workbook with subjects worksheet

3. Create a Sales-report worksheet by placing the months at the top and days

first row for the purpose of entering the sales figure for each day of the year.

Solution:

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1.9 FURTHER READINGS

1. Leon Alexis and Leon Mathews, “Introduction to Computers with MS-Office 2000”,
Tata McGraw-Hill Publishing Company Limited
2. www.worksheetlibrary.com/newsletter.html
3. http://www.ehow.com
4. www.excelself.com

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