Datasheet

4. Describe each record.
To enter a new record into your table, fill in the next empty row. For
example, use the Store text box to identify the store where you purchase
each item. Use the — oh, wait a minute here. You don’t need me to tell
you that the store name goes into the Store column, do you? You can
figure that out. Likewise, you already know what bits of information go
into the Item, Quantity, and Price column, too, don’t you? Okay. Sorry.
5. Store your record in the table.
Click the Tab or Enter button when you finish describing some record or
item that goes onto the shopping list. Excel adds another row to the
table so that you can add another item. Excel shows you which rows and
columns are part of the table by using color.
Previous versions of Excel included a Data➪Form command, which was
another way to enter records into an Excel table. When you chose the
Data➪Form command, Excel displayed a cute, little, largely useless
dialog box that collected the bits of record information and then entered
them into the table.
Some table-building tools
Excel includes an AutoFill feature, which is particularly relevant for table
building. Here’s how AutoFill works: Enter a label into a cell in a column where
it’s already been entered before, and Excel guesses that you’re entering the
same thing again. For example, if you enter the label Sams Grocery in cell A2
and then begin to type Sams Grocery in cell A3, Excel guesses that you’re
entering Sams Grocery again and finishes typing the label for you. All you
need to do to accept Excel’s guess is press Enter. Check it out in Figure 1-6.
Excel also provides a Fill command that you can use to fill a range of cells —
including the contents of a column in an Excel table — with a label or value.
To fill a range of cells with the value that you’ve already entered in another
cell, you drag the Fill Handle down the column. The Fill Handle is the small
plus sign (+) that appears when you place the mouse cursor over the lower-
right corner of the active cell. In Figure 1-7, I use the Fill Handle to enter Sams
Grocery into the range A5:A12.
Analyzing Table Information
Excel provides several handy, easy-to-use tools for analyzing the information
that you store in a table. Some of these tools are so easy and straightforward
that they provide a good starting point.
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