Datasheet

show you how to build formulas and how to use the dozens of built-in func-
tions that Excel provides. That’s where the real power of Excel is — making
sense of your data.
Don’t fret that this is a challenge and that you may make mistakes. We did
when we were ramping up. Besides, Excel is very forgiving. It won’t crash on
you. Excel usually tells you when you made a mistake, and sometimes it even
helps you to correct it. How many programs do that!? But first the basics.
This first chapter gives you the springboard you need to use the rest of the
book. We wish books like this were around when we were introduced to com-
puters. We had to stumble through a lot of this.
Working with Excel Fundamentals
Before you can write any formulas or crunch any numbers, you have to know
where the data goes. And how to find it again. We wouldn’t want your data to
get lost! Knowing how worksheets store your data and present it is critical to
your analysis efforts.
Understanding workbooks and worksheets
A workbook is the same as a file. Excel opens and closes workbooks, just as a
word processor program opens and closes documents. Click the Microsoft
Office button, found at the upper left of your Excel screen, to view the selec-
tions found under the File menu in earlier versions of Excel. Figure 1-1 shows
the new look for accessing basic functions such as opening, saving, printing,
and closing your Excel files (not to mention a number of other nifty functions
to boot!).
Figure 1-1:
Seeing how
to use basic
Excel
program
functions.
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Part I: Putting the Fun in Functions
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