Datasheet

The menu is divided into two sections. The left section contains a list of document-
related commands. By default, the right section displays a list of recently used
documents. Click a document name in the list to open the file. Click a pushpin
to the right of a document name to keep the document on the list permanently.
By default, Excel lists 17 documents, which get overridden with new documents
unless you use the pushpin control. Some file commands on the left section
include a built-in or attached arrow. If you hover the mouse pointer over a com-
mand with an attached arrow, you will see a clear demarcation between the
button and the arrow. Clicking a button with a built-in arrow or the arrow por-
tion of a button with an attached arrow displays additional choices in the right
section of the menu.
The Office menu also includes a button to access various Excel options and a
button to exit Excel. We encourage you to visit the options from time to time,
because you may find useful application, workbook, or worksheet options that
you want to turn on or off. An option in the Advanced section of the Excel
Options dialog box, for example, allows you to increase the number of docu-
ments displayed in the Recent Documents list to a maximum of 50.
Previewing Your Formatting Live
New in Excel 2007 is a Live Preview feature. When you hover over a formatting
option with the mouse pointer, Excel lets you see the effect that the formatting
option will have on your selection before you commit to applying the option.
Your selection might be a cell, range of cells, chart, table, shape, and more.
Suppose that you want to change the font of some text in a cell. In the Ribbon, a
drop-down box called the font picker presents a list of available fonts. As you
hover over each choice in the font picker, your cell updates to show you what
the text would look like if you chose that font. Live Preview avoids the normal
tedium of committing to an option, then undoing the option because the result
is not what you wanted, and then committing to another option, only to realize
that you don’t like the new result either, and so on.
You will find Live Preview options throughout Excel in places where formatting
alternatives are available — most notably in galleries.
Formatting with Themes
In Excel 2007, you can now use a formatting concept known as a theme. A theme
consists of a combination of fonts, colors, and effects that provide a consistent
look among your workbook’s elements, including cells, charts, tables, and
PivotTables. You apply the theme’s fonts, colors, and effects through individual
options or the style galleries of the various elements.
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