Datasheet

12
Chapter 1
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Navigating in Excel and Understanding the Interface
Excel has many keyboard shortcuts, and it is not possible to show you all of
them. However, they are all included in Excel’s Help files. From the Help menu,
choose Microsoft Excel Help and the Excel Help task pane will appear. In the
Search For box, type keyboard shortcuts and click the green arrow button. Then
click the Keyboard Shortcuts links. Also note that when you choose commands
from the menus, many of the commands show keyboard shortcuts beside them.
Now that you know the fundamentals of how to move around your worksheets and work-
book, let’s look at managing your data and cells.
By default, when moving from cell to cell, pressing Enter moves you to the
cell below the one you are currently in, and pressing Tab moves you to the cell
to the right. Pressing these keys is usually the quickest way to move from
cell to cell when you’re entering data.
Adding and Editing Data in a Workbook
Adding to or editing information in an Excel workbook is referred to as data management.
Data is the term used to refer to what’s inside the cells. You can also manage the actual cells,
rows, and columns without actually changing the data within them. This section shows you
the difference between data management, cell management, and row and column manage-
ment, and the basics of doing each.
Managing Data in Cells
There are basically two types of data in Excel: labels and values.
Label Refers to text typed at the top of a column or to the left of a row to identify the infor-
mation contained in the column or row.
Value Is the actual information listed in the rows and columns, below, or to the right of the
labels.
Figure 1.4 shows you a typical worksheet layout, using labels and values. The title at the
top, the store names, and the numbered weeks are examples of labels. The values in dollars
and the word closed are examples of values. Notice that labels and values can consist of text
and/or numbers.
Between cell formatting and manual editing of cell contents, you can make Excel display
your data in many different ways. Most of the cell formatting options will be discussed in
Chapter 2, “Formats, Graphics, and Excel’s Templates,” but the following exercises will show
you how to add new data to and edit existing data in a worksheet. Exercise 1.4 teaches you
how to add new data to an existing worksheet.
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