Transcript
●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●
11..I I
N N T T RROODDU U C C
T T I I OON N Office packages are bundles of programs that help you with
daily‘office’ chores, such as writing documents, making extensivecalculations, preparing
presentations, maintaining databases etc. Whilethere are a number of competing Office suites,
Microsoft Office is theunchallenged market leader and is used by the majority of
companiesaround the world.An Overview This manual is meant as an introduction to the three most important
programs in Microsoft Office 2000: Word, Excel and PowerPoint.In the first section,
we will discuss all the elements that these three havein common. We then devote a section to each
of the programs. In thesection on Word, we discuss how you can use this word processor totype, edit and
format documents such as writing assignments. In the thirdsection, we will learn the basics about
Excel. Excel is Office’sspreadsheet program, and it is used heavily in your Quantitative Methodssubject
s. The fourth section then provides a step-by-step guide tocreating presentations in PowerPoint.SMR
(Studenten Micro Ruimte)Synonym for computer lab at our university.What you need to get started Strictly speaking, you
do not need anything. All of the above programsare installed in our faculty’s
computer labs (or SMRs as they are called atour university). There are two
SMRs at the Faculty of Economics andBusiness Studies, and both are located in the main
building atTongersestraat 53. To use a PC there, you need your student ID number and a password that
has been mailed to you together with your studentID card.THE COMPUT
ER ROOMSSMR 1 SMR 2LOCATION
Rooms 3.047 – 3.061 Rooms 0.012 – 0.014NUMBER OF PCS
120 60OPENING HOURS
Mon – Thu 9 a.m. – 10 p.m. 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.Fridays 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. 9 a.m. – 5
p.m.Weekends closed closedMORE INFO
www.fdewb.unimaas.nl/smr/ In general, the SMRs should only be used for
study related activities,e.g. downloading and reviewing lecture notes, writing papers, registering
4 Introduction to
Microsoft Office●●●●●●●●●●●●
for courses etc. If you want to write personal emails or surf the web for fun,
you are asked to restrict yourself to the early morning (9 – 10 a.m.)or the evening (after 5 p.m.). Even
with these rules in place, the SMRstend to get crowded often.When the SMRs are closed, you can
walk over to the library, whichoffers a small computer room of its own. Be aware that other
facultiesalso use this computer room – you may have to wait (possibly a longtime) for a PC to become
available. If you know in advance that youneed a PC for a study related reason, you can make a
reservation for upto two hours per day.THE L IBRARYADDRESS
Bonnefantenstraat 2PHONE
(043) 388 34 27WEBSITE
www.ub.unimaas.nl OPENING HOURS
Mon – Thu 8.30 a.m. – 10 p.m.Fridays 8.30 a.m. – 9 p.m.Saturdays 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.Sundays 12
a.m. – 5 p.m.Our computer labs can get very crowded during peak times, and it may be a
good idea to buy a used or new PC to work at home. In that case,you will also need to buy a copy of
Microsoft Office, as Office is acommercial program. The cheapest way to get Microsoft
Office 2000 isto buy it from the ICT Service Center. Office 2000 Professional costs 25 €1
for students and includes Word, Excel and PowerPoint, plus other useful programs such as
Microsoft Outlook.THE ICT SERVICE CENTERADDRESS
Looiersgracht 14, Room 0.011PHONE
(043) 388 35 64EMAIL
servicedesk@icts.unimaas.nl WEBSITE
www.icts.unimaas.nl OFFICE HOURSPhone/Email Walk in
Weekdays 8 a.m. – 10 p.m. 8.30 a.m. – 5 p.m.Saturdays
10 a.m. – 4 p.m. closedOn the Use of this Book In this book, we assume that you have access to a PC with
theappropriate software. We also presume that you know in general how to1
These prices are sharply reduced in comparison to normal retail prices, because Maastricht University (in cooperationwith other Dutch
universities) buys large quantities of educational licenses.
General
Topics: Introduction 5●●●●●●●●●●●●
operate a Windows-based PC. We will
take it from there.This manual is not meant to be all-encompassing. It is meant as anintroduction
and as a guide. We will focus on getting you started, and indoing so will ignore a number of useful
advanced features. You areencouraged to go beyond the contents of this book and explore the
toolsthat you are working with. Some of your future courses will also expandupon the
contents in this manual, particularly the QM courses makeextensive use of Microsoft Excel. If you
feel that you need further guidance, there are a number of excellent printed resources.
Personally,we find the jargon-free language and useful hints of the ‘For Dummies’series to be
particularly appealing, but there are certainly many other useful and well-written computer books
out there. There is also a lot of helpful information on the web.This book is focused on showing you
how to accomplish certain tasks inMicrosoft Office. Be aware that there are usually
several ways to getthings done. We will endeavor to show you as many of them as possible.In
doing so, we will use the following conventions:A toolbar.·
Toolbar buttons that initiate a
certain function are usuallydisplayed in the margin together with a brief description
of whatthe button does.·
If you need to press a key on the keyboard, we will indicate
this by printing the key, e.g./implies that you need to hit‘enter’. Frequently, key
combinations are used to accomplishtasks. An example of such a key combination would be
c +P, which means that you should pressand hold
the ‘ctrl’ keywhile pressing ‘p’.·
When you need to enter more than a few characters, we
will not print the individual keys, because that would be space consumingand hard to read.
Instead, we will indicate the text using a specialfont, as demonstrated here: ‘enter this’
.A menu bar.·
Some of the options cannot be initiated by using a keyboardshortc
ut or an on-screen button. Such options are can usually befound in the menu bar. If we want you to
select an option fromthe menu bar, we will list the names of the options inchronological
order. E.g. ‘File’„
‘Print’ would imply that youclick on ‘File’ in the menu bar, and
then select ‘Print’ from themenu that appears. Instead of clicking on the items, you can alsouse
your keyboard: pressaand the underlined letter, in our example
a +F. Once the menu is open, simply pressing theunderlined letter is
sufficient. E.g. after pressinga +F, pressingP
will be enough to take you to the print menu.
6 Introduction to
Microsoft Office●●●●●●●●●●●●
·
Finally, we will use a similar notation when you need to
selectoptions from the Start menu, e.g. ‘Start’„
‘Programs’„
‘Microsoft Word’ will launch Word. Once again, you can usekeyboard shortcuts: press
the Windows key (ÿ), followed by theunderlined letters.The Start menu.
If you are stuck…If you cannot find the answer here, there are still a number of ways toget help.If you are
stuck using a certain program, the first thing you can try is pressing the1key. Pressing
1is like asking the computer for help.In most cases, the appropriate program will
then give you additionalinformation on whatever you are currently doing. The intricacies of
thehelp system are discussed in more detail in the second chapter of thissection.There are, however,
cases when your computer does not understand your problem (because the persons that built the
software did not foresee it) or when your PC is not able to help you (because it is malfunctioning)
. Insuch cases, you may want to check out a helpful website, Tech24SelfHelp atwww.tech24inc
.com/help.html. Tech 24 offers self-helplinks that are sorted by category (e.g. ‘Internet’, ‘Email’,
‘Outlook’).They also offer live support from certified technicians.You can also try contacting the
producer directly. If you have troublewith any part of Office, you might want to
visitwww.microsoft.comtosee if they know the answer to your question. However, some
producersdo not offer a lot of support or charge money for it.Another option is to call or email the
computer whiz kids at the ICTservice center of our university. They offer support for the software
usedthroughout the university, which includes among others Windows,Microsoft Office, Internet
Explorer, and the McAfee virus scanner. (Seethe info box on p. 4 for their contact information.)Fin
ally, befriending a geek may be the best solution. Geeks are by naturefriendly, helpful and
extremely well versed in all things computer. If youcan count one of them as your friend, he
(or in rare cases she) probablywon’t mind dropping by and helping you out when you are
havingtrouble with your PC. An invitation to dinner or to the movies in returnwon’t hurt either.We wish
you success in working with Microsoft Office!●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●
●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●
COMING UP
22..C C
OO M M M MOON N
E E LLE E M ME E N N T T S
S OOF F M M
I I C C RROOS S OOF F T T
OOF F F F I I C C E E
P P RROOG G RR A
A M MS S This chapter discusses commonelements of all Office programs.We will
first discuss their common makeup and will thenturn towards common functions.All Microsoft Office programs, and
indeed most Windows programs,share some common elements. We will start out by discussing
featuresthat are more or less similar across all Office Programs, namely themenu bar, toolbars,
and status bar. We will then dive into functions thatare shared by all Office products, such
as the methods to create, open,save and print files.Common featuresAll Office programs have a
comparable assortment of control features: amenu bar, several toolbars and a status bar. We will now
discuss theseelements one by one.The menu bar The menu bar offers you access to all
services of the application you areusing. You can call up any item on the menu bar either by clicking on
itdirectly or by pressing and holding theakey while pressing theunderlined
letter of the entry. (E.g. to open the file menu, pressa +F.)
Click the ‘expand menu’ buttonto see the entire range of options.Clicking on any of the headings will bring up the appropriate
menu,which contains a broad range of functions. Be aware that no Officeapplication displays all of
the available functions right away. Manycomputer users experienced the vast range of
available options asconfusing. This is why Microsoft Office applications
initially displayonly the most frequently used items. Only if you do not do anything for amoment
after opening a menu will they display the remaining options.To speed up the process, you can
also press the ‘expand menu’ button atthe bottom of the menu.
8
Introduction to Microsoft Office●●●●●●●●●●●●
If the option you arelooking for is not in thelist, you
can wait a fewmoments for the menu toexpand to its fulllength…… or you can click onthe ‘expand menu’ buttonto expand it
to full sizeimmediately.All options available in Office applications are grouped into one of
themenus. While the individual options differ between the applications, thegeneral
menus are rather similar.·
The ‘file’ menu offers options to create and open documents,save, preview and
print your work and other options related tothe actual document.·
The ‘edit’ menu allows you easy
access to the most fundamentalediting options, such as cutting, copying and pasting,
undoingand redoing changes, as well as finding and replacing text.·
The ‘view’ menu allows
you to determine how you would likeyour document to be displayed. Furthermore, it
gives you accessto parts of your document and of the application that are notalways visible on the
screen, such as specialty toolbars.·
The ‘insert’ menu lives up to its name: it enables you to
insert allsorts of objects into your document, whether it is a mere symbol,an equation, a footnote, a
comment or a picture.·
Under the ‘format’ heading, you find all of the formattingoptio
ns. What you can format depends on the application: e.g.fonts and paragraphs in Word, cells,
rows and columns in Excel,and slides in PowerPoint.·
The ‘tools’ menu contains an assortment of
helpful functions,such as the spell checker.·
The ‘window’ menu comes in handy when you
are working onseveral documents simultaneously, as it allows you to arrange thedocuments in
any way that you like or that is useful to you.
Gener
al Topics: Getting Hooked Up 9●●●●●●●●●●●●
·
Finally, the ‘help’ menu is your first stop whenever you arestuck.The toolbars
While the menu bar is highly useful, it would be frustrating if you had touse it all the time. Imagine you
want to cut a line of text and place itsomewhere else – it would take quite long if you had to
select ‘edit’,‘cut’ and then ‘edit’, ‘paste’ for every simple adjustment. For thatreason, there
are a number of toolbars that contain shortcuts to the mostfrequently used functions.Gener
ally, Word, Excel and PowerPoint will display only the two mostimportant toolbars at
startup: the standard toolbar and the formattingtoolbar.The standard toolbar gives access to the
most common functions:creating, opening, saving, printing and emailing documents, cutting,copying
and pasting text, undoing and redoing changes, etc.The formatting toolbar, as its
name suggests, gives access to the mostcommon formatting options. Using it, you can e.g.
change the typeface,size, alignment, and indentation of your text.The function of the most important
buttons will be discussed in theappropriate sections of the next chapters. If you are looking for a particular
shortcut or are not certain what a specific button does, there isa quick way to get help: let your mouse pointer
hover above the buttonfor a few moments, and a yellow sign will appear with a brief explanation.
Use this button to get access toinfrequently used shortcut buttons.Toolbars are similar to menus in one aspect: unless
there is anabundance of space, they only show the most commonly used functions.If you do not use a
particular shortcut button for a while, it will drop off the toolbar. To get it back, click on the ‘more
buttons’ button at the rightend of the appropriate toolbar.‘View’„
‘Toolbars’
All applications also offer toolbars for specific problems. Beside thestandard and
formatting toolbars, Word offers 14 additional toolbars,Excel offers a further 12 and
PowerPoint another 11 additional bars. Youcan make additional toolbars visible by clicking on
‘View’, ‘Toolbars’on the menu bar, and then selecting the appropriate toolbar.
10 Introduction to
Microsoft Office●●●●●●●●●●●●
The status bar The status bar gives ready access to a wealth of
information about your document, but the type of information is very much dependent on
theapplication. Most of the information displayed there is aimed at theadvanced user, and we
will only discuss it in a small number of cases.Common functionsWe will now turn towards the
common functions of Microsoft Office.There are usually several ways to activate a function, such
as a button ona toolbar, a keyboard shortcut or an entry in the menu bar. All possibleways to
launch a feature are detailed in the margin.Please note that buttons on the toolbar work
slightly differently than theother two options: they immediately execute the feature, without
givingyou an opportunity to change any settings. If you press e.g. the ‘print’ button on the toolbar, your
document will be printed immediately usingthe settings from the last print job.
This could be dangerous if you areworking in the SMR and your last print process used the
expensive color printer!If you want to check or change any of the settings beforeactivating
a feature, you should use the keyboard shortcut or the entry inthe menu bar.c +
N‘File’„
‘New…’Create a new document.Creating new documents
Pressing the ‘new document’ button on the standard toolbar will get youa completely blank document
in Word, Excel and PowerPoint. Using thekeyboard shortcut or ‘File’ menu will allow you to
choose between a blank document and some prefabricated templates, such as templates for
letters in Word or PowerPoint presentations with elaborate designs.c +o
‘File’„
‘Open…’Open a document.Opening existing documents
If you want to access an existing document, you can press the ‘open’ button on the standard
toolbar, select ‘File’, ‘Open’ in the menu bar or pressc +O
. All of them work in the same way; they lead to awindow in which you can select the
file to be opened:
General Topics: Getting Hooked Up 11●●●●●●●●●●●●
To open a file, you first need to go to the location of the file. Two of themost frequently used
locations, the ‘my documents’ folder and your ‘desktop’, can be found using the shortcuts on the left side of
thewindow:. You can also use the ‘history’ button to locate files that youhave recently worked
on. If all this does not help, e.g. when your file ison a floppy disk, use the ‘look in’ box at the top of
the window tonavigate to the location of your file.File typeFiles can be classified intodifferent types,
indicating thatthey contain differentinformation. E.g. Worddocuments can contain elaboratetexts, while PowerPoint filescontain slides
for a presentation.Files cannot simply be openedwith any program. If you do nothave the software associatedwith the file type,
e.g.PowerPoint for PowerPointdocuments, you may not be ableto use the file, or you may berestricted in its use.Once you have moved to the
appropriate location, you should see a listof documents. If your file is among them,
you can open it by double-clicking on its name or by selecting it and pressing the ‘open’ button. If
alarge number of files is listed, you may need to scroll through the list tofind the file you are looking for. If
you are in the right location, but your file is not on the list, check if the rightfile type
is selected. However, thecorrect type will usually be selected by default, e.g. Microsoft Excel
willalways try to open Excel documents initially.c +S‘File’„
‘Save…’Save the current document.Saving documentsIf you have worked on a document and wish to save
your progress sothat you can continue editing or using it later, use the ‘save’ button,select ‘File’, ‘Save’
from the menu or pressc +S. If you created anew document, you will be
asked to enter a name for the document.If you already saved the document earlier on, you will not have to
enter its name anymore – the old version will simply be overwritten.– Different file types
Under very specific circumstances, you may want to save a document ina different file
type than its standard file type. E.g. if you intend to emailan essay to a person who does not own
Microsoft Word, sending it as aWord document may not be a good idea. In this
case, you can select
12 Introduction to
Microsoft Office●●●●●●●●●●●●
different file types at the time when you enter the file name.Usually,
you will select the file type by consensus: the recipient will tellyou what file types he can use and you will
select one of them. In thevast majority of cases, it will not be necessary to change the file type andwe will
only return to this subject in the section on PowerPoint.‘File’„
‘Save as…’Save the current
document under a new name.– Saving under a new nameIn some cases, you may want to save a file without
overwriting the oldversion, e.g. because you have made significant changes and you want to
preserve the original together with the revised version. In that case, youcan select ‘File’, ‘Save as’ from
the menu bar and enter a new filename.c +P‘File’„
‘Print…’Print the current document.Printing documentsPressing the ‘print’ button will immediately
print the entire document onthe standard printer, or on the printer that was used for the last
printout.Pressingc +Por choosing ‘File’, ‘Print’ from the menu
bar willallow to make a number of choices before printing, such as:·
which parts of the document
you want to print·
which printer you would like to use·
how many copies you would like to print‘File’„
‘Print preview…’Print preview.Preview
asingle page.View several pages.– Print previewBefore printing a document, you can check whether everything
looks theway you intended it to look. Pressing the ‘print preview’ button or selecting the
appropriate item from the menu bar will get you aminiature preview of the printed document. You
can choose to previeweach page individually, resulting in a more detailed preview, or you
canopt to preview several pages simultaneously. You will be able to choosehow many pages to
preview (up to a maximum of 24 pages) and howthey should be arranged. If you are satisfied, you
can print directly fromthe print preview by clicking on the ‘print’ button (see above), or youcan return to
the document for further changes by clicking on ‘close’.– SMR printer guide
If you are working in the SMR, selecting the correct printer is important.At the time of writing
(July 2002), Hewlett-Packard printers were usedfor simple black and white paper printouts. To
make a color printout or to print sheets for overhead projectors, you can use the Tektronix
Phaser printer. Be sure not to confuse the two: printing on the Tektronix printer is far more expensive
than making a normal printout. Once you haveselected a printer for your printouts, it will be used until
you select adifferent printer. For more information, ask the SMR duty manager or visit
the SMR homepage.„
www.fdewb.unimaas.nl/smr/
General Topics:
Getting Hooked Up 13●●●●●●●●●●●●
c + 4‘File’„
‘Close’Close the current document.Closing documentsIf you want to continue working e.g. in Word, but are
done with one particular document, you can close it. Keeping documents open whenyou are
not working on them will tie down computer memory and mayslow down your computer’s other
operations. There are lots of ways toclose a document. You can pressc + 4
or select ‘File’, ‘Close’from the menu bar. Alternatively, you could click on the ever-present‘close’
button that can be found in the top right corner of everywindow. Be aware that there may be
two such buttons if you have onlyone document open: the upper ‘close’ button closes the
application, e.g.Word, while the lower ‘close’ button closes only the current document.If you
have more than one document open, there will only be one close button, which will always close the
current document.Cutting, copying, pasting The most comfortable way to move
text and other items around in adocument or to transfer them between documents is to cut or copy
thedesired item and to paste it wherever it is needed. Before you can do so,you need to select what you
want to cut or copy. There are small, butsignificant differences between the procedures used
to select text inWord, cells in Excel and slide elements in PowerPoint. We will thereforediscuss
these techniques individually in the appropriate chapters.s + xor c +
x‘Edit’„
‘Cut’Cut
c + ior c +C
‘Edit’„
‘Copy’Copy– Cutting or copying?Once you have highlighted the text, cells or
objects that you want to cutor copy, you will have to choose between cutting and copying them.Both
methods will allow you to insert the object(s) in some other spot, but there is a crucial
difference between them: cut text disappears fromits original location while copied text
remains where it is. E.g. if youwant to move a passage from the middle of your essay to the end,
youwould usually cut it. If, on the other hand, you want to re-use a passagein some other essay, you
would copy it.Before you can insert the text, you need to move the cursor to its newlocation,
e.g. to the end of your essay. You can then push the ‘paste’ button, presss + i
or select ‘Edit’, ‘Paste’ from the menu bar.You can paste the same element as many times as you like.
s + ior c +V‘Edit’„
‘Paste’Paste
c +
Z‘Edit’„
‘Undo’UndoUndoing changesWhen you have done something
really disastrous, e.g. deleted all the textin your document, you can undo the changes one at a
time by clicking onthe ‘undo’ button. If you click on the right part of the ‘undo’ button ,you will
see a list of your last changes and you can undo as many of them as you like.
14 Introduction to
Microsoft Office●●●●●●●●●●●●
If it turns out that the changes were indeed justified, you can re-do them
by clicking the ‘redo’ button. If you use the ‘redo’ button immediatelyafter pressing the ‘undo’ button,
then your changes will be restored. If your last action however was not to ‘undo’ something, then
the ‘redo’ button will be deactivated. Instead, you can use the keyboard shortcut or the
appropriate ‘Edit’ menu item torepeat your last action. This will
notwork in all circumstances.c +Y‘Edit’„
‘Redo’Redo
c +
Y‘Edit’„
‘Repeat’Repeat
1e.g. ‘Help’„
‘Microsoft WordHelp’Launch the help system.The help systemIf you get stuck working in a Microsoft Office
application, simply hit1or push the ‘help’ button. What happens next depends on
thesettings of your computer. If the Office Assistant is installed, it willspring to action and offer
help. If the Office Assistant is not installed, pressing1will bring up the help system,
which is a combination of auser manual and a list of anticipated questions.
– The regular help systemThe help system will appear in the form of another window that will push
your current window to the side so that both windows are visible atthe same time. Its window is split
into two main areas: a navigation area,which helps you find the topics you want, and a text
area, where theactual help will be displayed.There are three different ways to get
information:The contents and index work just like you would expect them to: the‘contents’ area offers a list
of all the chapters and sections contained inthe user manual, while the index is an
alphabetical list of all the wordsused in the manual. The answer wizard is probably the
most useful tool:
General Topics:
Getting Hooked Up 15●●●●●●●●●●●●
it lets you search a list of topics for your
particular problem. Let’sassume you are working in Word and want to italicize text, but you
donot know how. Simply call up the help system, click on ‘answer wizard’and type in a couple of
keywords:When you push the ‘search’ button, the help system will return with alist of topics that may be of
relevance for you:In our case, the answer to our problem is right at the top of the list. If you have
trickier problems, you may have to go through a number of topics. To read any of the listed
topics, click on its title. The topic willthen be displayed in the adjacent area:Clippy, the best-known (andmost
hated) office assistant.– The office assistant The office assistant is a cartoon character that is
meant to help you doyour daily chores using Microsoft Office programs. It will take the
formof a paperclip unless you actively ‘hire’ another character as your assistant. When you press
1and the office assistant is installed onyour computer, you can ask questions in the
same way as when you aredealing with the answer wizard (see above).‘Help’„
‘Hide the OfficeAssistant’Furthermore, as long as the office assistant is visible on the screen, itwill monitor what
you are doing and will offer suggestions when itthinks that you could accomplish a task more
efficiently. This behavior may be quite useful while you are still learning the ropes, but after awhile, many
users get irritated with the office assistant. If you want toget rid of it, right-click on it and select
‘hide’ from the menu that popsup. Alternatively, you can select ‘Help’, ‘Hide the Office
Assistant’ fromthe menu bar.
16
Introduction to Microsoft Office●●●●●●●●●●●●
Dialogue boxA window that requires your
decision on some topic. E.g.when you save a document, your PC needs to know under whatname it should save thedocument and will open awindow
where you can enter thefilename. This window would bea dialogue box.– Help in working with dialogue boxes
During some particular activities, there is a quicker way to get help.Let’s assume that you want to print
something. You have clicked on‘File’, ‘Print’ and a window has popped up where you can adjust someof
the print settings before printing. However, you are unfamiliar withsome of the advanced
settings. In almost all of thesedialogue boxes, youwill find a button with a question mark
in the upper right corner.Pushing this button will put you into ‘quick help’ mode. To
indicate youare in this mode, a question mark will be added to your mouse pointer . When you now click
on any element of the dialogue box, a brief description of its function will be displayed.For
example, clicking on the ‘ok’ button in quick help mode…will yield the
following explanation:●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●
I m a g e : s i z e - i s n t - e v e r y t h i n g . c o . u k
M MI I C C
RROO
S S OOF
F T T W W
O
ORRDD
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11..I I
N N T T RROODDU U C C
T T I I OON N Microsoft Word is a word processor, a program
designed to handle awide variety of pieces of writing. You can use it to write anything from ashort
letter to reports of several hundred pages. It offers a broad range of formatting options and also
allows you to integrate images, graphs,tables, equations and all sorts of other objects into
your documents. You can start Microsoft Word by clicking on its icon on the desktop, or
alternatively by selecting it from the ‘Programs’ category of the Startmenu. Word will start as well if you
double-click on any Worddocument. Finally, you can also use the ‘new office document’
and‘open office document’ tools, which may be located in your quick launch bar or at
the top of your Start menu.‘Start’„
‘Programs’„
‘Microsoft Word’Create newOffice
docs.Open existingOffice docs. A few moments after launching Word, its window will
appear on your screen:The Word screenAs all Microsoft Office programs (and most other applications),
Wordfeatures the usual assortment of a menu bar, several toolbars and a status bar. Beyond that, the
screen is dominated by white space. This is where
20
Introduction to Microsoft Office●●●●●●●●●●●●
you will be entering and
editing your documents.We will discuss most of the elements found on the toolbars and some of the
options on the menu bar in the latter chapters, so we will onlyexamine the status bar here. Word’s status
bar plays a more prominentrole than the status bars of other Office applications. It provides a
wealthof information about your document.Let’s investigate the individual
elements on the bar.·
Page 1: we are on the page labeled ‘1’.2·
Sec 1: we are in section 1 of our document.·
1/1: this is the first page of our document, and
there is one pagein total.·
At 2.5 cm: on the current page, we are 2.5 cm below the topmargin.
·
Ln 1: this is line 1 on the current page.·
Column 1: in the current line,
we are in the first column.3·
REC
,TRK
,EXT
,OVR
: a number of options are not active.4·
English (U.S.): we are using American English for our document.·
The two empty boxes represent
activities. The first one willinform you about the status of the automatic spell check, thesecond one
will report on saving and printing activities that occur in the background.
Writing a document in Word In producing a document in Word, you will usually follow these steps:1.
Create a new document. (Analogous to taking a fresh sheet of paper.)2.
Typing a first version of the document.3.Revising and editing it.4.
Applying formatting to your text.5.Preserving the document for later use by saving or
printing it.The distinction between these stages is in a way artificial. Once you haveacquainted
yourself with Word, you will certainly apply formattingwhile typing, and you will probably save your
document early on. Nonetheless, we will investigate these processes separately from eachother for
the sake of order.The following chapter is dedicated to the second and third step of the2
This is not necessarily the first page of the document, e.g. in books the first pages are usually labeled ‘i’, ‘ii’, ‘iii’ and soon, as they contain the cover
page, contents, etc. The first page of actual text is then labeled ‘1’.3
These are not ‘columns’ as such. Instead, it represents the
number of the next character. Here, we are at the beginning of the line, so the next character will be the first.4
Note that the options are gray; if
they are active, they will be black as the rest of the information on the status bar. We willdiscuss some of these options in later chapters.
Microsoft Word: Introduction 21●●●●●●●●●●●●
process: typing your document
and editing it. As it turns out, there isquite a bit to say about these deceivingly simple
activities. The thirdchapter is then concerned with the formatting of your document. Finally,saving
and printing in Word works just like in any other Officeapplication. Therefore, these activities
will not be discussed separately – we refer you to the second chapter of the general section,
‘CommonElements of Microsoft Office Programs’.●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●
COMING UP
22..E E N N T T E E RRI
I N N G G &&E E
DDI I T T I I N N G G T T
E E X X T T The present chapter discusses the peculiarities of typing adocument in Word, how you
canedit it and how the spellchecking works.In this chapter, we will discuss the basics of creating a document
inWord. While we assume that almost everyone has already seen akeyboard, there are a few peculiarities to
working with a Word processor such as Word, and these are discussed in the section on typing text.
Wethen discuss how you can edit your document. Finally, we discover whatWord does
while you are typing.Typing text There are few peculiarities about typing and even people that have never
used a keyboard before will quickly get used to the process. In thefollowing, we discuss a
series of loosely related issues.Want to learn touch-typing?If you have not typed a long text yet, it may
be a good idea to learn professional touch-typing instead of developing your own ‘hunt and
peck’ method of typing. Among the advantages are increased speed,fewer mistakes and reduced strain
on your hands and wrists. Also,learning it early on is easier than unlearning your own style
later.Fortunately, learning touch-typing is not overly difficult and it can bedone at zero cost.
TYP ING TUTORS ON THE WEBWe have dug out four automated
typing tutors that you can downloadfor free from the web. All of them have received good
grades from their users. Feel free to download them all and see which one
works best for you.Analytical Eye Typing Tutor This software can be downloaded and used for free.„
www.aspex.force9.co.uk/ae/ttutor KP Typing Tutor This software can be downloaded and used for free.„
www.fonlow.com/zijianhuang/kp/ TypingMaster Touch Typing Tutor 2002This is a professional application, which you
would have to buy. The producer does however offer a verygood (and free) demo on their website.„
www.typingmaster.com/tutor.htm
Clasys Elite Typing Tutor 2001This software is shareware: you can use and evaluate it for free for 30 days. If you want to continue using itafter 30 days, you will need
to pay a small registration fee.„
www.clasys.com/elitetyping.html
24 Introduction to Microsoft Office●●●●●●●●●●●●
The cursor
Before you start typing, we would like to introduce thecursor to you.The cursor is the
blinking, vertical line on your computer screen. It tellsyou where your next character will
appear. It also plays a role in editingyour document, as you will need to move it around to correct
mistakes,delete obsolete passages etc. We will discuss these functions in thesection on editing.Cursor
An indicator on your computer screen that shows where the nextcharacter will appear.Special function keys
Now that you know where your text will appear, we can start typing.While almost everyone
is familiar with the use of a keyboard by now,there are a few keys that have a special significance in
word processing programs. Below, we list the five most important ones and tell you whatthey are
used for and what they should not be used for.·
If you are still familiar with typewriters, you
may expect to usethe/key very often. But since Word takes care of the line breaks and
the distance between paragraphs, it is no longer necessary to press/
exceptonceat the end of every paragraph.·
It is no longer necessary to use thenbar for anythingother than separating
words. If you want to indent the first line of a paragraph, use theTkey instead.·
TheTkey (pronounced ‘tab’ key) can be used to convenientlyind
ent the first line of a paragraph or indeed the entire paragraph.·
TheB
key, called ‘backspace’, is used to delete charactersthat you have just written. Each time you press
B, the firstcharacter to the left of the cursor will be deleted.·
The
xkey has a similar function: it also deletes characters, butonly those to
the right of the cursor.Entering umlauts & accentsWhile all PCs at the University
of Maastricht use English keyboards, it isstill possible to write letters with umlaut marks and
accents. Certain key-combinations are reserved for this purpose:
Microsof
t Word: Entering & Editing Text 25●●●●●●●●●●●●
Sign Example Key combinationacute accent á, é’
+ the appropriate letter cedilla ç’+C
circumflex accent ê, î^+ the appropriate letter grave accent ò, ù
`+ the appropriate letter dieresis ä, ï “
+ the appropriate letter tilde ñ~+ the appropriate letter This also
has consequences for typing ordinary signs. When you pressone of the
combination keys’,`,^
,“, or ~, the sign will notappear until you enter the
next character. If the next character does notform an umlaut, then both signs will appear
simultaneously. E.g. typing“andNwill result in ‘"n’.If you want
to type a combination sign without any following letter, youneed to press the combination
key, followed byn. No spacewill be printed on the screen – the space is simply
used to release thecombination sign from limbo. The same holds if you want to type
acombination sign and a letter that would usually combine. E.g. to obtain‘"e’, press“
followed by an, then pressE.‘Insert’„
‘Symbol…’
If you need to use any characters or symbols that cannot be created usingthe above-
mentioned method, select ‘Insert’, ‘Symbol’ from the menu bar for a broader range of characters.
Insert and overtype modeYou can type in two different modes: insert and overtype. If you arewriting
in overtype mode, every new character that you type will replacethe character directly to the
right of the cursor. You should only use thismode when you deliberately want to replace a few letters.
Instead, it is best to use the insert mode most of the time. In insert mode, your newcharacters
will be inserted, pushing any characters to the right of thecursor further in that direction.
OvertypemodeInsert modeThe status bar tells you in which mode you currently are. If the overtypesign is
black, then you are in overtype mode; if it is gray, you are ininsert mode. You can switch between the two
modes by pressing theikey.Creating ordered lists
Entering a list of items is easy in Word. If you enter a line that startswith a number as ‘1)’ or ‘1.’, Word
will assume that you are writing alist. Once you press/, Word will indent the line
(and all followinglines) and automatically add the appropriate
number to the next line.
26 Introduction to
Microsoft Office●●●●●●●●●●●●
Press
/You can then enter the rest of the list without
having to worry about thenumbering. The advantage is that you can add and delete items andWord
will automatically adjust the numbering of all following items.Once you
are done with the list, press/twice to continue writingnormally.
Ordered list.‘Format’„
‘Bullets and Numbering…’Alternatively, you can begin and end an ordered list by
clicking on the‘ordered list’ button. To fine-tune your list, select ‘Format’, ‘Bullets and Numbering’:
you can then adjust the style of numbering and you willalso be able to specify whether the numbering
should start at ‘1’ or atany other position.Unordered list.Creating unordered listsUnordered lists work just like
ordered lists, but instead of numbering,they use bulleting. If you start a line with a dash ‘–’, Word
willautomatically set up an unordered list for you. You can also start a bulleted list by clicking on the
‘unordered list’ button. In all other respects, unordered lists work just like ordered lists.‘Insert’„
‘Footnote…’Adding footnotes and endnotesTo insert a footnote or endnote at any position in your
document, click on ‘Insert’, ‘Footnote’ on the menu bar. Before you can enter the actualnote, you
will need to specify whether it is a footnote or endnote, andwhether you want to use automated
numbering or not. Automatednumbering is a useful feature: if you use it, Word will keep
track of allfootnotes and endnotes in your document and will adjust their numbering accordingly.
Once you confirm your choice, you can starttyping your note. When you are done, click on ‘close’.
Inserting objects into your document Objects are items that can be included in text documents,
such as pictures and charts. Microsoft Word can handle a broad variety of objects and there are three
different ways to insert them into an existingdocument:·
pasting them from other applications·
inserting them from a file or library·
creating them inside Words + ior c +V‘Edit’„
‘Paste’Paste– Pasting objectsThe easiest way to insert documents in Microsoft Word is to paste
them:copy the object in the other application and paste it into Word by
Microsof
t Word: Entering & Editing Text 27●●●●●●●●●●●●
clicking on the ‘paste’ button, pressings + ior selecting ‘Edit’,‘Paste’ from the menu
bar. But while this method may be fast, it may not be the best option.‘Edit’„
‘Paste special…’
In fact, Word is able to insert the same object in different ways. E.g. anExcel graph can be insert as a
‘Microsoft Excel Chart Object’ or as a picture. The former will allow you to edit the graph
even when you nolonger have the Excel file, but this advantage comes at the price of
anincreased file size. The latter option will simply include a static pictureof the graph, which has the
same quality, but can no longer be edited asan Excel chart. Similar choices exist for most objects
that you can paste.When you select ‘Edit’, ‘Paste special’ from the menu bar, you will be presented with a
window where all possible options are listed.Word also provides a brief explanation for each option that
is meant toguide you in the selection process.– Using files or libraries
Inserting objects from a file is a very reliable method, presuming thatWord knows how to deal
with the information. You can e.g. insert agreat variety of images as well as documents
from other MicrosoftOffice applications. But Microsoft Word does not know how to dealwith every
file. If you do not get the desired results, try opening theobject in the program in which it was
originally created, then pasting itinto your Word document.‘Insert’„
‘Picture’„
‘Fromfile…’‘Insert’„
‘Object…’To insert an image from a file, select ‘Insert’,
‘Picture’, ‘From file’. Toinsert any other sort of object, selecting ‘Insert’, ‘Object’ and thenswitch to
the ‘Create from file’ category.‘Insert’„
‘Picture’„
‘ClipArt…’You can also insert pictures
from Microsoft’s ClipArt library, whichcomes with Microsoft Office. To do so, select
‘Insert’, ‘Picture’, ‘ClipArt’. You will then be able to select illustrations from a broad
range of categories. You can also insert sounds and movies from the ClipArtgallery, but these are
obviously useless if you plan to print the document.
28
Introduction to Microsoft Office●●●●●●●●●●●●
‘Insert’„
‘Object…’
– Creating new objectsFinally, you can also create a broad array of new objects inside Word.To
do so, select ‘Insert’, ‘Object’ from the menu bar, and then choosethe type of object that
you would like to create.5
Because of the technical implications of this process, creating
newobjects in Word is not an entirely stable process. It may be wiser tocreate graphs and other
objects the traditional way, by using e.g. adrawing program to create the graph and then pasting
the result into your Word document.Editing your text In the following, we discuss how you
can move around in your document to add additional text, and how you can select parts of your
work so that you can move, format or delete it.Moving around in a document
You can move your cursor to a new location in the text simply byclicking on that location with your
mouse pointer. But once you startserious revisions, you may find that it can be quite tiring if you
have tograb the mouse every time you want to jump to another spot. Instead,you
could use the arrow keysu,d,l
andr, but this is rather slow.Fortunately, there are some keyboard
shortcuts that allow you to movearound quickly in a document:·
c + land
c + rallow you to move wordwise in eachdirection.·
c + uand
c + dtake you to the beginning and end of the current paragraph.·
h
andetake you to the beginning and end of the currentline respectively.·
c + hor c + eenable you to jump directly to the beginning
and end of the document.·
MandWscroll your document by
one screen-length ineach direction.·
c + Mor c + M
take you to the previous or next page in the document.Once you have arrived at the desired location,
you can add additionaltext or alter the original text.Selecting text If, instead, you want to move,
format or delete parts of your work, youneed to select the section of your document to which the
changes should be applied. To select text using the mouse, follow these three steps:5
Which objects you can generate depends on the software configuration of you computer.
Microsoft
Word: Entering & Editing Text 29●●●●●●●●●●●●
1)
Move your mouse pointer to the beginning of the text that youwant to highlight.2)
Press the left mouse button and keep it pressed while…3)you move the mouse pointer
to the end of the text.Instead of using the mouse, you can also use the keyboard:1)
Move the cursor to the beginning of the text.2)Press and hold theskey while…3)
moving the cursor around with the arrow keysu,d
,landr.This allows you to highlight one character at
a time. You can speed upthe process by holdingsandc
while using the arrow keys. Thiswill highlight one word at a time.Some
additional timesavers:·
Pressings + hor s + e
highlights everythingfrom your current position to the beginning or end of the currentline.·
Pressings + Mor s + Wselects larger portions of text.·
Pressing
c + s + hor c + s + ehighlights everything from your current position to the
top or bottom of the document.·
Pressingc + s + uor c + s + d
selectseverything from your current position to the top or bottom of the paragraph.Once you selected all
desired elements, you can continue to cut and paste them normally. (See ch. 2 of the general section,
‘CommonElements of Microsoft Office programs’, for more details.) Furthermore,you can delete
entire blocks of text by selecting them and pressingx.Finally, you will also need to
select text if you plan to format it (see nextchapter).While you are typing…… Word is busy, too: it
checks what you are typing. Word willautomatically correct some of the most common typing
demons. Wordswith two capital letters, e.g. ‘EXample’, will quietly be fixed, ‘acheive’ becomes
‘achieve’ again, and so forth. Furthermore, it will alert you tomore complex issues by underlining
them in red or green.
30 Introduction to
Microsoft Office●●●●●●●●●●●●
Spelling mistakes…Red underlining indicates a possible
spelling mistake. We say ‘possible’simply because Word’s dictionary is not all-
encompassing. Certainscientific terms still elude it, as do certain place names, names of personsand
companies, etc. Still, it is worth checking out each term with redunderlining.When you right-click on the
underlined word, Word will offer somesuggestions regarding the correct spelling. You can then
select one of thesuggestions or you can tell Word to:·
add the unknown word to its dictionary
(so it does not show up asa mistake any more)·
ignore the word (in this
particular document)·
automatically correct this mistake in the future·
or to switch to a different language… and grammar troubleSimilarly, green underlining
indicates a possible grammatical mistake.Invariably, the grammar check is less reliable
then the spell-checker:computers still have trouble to identify all the different meanings that
wecan express in a language. Therefore, they do not always know what isright and what is wrong. E.g.
how about a bit of Yoda-talk 6
:“Jumbled this sentence is.”Word is not the slightest bit distressed by
the above sentence. Not evenwhen you write “jumbled is sentence this” instead. It does however a
pretty good job in other areas, such as:·
capitalization errors·
confusion of homophones, e.g. ‘there’, ‘their’ and ‘they’re’·
hyphenation·
multiple negation·
passive sentences·
punctuation·
subject-verb agreement·
long or wordy sentencesAs with spelling mistakes, you only need to
right-click on the underlinedword to see some suggestions. Word also tells you why it
thinks thatyour sentence is wrong.Spelling and grammar statusWord provides you with a way
to check the spelling and grammar statusof a document. The second icon on the right on the
status bar tells youwhether you still need to check your document:6
Yoda is not only a mighty Jedi-master
and skillful manipulator of the English language, he is also a registered trademark of Lucasfilm Ltd.
Microsoft Word:
Entering & Editing Text 31●●●●●●●●●●●●
·
If it displays a moving pen,
then Word is still busy evaluatingyour document. You will have to wait a few
moments for theresults.·
If you find a check mark, then there is reason to rejoice:
Wordwas not able to find spelling or grammar mistakes. Good job!·
More frequently, you will see this icon: Word has found at leastone mistake somewhere.
While it is entirely possible that Word ismisguided in its analysis, it still pays off to manually check
your document before you print it or hand it in.7‘Tools’„
‘Spelling andGrammar…’Initiate a complete
spelling andgrammar check.Doing a complete spelling and grammar check Once you are done with a
document, you may want to do a completecheckup. You can launch such a check by
pressing the ‘spelling andgrammar’ button on the standard toolbar, by selecting
‘Tools’, ‘Spellingand grammar’ from the menu bar or by pressing7
. Word will thentake you past all the mistakes it found, giving you the opportunity
tocorrect or ignore every single one.Writing documents in a different language
If you are using an English version of Word, then it assumes by defaultthat you are writing an
English document.7
Similarly, a Dutch versionWord will assume you are using Dutch,
and so forth. Writing documentsin another language will understandably confuse Word.
There are two possibilities: if you are starting a new document in a language that isknown to Word, it will
usually recognize this after a few words andadjust the language setting for the
document accordingly.8
In that case,Word will proceed to check the spelling in the
appropriate language.In three cases however, Word will not be able to make the adjustment:‘Tools’
„
‘Language’„
‘SetLanguage…’1)You may be using a different dialect of a particular
language.E.g. you may be writing American English while Word expectsBritish
English. You can check which language Word expects byhaving a look at the status bar. If that is not the
language that youwant to use, you can change it. To do so, select everything thatyou have
written so far, then click on ‘Tools’, ‘Language’, ‘SetLanguage’ from the menu bar and choose
the appropriatelanguage. Blue checkmarks appear next to the languages for which Word
has a dictionary.2)If you are just using a few terms from another language in
anotherwise English document, Word will not recognize them asforeign-language terms.
In that case, the best option is to adjustthe language setting for these words. Simply highlight those
particular terms, select ‘Tools’, ‘Language’, ‘Set Language’ from7
Whether that is British or American
English depends on where the version was released. PCs in the SMR are usually setto British English by default.8
It is possible that Word is slightly
off, e.g. mistaking Canadian French for French French.
32 Introduction to Microsoft Office●●●●●●●●●●●●
the menu bar and choose the appropriate language.3)Finally, it may be the case that Word simply
does not have theappropriate dictionary installed. The English version of Wordcomes with
dictionaries for all dialects of English, French andSpanish. If you are using Dutch or German terms,
Word will belost. In that case, you can either ignore the spellchecker or turn itoff. To turn it off,
highlight the offending words, select ‘Tools’,‘Language’, ‘Set Language’ from the menu bar
and check theoption ‘do not check spelling or grammar’.●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●
●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●
COMING UP
3 3..F F
OORR M M A AT T T
T I I N N G G Y Y
OOU U RR DD
OOC C U U M ME E N N T T
This chapter discusses ways tochange the appearance of your document.Good formatting can support your
message and give your document a personal touch. In this chapter, we will discuss several ways to
formatdocuments. We will begin with formatting options that affect individualwords, and then move
on to talk about formatting at the paragraph anddocument level.c + s +F
Adjusting the appearance of text Font This changes the typeface of your text. There is usually a
broadassortment of typefaces available, but the general choice is betweenthree different types
of fonts: serifs, sans serifs and decorative fonts.Serif typefaces are fonts that feature small
decorative lines at their stemand shaft. These lines help guide the eye along the line of text, makingserif
fonts better suited for long pieces of writing. The following fonts,among others, belong
to this category:Sans serif fonts lack the decoration and are therefore very clear. They area
good choice for text that should draw the attention of the reader, suchas titles and labels. The following
fonts are sans serif typefaces:Fonts in the decorative category do not contain letters
and are thereforenot suited for the setting of text. Instead, they offer a variety of symbolsfor
illustrative purposes. WingDings, WingDings 2, WingDings 3 andWebDings fall into this
category.The default font is ‘Times New Roman’. As a serif font, it is very easyto read in print.
c + s +PFont sizeThis changes the size of your text. The default
size for text is 12 pt.9
andis widely used because it guarantees readability.9
This size is also usually used for writing assignments, essays, etc. Note that some block coordinators may require other sizes – please check the
requirements for each assignment individually.
34 Introduction to Microsoft Office●●●●●●●●●●●●
Bold
c +BItalics
c +IUnderline
c +UFont styleThese options influence the appearance of your text. You
can set your text inboldfaceanditalics, and you can underline your
text. Byconvention, underlining is no longer used to highlight words; instead,text is
set in boldface or italics. Underlining is now used to indicateInternet links instead.Clicking on the left part of the button
will change the color of your text to the color indicatedon the button.Font color To change the color of the text,
click on the ‘font color’ button. This willchange the color of your text to whatever color is
indicated on the button. (It is indicated in the bar below the ‘A’; in our case, it is black.)If you however do
not want your text to appear in that particular color,you can click on the right part of the button to
expand the color menu.If you wish to use another color,click on the right part of the button.Highlights your text.
Highlighting text Clicking on the highlight button will allow you to mark importantsenten
ces or words by highlighting them. Clicking on the left side of the button will add the corresponding
background color to your text. If youdo not like the default color, click on the right side of the
button tochoose between bright and dark shades of red, yellow, green, blue andgray, as well as turquoise,
pink, violet, teal and black.‘Format’„
‘Font…’Further options…
The options described above are clearly the most important options. Butalso Word offers a number of other
choices for your text that can beaccessed by clicking on ‘Format’, ‘Font’ on the menu bar. Under
the‘font’ category, you find most of the previously discussed options, aswell as a range of
underline styles and typesetting effects. In the‘character spacing’ section, you can magnify the
font, increase the space between characters and raise or lower the text. Finally, the ‘text
effects’section allows you to animate your text, which is obviously only usefulwhen you distribute the
document electronically.Formatting entire paragraphsParagraph formatting is formatting that
cannot be applied to singlewords but only to entire paragraphs. The two most important
paragraphformats, its alignment and indentation, are available as shortcuts, the
General Topics: Getting
Hooked Up 35●●●●●●●●●●●●
remainder of the options is available through menu settings.
Paragraph alignment Here, you can choose the alignment for the current paragraph. You
canalign it to the left or right margin, you can center each row so that thedistance to both margins is
equally big, or you can justify your text,aligning it with both margins simultaneously.Left
c +LCenter
c +ERight
c +
RJustify
c +JIncreaseindentDecreaseindentIndentation
The ‘decrease indent’ and ‘increase indent’ buttons allow you to adjustthe
indentation of text.‘Format’„
‘Paragraph…’Paragraph spacing
This feature is located in the paragraph options – you can access it byclicking on ‘Format’,
‘Paragraph’ on the menu bar. It determines howlarge the gap between paragraphs should be. E.g.
if you want to have afull line’s distance between all paragraphs, you could send the spacingafter the
paragraph to 12 pt. It is preferable to use this setting instead of pressing/
several times between paragraphs, as it is easier toadjust the paragraph spacing once for
the entire document than to addadditional line feeds throughout your text.‘Format’„
‘Paragraph’Line distanceThis feature is also located in the paragraph options – select ‘Format’,‘Paragraph’ on the
menu bar to access it. With this setting, you caninfluence the distance between lines. E.g. writing
assignments usuallyrequire a 1.5 line distance for improved readability. You can use the preset levels
‘single’, ‘1.5 lines’ and ‘double’ or create a custom setting.Recycling your work
Once you have created a set of formats that you like, Word allows you toeasily recycle them using two
methods: the format painter andformatting styles.The format painter
The format painter allows you to transfer formatting from one paragraphto another. Its advantage is
speed: if you need to transfer formatting onlyonce, then this is the faster solution:1.
Position the cursor in the paragraph whose formatting you wouldlike to copy.
36 Introduction to Microsoft Office●●●●●●●●●●●●
2.
Press the ‘format painter’ button on the standard toolbar. A paintbrush will be added to
your mouse pointer .Press this button to transfer formatting to another part of your document.3.
You can now select the text to which the formatting should beapplied.Before: After:
Formatting stylesStyles allow you to save a particular set of formats and recall
itwhenever you it is needed. This is the better solution of you wish toapply a formatting again
and again throughout your document. To save astyle:1.Position your cursor inside the paragraph
whose formattingshould be preserved, …2.click on the style box on the
formatting toolbar and …3.enter a descriptive name for your style.Once you have saved a
style, you can easily apply it again:1.Select the text to which the style should be
applied, and …2.select the appropriate style’s name from the style box.
Changing the page layout Finally, there are options that affect the entire document, or at leastsignificant parts of it.
There are two groups of settings in this category:general page settings, such as the paper size, as
well as the header andfooter settings.General page settings
Among the general page settings are:·
the paper size, e.g. ‘A4’·
the paper orientation, ‘portrait’ vs. ‘landscape’·
the width of the four margins‘File’„
‘Page setup…’All of these settings can be adjusted by clicking on ‘File’, ‘Page setup’.The first two options can
be found in the ‘paper size’ category, while thelatter option belongs to the ‘margins’ category.
General Topics:
Getting Hooked Up 37●●●●●●●●●●●●
‘View’„
‘Header and Footer’
Header and footer To edit your document’s header and footer, select ‘View’, ‘Header
andFooter’ from the menu bar. Your view will shift to a section in the upper margin of the page and an
additional toolbar will appear. Everything thatyou enter here will appear on each and
every page.The toolbar enables you to insert predefined variables, such as the pagenumber or
the date. You can also insert complete headers, such as ‘pagex of y’ using the ‘Insert
AutoText’ button.Insert the page number.Insert complete headers.‘File’„
‘Page setup…’
Finally, it is also possible to obtain different headers for the first page, aswell as for odd and even
pages. You can activate differentiated headers by pressing the ‘page setup’ button and then
selecting ‘different first page’ and/or ‘different odd and even’.Once you are done manipulating
the header and footer, you can return tothe normal view by pressing ‘close’.●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●
I m a g e : s i z e - i s n t - e v e r y t h i n g . c o . u k
M MI I C C
RROO
S S OOF
F T T E E
X X C C
E E LL
●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●
11..I I
N N T T RROODDU U C C
T T I I OON N Microsoft Excel is aspreadsheet program
, a program that allows you toenter all sorts of information, relate the individual bits of information
toanother, and to use them for calculations and analyses. Most Excel usersonly find out about its full
capabilities after they have been using it for awhile, so we will get started right away… ‘Start’„
‘Programs’„
‘Microsoft Excel’Create newOffice docs.Open existingOffice docs. Starting Excel
To start Excel, double-click on the Microsoft Excel icon on the desktop.Alternatively, you will
find Microsoft Excel in the Start menu under ‘Programs’. Excel will start as well if you
double-click on any Exceldocument. Finally, you also can use the ‘new office document’
and‘open office document’ tools. Within a few seconds, you will see theExcel
window on your screen:Excel’s window is dominated by cells.CellsContainers of information, whichcan be filled with text,
numbersor formulas.Besides the ever-present menu bar and toolbars, you will notice that thescreen is
dominated by heaps of small boxes arranged in rows andcolumns. Thesecells
are the cornerstones of spreadsheet programs. Cellsare containers for information.
There are few restrictions on the kind of information a cell can contain:
42
Introduction to Microsoft Office●●●●●●●●●●●●
·
numbers of all kinds, e.g. 2.638, ½, 75%,15
10653.1´·
date or time information,
e.g. 01/01/2002, or 12:41:03·
currency values, e.g. € 1,500.00·
text, e.g. “Maastricht
University rules!”So far, this is not particularly exciting: any table could do that. But
theadvantage of spreadsheet programs is that you can also fill cells withformulas, and Excel will
automatically do the calculations for you.Before we turn towards these advanced functions of
cells, we investigateanother aspect: their order. All cells are arranged in rows and columns,as you
can see on the screen. These rows and columns, in turn, arelabeled – columns are labeled with
letters, rows are labeled withnumbers. Each cell can be identified by its column letter and rownumber:Worksheet
A page in your Excel document;contains 65,536 rows and 256columns of cells.In identifying cells, we first list the column,
then the row. So the top leftcell is number ‘A1’, not ‘1A’. In total, there are 65,536 rows and 256columns10
. Together, these cells make up one ‘worksheet’ (or simply‘sheet’).Beyond cells, there are three
other important features:·
The name box, which is located directly above the worksheetarea.
It tells you where you currently are on the worksheet, e.g. incell ‘A1’, and it allows you to give your
cells names (see ch. 2):·
The formula bar, which helps you enter information and formulasinto
cells. It is located to the right of the name box and looksquite unspectacular:·
Finally, the sheet selector. Believe it or not, some people think that the 16,777,216 cells
contained in one sheet are not sufficientfor their needs. Luckily, you can have as many sheets as
you like – by default, Excel will create three empty sheets when you opena new document. The sheet
selector, which is located right beneath the actual worksheet, helps you to select the sheet
onwhich you want to work.10
By the way, the column after ‘Z’ is labeled ‘AA’, followed by ‘AB’ and so forth till you get to column ‘IV’
Microsoft
Excel: Introduction 43●●●●●●●●●●●●
In the following three chapters, we will
investigate most of the basicfunctions of Excel. The next chapter discusses how you can enter
information in Excel and how you can use this information incalculations. The third chapter covers
the different formatting optionsthat are available in Excel. Finally, the fourth chapter
discusses twoadvanced topics: a) it builds the foundation for various data analysistasks in
Quantitative Methods, and b) it discusses how you can displayinformation graphically
using Excel’s chart wizard.●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●
COMING UP
22..
E E N N T T E E RRI
I N N G G DD
A AT T A A &&M M
A AK K I I N N G G C C
A ALLC C U U LL A AT T I I
OON N S S Here, we learn how you canenter information in Excel andhow you can use this
informationin calculations.This chapter covers the basic function of Excel: to receive data and tomanipulate it
using calculations. We start out by discovering differentways to enter data, and then develop the
concepts of formulas andfunctions.Entering informationExcel stores information in cells. Each cell
is meant to contain only one piece of information, e.g. a number (however large that number
may be)or a sentence. To enter data in a worksheet, we first need to determinewhich cell should
receive the information. Once we have selected a cell,we can start typing.Selecting cells
You can select cells using your mouse or keyboard. If you are using themouse, simply place
your mouse pointer on top of the desired cell andclick once. (Note that the mouse pointer takes the
form of a crosswhen you are working with cells.)1) 2) 3)The cell that is currently being used, or
the ‘active’ cell, is surrounded bya thick black border.Alternatively, you can use the keyboard to
move from your current position to another cell on the worksheet: simply use the arrow keys
u,d,landr
to get to your destination.Entering informationOnce you are ‘in’ the cell of your choice,
you can start enteringinformation simply by typing.Be aware that the information you are entering is
not placed in the celluntil you confirm that you are done. You can do so by·
pressing
/. This will place the information in the cell and itwill also take you to the cell directly below
your current position.·
pressingT. This will place the information in the cell and
itwill also take you to the cell directly to the right of your current position.The only difference
is where you end up next. If you are entering a
46
Introduction to Microsoft Office●●●●●●●●●●●●
column of information, you should use/because it will move youto the next cell in your
current column. Conversely, if you are entering arow of information, useT
.Because Excel does not place any information in the cell until youconfirm it, you can always step back if you
are making a mistake. Let’sassume that you are entering information in a cell that already
containsinformation, and that you do not want to overwrite the old information.In this case, you
can simply press~to annul what you were doing.Be aware that Excel is
programmed to recognize certain types of information, such as dates, times, currency values,
percentages andfractions. If you e.g. enter ‘€ 1625’, Excel will recognize that you areentering a
currency value and will format it as such.Entering seriesEntering information can be quite tedious,
especially when you areentering information that repeats or follows a pattern. Fortunately,
Excelcan fill in such series for you. Let’s assume that you want to create atable of quarterly profits
for the years 1990 – 2000. Usually, we wouldhave to enter the entire series: 1990, 1991, 1992, and
so forth. Similarly,we would have to label cells ‘1st
quarter’, ‘2nd
quarter’, etc. Fortunately,there is a shortcut. Instead of typing the entire series, we only
enter thefirst item, e.g. ‘1st
quarter’. We then select this cell, so that it issurrounded by the thick black
border again: Note that there is a black dot in the lower right corner. When you placeyour mouse pointer
above this dot, it will change from the familiar selection cross to a black plus sign . When it
takes this shape, youcan continue a series by pressing and holding the left mouse buttonwhile
dragging the mouse in the desired direction:
Microsoft Excel: Entering
Data & Making Calculations 47●●●●●●●●●●●●
While you are doing so, Excel
tells you what it will place in the last cell,so that you know when to stop. Once your series has reached its
desiredlength, release the left mouse button and Excel will place the appropriateinformation in the
cells.In our first example, Excel recognized what it was supposed to do.However, this is not always the case:
when we enter ‘1990’ and try tocomplete the series as described above, Excel is clueless:To be
precise, it does not know how the series is supposed to work: isthe next cell supposed to be 1991, 1995,
2000 or something else? Thiscan be remedied by providing Excel with a hint: entering the
second cell,too. If you select both entries, Excel can continue the series for you:
Using Excel for calculations: formulasWhat distinguishes a spreadsheet program such as Excel from a
simpletable is its ability to perform calculations with the information that youentered. To
make a calculation, you need to place a formula in a cell.To distinguish a formula from a
normal bit of information, everyformula starts with an equal sign ‘=’. The simplest formulas
contain basic arithmetic operations, such as additions, subtractions,multiplications and divisions. An
example would be=2+2If you enter this formula in a cell and press/
, you will see thefollowing: Note that the actual cell contains the result, while the formula can be
48 Introduction to
Microsoft Office●●●●●●●●●●●●
found in the formula bar. This keeps the worksheet from becomingclutter
ed. If you want to edit a formula at a later stage, select theappropriate cell, then press2
or click on the formula bar.ARITHMETIC OPERATORS
The arithmetic operators in Excel are slightly different than the ones weare used to from
mathematical formulas.Operation Operator ExampleAddition+plus sign
=2+2
Result: 4
Subtraction – minus sign
=3–5Result: –2
Multiplication*asterisk
=2*3Result: 6
Division/slash
=5/2Result: 2.5
Raising to power ^hat
=3^2Result: 9
Excel follows the arithmetic rules of precedence when calculating theresult of a
formula. This implies e.g. that powers have precedence beforemultiplication and division, and
that the latter have precedence beforeaddition and subtraction:=2+4/2will yield 4, not 3. You can
prioritizecertain parts of equations by enclosing them in brackets:=(2+4)/2
willyield 3.You can have more than one pair of brackets in the same term, e.g.=((2+4)/2+6)/18
. As you include more and more brackets, it becomesharder and harder to keep track of them. That’s
why Excel assignsdifferent colors to pairs of brackets, depending on their level. The first pair of
brackets will be black. If you open another pair inside the first pair, it will be green. If you open a pair of
brackets inside the first two,then the third pair will be purple, and so forth. Also, whenever you
closea bracket, Excel will briefly indicate the corresponding opening bracket,so that
you know which pair of brackets you just closed.Referring to cells (Part 1)
Formulas are not limited to simple numbers, you can include cells inyour calculations,
too. To do so, use their cell address, the combinationof column letter and row
number. An example would be the addition of cells A1 and A2 depicted here:
Microsoft Excel: Entering Data & Making
Calculations 49●●●●●●●●●●●●
This has one huge advantage: when you change the contents of, say,
cellA2, cell A3 adjusts automatically. Every time you enter newinformation, all formulas will
be recalculated – no further action isrequired on your part.CIRCULAR
REFERENCESWhen you enter a formula that includes a cell reference, Excel uses thecontent
of that cell for the calculation. Say, if you were to enter theformula=A1*2
in cell A2, Excel would obviously need to read thecontent of A1 to calculate the value of A2.
Let’s assume that A1 in turncontains the formula=A2-3. So to calculate A2, Excel needs
to knowthe value of A1. But to calculate A1, Excel needs to know A2. It’s likethe hen and the egg: a circle
with no clear beginning.The essence is that no formula can refer to its own result – doing socreates a
circular reference. If you create such a circular reference,Excel will immediately
warn you: besides opening the automatic helpsystem to explain what is going on, Excel will indicate
where thecircular reference is to be found.You will then need to break the circle by
changing the formula in one of the involved cells.FunctionsObviously, the scope of primary
arithmetic operations is limited. Somecalculations would become very tedious, while
others would becompletely impossible to realize if we only had these five operations atour disposal.
Imagine you would like to sum all cells between A1 andA30. If you had to write
=A1+A2+A3+A4+…+A30you would get tired soon. That’s why
Excel offers a range of functionsthat extend the scope of formulas while simplifying the
actual work.Functions always look the same:NAME (parameter 1,
parameter 2, …)ParametersBits of information thatfunctions use in calculationsA function starts with its
own name. Any information that the functionrequires is then included in brackets. These so-called
parametershave a predetermined order 11
and they are separated by commas.
Depending onthe information that a function needs, you may have to enter up to 30
parameters (although most functions make do with just 1 to 3).11
The appendix contains a list of
functions, which specifies each function’s parameters and their order.
50 Introduc
tion to Microsoft Office●●●●●●●●●●●●
Let’s illustrate this with some examples:One
of the simplest functions is the functionpi(), whose sole purpose isto
return the number p
, 3.141… Becausep
does not depend on anyoutside
factors, the function does not require any parameters:PI()We can include functions in our
formulas like normal terms, e.g.=2.5^2*PI()will calculate the area of a circle with a
radius of 2.5 units (19.635square-units). If you simply want the result of a function, you
will stillneed to enter an equal sign:=PI()will return 3.141592654.One of the most
useful functions issum(), which sums all termscontained in the brackets. It requires at
least one parameter:SUM (number 1, number 2, …)You can use
sum()with ordinary numbers, but you can also enter cellreferences, e.g.
=SUM (251, A1, C3)What’s more: you can place functions inside functions:
=SUM (10, PI())Referring to cells (Part 2)So far, we have only dealt with single cells at a
time. But what do you dowhen you want to work with a whole range of cells? Let’s come back tothe
example where we wanted to sum all cells between A1 and A30. Sofar, we could write
=A1+A2+A3+A4+…+A30or we could write
=SUM(A1,A2,A3,A4,…,A30)but neither of them seems very appealing.
Fortunately, there is ashorthand for including several cells simultaneously: quote the
addressof the top left cell and the address of the bottom right cell, separated by acolon. In our example, we
would write A1:A30. This shorthand can beused with many different functions, such as
sum():=SUM(A1:A30)You can include as many cells as you like, e.g.
=SUM(A22:Y7453)would sum all 185,800 cells between A22 and Y7453.You do not need to
enter cell references manually. While you are
Microsoft Excel: Entering
Data & Making Calculations 51●●●●●●●●●●●●
entering your formula, you
can simply use the mouse to select the rangeof cells that you want to refer to. Excel will then enter
the appropriatecell reference for you:1) 2) 3)INTERNATIONAL
DIFFERENCESThere are obvious differences between the English version
of Excel andversions in other languages. Not only have all menus and dialogues been translated, the
function names have been translated, too. Some of the function names are easy to translate, e.g.
sum()becomessom()inthe Dutch version. Others, however, differ significantly
from the directtranslation. It is therefore best to use an English version of Excel.Additiona
l problems can result from the use of different decimalindicators: if you are using a non-English version
of Windows, thenyour system most likely uses a decimal comma instead of a decimal point.Two
things change when your computer uses a decimal comma:1.Even when you are using an
English version of Excel, you willneed to use a decimal comma. E.g.=2,5^2*PI()2.
As a result, parameters in functions arenot divided by a comma, but by
a semicolon, e.g.=SUM (251; A1; C3)The ‘function wizard’
You can enter functions just like any other formula: simply select thedesired cell and start typing. For
simple functions likepi()or sum(), thisis certainly the easiest and
quickest way. But many functions requireseveral parameters, accept only certain values or
are simply hard toremember. The ‘function wizard’ is there to help you enter suchfunctions.‘Insert’
„
‘Function…’Start the function wizard.Whenever you want to enter a function, be it in the middle of a
formulaor in an empty cell, press the ‘paste function’ button to call up thefunction wizard. This
will bring up the selection screen, where you canchoose the appropriate function:
52 Introduc
tion to Microsoft Office●●●●●●●●●●●●
All functions are grouped together in
categories such as ‘statisticalfunctions’, ‘math and trigonometry functions’, and so forth. This
usuallyallows you to find the function you are looking for pretty quickly. If youdo not know which
category a function belongs to, you can use the all-encompassing ‘all functions’ category. A list
of the most recently usedfunctions is also available.Once you have selected the
category in the left list, you will be able toselect the desired function in the right list. For each function
you select,a brief explanation will be given below the two lists.For now, let’s assume that we
want to round the number contained incell A1 to three digits after the decimal point.
To do so, we select theround()function from the ‘math and trigonometry’ list and click
‘ok’.This takes us to a second window where you have the opportunity toenter all the details. Excel
lists the required parameters, as well as anyoptional parameters (there are none
in our example), tells you what eachof them means and reminds you what type of information is
required. Inour example, the first parameter is the number that we want to round,and it obviously needs
to take the form of a number.
Microsoft Excel:
Entering Data & Making Calculations 53●●●●●●●●●●●●
Since we want to round the number in cell A1 to 3 digits, we enter ‘A1’in the first field and 3 in the
second field. Instead of writing ‘A1’, wecould also have selected the cell A1 with the mouse. If
you want toselect a cell that is not visible on the screen, press the ‘cell selection’ button in the
right corner of any field and the window will shrink,allowing you to freely select any cells. Once you are
done, press the‘transfer references’ button to return to the function wizard.To select cells when working inthe
function wizard, push this button.Once you are done, you cantransfer the selected cellreference to the Wizard by pressing this button.
While you enter the information, Excel will check your input and, if necessary, give you feedback.
If, e.g. you were to enter text instead of anumber, you would get the following error message12
:Once Excel has sufficient information, you will see a preliminary resulton the screen. You can
then confirm your choice by click ‘ok’.You can also use the function wizard to edit existing functions.
Simplyselect a cell that contains a function and press the ‘paste function’ button.
Parameter typesDifferent functions require different sorts of information. Broadlyspeakin
g, there are several different types of parameters, such asnumbers, text and logical statements.
Parameters of the type ‘number’and ‘text’ are self-explanatory. But if you lack experience with
programming languages or spreadsheets, you will not have encounteredlogi
cal statements so far.Logical statementA comparison of two pieces of information that is either corrector incorrect, e.g. 0 = 1
is such astatement, and it is incorrect.A logical statement is a statement that compares one bit of informationwith
another to check whether they fulfill a certain condition. For instance,A2 = 2
is such a statement. Here, the two bits of informationare the cell ‘A2’ and the number ‘2’, and the
condition is that both bitsof information must be equal to each other. Another
statement would beA2 > 2. In this case, the condition is that the cell ‘A2’ must
contain avalue that is larger than 2.Excel will try to determine whether a condition has
been met or not. Inour second example,A2 > 2, the condition would be met if the cell
‘A2’contained the value ‘3’, because 3 > 2. In that case, we say that a12
See below for an interpretation of the
different error messages.
54 Introduction to
Microsoft Office●●●●●●●●●●●●
statement istrueor correct. If, however, the cell ‘A2’
contained thevalue ‘1’, then the condition would not be met. We would say that thestatement is
falseor incorrect.The decision whether a statement is true or false is the result of such
alogical statement. Just as=4+3will return 7,=1>0
will return true. This‘response’ can then be used in logical functions e.g. for makingdecision
s.Logical statements and functions will be discussed in more detail duringyour Quantitative
Methods classes.A selection of functionsFinding the right function for the right task
is not always easy.Therefore, we have compiled a selection of functions that are usefulduring
the first blocks of your study. The functions are grouped intothree categories (mathematical,
statistical and logical functions) and can be found in the appendix.Referring to cells (Part 3)
When you are editing cells, you will notice that formulas quickly become hard to read if they contain
several terms. While it may not be possible to simplify all formulas, you can make them easier
tounderstand by giving your cells names. It is possible to christen cells inthree steps:1.
Select the cell or cells that you want to label, …2.click on the name box and …3.
enter a name, followed by/.Once you have named your cells, you can refer to them in
formulas bytheir name. In our example, we would be able to write=SUM(profit)
,which is much easier to understand then e.g.=SUM(B4:B21).
ErrorsSometimes, Excel encounters an error when it is calculating the formulasthat we enter. There can
be two causes for this: either we did not enter the formula correctly, or a cell that we are referring to
contains invalidinformation. An example for the first type of error would be a
simplespelling mistake:=SIM(A1:A200)instead of =SUM(A1:A200)
. Anexample for the second type of error would result if we entered the
Microsoft Excel:
Entering Data & Making Calculations 55●●●●●●●●●●●●
formula
=A1/A2and A2 contained the value ‘0’ – the formula istheoretically correct, but in
practice it results in a division by zero.Excel indicates errors by printing an error message in
the appropriatecell, allowing us to go back and investigate what went wrong. All in all,Excel
knows eight different types of errors:·
#DIV/0! Your formula may be fine, but one denominator
turnsout to be zero, leading to a ‘division by zero’ error. You maywant to check whether your formula
and all cell references arecorrect, and whether any cells that you refer to are empty.·
#N/A. This error occurs only in connection with the incorrect useof lookup-functions.
Lookup-functions are not discussed heresince they are an advanced concept.·
#NAME? Excel does not recognize the name of a formula or cellthat you used. Entering
=SIM(A1:A200)instead of =SUM(A1:A200)will get you this error. You will
need to returnto the cell and check all function and cell names that you used.·
#NULL! This error is rather uncommon and occurs only inresponse to advanced types
of cell references.·
#NUM! You have entered an invalid number, e.g. a number thatis too large.
·
#REF! This error indicates an invalid cell reference. It occurs e.g.when you replace one cell with
another cell, when the originalcell was used in a formula. The invalid reference has
beenremoved from your formula; you will need to edit it.·
#VALUE! Generally
happens when the information that youentered does not match the requirements, e.g. when you
enter textwhere a number is expected.=53+"Hello?"would result in suchan error.·
######## This is not actually an error; the formula you entered isfine. Instead, the cell is too small to
display its output. For example: if the result of your formula is 187,355,202,937,928.98, but
the cell only has room for eight digits, Excel will return thiserror. Increasing the width of the cell
will take care of the problem.●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●
●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●
COMING UP
3 3..
F F OORR M M A AT T T
T I I N N G G Y Y
OOU U RR S S
P P RRE E A ADDS S H H E
E E E T T This chapter discusses differentformatting options for cells andworksheets.
Over time, worksheets can become very complex, but that does notnecessarily imply that they
need to become cluttered or hard tounderstand. The present chapter discusses how you can format
your worksheet. You can use these functions to make your worksheets easier to grasp and navigate,
e.g. by formatting numbers, highlightingimportant cells and using borders and white space
to delineate differentdata series.First, we will discuss how you can select the cells to which
changesshould be applied. We will then discover how it is possible to format thecontent of
cells, the appearance of cells and the appearance of entireworksheets.Selecting cells
To select a single cell, click on it so that it is surrounded by a thick black border:Selecting a coherent block
of cells works like selecting text inPowerPoint or Word:1)Move your mouse pointer
to the top left cell of the block that youwant to highlight.2)Press the left mouse button and keep it
pressed while…3)you move the mouse pointer to the lower right cell of the block.Alternativ
ely, you can click on the top left cell, then press and hold thes
button while clicking on the lower right cell.Finally, to select several unrelated cells:1)
Click on the first cell so that it is surrounded by a thick black
58 Introduction to
Microsoft Office●●●●●●●●●●●●
border.2)Press and holdcwhile you click on the next cell
that you wantto select. This cell will now be surrounded by a light black border, while all previously
selected cells will be lightly shaded.3)Repeat the second step until you have selected all
desired cells.There are shortcuts that allow you to select entire rows, columns or eventhe
entire worksheet:·
To select an entire row or column, click on the row or columnheading.
·
To select an entire worksheet, click on the upper left corner of the worksheet area (the area to the
left of the first column header and above the first row header):Formatting cells
Changing the content typeExcel allows you to format cells to fit any sort of content, such as
dates,currency values, fractions, etc. It will try to do so automatically whenyou enter the information,
but in some cases, you may want to adjust thecontent type manually. You can do so by selecting one of
the shortcutson the formatting bar:
Microsoft Excel: Formatti
ng Your Spreadsheet 59●●●●●●●●●●●●
These shortcuts allow you to have your
number formatted as a currencyvalue13
or as a percentage. You can also switch digit grouping
on.Commas will then separate groups of three digits: 1475346 will become1,475,346. Finally, you
can increase or decrease the amount of visibledecimal places.14
c+
1‘Format’„
‘Cells…’More options are available in the ‘Format’, ‘Cells’ dialogue
under the‘Number’ heading:There are nine different categories that
you can choose from:·
General numbers. Allows you to specify the amount of
visibledecimal places, how negative numbers should be formatted andwhether digit grouping
should be applied.·
Currency values. Allows you to specify the amount of visibledecimal
places, how negative numbers should be formatted andwhich currency symbol should
be used. Numbers will be alignedat the decimal point.·
Currency values (accounting style). Similar
to the ‘currency’type, except that the currency symbols will also be aligned. It isnot possible
to change the formatting of negative numbers.·
Dates. Allows you to specify how the date
should be formatted.·
Time values. Allows specification of the time format.·
Percentages. Allows you to choose the amount of decimal places.13
The currency depends on your
PC’s regional settings.14
If necessary, Excel will round the number automatically.
60
Introduction to Microsoft Office●●●●●●●●●●●●
·
Fractions. Allows you to
specify constraints for the fractions, e.g.‘only single-digit fractions’, or ‘only quarters’.·
Numbers in scientific notation. Shorthand for writing extremelylarge or small
numbers as multiples of 10 to a power, e.g.27
10563.1´
would equal1,563,000,
000,000,000,000,000,000,000Because Excel lacks the ability to write powers properly, it willwrite
1.563E+27 instead.·
Text. Usually, Excel will automatically recognize when you arewriting
text. This setting is useful if there are ambiguities, e.g.when you want to write an equal sign
without it being interpretedas a formula by Excel.Besides these nine categories, there are a number of
special-purposecategories available. If all else fails, you can design your own category.Finally
, you can format cells as ‘general’, i.e. leaving them without anyformatting whatsoever.
Formatting the cell content The formatting toolbar offers a number of choices regarding the
letteringof your cells.c + s +F– Font This changes the typeface of
your text. There is usually a broadassortment of typefaces available, but the most common ones
areArial is selected by default as it provides good readability for numericaldata. Excel will
automatically adjust the cell height for you when youchoose another font whose letters
are higher than Arial’s. However, thecell width will not be adjusted, so if you select a font
with wider characters, less information will be visible inside each cell. See thesection on increasing the
cell size (p. 63) for tips on correcting this problem.c + s +P– Font size
This changes the size of your text. The default size is 10 pt. Once again,
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Formatting Your Spreadsheet 61●●●●●●●●●●●●
Excel will automatically
adjust the height of all affected cells, but it willleave their width unchanged. If you increase the
font size, lessinformation will be visible in each cell, see the section on increasing thecell size (p.
63) for tips on correcting this problem.Bold
c +BItalics
c +
IUnderline
c +U– Font styleThis changes the appearance
of your text. You can set your text inboldfaceanditalics
, or you can underline your words. By convention,underlining is no longer used to highlight text;
instead, text is set in boldface or italics. Underlining is now used to indicate Internet linksinstead.Left Center Right
– Paragraph alignment Allows you to choose whether your text is aligned to the left or
rightmargin of the placeholder, or whether it is centered.IncreaseindentDecreaseindent– Indentation
The ‘decrease indent’ and ‘increase indent’ buttons allow you to adjustthe
indentation of text.Clicking on the left part of the button will change the color of your text to the color indicatedon the button.If you wish
to use another color,click on the right part of the button.– Font color Finally, you can also change the color of the text,
e.g. to indicate animportant word. To do so, click on the ‘font color’ button. This willchange the
color of your text to whatever color is indicated on the button. (It is indicated in the bar below the
‘A’; in our case, it is black.)If you do not want your text to appear in that particular color, you canclick on
the right part of the button to expand the color menu.Recycling your work
You can apply any changes you are making to as many cells as you like.But you can also recycle your
formatting at a later stage, e.g. when youhave added new columns or rows and want to transplant the
formattingfrom existing cells. To do so,1.select a cell that is formatted to your liking and …
62 Introduction to Microsoft Office●●●●●●●●●●●●
2.press the ‘format painter’ button on the standard toolbar. At this,your mouse
pointer will change shape .Press this button to copy theformatting of one cell to other cells.3.
You can now select any cells to which you want to apply thesame formatting.Before: After:The borders menu.
Formatting the cell – BordersThe borders menu allows you to quickly adjust the borders of cells.
First,select the cells that you want to affect. Then expand the borders menu byclicking on
the right part of the button to see the menu below.Each of these buttons will make a number of
borders visible or invisible.E.g. if you highlight a cluster of cells and click on the top left button,you will
get a border around the cluster, but no internal borders betweencells.c+
1‘Format’„
‘Cells…’Advanced border formatting options can be
found in the ‘Format’,‘Cells’ dialogue, under the ‘Borders’ heading.When adjusting borders, first
select the line style (thick, thin, dashed,double, etc.) and the line color. You can then opt for
one of the threequick selection buttons, which affects a number of borderssimultan
eously. Alternatively, you can apply individual borders byclicking on any of the eight
border toggles. These will switch thecorresponding borders on and off.
Microsof
t Excel: Formatting Your Spreadsheet 63●●●●●●●●●●●●
Top LeftBottom RightIf you are formatting a block of cells, then the outside border toggleswill
affect only the cells on the perimeter of the block. E.g. the ‘bottom border’ button will toggle the
bottom border for all cells in the bottomrow. If you are working on a single cell instead, or on
several non-contiguous cells, then the buttons will simply toggle the top, bottom, leftand right
borders.The inside border buttons are only available when you are working on a block of cells. They will
switch borders between rows and columns onand off.BetweenrowsBetweencolumnsFinally, the diagonal
strikethrough buttons will provide you with theappropriate strikethroughs inside cells.
Diagonal strikethrough– Background color You can set the background color of any cell by using the
‘backgroundcolor’ button.– Increasing the cell sizeFrequently, you will enter information that
does not ‘fit’ inside a singlecell, i.e. the information cannot be displayed completely. If
there isnothing in the next cell, then Excel will simply write across the cell boundary:But if there is
something in the next cell, then you will only see part of the information:This problem can
be solved in two ways: you can make cells wider (or higher), but this will affect all cells in that
particular column (or row).Alternatively, you can merge the cell with its
neighboring cells.– Adjusting column width and row height There are several ways to
adjust the width of a column or the height of arow. You can do it manually by:1.
Moving your mouse pointer to the border between two column or row headers, so that it changes into a
two-pronged arrow , and…
64 Introduction to
Microsoft Office●●●●●●●●●●●●
2.pressing and holding the left mouse button while you resize
thecolumn or row to your liking.Once you release the mouse button, your changes
will be put into action.‘Format’„
‘Row’„
‘Height…’‘Format’„
‘Column’„
‘Width…’Alternatively, you can select ‘Format’, ‘Column’, ‘Width’ or ‘Format’,‘Row’, ‘Height’ from
the menu bar. You will then be asked to enter anumber between 0 and 255, which represents the
average amount of characters visible in each cell.15
However, there is a quicker way: move your
mouse pointer to the gap between two column or row headers and perform a double-click.
Thiswill automatically resize the column or row to fit the cell with the largestcontent.A
lternatively, you can select ‘Format’, ‘Column’, ‘AutoFit’ or ‘Format’,‘Row’,
‘AutoFit’ from the menu bar.‘Format’„
‘Row’„
‘AutoFit’‘Format’„
‘Column’„
‘AutoFit’– Merging cellsThe second option would be to merge two or more cells. This isadvantageous whenever you
want to make a cell wider, higher, or bothwithout affecting the other cells in its row or column.
To merge cells:1.select all the cells you want to merge and …Pressing this button will mergeall selected cells. It
will alsocenter their combined content.2.press the ‘merge and center’ button.You have just created a
family-sized cell! Two things should be noted:firstly, the content of the new cell will be centered. If you
prefer it to bealigned to the left or right margin, you will need to adjust the alignmentyours
elf. Secondly, and more importantly: the new cell will only keepthe value of the top left cell.
The content of all other cells will be lost!15
Be aware that this value is an average. After all, a ‘w’ is wider than an ‘i’. It is also presumed
that you are working withthe standard font and size, Arial 10 pt.
Microsoft Excel:
Formatting Your Spreadsheet 65●●●●●●●●●●●●
c+
1‘Format’„
‘Cells…’If you want to ‘unmerge’ this cell at any point in the future,1.
select the merged cell2.select ‘Format’, ‘Cells’ from the menu bar 3.
switch to the ‘Alignment’ category and4.unselect the ‘Merge cells’ option.‘Insert’„
‘Rows’‘Insert’„
‘Columns’Working with rows and columns
Inserting and deleting rows and columnsTo insert a new row or column, select ‘Insert’, ‘Rows’ or
‘Insert’,‘Columns’ from the menu bar. New rows will be added above thecurrently active cell,
while new columns will be inserted to the left of it.If you want to insert more than one row or column,
highlight as manyrows or columns as you need, and select the ‘Insert’, ‘Rows’ or ‘Columns’
option. Excel will insert as many new rows or columns asyou have currently selected.‘Format’
„
‘Row’„
‘Hide’‘Format’„
‘Column’„
‘Hide’‘Format’„
‘Column’„
‘Unhide’‘Format’„
‘Row’„
‘Unhide’Hiding parts of your worksheet In some cases, you may want
to hide parts of your worksheet, e.g. tomake it easier to grasp. To do so, highlight the row(s) or
column(s) youwant to hide and select ‘Format’, ‘Row’, ‘Hide’ or ‘Format’, ‘Column’,‘Hide
’ respectively. Your rows or columns will still be there, they will just not be plainly visible. Hiding
parts of your worksheet will not affectany of the formulas. To make hidden columns visible again,
highlightthe last column before and the first column after the hidden part, thenselect ‘Format’,
‘Column’, ‘Unhide’ from the menu bar. A similar procedure works for rows.Two
things should be noted: firstly, it is not possible to hide individualcells; only entire rows and columns
can be hidden. Secondly, hiding parts of your worksheet will not protect your data from prying
eyes.There are better ways to secure your work, butan experienced user caneasily circumvent all of
Excel’s security measures. If you haveconfidential data, you should rely on professional
encryption tools.Working with sheetsLabeling sheetsEspecially when you are working with more than
three sheets, it can behard to keep track of them all. Fortunately, you can easily give themmore
meaningful names than ‘Sheet7’. To label a sheet,
66 Introduc
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1.
double-click on its sheet tab, …2.enter the new name and …3.press/
.Copying and moving worksheetsTo copy or move a sheet, right-click on its
tab and select ‘move or copy’from the menu that pops up.By default, Excel assumes that you want to
move or copy the sheetwithin the same workbook. If you want to transfer a sheet to another
workbook, you need to open this workbook before moving or copyingthe sheet. You can then specify to
which workbook the sheet should besent and where it should be inserted. Finally, you can
choose whether you want to copy the sheet or move it. Note that there can be problems when you move or
copy a sheet toanother workbook. If formulas on the transferred sheet referred to any of the other
sheets in the original workbook, then this information will not be included in the process. If you
open the new workbook, theseformulas will not work unless you open the original document too.‘Insert’
„
‘Worksheet’Inserting and deleting worksheetsTo insert a new worksheet, select ‘Insert’,
‘Worksheet’ from the menu
Microsoft Excel: Formatting Your
Spreadsheet 67●●●●●●●●●●●●
bar. To delete a worksheet, right-click on its tab and select ‘delete’ fromthe
menu that appears. Any formulas that refer to cells on the deletedworkshe
et will cease to function.‘Format’„
‘Sheet’„
‘Hide’‘Format’„
‘Sheet’„
‘Unhide…’Hiding a complete worksheet By selecting ‘Format’, ‘Sheet’, ‘Hide’ from the menu
bar, you can hidean entire worksheet from view. To let it reappear again, click on‘Format’,
‘Sheet’, ‘Unhide’ from the menu bar and then select whichsheet you would like to make visible
again. We should warn you thathiding worksheets will not protect sensitive data. Although
Excelcontains a number of security features that you could use,anexperienced user can easily
circumvent all of them. Rely on professionalencryption tools if you need to protect
confidential data.●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●
●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●
COMING UP
44..
A AN N A ALLY Y
Z Z I I N N G G &&DD
I I S S P P LL A AY Y I I N N G G
DDA AT T A AThis chapter introduces
Excel’sdata analysis tool and explainshow you can produce graphswith Excel.This chapter concludes our coverage of
Microsoft Excel by discussingtwo advanced topics. In the first part, we briefly discuss
Excel’s dataanalysis tools. In the second part we learn how to present datagraphically
by creating charts.The data analysis toolsExcel includes a set of tools that enables you to analyze data in
a varietyof ways. For instance, it enables you to perform ANOVAs,z
- andt -tests,and creates histograms and correlation tables for you.
Unfortunately, thisuseful tool is not automatically available in Excel; you need to install itfirst.
Installing the toolsThe data analysis tools are not automatically installed in
Excel. Instead,they are an add-on, a component that needs to be activated separately.To
find out whether you can use the data analysis tools, click on ‘Tools’in the menu bar. If you can find an
option called ‘Data analysis’, then theappropriate component has already been activated and
you canimmediately start with your analysis. If no ‘Data analysis’ option islisted, then you need to
activate the component manually.‘Tools’„
‘Add-ins…’1.
Select ‘Tools’, ‘Add-ins’ from the menu bar.2.Select ‘Analysis Toolpak’ (not
‘Analysis Toolpak VBA’) in thewindow that appears. While you are there, you may want toactivate
the ‘Solver’ add-in, too. It will be used later in your Quantitative Methods course.After a
few moments, the data analysis tools will be available.
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Using the data analysis toolsThe description of each individual data
analysis tool and its functiongoes beyond the scope of this introduction. A significant
number of these tools will be covered in detail during your first year-QM courses.Therefo
re, we limit ourselves to a brief discussion of their commonfeatures.The data analysis tools,
as most other features of Excel, usually expectyour data to be arranged in columns, i.e. each column
represents adifferent variable, while each row represents an individual observation.E.g.
in the table below, several houses have been categorized accordingto their sales price,
size, age, and other variables.‘Tools’„
‘Data analysis…’When you want to analyze data using the data
analysis tools, you do notneed to select the data beforehand. Instead, you can immediately
launchthe toolset by selecting ‘Tools’, ‘Data analysis’ from the menu bar.You can
then choose from an assortment of analysis tools. In the nextstep, you will need to enter
information that is specific to the tool of your choice. Common to all tools are the
following options:– Input optionsHere, you select which part of your data needs to be analyzed.
You caneither enter the cell reference directly, or you can select the cellsmanually by1.
clicking on the ‘selection’ button, …2.selecting the cells with your mouse and …3.
confirming your choice by clicking on the ‘transfer reference’
General Topics:
Getting Hooked Up 71●●●●●●●●●●●●
button.1. 2. 3.It is recommended that you select
the column heading (‘size’ in our example), too. Excel will use this label in its output: if you are
doingseveral analyses, you won’t have to guess which is which. If you selectthe column label, be
sure to also select the ‘labels’ option – otherwise,Excel will not know how to deal with the text.
– Output optionsAlso common to all analysis tools is the output options dialogue. Here,you can
specify where the results should be stored. There are threeoptions:·
Output range. This option saves the results to a range of cells onany existing worksheet. You
only need to select the top left cell.Be aware that the output will usually consume several
rows below and several columns to the right of that cell. Any data inthese cells will be overwritten, so
it is crucial that you select acell that is not next to any important data.·
New worksheet ply. This will
create a new worksheet and savethe results there. If you want to, you can provide a label
for thenew worksheet.·
New workbook. This will create a new Excel document and savethe data
there.The specific options of the individual tools will be among the subjects of your Quantitative
Methods classes.Creating chartsLet’s assume that you have prepared a ‘revenues and costs’
calculationand you would like to communicate your results. A chart of the figureswould be the optimal tool
for this purpose, as charts are quickly andeasily understood by everyone.
72 Introduction to Microsoft Office●●●●●●●●●●●●
The quick and dirty method You can create a chart very quickly using these two steps:1.
Select the two data series (including their labels or headings)2.Press-
.0 €2,000 €4,000 €6,000 €8,000 €10,000 €12,000 €14,000 €1 2 3 4 56 7 8 9 10 1 1 1 2RevenuesCosts
The result is not too bad for such a small effort. There are, however, anumber of drawbacks to
this procedure. Most notably: Excel will alwayscreate a bar graph, which is not appropriate in a
number of situations. Inour example, there is a better alternative available…
When to use which graphDifferent types of information call for different types of graphs. Thequestion
which graph to use in which situation will be discussed duringyour Quantitative Methods
classes. Therefore, we only provide a shortoverview of the most important types of charts:·
Bar chartsare mainly used to allow a comparison of amountsacross a range of categories. An
example would be a comparisonof the scores of two students in several subjects.
General
Topics: Getting Hooked Up 73●●●●●●●●●●●●
·
Line charts
are a good way to display developments over time.Such a graph would have been more appropriate for
our exampleabove, since we want to investigate thedevelopment
of revenuesand costsover the last year .·
Pie charts show how many
percent each category contributes to atotal, e.g. which part of the monthly costs stems
from wages,advertising expenditure, etc.·
Scatter plots allow us to plot observations for
two separatevariables. E.g. we could plot countries according to their GDP per capita and their
social security expenditures.In the following, we will create a more appropriate line graph for our
revenue and cost data.Using the chart wizard Once again, we start out by selecting the
data series that we want to plot.Remember to include the labels for both data series in your selection.
This button launches the chartwizard.We then call up the chart wizard by clicking on the appropriate icon. Thechart
wizard allows us to create and configure a chart in four steps. Inthe first step, we select which type of
graph we wish to use.For each type of chart, there are several subtypes. Excel provides a brief explanation of
the purpose of the currently selected type below theselection window. You can also call up
a preview to see how your datawould be displayed using the selected chart type. Once you are done,
74 Introduction to Microsoft Office●●●●●●●●●●●●
clicking ‘next’ will take you to the second step.From this step onward, Excel will automatically
provide you with athumbnail preview so that you have an idea what the final chart will look like. In the
second step, you have the opportunity to make minor adjustments to your chart. First of all, Excel
assumes that your data isarranged by columns, as is indeed the case in our example. If your datais
arranged by rows, then you can make the appropriate adjustment now:Secondly, and more
importantly, you can also adjust the labeling of your graph. To do so, switch from the ‘data range’ to
the ‘series’ category.Here, you can specify the label for each individual series, as well ascategory
headings that will be used to label thex-axis.Before we started the wizard, we
selected not only the actual data series, but also its label. Excel has recognized the top row as the
heading andhas already labeled the series for us: in the series list you can see that both data series are recorded
with the appropriate names. If necessary,you can change these labels be entering a
different name in the ‘name’ box.Before we continue with step 3, we also add category
labels. To do so,1.click on the ‘selection’ button in the ‘Category (X)
axis labels’ box…2.select the row headings from our original table, and …3.
confirm your choice by clicking on the ‘transfer reference’ button.Excel will then add
the appropriate labels to thex-axis. Our graph nowlooks roughly like this:
General Topics: Getting Hooked Up 75●●●●●●●●●●●●
Next on our agenda: adding titles to our graph and to the axes.Meticulous labeling generally
improves the quality of a graph. In our case, we might want to label the graph ‘Revenues &
Costs 2001’, withthe currency unit (‘Euro’) added to they
-axis.A brief overview of the other options:·
In most cases, you will need both axes. Still, you have the
optionof removing one or both of them by unselecting them in the‘axes’ menu. Furthermore,
you can also specify how the labelsfor thex-axis should be displayed. It is usually best to
go with the‘automatic’ setting.·
In the ‘gridlines’ category, you can switch
gridlines for both axeson and off. ‘Major’ gridlines are gridlines spaced at broadintervals.
‘Minor’ gridlines are only useful when your audienceneeds to be able to track down the
value for each observationrather precisely.·
The next category allows you to switch the legend on
and off,and it also allows you to specify where exactly it should belocated in the graph.·
The ‘data labels’ category allows you to add data labels to alllines. These labels are used when it is
important for your audience to know the exact values for each observation. Usingthese
labels tends to clutter your graph, so use them sparingly.·
Finally, adding a ‘data table’ enables you to
include the exact
76 Introduction to
Microsoft Office●●●●●●●●●●●●
values for each series and each observation in a table below thegraph.This
concludes the third step. The only remaining task is to specify thelocation of our graph.If you
wish to print the graph on one page together with your calculations, you should include it as an
object in the appropriate sheet.However, if you plan to transfer the graph to another document, e.g.
to aWord file, it will be of better quality if you place it on its own sheet for now.Once you click ‘finish’,
the chart will be created to your specifications:0 €2,000 €4,000 €6,000 €8,000 €10,000 €12,000 €14,000 €J a n u a r y F e b r u a r y M a r c h A p r i l M a y J u n e J u l y A u g u s t S e p t e m b e r O c t o b e r N o v e m b e r D e c e m b e rRevenuesCosts
If you find at a later point that you need to adjust any of the choicesmade so far, simply right-click on
any open space in the graph (i.e. noton the labels, lines, or axes). The menu that appears allows you to go back
to any of the four steps…Furthermore, you can edit the graph by double-clicking on any of the
General Topics: Getting Hooked Up 77●●●●●●●●●●●●
elements. E.g. double-clicking on one of the data series will allow you tospecify its style and color.
Similarly, clicking on the chart backgroundallows you to adjust its color and border. Finally,
you can also alter theappearance of the gridlines and axes in a variety of ways. The range of
options is vast and goes beyond the scope of this introduction.Transferring a graph to
another document To copy a graph to another document, e.g. for inclusion in a
writingassignment written in Word, simply click on the white area thatsurrounds the actual chart.
(Be careful not to click on the axes, labels or legend.) If you push the ‘copy’ button, you will note that the
entire chartwill be surrounded by a dashed border. You will be able to insert thegraph into other documents
as long as this border is there.‘Edit’„
‘Paste special…’When you insert the graph into Word or
PowerPoint, you may want todo so by selecting ‘Edit’, ‘Paste special’ from the menu bar, instead of
simply clicking on the ‘paste’ button. This will allow you to specifyhow
the chart should be inserted. Usually, the choice is between the options‘Microsoft Excel Chart
Object’, ‘Picture’ and a couple of others.Choosing ‘Microsoft Excel Chart Object’ allows
you to edit the graphlater on, even when you do not have the original Excel documentanymore. At the same
time, opting for ‘Microsoft Excel Chart Object’will greatly increase the size of your Word or
PowerPoint file becauseall data and all options need to be saved together with the chart. If youwant to keep
the file size as small as possible, go for the ‘picture’ option.There will be no qualitative
difference between the two ways of pastingthe chart.●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●
I m a g e : s i z e - i s n t - e v e r y t h i n g . c o . u k
M MI I C C
RROO
S S OOF
F T T P P
OOW
W E E
RRP P
OOI I
N N T T ●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●
11..I I N N T T R
ROODDU U C C T T I I OON N
Microsoft PowerPoint is a presentation graphics program. You can use itto prepare visual
aids and handouts for your presentations. If you areusing a beamer, you will even be
able to add movies, sounds andanimations to your presentation. In the following, we will acquaint
you with the program and offer you astep-by-step guide to preparing presentations.Starting PowerPoint
You can start PowerPoint by double-clicking on the PowerPoint icon onyour desktop. If there
is no such icon, you can start the program byclicking on ‘Programs’ and then ‘Microsoft PowerPoint’ in
the Startmenu. PowerPoint will start as well if you double-click on anyPowerPoint document.
Finally, you can also use the ‘new officedocument’ and ‘open office document tools’.‘Start’
„
‘Programs’„
‘Microsoft PowerPoint’Create newOffice docs.Open existingOffice docs.
Unless you are opening an existing PowerPoint document, you will be presented with a
range of choices that are meant to get you startedquickly. For now, we presume that you want to
create a new presentation. In that case, you have to choose between three options:The AutoContent
Wizard will provide you with a structured outline for your presentation. Say you want to
present a marketing strategy for your marketing course, then PowerPoint would suggest a
structure like this:·
Describe the market·
Introduce the product·
Provide an overview of the competition·
Position the product·
Discuss the communication strategy·
Comment on logistical aspects·
Provide a way to measure success·
Outline a scheduleThe AutoContent Wizard is an
extremely useful feature if you are notentirely certain how to structure your presentation.
But there is a major caveat: there are almost no AutoContent Wizards for students. In mostcases, you
will have to do it on your own.Template wizards do not help you with the actual content of your
presentation, but they provide pre-designed slides for your presentation.
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These templates include all the settings for
background patters, color schemes and fonts, so that you do not have to worry about the look of your
presentation anymore. The advantage is that you can immediatelystart working on the content.Howeve
r, some people are easily distracted by the design elements onthe slides. For these people, it may
be best to start with a blank presentation. You can always go back and add a design template later.In
the following, we will start off with a blank presentation. The mainreason is expressed by the mantra
‘form follows function’. A presentation is always about the content, so you should focus first
andforemost on what you want to say.After you have selected ‘blank presentation’ from the
opening screen,you will need to choose how your first slide should be structured.Choose your slide structure…
You will usually start your presentation with a title slide. To do so,double-click
on the top left option.Finding your way in PowerPoint At this point, you will be confronted with
the main screen of PowerPoint.
Microsoft PowerPoint:
Introduction 83●●●●●●●●●●●●
Besides the obligatory menu bar, toolbars and status bar, you will
notethat the screen has been divided into three distinct areas.Outline pane
Used to design the broadstructure of a presentation.To the left, we have theoutline pane. When you are creating a new
presentation, you will usually turn to the outline pane first. It is used to prepare the general
structure of your presentation.Slide previewArea where you edit your slides.The large area to the left is the
slide preview. This is where you willrefine your presentation by adding text,
images and graphs.Notes paneArea where you jot down notesfor individual slides.
Finally, below the slide preview is thenotes pane. Here you can leaveremarks regarding each
individual slide. These notes will not show up onthe screen during your presentation, but they will be
included in thehandouts that PowerPoint can generate for you.Before you start…
Be aware that your visualaidsare just that, a support for your presentation. You should first
and foremost focus on what you want tosay, not what is on the screen or on the overhead projector. A
good wayto obtain this focus by completing a short exercise before you startworking on your slides: find
a place where you are alone and try to holdyour speech without preparing or using any notes.
(If you are presentinga paper or essay you have written, put it away.) Even though the
exercisemay be awkward and your impromptu speech may be rather short, it is a
84 Introduction to Microsoft Office●●●●●●●●●●●●
helpful experience.Once you are done, collect all the points that you mentioned during your test
run. Now, try to structure your points logically, from the problem tothe solution, from the broad to the
detailed, etc.At this point (or even during your speech), you may notice that youforgot to mention one
thing or another. Be sure to include them in your structure, but highlight them with a colored marker
– these are topicsthat you may tend to forget again and you will have to pay specialattention
to them when rehearsing your presentation later.Once you have a broad structure, you are ready to
prepare your slides.We will do so in the following order:1.
Transfer your structure to PowerPoint2.Flesh out each individual slide3.
Add notes when necessary4.Check the order of your slides5.Add outlines and summaries6.
Add a layout and additional effectsThe first two steps are the biggest chunk of work, and we will
focus onthe in the following chapter. The remaining four tasks are concernedwith checking and
refining your presentation, and are discussed in thethird chapter of this section.●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●
COMING UP
22..B B
U U I I LLDDI I N N G G Y Y
OOU U RR V V
I I S S U U A ALL A A
I I DDS S This chapter discusses how youcan create transparencies inPowerPoint,
moving from a broad outline to a completeseries of slides.In the process of creating slides for a presentation,
creating a structureand populating your slides with text and illustrations is the largest part of the
work. Below, we will discuss how you can quickly create a largenumber of slides by transferring
your outline to PowerPoint. We willthen focus on giving these slides substance by adding text,
images,tables and charts.Transferring your structure to PowerPoint Entering your outline in PowerPoint
does not take too much time.Simply click once on the outline pane and you can start typing.
Initially,PowerPoint will interpret your input as titles for each slide. Every timeyou press
/, PowerPoint will generate a new slide for you. Thisway, you can easily create and label
a large number of slides withoutneeding to enter the actual content.However, if you have a
large number of slides, entering at least a fewkeywords regarding their content may be
beneficial. To do so, press/andT
after entering the title of a slide. PressingTmovesyou to a lower level: everything that
you enter now will show up askeywords on the slide. Once you are done entering the last keyword, press
/and thens + T. You will then be able to enter aslide title again.
Your outline might look likethis…The slide selector isdirectly below thescroll bar.Fleshing out the individual slides
Once you have prepared a broad outline, you will want to enter moredetailed text on each
slide. To do so, we move to the slide preview. Youcan use the scroll bars to select the slide that you want to
work on, or you can use the slide selector to browse through the slides one by one.On slides,
everything needs to be in placeholders. The advantage of placeholders is that they can be moved
around or resized easily to fityour needs. Almost all slides have pre-positioned placeholders,
whichyou can recognize by their dashed border and the hint ‘click to add text’or
‘click to add title’.Entering text To enter text, click once inside the border of the
placeholder of your choice. Once a placeholder contains text (or anything else), its border
becomes invisible. If you want to edit the text inside a placeholder,simply click once
on the text itself.
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When entering text, remember that your slides are only meant as asupport for
your actual presentation. That implies that you should keepyour text short and to the point. The best
way to do this is to restrictyourself to keywords only. You do not want your audience to
spendsignificant time reading elaborate sentences on the screen while theyshould be listening to you.
Also, for reasons of visibility, you shouldrestrict yourself to 30 words or (preferably) less
per slide, and make surethat the text is big enough. Font sizes around 30 pt. are best. Only if youare
really desperate can you go down to 24 pt. Everything below 24 pt. isa big no-no.Formatting text
To format your text, you can use the formatting toolbar.You have the
following options:c + s +F– Font This changes the typeface of
your text. There is usually a broadassortment of typefaces available, but the most
common ones arec + s +F– Font sizeThis changes the size of your
text. For reasons of visibility, choose sizesaround 30 pt. You should go no lower than 24
pt.Unlike in Word, it is probably best if not to use this option. To maintaina
uniform look throughout your slides, PowerPoint contains two optionsthat apply
standardized changes to your text. Both can be found on theformatting toolbar.
– Adjusting the font sizeThe first set of buttons allows you to change the size of your text. Eachtime
you click the ‘increase font size’ or ‘decrease font size’ buttons,PowerPoint adjusts the
size of your text by a degree that will be visibleon the screen.c + s +>
Increase the font size.
Microsoft PowerPoint:
Building Your Visual Aids 87●●●●●●●●●●●●
c + s +<
Decrease the font size.– Promoting and demoting text The second set of buttons adjusts the level
of the text. In your lists, someentries may be broad categories and some may be individual items
that belong to a category, as in our example below:·
Economics Propedeuseo
Block 1§Organization & Marketing§Quantitative Methods 1o
Block 2§Competition & Government Policy§Quantitative Methods 2Here,
‘Economics Propedeuse’ is the broadest category, and it containssubcategories such as ‘block 1’. These
subcategories in turn includeindividual entries, which are even narrower in scope.We say
that ‘Economics Propedeuse’ is on the highest level, and theother categories are on lower levels.
When you enter your list, you start by typing·
Economics Propedeuse·
Block 1Demote
At this point, you will have to demote ‘block 1’ to a lower level byclicking the ‘demote’
button, or pressingT.·
Economics Propedeuseo
Block 1PromoteIn PowerPoint, this will indent the line you are currently in. It will alsodecrease the
font size and change the style of the bullet to indicate aconceptual difference. To reverse the
process, you can ‘promote’ entriesto higher levels by using the ‘promote’ button or pressing
s + T.Bold
c +BItalics
c +
IUnderline
c +UShadow– Font styleThis changes the appearance
of your text. You can set your text inboldfaceor italics
, and you can underline your words or add asshhaaddooww.By convention, underlining is
no longer used to highlight text; instead,text is set in boldface or italics. Underlining is
now used to indicateInternet links instead. The shadow will be too weak to create adistinction
between more and less important text, but you can use it as anadded effect for words that stand alone.Left Center Right
c +Lc +R– Paragraph alignment
Allows you to choose whether your text is aligned to the left or rightmargin of the placeholder,
or whether it is centered.
88 Introduction to
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– List typeFinally, most of the text on slides is in the form of a list.
Here you canchoose whether it is an ordered or unordered list. To illustrate:Ordered list.Unordered list.
An ordered list: An unordered list:1.First item2.Second item·
One item·
Another item– Adjusting the color Finally, you can also change the color of the text, e.g. to indicate
animportant word. To do so, click on the ‘font color’ button which is (for no reason at all) not located
on the formatting but on the drawingtoolbar. This will change the color of your text to
whatever color isindicated on the button. (It is indicated in the bar below the ‘A’; in our case, it is black.)
Clicking on the left part of the button will change the color of your text to the color indicatedon the button.If you wish to use another color,click on the
right part of the button.If you do not want your text to be that particular color, you can click onthe right part
of the button to expand the color menu.The color menu always contains eight colors, all of which serve a
particular function.1.Background2.Text and lines3.Shadows4.Title text5.Fills6.
Accent7.Accent and hyperlink 8.Accent and followed hyperlink Depending on
the design template’s color scheme, the colors maychange, but their function will not. E.g.
the second color will always bethe standard color for text. To highlight text, use the ‘accent’ color
(no.six).We realize that (depending on your taste preferences), some of thesecolors may
cause nausea. In that case, feel free to click on ‘more fontcolors’ and take your pick from the palette
that pops up. However,sticking with the eight colors above has one advantage: if you change
toanother design template later on, your colors will be adjustedautomatically to the new color scheme.
Color that you choose from the‘more font colors’ palette will not be adjusted – you will have to
gothrough each slide manually to see if your colors conflict with the newdesign template.
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The effect your changes will have…
There are two possible scenarios. You may want to change text that youhave already typed, or you
may alter the attributes of text you are aboutto type.– Editing text When you want to change the
attributes of text that you already typed,you need to indicate which part of the text you want to affect.
You cando so by marking the text.1.Move your mouse pointer to the beginning of the text that
youwant to highlight.2.Press the left mouse button and keep it pressed while…3.
you move the mouse pointer to the end of the text.4.Make your changes.Using the mouse may
not always be the fastest way to select text. Thesection on selecting text on p. 90 details several
keyboard shortcuts thatcan greatly speed up the process.– Altering the attributes of text
you are about to typeIf you want to adjust the properties of text that you have not typed
yet,simply make the changeswithout highlighting anything and start typing.E.g. if
you know that the next word should be printed in italics, simply pressc +
I
or click on the italics-button and type the word. Tocontinue
typing normally, pressc +I
again.c +n
Removes all formatting.To remove formatting If you mistakenly italicized some text, you can
simply undo the damage by pressing the italics-button again. The same goes for all the formattingstyles
. There also is a shortcut to removeall formatting simultaneously:simply hold
cwhile pressingn.Cutting, copying, pasting
Just like in most Office programs, you can cut, copy and paste text andother objects. Before
you can cut or copy, you need to select theelements that you want to affect. The procedure
differs for selecting textand for selecting placeholders. Once you selected all
desired elements,
90 Introduction to
Microsoft Office●●●●●●●●●●●●
you can continue to cut and paste them normally. (See ch. 2 of
thegeneral section, ‘Common elements of Microsoft Office
programs’ for more details.)– Selecting text To select text using the mouse, follow
these three easy steps:1)Move your mouse pointer to the beginning of the text that
youwant to highlight.2)Press the left mouse button and keep it pressed while…3)
you move the mouse pointer to the end of the text.Instead of using the mouse, you can
also use the keyboard:1)Simply move the cursor to the beginning (or end) of the text.2)
Press and hold theskey while…3)… moving the cursor around
with the arrow keysu,d,l
andr.This allows you to highlight one character at a time. You can speed upthe
process by holdingsandcwhile using the arrow keys.
Thiswill highlight one word at a time.Some additional timesavers:·
Pressing
s + hor s + ehighlights everythingfrom your current position to the
beginning or end of the currentline.·
Pressingc + s + hor c + s + e
highlight everything from your current position to the top or bottom of the document.·
Pressing
s + Mor s + Whighlights larger portionsof text.·
Pressingc + s + u
or c + s + dhighlighteverything from your current position to the top or
bottom of the paragraph.Selecting placeholders1)Click on the first
placeholder. A border may appear around the placeholder. (This depends on its contents.)
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2)Press and holdswhile you click on the next
placeholder. It,too, may be surrounded by a border.3)Repeat the second step until you have
selected all desired placeholders.c +Z‘Edit’„
‘Undo’Undo changes.Undoing changesWhen you have done something really disastrous, e.g.
deleted all the texton one slide, you can always undo the changes one at a time by clickingthe
undo button. If you click on the right part of the undo button , youwill see a list of your last changes and
you can undo as many of them asyou like.If it turns out that the changes were indeed justified, you
can re-do them by clicking the ‘redo’ button. If you use the ‘redo’ button immediatelyafter pressing the
‘undo’ button, your changes will be restored. If your last action however was not to ‘undo’
something, then the ‘redo’ buttonwill be deactivated. Instead, you can use the keyboard
shortcut or theappropriate ‘Edit’ menu item to repeat your last action. This will
notwork in all circumstances.c +Y‘Edit’„
‘Redo’Redo
c +
Y‘Edit’„
‘Repeat’Repeat
c +M‘Insert’„
‘New Slide…’Insert additional slides.Adding additional slidesIf you need to insert additional slides at any
point, click on the ‘newslide’ button. You can then choose from an assortment of preformattedslid
es for simple text, two-sided arguments, tables, graphs etc.Choose your slide structure…
92 Introduction to Microsoft Office●●●●●●●●●●●●
Adds a table of the dimensionsthat you specify.Add a table to your slideTo add a table to your slide, simply click on
the ‘add table’ button on thestandard toolbar and select the dimensions of your table from
the gridthat pops up:The table will then be placed on your slide. Tables are always
placedinside their own placeholder – it is not possible to add a table to a preexisting
text placeholder.When you are above a table border, your mouse pointer lookslike this to indicate that you canresize the table.
You can now add text to the individual cells. If the cells are too big or too small, you can resize them by
placing your mouse on top of any of the borders, so that it turns into a double line that is pulled by
twoopposing arrows . Press and hold the left mouse button and resize thetable to your liking.
To see the ‘tables and borders’toolbar, press this button.Whenever you are working on a table, the ‘tables and
borders’ toolbar will automatically pop up. You can also force it to appear by clicking
the‘tables and borders’ button on the standard toolbar.Below, we provide a quick overview of its features.
Press this button to draw a table.When drawing tables, your mouse pointer looks like a pen.– Drawing toolsInstead of creating a table
as described above, you can also use thedrawing tools. Click on the ‘draw table’ button and your
mouse pointwill turn into a pen . Now you can conveniently draw cells and entiretables. When you are
done, you need to turn the drawing feature off byclicking on the ‘draw table’ button a second time.
Microsoft PowerPoint: Building
Your Visual Aids 93●●●●●●●●●●●●
If you made mistakes when drawing or if
your table has a fewsuperfluous cells, you can take care of them by using the eraser. Click onthe ‘eraser’
button to switch the feature on or off. When the tool isactivated, your mouse pointer will look like an
eraser and will performthe same function: it will remove unnecessary lines and cells
from your tables.Erase cells and borders using thistool.When erasing, your mouse pointer will look like this.Sets the line style.Sets
the border thickness.Sets the border color.– Border attributesYou can adjust three different types of border
attributes: their style,thickness and color. Among the border styles you can select to have no
border, a straight line, or a dashed line. The thickness determines how pronounced the border will
appear on the screen. Common values are 1 pt., 2 ½ pt. and 3 ¼ pt. Finally, the border color
button presents you withthe obvious choice. Once again, you can choose between colors from
thestandardized color scheme or from the ‘more colors’ palette.The borders menu.– Borders menuThe borders menu allows
you to quickly adjust the borders of a wholearray of cells or even of the entire table. To apply these
settings, youneed to select the cells that you want to affect. You can then expand the borders menu
by click on the right part of the button :Each of these buttons will make a number of borders visible
or invisible.E.g. if you highlight your entire table and click on the top left button,you will get a border
around your table, but no internal borders betweenyour cells.This button allows you to pick a
background color for your cells.– Background color You can set the background color of any cell by using the
‘backgroundcolor’ button. As always, you can take your pick from the standardizedcolor scheme or
you can opt for any other color.Quick access to the table menu.– Table menuThe table menu gives you access to a
number of maintenance functionsfor your table: you can add columns and rows and
quickly select parts of your table or even the entire table.
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Microsoft Office●●●●●●●●●●●●
Merge as many cells as you likeusing this button.This button lets you split a cellinto a number
of rows and/or columns.– Merge & split cellsIn some cases, you may want to combine a number of cells
into onelarger cell. You can do so by highlighting these cells and then clickingon the ‘merge
cells’ button. Obviously, this button will only work if youhave selected more than one cell. The opposite is
also possible: you cansplit a cell into as many rows and columns as you want, simply byclicking on
the ‘split cell’ button. This button is not available when youhave selected more than one cell.Top Center Bottom
– Vertical alignment The vertical alignment determines whether your text is located at
the top,the center or the bottom of each cell.Adding other elements to your slides
You can also freely insert content from other applications. You may e.g.want to add
a graph from Excel. To do so, simply cut or copy the graphin Excel and paste it into your slide. The
object will automatically be placed inside its own placeholder, so that you can move it around
andresize it.Alternatively, you can add pictures, movies, sounds and other objects
byclicking on ‘Insert’ on the menu bar, and then selecting among the‘Picture’, ‘Movies and
sounds’ and ‘Object’ options. You can insert pictures from files, from a scanner or from
a digital camera, and youmay want to check out PowerPoint’sClipArt
library. Finally, you caninsert just about any object that you can create using other software.‘Insert’„
‘Picture’‘Insert’„
‘Movies and Sounds’‘Insert’„
‘Object…’ClipArtA picture or drawing insertedinto text
documents for illustration purposes.Moving and resizing individual placeholders
Once you placed your content on the slide, you may want to refine thelayout by moving the
individual placeholders around or by expanding or shrinking some of the items.The border of a text placeholder.Your
mouse pointer will look like this.To move tables and text placeholders, click inside them once to maketheir
border visible. If you place your mouse pointer on top of the border, it will sport a four-way arrow:
you can now move the objectaround by pressing and holding the left mouse button while moving
themouse. Moving objects other than text boxes or tables is even easier:your mouse pointer
only needs to be on top of the object, you do nothave to worry about its border.
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To resize objects, use the whitesquares at the corners and in themiddle of their border.When
resizing objects, your mouse pointer will look like atwo-pronged arrow.Resizing objects works in a similar way. If you are working
with a text placeholder or a table, you need to make its border visible by clicking onthe text or
table once. Notice that there are white squares at each of thefour corners and in the middle of
each border. When you place your mouse pointer on top of any of these squares, it will turn into a two-
pronged arrow, indicating that you can now make the object larger or smaller. Simply press the left
mouse button and keep it pressed whileyou move the object’s border.Example:
Move your mouse pointer to one of the squares.Press the left mouse button and keep it pressedwhile you relocate the border.Release the mouse buttonwhen
the object has thedesired dimensions.Note that each square only allows you to move the border(s) to
which itis attached. E.g. the square in the middle of the top border will allow youto move the top
border up and down (see above), while the square in thelower right corner allows you to
simultaneously move the borders to theright and below the object. The mouse pointer
will indicate in whichdirections you can move.To resize objects other than text boxes and tables, you
will need to click on them once. At this point, the appropriate white squares
will appear next to the object.Adding arrows, geometric shapes, etc.Finally, you may want to add
arrows, boxes or other shapes to conveycertain ideas. You may e.g. want to draw a mind-map. You can
easily doso using the drawing toolbar.Simply select a shape by clicking on the appropriate
button and startdrawing. To draw, move your mouse to the point where you want theupper left
corner of the object to be. Press and hold the left mouse buttonand move to the point where the lower
right corner should be located. If the object did not come out quite right, you can
move and resize it like
96 Introduction to
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any other object on a slide.Furthermore, you can easily adjust its
properties by using one of theattribute buttons on the drawing toolbar.The ‘draw’ menu offers a
greatnumber of further options.Finally, the ‘draw’ menu features some additional options, such asrotating
objects or placing them in above or below other objects. The‘draw’ menu can also
be found on the drawing toolbar.●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●
●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●
COMING UP
3 3..
RRE E F F I I N N I
I N N G G &&RR
E E H H E E A ARRS S
I I N N G G In this chapter, we learn how to perfect the order of slides, howto add outlines and
summaries,and how to prepare a slide showor printouts for your presentation.Once you have prepared all individual
slides, it is time to polish your presentation by checking the order of the slides, adding outlines
andsummaries, and by rehearsing it. Finally, we will turn to the question of printing your
slides and materials or transferring them to a disk.Before you go on…At this point, you may want
to have a first rehearsal of your presentation. You should try to do the test run without
notes: by now,you have spent considerable time on your presentation, so you should
befairly well acquainted with its content and order. This rehearsal servesseveral purposes:·
to give you a better idea of what you will be saying when eachindividual slide is on·
to time yourself
·
to check whether the content of all slides fits your speech, so thatany mistakes can be
corrected before you invest further work ·
to see if you have trouble remembering certain facts,
figures or discussion points, which can then be put on cue cards for useduring the presentationThe
re are several ways you can rehearse. Pressing5
will start the presentation. You can usen,/,
d,randNor the leftmouse button to move
forward in your presentation, i.e. to put the nextslide on. If you went too far, you can useu
,landPto return to the previous slide.‘Slide show’„
‘Rehearsetimings’Alternatively, you can do a timed rehearsal. To do so, click on ‘Slideshow’, ‘Rehearse timings’ on the
menu bar. The computer will now keeptrack of the time you spend on each slide. When you are done with
your presentation, PowerPoint will tell you the overall total and will give youthe option of saving
the timing for each slide. At this point, you shouldselect ‘no’, to keep PowerPoint from using
these timings toautomatically switch from slide to slide16
.Adding notes
One of the reasons for the rehearsal was to find out whether you havetrouble remembering certain items. If
you do, you may want todocument them in the notes for the appropriate slides.
Alternatively, youcan direct your notes at your audience and have PowerPoint print themon
your handouts. The choice is up to you.16
You should use the automatic slide timing only when your presentation is complete and you
have rehearsed it severaltimes so that you know your rhythm. Until then, it is best to manually switch from slide to slide
98 Introduction to Microsoft Office●●●●●●●●●●●●
The fourth icon on the viewselector takes you to the ‘slidesorter’ view.‘View’„
‘Slide sorter’Check the order of your slides
Another reason for the rehearsal was to check whether your slides are ina sensible order so that your
presentation flows naturally and does not jump from topic to topic. If you want to rearrange your
slides, you canswitch to the ‘slide sorter view’ using the view selection bar or byclicking on
‘View’, ‘Slide sorter’ on the menu bar.The slide sorter view provides you with miniature previews of a
largenumber of slides, allowing you to simply pick them up and drag themaround.PowerPoint in the ‘slide sorter’ view.
To move a slide, simply click on it and keep the left mouse button pressed while
you drag it to its new position.Add outlines and summariesIn the last stage of the content phase, you may want to give
your audience some additional guidance. It is beneficial to start your presentation with an outline
of the subjects that you will discuss, and tosummarize your arguments before reaching a conclusion.
Automatically create a summaryslide…An outline slide is meant to give an overview of the topics that you areabout to
discuss. In most of the cases, it will be sufficient if it simplycontains a list of these topics. Such a
slide, which is called a ‘summaryslide’ in PowerPoint, can easily be created automatically:
simplyhighlight all your slides (or at least the important ones) in the slide sorter view17
and click on the ‘summary slide’ button. This will automatically17
Click on the first slide, press and holds, then click on the last slide. To select or unselect individual slides, press andhold
cwhile clicking on the slides.
General Topics: Getting
Hooked Up 99●●●●●●●●●●●●
insert an outline slide (or possibly several outline slides) containing
thetitles of all the highlighted slides.While PowerPoint calls your outline a summary page,
a real summary page is meant to recapture your main arguments before your conclusion.It is meant to
provide the big picture for the audience that may still bestuck in the detailed arguments that
you presented. Such a page should be written manually.When you are giving a rather long
presentation, it may be a good idea tohave an outline at the beginning and a summary at the end of each
partof the presentation – but this usually applies only to presentations thatlast 10
minutes or longer.‘Format’„
‘Apply designtemplate…’
Add a layout and additional effectsDesign templatesWith the content prepared, we
turn towards the looks of your presentation. If you started out with a blank presentation, you can nowadd
a design template to your slides by selecting ‘Format’ from themenu bar, and then
clicking on ‘Apply design template’. You can thenchoose out of an array of different designs. Your
choice will affect allthe slides in your presentation.‘View’„
‘Normal’
Be aware that design templates also change the fonts used in your slides,so that the text may be
arranged slightly differently. Check eachindividual slide to see if you need to
correct anything. You can switch back from the ‘slide sorter’ view to the ‘normal’ view by
clicking on thefirst icon on the view selector bar, by double-clicking on any individualslide
in the ‘slide sorter’ view or by selecting ‘View’, ‘Normal’ from themenu bar.
Transitions and animationsAlso, if you are delivering your presentation using a beamer or computer
screen, you may want to add some transitions and animations to your slides. Transitions determine how
a new slide replaces its predecessor onthe screen. Your new slides could e.g. fly in from the right
side of thescreen. Or the screen could fade to black and then fade in on the newslide. Animations, on
the other hand determine how individualdiscussion points enter the screen. By default, all your discussion
pointsare immediately visible on your slide. If you select an animation, your slide will
initially be empty (except for the title) and your bullet pointswill enter the screen one by one at the
push of a button.
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A number of different options available in the ‘slide sorter’ view. First,mark
all the slides to which you want to apply a particular effect. Thenclick on the ‘transition’ field and select
a transition effect. The sameholds for animations. You will see a miniature preview once
you haveselected any effect.Choose your transition here……and your animation here.
Rehearsing your presentationFinally, you may want to rehearse your presentation for a couple
moretimes. (You will find more detailed information regarding timed andnon-timed rehearsal on p.
97.) This is also the time to prepare your cuecards.Transferring your presentation
There are many different ways to take your slides to the presentation. If you know that you can use a
beamer or computer screen when deliveringyour presentation, you will want to take them in
electronic form.Otherwise, you will need to create sheets for an overhead projector.Finally, you may
want to distribute handouts so that your audience cantake notes during the presentation.
This saves your presentation…Transferring your slides in electronic formIf you know that PowerPoint is installed on the
PC you will be usingduring your presentation, you only need to save your presentation. To
doso, click on the ‘save’ button. By default, your slides will be saved as anormal
‘presentation’. Instead, you may opt to save it as a ‘PowerPointshow’. The difference is
marginal: when you open a ‘PowerPoint show’,the presentation starts immediately.
This saves some time because it willnot open directly in PowerPoint and you do not need to press
5
to startthe presentation. To save your slides as a show, select ‘PowerPointsho
w’ in the ‘save as type’ selection box. Once you have saved the file,you can transfer it to a
floppy disk or email it to the place were you willuse it.‘File’„
‘Pack and go’
If, however, there are doubts whether you have PowerPoint availableduring your
presentation, it is best to go with the ‘Pack and go’ wizard.Simply click on ‘File’ from the menu
bar, and then select ‘Pack and go’.This wizard packages your presentation so you can use it on
anyWindows-PC. The first step does not require any action, so you canimmediately click on
‘next’.In the second step, you need to indicate which presentation you want to package. For
now, we assume that you want to use the presentation thatyou are currently working on.
General Topics: Getting Hooked Up 101●●●●●●●●●●●●
In the third step, you can choose where you want to save the final result. Next, PowerPoint needs to know
what it should include. If you includedany graphics or other objects, be sure to select ‘include linked
files’. If you used any fancy fonts (instead of the normal fonts that are set bydefault), you should also
select ‘embed TrueType fonts’ to be on the safeside.Finally, if you know that the PC to be used during
your presentationdoes not have PowerPoint installed, youalways
need to include theviewer.This was the last step, clicking on ‘finish’ now will create several files.A
setup file (‘pngsetup’) and one or more archive files (in our case:‘pres0.ppz’). If you
selected a floppy disk drive as a destination, then thefiles may not fit on a single floppy. They
will then be distributed over several disks. To install your presentation, simply run ‘pngsetup’
bydouble-clicking on the icon. This will then allow you to extract your entire presentation to a
destination of your choice. After extraction of thefiles, you will be given the option of immediately
running the presentation.As a final remark: be aware that many things can go wrong. Thecomputer or
beamer you were planning to use may be out of order, your floppy disk may be damaged or you
may be forced to shift to another room that does not have the appropriate equipment
installed. If it is nottoo expensive, it may be advisable to print your
presentation on a set of
102 Introduction to
Microsoft Office●●●●●●●●●●●●
ordinary overhead sheets (see below) just to be safe.
If you are using an overhead projector In this case, you will have to print a set of overhead sheets.
If you have a printer at home, it may be able to print sheets for you. Please check itsuser manual to see if
it is capable of doing so and if it needs any particular type of sheets. You should be able to get blank
sheets at anydecent stationary store.If you cannot use your own printer to produce sheets,
you can print your sheets in the computer lab. To do so, save your presentation on a floppy(see
above), open it in the SMR and pressc +P. (Donot
press the print button, this will instantaneously create a printout before you canmake any of the required
adjustments!)To avoid making any costly misprints, please follow these
instructions precisely:1.Select ‘Tektronix 850’ as printer.2.Click on ‘Properties’
(right next to the printer name).3.Set ‘transparency’ as the paper source.4.
Close the ‘properties’ window by clicking on ‘ok’.5.Make sure that the number of
copies is set to ‘1’,6.that PowerPoint is about to print ‘slides’,7.and (if you want color sheets)
that ‘grayscale’ and ‘pure black and white’ are not selected.8.Start the print process by clicking on
‘ok’.Please be aware that printing slides (and particularly color slides) issignificantly more expensive
than printing normal documents. Also, youwill need to return the settings to their initial
values after your printout if you intend to print other documents too.
General Topics:
Getting Hooked Up 103●●●●●●●●●●●●
Preparing handouts and notes
PowerPoint can also generate handouts for your audience. There are twodifferent types:
‘handouts’, which only include miniature views of your slides, and ‘notes pages’ which
include a copy of each slide together with the notes that you entered for that slide.For
print options, pressc +P. (Please make sure that a Hewlett-
Packard laser printer is selected at this stage.) To print handouts, simplyselect them from the
‘print what?’ list. You can then choose how manyslides should be printed per page: 2, 3, 4, 6
and 9 are possible values.Three slides are a common value, because this setting
leavesyour audience enough room to take notes for each individualslide.Alternatively,
you can also print notes for your presentation. To print them, all you need to do is to select
‘notes pages’ from the‘print what?’ list.●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●
I m a g e : s i z e - i s n t - e v e r y t h i n g . c o . u k
A AP P P
P E E N
N
DDI I X X ●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●
A A..A AS S
E E LLE E C C T T I I
OON N OOF F U U
S S E E F F U U LL E E
X X C C E E LL F F
U U N N C C T T I I OON N S S
This appendix lists a number of useful Excel functions in the areas of mathematics and statistics.
All logical functions are listed as well, asthey play a crucial part in any subject area.For each
function, the following information is given:·
its use·
its
syntax·
an explanation of the variables (if applicable)Also, one or more examples are
provided for most functions.SyntaxSet of grammatical rules. Thesyntax determines in which order you convey information. Just
asthere is a certain order in theEnglish language, e.g. ‘Subject – Verb – Object’ for a normalsentence, there is a certain order to information that
you pass onto your computer. Without thisorder, the computer would beunable to understand thesignificance of each bit of information.
Whenever we discuss the syntax of a function, we will indicate it with aspecial font:
SUM (number 1, number 2, …)Allrequired
parts of a function will be printed in bold. In our example,you will need to include at least
one number in the brackets. You caninclude more numbers, separated by commas18
, but it is not necessary todo so. Note:Mathematical functionsabs() – Absolute value
This function returns theabsolute valueof a number, i.e. the samenumber but without its sign.
ABS (number)where:·
number is a number of your choice or a reference to a
single cellExamples:=ABS(-5)will return 5=ABS(5.867)will return 5.867
exp() – (Natural) exponential functionThis functionraisesEuler’s number
eto a power. In mathematicalterms:x
e
EXP (exponent)where:18
Note that punctuation marks depend on the regional settings of your PC. For
further information, see p. 3.
108 Introduction to
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·
exponent is any number or reference to a
single cellExamples:=EXP(0)returns 1=EXP(1)returns 2.7183 (e
, Euler’s number)=EXP(2)returns2
e= 7.389Remark:exp()
is the inverse of ln(), the natural logarithm.ln() – Natural logarithm
This function returns the natural logarithm of a number.LN (number)where:·
number is any positive number or reference to a single cellwhich contains a
positive number Examples:=LN(-1)will return a #NUM! error because the
number is not positive=LN(0)will return a #NUM! error because the
number is not positive=LN(1)will return 0=LN(2.7183)will return 1Remark:
ln()is the inverse of exp(), the natural exponential function.
log() – LogarithmThis function returns the logarithm of a number to a specified base.
LOG (number , base)where:·
number
is any positive number or reference to a single cellwhich contains a positive number o
base
is any positive number or reference to a single cell whichcontains a positive number (optional, if left
empty, ‘10’ will beused)Examples:=LOG(-1)will return a #NUM! error because the
number is not positive=LOG(10)will return 1=LOG(2, 5)will return 0.431
Appendix: A Selection of Useful
Excel Functions 109●●●●●●●●●●●●
Matrix functionsAll matrix functions except
mdeterm()are slightly different fromnormal functions because they need to be
entered for several cellssimultaneously. Such functions are calledarray functions
.To enter such functions, follow these three steps:1.Select as many cells as you need (in the
correct proportion). E.g.if you are calculating the inverse of 2 × 2 matrix, you will
needto select 2 × 2 cells.Array functionsFunctions that are valid for anarray of cells. The result of sucha function not only depends onthe function itself, but
also onthe position of each cell in thearray. E.g. the same functioncould return a different result for cell 2 in row 1 than for cell 4 inrow 3. Array functions
areentered in a different way thannormal functions.2.Enter the formula, e.g.
=MINVERSE (A1:B2)…3.and press
c + s + /to apply it to all selectedcells
simultaneously. Note that the formula for each of the cells has subtly changed. It nowreads
={ MINVERSE (A1:B2) }, to indicate that it is valid for an entirearray of cells.
mdeterm() – Determinant of a matrixReturns the determinant of asquare matrix
. (This function shouldnot beentered as an array function.)
MDETERM (array of cells)where:·
array of cells
is reference to a coherent block of cells with anequal amount of rows and columns (there are no
determinants for non-square matrices)Examples:=MDETERM(A1:B2)
will return the inverse of this 2 × 2 matrix=MDETERM(A1:B3)will return a #VALUE! error
because this is not asquare matrixRemark: if any cells in the matrix are empty or contain text,
mdeterm()will return a #VALUE! error.– minverse() – Inverse of a matrix
Returns the inverse of asquare matrix.This function needs to beentered as an array function!
The resulting matrix will be of the samesize as the original matrix.
110 Introduc
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MINVERSE (array of cells)
where:·
array of cellsis reference to a coherent block of cells with anequal amount
of rows and columns (non-square matrices cannot be inverted)Examples:
=MINVERSE(A1:B2)will return the inverse of this 2 × 2 matrix=MINVERSE(A1:B3)
will return a #VALUE! error because this is not asquare matrixRemarks:·
If any cells in the matrix are
empty or contain text,minverse()will return a #VALUE! error.·
Not all square matrices can be inverted.minverse()returns a#NUM! error if a matrix
does not have an inverse.– mmult() – Matrix multiplicationReturns the product of a
matrix multiplication of ak ×mand an
m×nmatrix.This function needs to be entered as an array function!
Theresulting matrix will be of the order k ×n.
MINVERSE (first array, second array)where:·
first array
is reference to a coherent block of cells of any size,i.e. a matrix of the order k ×
m, wherek andmcan be freelychosen·
second array is reference to a coherent block of cells that has asmany rows as there are
columns in the first array, i.e. a matrix of the order m×n
, wherencan be freely chosen butm
isdetermined by the first arrayExamples:=MMULT(A1:B3,G17:I18)will return a 3 × 3 matrix
=MMULT(A1:C3,G17:I18)will return a #VALUE! error, because thenumber of columns in
array one (3) is unequal to the number of rows in array two (2)Remark: if any cells in the matrix are
empty or contain text,mmult()will return a #VALUE! error.
– transpose() – Transposes a matrixReturns the transpose of a matrix, i.e. a matrix whose
rows have beenconverted into columns.This function needs to be entered as an arrayfunction!
If the original matrix is of the order m×n
, then the resultingmatrix will be of the order n×m
.
Appendix: A Selection of Useful
Excel Functions 111●●●●●●●●●●●●
TRANSPOSE (array of cells)
where:·
array of cellsis reference to a coherent block of cellsExample:
=TRANSPOSE(A1:C2)will return a 3 × 2 matrixRemark: there are no restrictions
regarding the content of the cells.Transpose also works with text or empty cells.pi() – p
Returnsp
(pi), 3.141…, accurate to 15 digits.PI ()No parameters are required.
round() – Rounding Rounds a number to a specified amount of digits
after the decimal point.ROUND (number, amount of digits)where:·
number is the number that you want to round·
amount of digits
is the amount of digits after the decimal pointto which you want to round (entering negative
numbers willcause Excel to round before the decimal point)Examples:=ROUND(1.234, 0)
will return 1=ROUND(1.234, 1)will return 1.2=ROUND(42.234, -1)will return 40
sqrt() – Square root Returns the square root of a number.SQRT (number)
where:·
number is any positive number Examples:=SQRT(4)will return 2
=SQRT(-4)will return a #NUM! error, because the square root of anegative
number is not defined
112 Introduction to
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sum() – SumsAdds the contents of cells.
SUM (number 1, number 2, …)where:·
number 1
is a number or a reference to a (group of) cellso
you can include additional cell references or numbers up to
atotal of 30 (optional)Examples:=SUM(1,2,3)will return 6=SUM(A1:A200)
will add the contents of all 200 cells and return thetotal=SUM(A1:B3,6,C7)
will add the contents of the number 6 to thecontents of the cells A1:B3 and C7Remark: empty cells or
cells that contain text, logical values or errorswill be ignored.trunc() – Truncation
Truncates a number with a specified precision.TRUNC (number
, amount of digits)where:·
number
is the number that you want to truncateo
amount of digitsis the number of digits after the
decimal pointthat you want to preserve (optional, if left empty, ‘0’ will beused; entering a negative value
for ‘amount of digits’ will cut of digits in front of the decimal point)Examples:=TRUNC(18.956)
returns 18=TRUNC(18.956,1)returns 18.9=TRUNC(18.956,-1)returns 10
Statistical functionsaverage() – MeanReturns the arithmetic mean of the specified
cells or numbers.AVERAGE (number 1, number 2, …)where:·
number 1is a number or a reference to a (group of) cellso
you can include additional cell references or
numbers up to atotal of 30 (optional)
Appendix: A Selectio
n of Useful Excel Functions 113●●●●●●●●●●●●
Examples:
=AVERAGE(1,2,3)will return 2=AVERAGE(A1:A200)will return the average of all
200 cellsRemark: empty cells or cells that contain text, logical values or errorswill be
ignored. A cell that contains a ‘0’ will therefore affect the mean,an empty cell will not.
binomdist() – Binomial distributionReturns the binomial probably of k
successes inntrials, when the probability of a success isp.
BINOMDIST (k, n, p, cumulative)where:·
k is the amount of success, a
natural number between 0 andn·
nis the total amount of trials,
a positive natural number ·
pis the probability for success as a
percentage or decimal value·
cumulativeis a logical value that determines whether the
probability mass function or cumulative probability is returnedExamples:
=BINOMDIST(1,2,50%,false)returns 0.5=BINOMDIST(1,2,0.5,false)returns 0.5
=BINOMDIST(1,2,0.5,true)returns 0.75=BINOMDIST(2,1,0.5,true)returns a #NUM! error
because therecannot be more successes than there are trials=BINOMDIST(1,2,1.1,true)
returns a #NUM! error because probabilities cannot be smaller than 0
(0%) or larger than 1(100%)critbinom() – Binomial distributionDetermines the amount of
successes for which the cumulative probability equals or supersedes a
specified critical value.CRITBINOM (n, p, critical value)where:·
n
is the total amount of trials, a positive natural number ·
pis the probability for
success as a percentage or decimal value·
critical valueis the percentile that you want to
determineExample:=CRITBINOM(10,0.5,0.75)will return 6, because the cumulative
probability for 6 successes is past the 75% threshold(82.8%), while the cum. probability for 5 successes
remained below the critical value (62.3%)
114 Introduction to
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00.050.10.150.20.250.301 2 34 5 67 8 91 0 k > 75%
count() – Number of elementsCounts the amount of numbers in a list.
COUNT (number 1, number 2, …)where:·
number 1
is a number or a reference to a (group of) cells·
you can include additional cell references or numbers up to
atotal of 30 (optional)Examples:=COUNT(1,2,3)will return 3
=COUNT(1,"A",3)will return 2=COUNT(A1:A200)will return the amount of cells
between A1 andA200 that contain a numerical valueRemark: empty cells or cells that
contain text, logical values or errorswill be ignored.max() – Largest element
Finds and returns the largest element in a list of numbers.MAX (number 1
, number 2, …)where:·
number 1is a number or a reference to a (group of) cells
o
you can include additional cell references or numbers up to atotal of 30 (optional)Examples:
=MAX(1,2,3)will return 3=MAX(A1:A200)will search the cells between A1 and A200
and returnthe largest value=MAX(A1:A200, 10)will return 10 or the largest value found
betweenA1 and A200, whichever is larger
Appendix: A
Selection of Useful Excel Functions 115
●●●●●●●●●●●●
Remark: empty cells or cells that contain text, logical values or errorswill be ignored.
median() – MedianReturns the median of a list of numbers, i.e. it returns the middle value.
MEDIAN (number 1, number 2, …)where:·
number 1
is a number or a reference to a (group of) cells; thenumbers do not need to be orders
according to valueo
you can include additional cell references or numbers up to atotal of 30
(optional)Examples:=MEDIAN(1,2,3)will return 2=MEDIAN(1,2,3,4)
will return 2.5 (the average of 2 and 3)=MEDIAN(1,2,3,5)
will return 2.5 (the average of 2 and 3)=MEDIAN(2,5,1,3)will return 2.5 (the average of
2 and 3)Remark: empty cells or cells that contain text, logical values or errorswill be
ignored. A cell that contains a ‘0’ will therefore affect themedian, an empty cell will not.
min() – Smallest element Finds and returns the smallest element from a list of numbers.
MIN (number 1, number 2, …)where:·
number 1
is a number or a reference to a (group of) cellso
you can include additional cell references or numbers up to
atotal of 30 (optional)Examples:=MIN(1,2,3)will return 1=MIN(A1:A200)
will search the cells between A1 and A200 and returnthe smallest value=MIN(A1:A200, 5)
will return 5 or the smallest value found betweenA1 and A200, whichever is smaller Remark:
empty cells or cells that contain text, logical values or errorswill be ignored.
116 Introduction to Microsoft Office●●●●●●●●●●●●
normdist() – Normal distributionReturns the (cumulative) probability for a point under a
normaldistribution with a given mean and standard deviation.NORMDIST (x, mean,
standard deviation, cumulative)where:·
x
is the value for which you want the probability·
meanis the mean of the normal distribution
·
standard deviationis the standard deviation of the normaldistribution·
cumulativeis a logical value that determines whether thecumulative probability is
returned (for most intents and purposes,this value will be set to true)Examples:
=NORMDIST(75,80,5,TRUE)will return 0.159
=NORMDIST(A1,100,25,TRUE)will return the cumulative probability under the
normal distribution withm
= 100 ands
= 25 on the interval [– ∞
, A1] (see graph)normsdist() –Standard normal distributionWorks like
normdist(), but uses the standard normal distribution.normsdist()
returns only the cumulative probability.NORMDIST (z)where:·
z
is the value for which you want the probabilityExample:=NORMSDIST(0)
will return 0.50norminv() – Normal distributionReturns the pointx
under a normal distribution with a given mean andstandard deviation for
which the interval [– ∞
,x] yields a given probability.
NORMINV (probability, mean, standard deviation)where:
Appendi
x: A Selection of Useful Excel
Functions 117●●●●●●●●●●●●
·
probability is the cumulative probability
under the normaldistribution on the interval [– ∞
,x]
·
meanis the mean of the normal distribution·
standard deviation
is the standard deviation of the normaldistributionExamples:=NORMINV(0.5,100,10)will return 100
=NORMINV(40%,100,25)will return the pointxindicated in the graph below
normsinv() –Standard normal distributionWorks likenorminv()
, but uses the standard normal distribution.NORMSINV (probability)where:·
probability
is the cumulative probability under the standardnormal distribution on the interval [– ∞
,z ]Example:=NORMSINV(50%)will return 0
percentile() – PercentilesReturns the specified percentile.PERCENTILE (array of
cells, percentile)where:·
array of cells
is reference to a coherent block of cells·
percentileis the percentile as a decimal
value between 0 and 1Examples:=PERCENTILE(A1:A200,0.1)will return the 10th
percentile=PERCENTILE(A1:A200,1.1)will return a #NUM! error
becausethere is no 110th
percentileRemarks:·
if the array contains less
than 1 or more than 8,191 elements,percentile()will return a #NUM! error ·
empty cells or cells that contain text, logical values or errors will
118 Introduc
tion to Microsoft Office●●●●●●●●●●●●
be ignored·
percentile(A1:A200,0)
is equivalent tomin(A1:A200)·
percentile(A1:A200,0.5)is equivalent tomedian(A1:A200)
·
percentile(A1:A200,1)is equivalent tomax(A1:A200)quartile() – Quartiles
Returns a specified quartile.QUARTILE (array of cells, QUARTILE)
where:·
array of cellsis reference to a coherent block of cells·
quartiledetermines, which quartile will be returned:§0 – the minimum value§
1 – the lower quartile§2 – the median§3 – the upper quartile§
4 – the maximum valueExamples:=PERCENTILE(A1:A200,1)will return the lower quartile
=PERCENTILE(A1:A200,6)will return a #NUM! error because thesecond value needs to be a
natural number between 0 and 4Remarks:·
if the array contains less than 1 or more
than 8,191 elements,quartile()will return a #NUM! error ·
empty cells or cells that
contain text, logical values or errors will be ignored·
quartile(A1:A200,0)is equivalent to
min(A1:A200)·
quartile(A1:A200,2)is equivalent tomedian(A1:A200)·
quartile(A1:A200,4)is equivalent tomax(A1:A200)stdev() – Standard deviation
Calculates the standard deviation of a sample.STDEV (number 1, number 2, …
)where:·
number 1is a number or a reference to a (group of) cellso
you can include additional cell references or numbers up to atotal of 30 (optional)Example:
=STDEV(A1:A10)will return the standard deviation of the valuescontained
in the cells A1 through A10.
Appendix: A Selection of
Useful Excel Functions 119●●●●●●●●●●●●
tdist() – Student t-distribution
Returns the one- or two-tailed cumulative probability for a point under aT-distribution with given
degrees of freedom.TDIST (x, d.f., tails)where:·
x
is the value for which you want the probability·
d.f.indicates the degrees of
freedom of the distribution·
tailsindicates whether you want the one- or two-tailed
probabilityExamples:=TDIST(1,200,1)will return 0.159 (see graph)
=TDIST(1,200,2)is equivalent to=2*TDIST(1,200,1)Remark: when d.f. < 1 or when
tails does not equal 1 or 2, tdist() willreturn a #NUM! error.tinv() – Student t-distribution
Returns the pointxwhich cuts off a given probability in both tails of
astudent T-distribution with given degrees of freedom.
TINV (probability, d.f.)where:·
probability is the total cumulative
probability that should be leftin both tails (e.g. 5% in total implies 2.5% in each tail, see graph)·
d.f.indicates the degrees of freedom of the distribution
120 Introduc
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Example:=TINV(5%,200)
will return 1.972 (see graph)var() – VarianceCalculates the variance of a sample.
VAR (number 1, number 2, …)where:·
number 1
is a number or a reference to a (group of) cellso
you can include additional cell references or numbers up to
atotal of 30 (optional)Example:=VAR(A1:A10)will return the standard
deviation of the valuescontained in the cells A1 through A10.Logical statementA comparison of two pieces of information that is
either corrector incorrect, e.g. 0 = 1 is such astatement, and it is incorrect.Logical functionsLogical functions allow
a computer to deal with logical statements. Alogical statement is a statement that
compares one bit of informationwith another to check whether they fulfill a certain
condition. For instance,A2 = 2is such a statement. Here, the two bits of informationare
the cell ‘A2’ and the number ‘2’, and the condition is that both bitsof information must be equal to
each other. Another statement would beA2 > 2. In this case, the condition is
that the cell ‘A2’ must contain avalue that is larger than 2.Excel will try to determine
whether a condition has been met or not. Inour latter example,A2 > 2
, the condition would be met e.g. if the cell‘A2’ contains the value ‘3’, because 3 > 2.
In that case, we say that astatement istrueor correct. If, however, the cell ‘A2’ e.g.
contained thevalue ‘1’, then the condition would not be met. We would say that thestatement is
falseor incorrect.The decision whether a statement is true or false is the result of such
alogical statement. Just as=4+3will return 7,=1>0
will return true. This‘response’ can then be used in logical functions e.g. for makingdecision
s.The following logical functions are all based on logical statements.
Appendix: A
Selection of Useful Excel Functions 121
●●●●●●●●●●●●
and()This function will returntrueif all
of the given conditions are true.AND (condition 1, condition 2, …
)where:·
condition 1is a logical statemento
you can include additional logical statements up to a total of 30(optional)Examples:
=AND(1=1, 2<3)will return true because both statements are true
=AND(1=1, 2>3)will return false because at least one statement is false(it does not matter how
many statements are false)false()Returns false.FALSE ()or
FALSENo parameters are required.Remark: the brackets can be omitted.if()
Evaluates a statement and commits an action in response.
IF (condition, response if true, response if false)where:·
conditionis any logical condition·
response if trueis the action committed
when the logicalcondition is trueo
response if falseis the action committed
when the logicalcondition is false (optional)Examples:=IF(A1>A2,A1-A2,A2-A1)
will deduct A2 from A1 if A1 is bigger thanA2 (and vice versa)=IF(0=1,"Your PC is
drunk!","Everything is fine.")will always return“Everything is fine”, because 0 is never equal to 1
(unlessyour PC is drunk)Remarks:·
you can refine the condition using theand()
,or()andnot()functions·
you can include up to 7 further
if()functions in the responses
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not()Reverses the condition, i.e. returnstrue
for a condition that isfalseandfalsefor a condition that is
true.NOT (condition)where:·
condition
is a logical statementExamples:=NOT(2<3)will return false, because the
original statement is true=NOT(1=0)will return true, because the original
statement is falseor()This function will returntrueif
at least oneof the given conditions istrue.OR (condition 1
, condition 2, …)where:·
condition 1is a logical statement
o
you can include additional logical statements up to a total of 30(optional)Examples:
=OR(1=1, 2>3)will return true because at least one statement is true (itdoes not matter how
many statements are true)=OR(1=0, 2>3)will return false because all
statements are falsetrue()Returns true.TRUE ()or TRUE
No parameters are required.Remarks: the brackets can be omitted.●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●
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