ICT 162

Computing Skills Fundamentals II

Lecture 1: Introduction to Spreadsheets

Overview
What is a spreadsheet?
Benefits of an electronic spreadsheets
Spreadsheets applications
Microsoft Excel
Features
Window
Navigation
Entering Data and Formulas
Working with ranges
 What is a Spreadsheet?
 A grid that organizes data into columns and rows
 It can be used to store, sort & manipulate information…
… and to perform calculations
Historically mainly used for handling financial information
e.g. staff salaries

Original spreadsheets
 Made modifications difficult
 Required more storage

 Difficult to analyze

 e.t.c

• Image Source: www.ghmchs.org

Electronic Spreadsheet
 Automated version of a paper based spreadsheet
 Easy to move, copy, edit, and delete information
 Easy to format design and appearance of information
 Ability to open and use multiple spreadsheets at one time
 Easy to arrange and analyze numbers and perform
calculations

 Example uses of an electronic spreadsheet

 budgets
 inventory management
 financial planning
 cash flow analysis
Electronic Spreadsheet
Spreadsheet programs

 Microsoft Office Excel

 Lotus 1,2,3
 LibreOffice Calc
 ZK Spreadsheet
 Google Sheets
Microsoft Excel
 Most popular spreadsheet program in use today

 Part of the MS Office suite

 Excel stores spreadsheets in documents called workbooks.

 Each workbook is made up of individual worksheets, or

sheets.

 When you open Excel, by default it will open a blank

workbook with one or three blank worksheets.-depends on
version

 Excel files ends with .xls or .xlsx

Microsoft Excel
 Popular Features

 Ability to perform a variety of data manipulations and

calculations e.g. can do formula based calculations

 Can display data in charts/graphs

 Auto-update of related numbers when data changes

 When you set up calculations in a worksheet, if an entry is
changed in a cell, the spreadsheet will automatically update
any calculated values that were based on that entry

 Ability to open and use multiple workbooks at one time

Microsoft Excel

Set of 3 open workbooks

Microsoft Excel Window
 Basic components
 Name box
 Formula bar
 Column headings
 Row headings
 Cell
 Active cell
 Mouse pointer
 Sheet tabs
 Task Pane
 Tab scrolling buttons and Toolbars.
 You will be introduced to these during your labs
Microsoft Excel Window
 Basic components
Microsoft Excel Window
 Descriptions of Components

NB: In Excel 2010 worksheet size is 1,048,576 rows by 16,384 columns

Worksheet Navigation
 To navigate within a worksheet, you use the
arrow keys, Page Up, Page Down, or the Ctrl key
in combination with the arrow keys to make
larger movements.

 The most direct means of navigation is with

your mouse.

 Scroll bars are provided and work as they do in

all Windows applications.
Worksheet Navigation
 To move to other Worksheets, you can:
 Click their tab with the mouse

 Use the Ctrl key with the Page Up and Page Down
keys to move sequentially up or down through
the worksheets
Navigation Keystrokes
Undo and Redo Features
 The Undo feature allows you to sequentially back
up to a certain action, such as a delete, a move, an
entry, etc. and allows you to reverse those actions.

 Redo allows you to reapply actions one step at a

time that you have previously undone.
Insert, Move, and Rename Worksheets
 Worksheets are much like pages within a book;
you peruse through them like you flip the pages of
a book.

 There are several ways to move, copy and work

with worksheets.
 Dragging to new location
 Using Move\Copy Option
Developing A Worksheet
 Determine the worksheet’s purpose.
 Manage grades
 Develop holiday checklist
 Generate grocery list

 Enter the data and formulas.

 Test the worksheet and make any necessary edits /

corrections.

 Improve worksheet appearance.

 Save and print the complete worksheet.

Entering Data into a Worksheet
 To enter data, first make the cell in which you
want to enter the data active by clicking it.
Entering Data into a Worksheet
 Data Types: Text, Constant, Formula
 Labels/Text - text entries that describe the contents of other
cells. Labels may be alphanumeric e.g. ICT

 Numeric values/constants - numbers used in mathematical

operations such as addition, subtraction etc. e.g. 1002

 Formula – expression that calculates a value : 12*(23+C5)

Label

Numeric

Formula
Entering Formulas
 A formula is a mathematical expression that calculates a
value.

 In Excel, formulas always begin with an equal sign

(=).

 A formula can consist of one or more arithmetic

operators.

 To calculate a value- Excel follows order of precedence

rules
 A set of predefined rules defining correct order of
mathematical operations - similar to BODMAS
Arithmetic Operators
Order of Precedence Rules
Identify Cell Ranges
 A group of worksheet cells is known as a cell range, or range.

 Working with ranges in a worksheet makes working with the

data easier.

 Ranges can be adjacent or nonadjacent.

 An adjacent range is a single, rectangular block of cells
 Select an adjacent range by clicking on a cell and dragging to an
opposite corner of a rectangle of cells

 A nonadjacent range is comprised of two or more adjacent

ranges that are not contiguous to each other i.e. borders do not
touch
 To select a nonadjacent range, begin by selecting an adjacent range,
then press and hold down the Ctrl key as you select other adjacent
ranges
Adjacent and Nonadjacent Ranges
Range Selection Techniques
Select and Move Worksheet Cells
 To select a large area of cells, select the first cell in the
range, press and hold the Shift key, and then click the last
cell in the range.

 Once you have selected a range of cells, you may move the
cells within the worksheet by clicking and dragging the
selection from its current location to its new one.

 By pressing and holding the Ctrl key as you drag, Excel will
leave the original selection in its place and paste a copy of
the selection in the new location.

 To move between workbooks, use the Alt key while

dragging the selection.
Moving Selected Cell Ranges
Appearance: Resize Worksheet Rows and Columns

 There are a number of methods for altering row height and

column width using the mouse or menus:

 Click the dividing line on the column or row, and drag the
dividing line to change the width of the column or height of
the row

 Double-click the border of a column heading, and the

column will increase in width to match the length of the
longest entry in the column

 Widths are expressed either in terms of the number of

characters or the number of screen pixels.
Resize a Column
Insert and/or Delete Worksheet Rows and Columns

 You can insert one or many additional rows or

columns within a worksheet with just a few steps
using the mouse or menu options.

 You can insert individual cells within a row or

column and then choose how to displace the existing
cells.

 To delete and clear cells, rows, or columns, you can

use the Edit menu, or right click on a heading or a
selection of cells and choose Delete from the
shortcut menu.
Print a workbook
 To Print a worksheet, you can use:
 A menu
 The Print button on the standard toolbar
 The Ctrl-P keystroke to initiate a printout of the
worksheet

 Excel uses the same basic methods for printing as other

Windows and Microsoft Office applications.
The Print Dialog Box
Can you Identify Major Components?
Summary
 A spreadsheet package is a software application designed to support data manipulation
and mathematical calculations

 Cells can contain words (labels), numbers or formulas

 A workbook is an Excel file that can contain one or more worksheets

 A worksheets is organized into rows and columns

 Columns are generally identified by letters and rows by numbers

 A cell name refers to one single cell (for example, A1)

 A group of cells is referred to as a range-can be adjacent or non-adjacent

 There are three basic types of data -labels, values and formulas
 Labels are text entries that describe the content of other cells, values are numbers that are
available for manipulation and formulas are the means of mathematically manipulating
values in cells.
Exercise
 How many blank workbooks are created by default when you
create an excel workbook?

 Give three example uses of an electronic spreadsheet.

 What is the difference between an adjacent and non-adjacent

range?

 Create a checklist of items (include other descriptors e.g. serial

numbers where necessary) in your room with quantities and
estimated value per item. Figure out a way to add up the values
and find the total for all items. How could this list be useful to
you in the future?
 FYI: Excel Limits and Specifications
https://
support.office.com/en-us/article/Excel-specifications-
and-limits-1672b34d-7043-467e-8e27-269d656771c3

Next : Working with Formulas and Functions