dition disaster 7: reports compiled with old printouts · 1 disaster 7: reports compiled with old...

XL02/03=Excel XP(2002)/2003

XL07/10 = Excel 2007/2010 AbleOwl (SEY) Ltd © 2012 1

EDITION 130 – SEPTEMBER 2012

IN THIS EDITION

1 Disaster 7: Reports

compiled with old

printouts

3 Drag the mouse at

different speeds

5 Create your first

PivotTable

XL02/03

XL07/10

15 Retrieve data using

the VLOOKUP

function

20 Add trendlines to

examine data

relationships

23 Add some sparkle to

reports with

Sparklines

27 Move right with

keyboard shortcuts

31 Conventions: Make

inputs a blue font

34 Apply pure blue in

Excel 2007/2010

36 Instant inquisition

37 Editor’s letter

37 AbleOwl information

Disaster 7: Reports

compiled with old printouts >>Files: PrintDateTime.xls Back to top

Know the potential disasters that befall Excel users and discover the solutions.

In the mad scramble to meet

a deadline, you include an

old printout in the report

You know how it is: there’s a mad scramble to meet

a deadline, reports get printed, you finally assemble

the reports into a document, make copies and

distribute them to all and sundry. At the meeting,

having met your deadline, you breathe a sigh of

relief, relax a little, glance at a printout and then

struggle to stifle a shriek as you realise that the

printout is not the latest one, but one with errors.

It is a common- enough situation. How can it be

avoided?

Print the date and time in

the footer

If each printed page includes the date and time,

then you can determine which of several page-

versions is the latest.

The date and time of printing can easily be included

in the header or footer, which prints on every page.

At AbleOwl, we standardise reports by placing the

date and time in the left of the footer.

http://www.ableowl.com/Genie/Magazine/Files/Instant_130/PrintDateTime.XLS

http://www.ableowl.com/Genie/FileAccessHandlers/MP4FileAccess.ashx?id=2E728020-DFF6-4F38-AE08-AB12D6D6366E

http://www.ableowl.com/Genie/FileAccessHandlers/MP4FileAccess.ashx?id=D7C63653-8700-4025-B30C-AAAD3849195A

http://www.ableowl.com/Genie/FileAccessHandlers/MP4FileAccess.ashx?id=536B1CD4-CF36-44FF-849E-35D294FF4D56

http://www.ableowl.com/Genie/FileAccessHandlers/MP4FileAccess.ashx?id=8C4BBF1D-7C75-4DFC-B24E-27BB99762496

2 AbleOwl (SEY) Ltd © 2012 XL02/03=Excel XP(2002)/2003

XL07/10 = Excel 2007/2010

The preview above has the date and time on the left of the footer, the file path and

name in the centre and the page number (of pages) on the right.

Put date and time in footer To enter the date and time in the header or footer:

(1) In XL07/10, display the Page Layout ribbon.

Surprisingly, headers and footers are nowhere to be seen on the ribbon; they are not

even listed in any of the drop-down menus. Notice a wee arrow in the bottom right

of the Page Setup group. (The mouse pointer below points to it). That arrow is

known as a dialog box launcher.

(2) In XL07/10, click the dialog box launcher. The keyboard shortcut for steps 1 and 2

is Alt P SP.

In XL02/03, choose File | Page Setup (Alt F U).

In all Excel releases, the Page Setup dialog box appears.

(3) Choose the Header/Footer page of the dialog box.

(4) Choose Custom Footer.

The dialog box below appears. The footer (as well as the header) is in three sections.

XL02/03=Excel XP(2002)/2003


(5) Click in the Left section.

(6) Click the Insert Date button, which is left of Insert Time as shown below.

That enters &[Date].

(7) Type a space character

(8) Click the Insert Time button.

That enters &[Time]. The result is as below.

When the report prints, the footer contains the date and time of printing.

Drag the mouse at different speeds

>>Files: BigSheetNavigate.xls Back to top

Be in control as you drive your mouse.

There are five vertical speeds

and three horizontal ones

If you try to select a large range with the mouse, you often overshoot and oscillate

back and forth until you get it right. A simple bit of information about the mouse

can help you control this: it has five vertical speeds and three horizontal.

In the sheet below, the task is to select a range from K395 to the bottom right of the

inputs area, which happens to be Z577. (Typically, you wouldn’t know that Z577 is

the bottom of the inputs; you would only recognise it when you saw the cell). The

range is fairly large.

http://www.ableowl.com/Genie/Magazine/Files/Instant_130/BigSheetNavigate.XLS

http://www.ableowl.com/Genie/FileAccessHandlers/MP4FileAccess.ashx?id=2E728020-DFF6-4F38-AE08-AB12D6D6366E


XL07/10 = Excel 2007/2010

File: BigSheetNavigate.xls, sheet: iDatabase

(1) Click on K395.

(2) Drag down.

For speed 1 of 5, position the

mouse just into the area of

the tabs

(3) When you reach the sheet tabs area as shown below, move the mouse just into

that area.

Then, you scroll down the sheet at speed 1 of 5, which is a slow, controllable speed.

A little further down is speed

2 of 5

(4) Drag the mouse down a little further, to about two-fifths of the distance from the

top of the tabs to the bottom of the Status bar (let’s call that the grey area).

You scroll down at speed 2 of 5.

(5) Drag progressively further down into the grey area.

You accelerate gradually to maximum speed, at which point you are really hurtling

along.

Most people only know one

speed: maximum

To drag right at speed 1,

position the mouse at the left

of the vertical scroll bar

As most people only drive the mouse

with the foot firmly to the floor, they

hurtle past the destination, hurtle back,

overshoot and so on until eventually,

with more luck than judgement, they

come to a stop at the destination.

Similarly, there are five ‘up’ speeds.

Experiment with the mouse to discover

where to position it for the different up

speeds.

There are three horizontal speeds. For

the slowest speed right, position the

mouse just into the vertical scroll bar, as

shown right.

File: BigSheetNavigate.xls,

sheet: iDatabase





XL02/03=Excel XP(2002)/2003


Create your first PivotTable

>>Files: FirstPivotTableXL03.xls, FirstPivotTableXL07.xlsm, FirstPivotTableXL03Final.xls,

FirstPivotTableXL07Final.xlsm Back to top

XL07/10 XL02/03

PivotTables are great tools to quickly summarise large amounts of data. The following article shows how to quickly

create a simple PivotTable for textual data. Note: The PivotTables feature varies considerably among Excel

versions. Separate example files/screenshots/procedures are included here for both XL02/03 and XL07/10. While the

first three screenshots are of XL07/10, these screenshots are identical in XL02/03.

PivotTables quickly

summarise large amounts of

data

Excel's PivotTables are great tools to quickly summarise large tables of data. In the

figure below, Martin, the sales manager for a struggling business, has hit upon an

incentive scheme for his sales reps.

Each sales rep is ranked

Gold, Silver or Bronze

Inspired by the recent Olympics, Martin has ranked each rep's performance as

Gold, Silver or Bronze. After the first month of his new scheme, Martin wants to

analyse the results.

File: FirstPivotTableXL07.xlsm, sheet: mRankData

Team performance is hard to

determine from raw data

It is not very easy to see how each team has performed just by looking at the table.

But by inserting a PivotTable, he can quickly produce the summary shown below.

PivotTables quickly

summarise performance data

File: FirstPivotTableXL07.xlsm, sheet: rRankSummary

http://www.ableowl.com/Genie/Magazine/Files/Instant_130/FirstPivotTableXL03.XLS

http://www.ableowl.com/Genie/Magazine/Files/Instant_130/FirstPivotTableXL07.XLSM

http://www.ableowl.com/Genie/Magazine/Files/Instant_130/FirstPivotTableXL03Final.XLS

http://www.ableowl.com/Genie/Magazine/Files/Instant_130/FirstPivotTableXL07Final.XLSM





http://www.ableowl.com/Genie/FileAccessHandlers/MP4FileAccess.ashx?id=536B1CD4-CF36-44FF-849E-35D294FF4D56

http://www.ableowl.com/Genie/FileAccessHandlers/MP4FileAccess.ashx?id=D7C63653-8700-4025-B30C-AAAD3849195A


XL07/10 = Excel 2007/2010

Martin follows the steps below to create the PivotTable shown above:

Select the data you want in

the PivotTable including

column headings

(1) Select K14:M34 in the mRankData sheet. Include the column headings in row 14.

File: FirstPivotTableXL07.xlsm, sheet: mRankData

Although not done here, it is good practice to include the first blank row after your

bottom entry in the selection. This will be covered in a future PivotTable article.

Follow the appropriate steps

for your version of Excel

Once the data is selected, it is time to create the PivotTable. PivotTables work

differently in XL02/03 compared to XL07/10, so follow the appropriate steps below

for your version of Excel.

Excel 2007/2010

Martin inserts a PivotTable as follows:

(2) Choose Insert | Tables | PivotTable (Alt N V T).

The PivotTable button is

located in the Insert ribbon

Create PivotTable dialog box The Create PivotTable dialog box appears, as shown below.



XL02/03=Excel XP(2002)/2003


The top half of the dialog box

asks for the source data

The top section of the dialog box asks you to choose the data to be analysed.

Because Martin selected the data before he chose to insert a PivotTable, the data

range is already entered into the Table/Range text box.

The bottom section of the dialog box asks where the PivotTable should be placed.

Place the PivotTable on a

separate sheet

It is good practice to place the PivotTable on a different sheet to the data it analyses,

so that it won't interfere with the data. Consequently, Martin selects a new

worksheet:

(3) Select New Worksheet.

To start with, the PivotTable

is empty

(4) Choose OK to insert the PivotTable.

When first created, the PivotTable just

appears as an empty outline (see right),

which Martin will populate with the

PivotTable data.

File: FirstPivotTableXL07.xlsm,

sheet: Sheet1




XL07/10 = Excel 2007/2010

PivotTable Field List is on

the right

Choose those columns

(fields) you wish to add to

the PivotTable

You will also see a PivotTable Field List

to the right of the window.

The PivotTable Field List is where you

choose those columns (known as fields)

from your data that you wish to

summarise on your PivotTable.

Martin wants to compare the number

of gold, silver and bronze ranks

achieved by each region.

Martin drags the Region field

to the Row Labels box

(5) Click and hold the mouse button

down on Region, and with the mouse

button still held down, drag the Region

field to the Row Labels box, as shown

right.

The PivotTable now appears as shown

below.

XL02/03=Excel XP(2002)/2003


Martin drags the Rank field

to the Column Labels box

To set up the column headings:

(6) Drag the Rank field to the Column

Labels box.

The PivotTable now has row and column headings as shown below.

The last step is for Martin to add his data to the table.

Add Sales rep field to Values (7) Drag the Sales rep field to the Values box.

The resulting PivotTable is shown below.

File: FirstPivotTableXL07.xlsm, sheet: Sheet1

Sales rep field is textual You may wonder where the values in the PivotTable come from, as the information

in the Sales rep field is textual, not numerical.




XL07/10 = Excel 2007/2010

PivotTables count the

number of items in text fields

that match row and column

headings

When a text field is added to the Data Items region of a PivotTable, Excel counts the

number of records in the source data that match each Column heading-Row

heading combination.

Thus, for the figure above, you can see that there were four records that were from

the North region and that achieved a Gold rank for sales performance.

Column headings need to be

put into correct order; labels

are non-descriptive

You will also note that the Gold, Silver and Bronze rankings are not in the correct

order, and instead of descriptive titles for the row and column headings, there are

just Column Labels and Row Labels.

A future article will show you how to quickly alter the field order in a PivotTable,

change the PivotTable heading labels, and adjust PivotTable column widths (and

keep them adjusted).

Excel XP/2003

To insert a PivotTable in XL02/03:

(2) Choose Data | PivotTable and PivotChart Report… (Alt D P).

The PivotTable and PivotChart Wizard appears (see below).

Insert PivotTables in XL02/03

with the PivotTable and

PivotChart Wizard

In Step 1, choose Next > (3) In Step 1 of the Wizard, leave the settings at their defaults and choose Next >.

Step 2 of the PivotTable and PivotChart Wizard displays (below).

XL02/03=Excel XP(2002)/2003


In Step 2, the data is already

selected so choose Next >

Martin has already selected the data to be used in the PivotTable, so he can leave the

Range as is:

(4) Choose Next >.

A message appears if a

PivotTable has already been

created from your data

If there is already another PivotTable created from the same source data, the

following message displays.

Choosing ‘Yes’ saves space

but may lead to unwanted

behaviour

If you choose Yes, you will save space and memory by linking the two PivotTable

reports. However, this means that some changes made in one PivotTable will affect

the other PivotTable, which may be undesirable behaviour.

Step 3 of the PivotTable and PivotChart Wizard asks where to place the PivotTable.

Step 3 asks for the

location of the

PivotTable

Place the PivotTable on a

separate sheet

It is good practice to place the PivotTable on a different sheet to the data it analyses,

so that it won't interfere with the data.

(5) Select New worksheet and choose Finish. The PivotTable below appears.


XL07/10 = Excel 2007/2010

When first created, a

PivotTable is blank

File: FirstPivotTableXL03.xls, sheet: Sheet1

Also see PivotTable Field List

Choose which columns

(fields) get added to the

PivotTable

You will also see a PivotTable Field List in a

separate window.

The PivotTable Field List is where you choose

those columns (known as fields) from your data

that you wish to summarise on your PivotTable.

Martin wants to compare the number of gold,

silver and bronze ranks achieved by each region,

so he proceeds as follows:

Martin drags Region field to

Drop Row Fields Here

(6) Click and drag the Region field onto the area labelled Drop Row Fields Here in

the PivotTable (see below).

The PivotTable now appears as shown below.



XL02/03=Excel XP(2002)/2003


Martin drags Rank field to

Drop Column Fields Here

Martin proceeds to set up the column headings:

(7) Drag the Rank field onto the area labelled Drop Column Fields Here (see below).

The PivotTable now has

row and column

headings as shown

below.

The last step is for

Martin to add his data to

the table.

Martin drags Sales rep to

Drop Data Items Here

(8) Drag the Sales rep field to the PivotTable area labelled Drop Data Items Here

(see below).


XL07/10 = Excel 2007/2010

The resulting PivotTable is shown below.

File: FirstPivotTableXL03.xls, sheet: Sheet1

Sales rep field is textual

PivotTables count the

number of items in text fields

that match row and column

headings

You may wonder where the values in the PivotTable come from, as the information

in the Sales rep field is textual, not numerical.

When a text field is added to the Data Items region of a PivotTable, Excel counts the

number of records in the source data that match each Column heading-Row

heading combination.

Thus, for the figure above, you can see that there were four records that were from

the North region and that achieved a Gold rank for sales performance.

Column headings need to be

put into correct order

You will also note that the gold, silver and bronze rankings are not in the correct

order, and instead of descriptive titles for the row and column headings, there are

just Column Labels and Row Labels.

A future article will show you how to quickly alter the field order in a PivotTable,

change the PivotTable heading labels, and adjust PivotTable column widths (and

keep them adjusted).



XL02/03=Excel XP(2002)/2003


Retrieve data using the VLOOKUP function >>Files: VLOOKUP.xls Back to top

Excel's knack for neatly organizing vast quantities of data commends it to many users; however, the flip side of that

capacity is the tendency for Excel to become a black hole of data. Luckily, Excel provides several functions to

retrieve that data for you, the most commonly-used of which is VLOOKUP.

Bettina needs to retrieve

data from Excel

To explore the handy VLOOKUP function, we visit Bettina's Bridal Boutique. This

fine establishment offers four extravagant wedding packages – at four extravagant

price points, of course. To retrieve the appropriate price depending on the

wedding package selected by the giddy newlyweds-to-be, Bettina turns to the

VLOOKUP function.

VLOOKUP takes at least

three arguments…

The VLOOKUP function minimally takes three arguments: (a) Lookup value.

(b) Lookup table. (c) Column number. It also accepts an optional fourth argument:

(d) Match type (FALSE = exact; TRUE = approximate).

…but the optional fourth

argument is actually quite

important

Within the first column of the lookup table, VLOOKUP searches for the lookup

value. When it finds a match, VLOOKUP scans across that row and returns the

corresponding value in row (c) of the lookup table.

It specifies whether you

want an approximate…

What does "match type" mean? When this argument is set to an approximate

match (which is the default if the argument is omitted), VLOOKUP scans down the

first column from the top until it finds the first value that is greater than the lookup

value; then, the function considers the previous value to be the match.

…or an exact match type An exact match, on the other hand, is exactly what it sounds like: VLOOKUP

searches for a perfect match (although not case-sensitive), and returns an error if it

cannot locate one. Misuse of the fourth argument is a common source of

VLOOKUP problems.

Below, the formula =VLOOKUP("Superman",K16:O18,4,FALSE) returns "Lois

Lane." Why?

File: VLOOKUP.xls, sheet: mExample

VLOOKUP searches for

your lookup value and

retrieves a corresponding

entry within your lookup

table

VLOOKUP searches the first column of the lookup table until it finds an exact

match for "Superman;" then, it moves right to the fourth column of the lookup

table. In the fourth column of the lookup table, in the same row as "Superman,"

VLOOKUP finds "Lois Lane," and dutifully retrieves that value for you: the Man of

Steel's lady love is the one and only Lois Lane.

Ready to start retrieving? That's all well and good for Clark Kent and the quick-witted brunette beauty in the

next cubicle, but how can VLOOKUP help Bettina? Consider the screenshot below.

http://www.ableowl.com/Genie/Magazine/Files/Instant_130/VLOOKUP.XLS




XL07/10 = Excel 2007/2010

Make sure you know where

your lookup value and

lookup table are located…

Bettina's lookup value, the wedding package, is selected from a drop-down menu

in cell L13. Her table of values is located in cells K20:N23, with package names in

the first column, as required, and the corresponding prices in the fourth column.

File: VLOOKUP.xls, sheet: mCosting

…and use VLOOKUP to

retrieve your data

Now, she just needs to build a VLOOKUP formula to look for the designated

package choice in the first column and then return the corresponding price from

the fourth column, as shown below.

File: VLOOKUP.xls, sheet: mCosting

Bettina follows these steps:

Select the cell for your

formula and click the

function button

(1) Select the cell in which you want your formula placed.

(2) Click on the function button next to the Formula bar.

In the Insert Function dialog

box…

This activates the Insert Function dialog box, which includes a list of your most

recently-used functions for quick selection. VLOOKUP isn't there, so you need to

search for it.

…search for VLOOKUP (3) Type VLOOKUP into the Search for a function: box and either click the Go

button or press Enter.





XL02/03=Excel XP(2002)/2003


Select the VLOOKUP

function…

The list of recently-used functions now displays a list of lookup-related functions,

including VLOOKUP. Beneath the Select a function: box, Excel also offers a brief

explanation of the function to help you make a decision.

(4) Select VLOOKUP by double-clicking on the function name or by clicking the

OK button.

…to open the Function

Arguments dialog box

This brings you to the Function Arguments dialog box, as shown below.

Explanation of the selected function

Recently-used functions

Search results

Mandatory arguments are bold

Explanation of

the function

Explanation of the selected argument

Argument requirements


XL07/10 = Excel 2007/2010

Here, Excel offers an explanation of the function's purpose; when you move your

cursor into a different argument entry box, an explanation of that specific

argument appears. The first three arguments are in bold text because they are

required; the fourth, optional argument is shown in regular text.

Define your arguments in

the argument entry boxes

To define your arguments,

(5) Place your cursor in the correct entry box.

(6) Select the chosen cell or range, or type in the correct value.

Cell L13 provides the lookup value; range K20:N23, the lookup table. Counting

across the columns of the lookup table yields the appropriate column index

number of 4. Finally, enter FALSE for the fourth argument to ensure VLOOKUP

performs an exact match.

Once you have entered cell references or values for your arguments, Excel displays

the contents of each argument. When all mandatory arguments have been defined,

Excel shows the formula result in two locations within the dialog box.

① ② ③ ④

XL02/03=Excel XP(2002)/2003


Enter the formula (7) Click the OK button or press Enter.

This enters the formula =VLOOKUP(L13,K20:N23,4,FALSE) into the active cell,

L24.

Change lookup values to

test the formula

When you change the wedding package selection in cell L13, the VLOOKUP

function returns the correct fixed costs price.

Change the fourth

argument…

Try omitting the fourth argument (or changing it to TRUE) in Bettina's example,

and then set the wedding package choice to Gold or Platinum. What value does

your formula return?

…and things start to go

awry

Because VLOOKUP is looking for an approximate match, it only searches until it

finds the first value greater than the lookup value. Since Gold and Platinum both

occur before Silver in alphabetical order, VLOOKUP only looks as far as Silver, and

then returns the previous value – the fixed costs price of a Bronze package.

Remember, you should

(almost) always set the

fourth argument to FALSE

Bettina probably won't appreciate VLOOKUP offering such a hefty discount to her

customers, so it's best to always set that fourth argument to FALSE – unless you

have a very convincing reason to do otherwise. For just such a situation, tune in

next edition to learn about banded VLOOKUPs.

Entered arguments are displayed

The formula result is shown in two

locations


XL07/10 = Excel 2007/2010

Add trendlines to examine data relationships >>Files: Trendline.xls Back to top

Add trendlines to charts to easily visualize trends, relationships, and the effects of one variable upon another.

You have some data… but

what does it mean?

Annalise owns a reindeer rental company and she's spent the last year trying out

different marketing strategies in Australia and New Zealand. Now, with a year's

worth of marketing costs and sales figures before her, Annalise wants to know

whether there is any relationship between the amount of money she spent on

marketing and the number of sales her company made.

A trendline summarizes

relationships between data

values

One of the simplest ways to answer Annalise's question is to add a trendline to her

data; before she can add a trendline, however, Annalise must first chart her data.

To chart sales against marketing dollars spent, Annalise follows these steps:

Chart the data first… (1) Select the data range, L15:W17.

(2) Insert a chart:

In XL07/10, go to Insert | Charts | Scatter (Alt N

D) and select Scatter with only Markers.

In XL02/03, go to Insert | Chart (Alt I H) as

show right, and then select XY (Scatter) in the

Chart Wizard.

This creates a scatter plot of her data, as shown below.

File: Trendline.xls, sheet: rSummary

http://www.ableowl.com/Genie/Magazine/Files/Instant_130/Trendline.XLS



XL02/03=Excel XP(2002)/2003


…and then add a trendline Now, Annalise is ready to add trendlines. She follows these steps:

(3) Select the New Zealand series of data.

(4) Add a trendline:

In XL07/10, go to Chart Tools | Layout | Trendline | More trendline options (Alt

JA N M).

In XL02/03, go to Chart | Add Trendline… (Alt C R).

In XL07/10, this opens the Format Trendline dialog box as shown below.

In XL02/03, the Add Trendline dialog box that opens looks slightly different but

includes the same options.

Select trendline options

appropriate for your data

and purposes

In this dialog box, select appropriate options based on your individual trendline

requirements.

(5) Select a regression type (Annalise selects Linear trendline).

(6) Change the trendline name, if required, by selecting Custom under Trendline

Name and typing in the desired name (Annalise types NZ trend into the entry

box).

Select the appropriate regression type here

Change the name that will appear in your chart legend by selecting Custom here

Extend the trendline into the future or past here

Force your trendline to intercept the vertical axis at a designated value here

Display the equation or R2 value of the trendline on your chart by ticking the options here

Alter the appearance of your trendline here


XL07/10 = Excel 2007/2010

(7) Enter a forward or backward forecast period to extend the trendline into the

future or past (Annalise leaves these blank; she's not interested in forecasting).

(9) Enter an intercept value, if required (Annalise leaves this option un-ticked

because she has no prior knowledge to suggest that her trendline should have a

specific intercept value).

(10) Tick or un-tick boxes to select display options (Annalise ticks only the box

Display R-squared value on chart).

(11) Press Enter to close the dialog box and add the trendline to the chart.

Annalise follows the same steps to add a trendline to her Australia data. Before she

finishes, however, she needs to take one additional step: changing the colour of this

second trendline so that it can be distinguished from the first.

If adding more than one

trendline, change colours to

aid differentiation

(12) Adjust the line color of the trendline.

In XL07/10, proceed through step (10) and then select the Line Color tab in the

Format Trendline dialog box.

In XL02/03, proceed through step (11) and then (i) Right-click on the

completed trendline, and (ii) Select Format Trendline… from the menu.

(13) Select Solid line and choose an appropriate color (Annalise chooses red).

(14) Press Enter to close the dialog box.

Now the spreadsheet includes two trendlines, complete with R2 values.

File: Trendline.xls, sheet: rSummary



XL02/03=Excel XP(2002)/2003


Back to that first question –

what does it mean?

They look nice, but what do they mean? The correlation coefficient (R2) of a

trendline is a value between 0 and 1 that indicates how much of the variance in the

dependent variable is predicted by the independent variable

R2 tells you how well your

independent variable

predicts the dependent

variable…

In Annalise's case, her R2 values tell her how much of the variance in sales is

explained by the amount she spent on marketing. A value of 0 would indicate no

relationship whatsoever between $NZD spent and sales made, whereas a value of 1

would indicate that $NZD spent alone predicts 100% of the variance in sales made.

…so here, how much of the

sales variance is predicted

by marketing variance

The cut-off between "good" and "bad" R2 values can be quite subjective, but it is

clear from Annalise's two trendlines that her Australian marketing campaign had a

much greater effect on sales than did her New Zealand marketing campaign.

Add some sparkle to reports with

Sparklines >>Files: Sparklines.xlsx Back to top

Sparklines were introduced in Excel 2010. They offer a great way to quickly and easily visualize your results, or

add strong, graphic impact to data reports.

Graphical summaries

improve data interpretation

and presentation

Nobody wants to look at rows of numbers and try to make sense of them; that's

why data reports almost always include some variety of graphical reporting, be it

in the form of a line, column, or bar chart. With multiple data series, however,

charts can become crowded, and often, you may not want a full-sized chart front

and centre.

Sparklines are a nifty new

charting feature available in

Excel 2010

Excel 2010 introduced a brilliant new tool for graphical summarization: Sparklines!

To add Sparklines to a data report in XL10, follow the steps below.

Select the series and ask

Excel to add Sparklines…

(1) Select the series (single or multiple) of data, excluding headings or series names,

for which you want to create Sparklines.

(2) Go to Insert | Sparklines | Line (Alt N S L).

The Create Sparklines dialog box appears, as shown below.

…but be sure to tell Excel

where to put them

If you made an error when selecting your data cells, you can adjust the selection in

the Data Range selection box; otherwise, simply choose a location for your

Sparklines.

(3) Select the range of cells into which you want your Sparklines placed.

In practice, the cells to the left or right of your input data are usually the most

appropriate selection for the Location Range.

http://www.ableowl.com/Genie/Magazine/Files/Instant_130/Sparklines.xlsx

http://www.ableowl.com/Genie/FileAccessHandlers/MP4FileAccess.ashx?id=8C4BBF1D-7C75-4DFC-B24E-27BB99762496


XL07/10 = Excel 2007/2010

File: Sparklines.xlsx, sheet: rSparklines

(4) Press Enter or click OK.

This creates the line chart Sparklines shown below.


Format your Sparklines

using the contextual

ribbon…

When a cell containing a Sparkline is selected, the Sparkline Tools Design

contextual ribbon appears, with many options for customization.

On the left-hand size of the ribbon, you can adjust source data, change chart type,

add markers for specific points, and choose from several pre-set Sparkline styles …

Source data for your Sparklines

Location for your Sparklines





XL02/03=Excel XP(2002)/2003


…where you'll find all sorts

of useful options

…whereas, on the right-hand side of the ribbon, you can choose a colour for your

Sparkline and a colour for any markers you may have added, adjust the axes,

group and ungroup Sparklines for quick batch editing, and clear the Sparklines

from selected cells.

One option is pretty

important though:

Many of these options are, as the name suggests, entirely optional; however, if you

are creating Sparklines for the purpose of comparing multiple data series, then

there is one "option" that strays far closer to the "necessary" than the "optional."

…you must remember to set

the axes to the same for all

Sparklines if you want to

compare them!

With one of your Sparklines selected:

(5) Go to Design | Axis (Alt J D A).

On the Axis menu, you can see the default selections for both the vertical axis

maximum and minimum: Automatic for Each Sparkline. If you want to be able to

make a valid comparison among Sparklines, these need to be altered so that all

Sparklines use the same axis values.

(6) Under Vertical Axis Minimum Value Options, select Same for All Sparklines.

(7) Under Vertical Axis Maximum Value Options, select Same for All Sparklines.

Change the source data

Change the chart type

Apply pre-set styles

Add markers to specific points

Apply pre-set styles

Change the color of the Sparkline or

markers

Edit Sparkline

axes

Delete Sparklines

Group or ungroup

Sparklines


XL07/10 = Excel 2007/2010

Tells a different story, eh? This minor change can make quite a difference to the appearance of your

Sparklines, and consequently, quite a difference to the interpretation of your data.


If you don't have Excel 2010,

be sure to tune in next

month!

Sparklines have many potential applications for quick and easy visualisation of

data series; of course, this inbuilt Excel 2010 feature excludes all Excel users with

prior versions. To learn how to create a Sparkline alternative in all Excel versions,

read next month's edition of Instant Excel.



XL02/03=Excel XP(2002)/2003


Move right with keyboard shortcuts

>>File: BigSheetNavigateRight.xls Back to top

Learn to quickly move from where you are on your spreadsheet to a cell in the same row, but far to the right

The spreadsheet example here has many columns of data, and you wish to edit the

data in the last column. The active cell is N19 and the cell to which you want to

navigate is Z19.

File: BigSheetNavigateRight.xls, sheet: iDatabase

Here are three keyboard

shortcuts to move quickly to

the right

The three keyboard shortcuts to quickly move to the right of your spreadsheet are:

Ctrl+Right arrow Jump to the right, stopping next to an empty cell each time

Alt+PageDown Jump to the right, one screen page at a time

End Enter Jump to the rightmost cell (in a row) with formatting or value

Jump to the right using Ctrl+Right arrow Pressing the Ctrl and Right

arrow keys together moves

the active cell to the right

Pressing the Ctrl key and the Right arrow key together moves the active cell to the

right.

If there are empty cells between N19 and Z19 (as there are in the example), then

after you press Ctrl+Right arrow, the active cell stops adjacent to an empty cell.

http://www.ableowl.com/Genie/Magazine/Files/Instant_130/BigSheetNavigateRight.XLS




XL07/10 = Excel 2007/2010


It stops at empty cells… (1) From cell N19, press Ctrl+Right arrow.

The active cell moves to cell P19, the cell before the next empty cell, as shown below.


…but happily jumps over

them upon request

(2) From cell P19, press Ctrl+Right arrow again.

The active cell moves right to the cell after the empty cell, as shown below.


…even if there are many

empty cells

What if there are multiple blank cells in your row?

(3) From cell S19, press Ctrl+Right arrow.

The active cell moves right across multiple intervening blank cells, and the new

active cell is the cell just after the last blank cell, as shown below.







XL02/03=Excel XP(2002)/2003



With just a few key presses, you can quickly navigate across your data range. Want

to go even faster?

Hold down the Ctrl+Right

arrow keys to go to the last

column in the sheet…

Holding the Ctrl and Right arrow keys down repeats these rightward jumps. If you

hold the keys down long enough, the active cell moves to the last column in the

spreadsheet. In XL02/03, this is column IV; in XL07/10, column XFD.

…but you can always go

home

Now that you're at the edge of the world, so to speak, how do you get back? Press

the Ctrl and Left arrow keys to move the active cell back to the left (alternatively, try

pressing the Home key).

Jump to the right using Alt+PgDn Another way to jump to the

right: Alt+PageDown

Press the Alt key and the PageDown key together to move the active cell one screen

page to the right.

On some keyboards (especially laptops) it will be the Alt key and the PgDn key. For

the rest of this article, PageDown is synonymous with PgDn.


Alt+PageDown or Alt+PgDn

gets you close…

(1) From cell N19, press Alt+PageDown (or Alt+PgDn depending on your

keyboard).

The active cell jumps to the first cell in the next window, AA19, as you can see

below.

… fine-tuning then gets you

exactly to Z19

(2) Press the Left arrow key once to navigate to Z19.

This can be an even quicker way to jump across great swathes of data.






XL07/10 = Excel 2007/2010


Hold down Alt+PageDown

keys to move the active cell to

the far right of the

spreadsheet

As before, holding down the Alt and PageDown keys will eventually move the

active cell to the last column in the spreadsheet displayed.

Once you're off in the rightward wilds of a spreadsheet, try pressing Alt and the

PageUp key to move the active cell back to the left (alternatively, press the Home

key).

Jump to the right using End Enter Use the End and Enter keys… Pressing the End key and then the Enter key (consecutively, not together) moves the

active cell to the last column in the row that contains either a value or formatting.

…to move to the rightmost

cell that contains formatting

(1) From cell N19, press End then Enter

The active cell jumps to AA19. Why?

This is the rightmost cell that contains formatting: it has a solid border on the right

side. This border is the reason why the End Enter key sequence stops at AA19.

You are now only one keystroke from Z19.

(2) Press the Left arrow key once.

What were all those shortcuts

again?

To summarise, here are three keyboard-only ways to move to the right of your

spreadsheet, and a key to bring you home again:

Ctrl+Right arrow Jump to the right, stopping next to an empty cell each time

Alt+PageDown Jump to the right, one screen page at a time

End Enter Jump to the rightmost cell (in a row) with formatting or value

Home Jump back to the leftmost cell in a row

Coming soon In later editions of Instant Excel, we will cover shortcuts that include combinations

of the keyboard and the mouse.

To note! Please don’t try to learn all the shortcuts at one time. Practice a few many times

until they are built into your long-term memory.



XL02/03=Excel XP(2002)/2003


Conventions: Make inputs a blue font

>>Files: ConventionInputBlue.xls Back to top

Help prevent formulas from being overtyped, show users where the input cells are and make your sheets clearer.

A formula is easily overtyped It’s easy for formula cells to be accidentally overtyped; when someone enters data,

he or she looks at the cell, and might not notice the formula displayed in the

Formula bar. Conventions: Make inputs a blue font

Some apply fill colours or

borders to input cells;

AbleOwl apply a blue font

In the sheet below, which are input cells? It is not possible to tell at a glance. Some

people apply a fill to input cells. Pale yellow and pale blue are common colours for

such, though by no means universal. Others apply a grid or borders. At AbleOwl,

we do none of those. Instead, we apply a pure blue font.

File: ConventionInputBlue.xls, sheet: iStockMoveNothing

With a blue font applied to inputs, the sheet looks as below.

File: ConventionInputBlue.xls, sheet: iStockMoveFontBlue

http://www.ableowl.com/Genie/Magazine/Files/Instant_130/ConventionInputBlue.XLS






XL07/10 = Excel 2007/2010

With the blue font applied, when you look at a cell, you can immediately tell

whether it is an input cell, which minimises the risk of overtyping a formula. There

are other benefits to identifying the inputs:

Input identification makes

communication easier

(i) You can communicate to others where the inputs are, which in turn minimises

the risk that some inputs get overlooked, that is, do not get input.

The sheet becomes more

understandable

(ii) You understand the sheet better. For example, you now see that the closing

balance is calculated from the opening balance plus activities during the month.

Why is a blue font better than a yellow fill?

With a yellow fill applied to inputs, the sheet looks as below.

File: ConventionInputBlue.xls, sheet: iStockMoveFillYellow

If you identify inputs with a

fill, you can’t use a fill to, say,

identify actual months

Suppose you want to apply a fill to the Dec-11 column to indicate that it is an actual

month as opposed to a forecast month. Applying that fill will remove the fill used to

indicate input. However, the blue font still clearly shows, as you see in column R

below.

File: ConventionInputBlue.xls, sheet: iStockMoveFontBlueFill





XL02/03=Excel XP(2002)/2003


With borders applied to inputs, the sheet looks as below.

File: ConventionInputBlue.xls, sheet: iStockMoveBorder

Borders make it hard to find

the active cell

While a fill can be overlaid to keep inputs identified, it is hard to find the active cell

if it is in a bordered cell. Furthermore, too many borders become distracting and

make you a little cross-eyed.

Blue font inputs work better

in printouts than fill or

borders

And there’s another benefit to a blue font: on a printout, it is not usually necessary

or even desirable to identify inputs. On black and white printouts, blue prints as

black. However, fill and borders appear and look decidedly unattractive (and

mystifying).

Finally, in XL07/10, where do you find the pure blue colour? See the article, Apply

pure blue in Excel 2007/2010.




XL07/10 = Excel 2007/2010

Apply pure blue in Excel 2007/2010

Pure blue was hidden away by Excel beginning in 2007. Read on to discover where to find it now. Back to top

Pure colours are useful in

creating easy-to-follow

spreadsheets

You could describe a spreadsheet as an engineered product. Good use of colour

helps make a product easier to understand and use. Therefore, for clarity, you need

easily-identified colours. Applying multiple tints of the same colour can result in an

attractive sheet, but if difficulty in distinguishing colours results in a lack of clarity,

the design is poor.

Clear identification of inputs

is important to spreadsheets

So where is pure blue?

So, well-engineered products use bright colours

where clarity is paramount. For example, the live

wire is red, neutral is blue and ground is green.

There won’t be any subtle tints in those colours,

so you would never mistake one for another.

Clear identification of inputs is an important

principle to apply to spreadsheets. See the article

‘Conventions: Make inputs a blue font’ elsewhere

in this edition. The AbleOwl convention is to

apply a pure blue font. The colour is easily

distinguishable from black and stands out clearly

on a white background.

But where is pure blue in XL07/10? There’s its

colour palette on the right (Figure A).

Figure A

In XL02/03, it’s right there

In XL07/10, you need to dig

deeper

In XL02/03, pure blue is in the second

row, sixth column of the palette

(Figure B).

XL07/10 has Theme Colours (Figure A)

and, below that, Standard Colours, but

though pure red and yellow are there,

blue and green are not. You need to dig

deeper.

Figure B

In XL07/10, choose More Colors … (Figure A). The Colors dialog box appears

(Figure C). Pure blue is on the second row, sixth from the left.

The RGB number confirms

that you have pure blue

If you want to be sure that the blue you choose is pure blue, display the Custom

page. Every colour is a combination of red, green and blue. The degree of a colour is

a number 0 to 255. As you see in Figure D, the chosen colour has no red or green,

but blue is to the maximum.

XL02/03=Excel XP(2002)/2003


Figure C

Figure D

Once applied, the colour

remains on the button, to be

easily applied again

Note that after you apply a colour, the color

button face (the letter A right) displays that

colour, which means that if you click on the

button letter A rather than the drop-down arrow,

you apply that colour again. Also note that the

colour appears in Recent Colors (Figure E). The

colour remains there while the workbook is open.

Figure E


XL07/10 = Excel 2007/2010

Instant inquisition

Test your understanding of the topics covered in this edition of Instant Excel. Back to top

(1) How many vertical drag

speeds are there?

a) 2

b) 3

c) 4

d) 5

(2) What is the date and time

in the footer?

a) Time last calculated

b) Time printed

c) Time of last save

(3) What does Excel do when

textual values are added

to a PivotTable's Value

region?

a) The text is treated as zero.

b) The PivotTable spits out an error.

c) The PivotTable counts the entries.

(4) Which of these are true of

the fourth argument of

VLOOKUP function?

(choose all that apply)

a) By default, it is set to TRUE, which performs an approximate match.

b) By default, it is set to FALSE, which performs an exact match.

c) It is an optional (but important) argument.

d) It is a mandatory argument.

(5) Of what must you be

careful when comparing

among Sparklines?

a) The vertical axis maximum and minimum values must be Automatic.

b) The horizontal axis maximum and minimum values must be the Same for All

Sparklines.

c) The vertical axis maximum and minimum values must be the Same for All

Sparklines.

(6) Which of these are true of

the R2 value of a linear

regression trendline?


a) A value of 0 indicates no linear relationship between your variables.

b) A value of 1 indicates a perfect linear relationship between your variables.

c) It communicates how much of the variance in the dependent variable is

predicted by the variance in the independent variable.

d) The specific R2 cut-off value between a strong and weak relationship is 0.732.

(7) What keyboard shortcut

might you use to move

right across a worksheet?


a) Ctrl+Right arrow

b) Alt+PageDown

c) End Enter

(8) A blue font for inputs has

which advantages?


a) Allows fill to be used for other purposes

b) Is easier to spot inputs on screen

c) Does not distract, especially on the printout

d) Contrasts well on a white background

(9) RGB stands for?

a) Raster Graphic Basic

b) Russian Government Bureau

c) Red Green Blue

Go to answers

XL02/03=Excel XP(2002)/2003


Editor's letter

If you're a long-time Instant Excel Sheet subscriber, you may have noticed a few

new things going on this month… that's right, we changed our fonts! While we

were at it, we decided to make a few other minor tweaks, too.

I hope you enjoy this inaugural (and greatly extended for this month!) edition of

shiny new Instant Excel, and I'd love to hear your feedback at

[email protected]. Do you like the videos? Are the picture-oriented

articles more helpful than our previous, text-based articles? Is the longer quiz a

useful recap? What other features would help the Instant better help you?

And while we're at it, I'll stick my face over there to the left – I'm the newest editor

of this fine publication, and I look forward to hearing from you.

Happy Excel-ing!

Jillian Pennington Back to top

AbleOwl information

Excel magazines, seminars,

support and bespoke Excel

systems

Website http://www.ableowl.com

Email [email protected]

Phone Australia +(61) 3 8648 6521

New Zealand +(64) 7 854 9276

Visit the AbleOwl website or call one of our offices for more information about our

Excel publications, training courses and webinars, add-in software, hotline support

and consultancy.

Copyright of AbleOwl publications is owned by AbleOwl (SEY) Ltd.

Quiz Answers: (1) d; (2) b; (3) c; (4) a,c; (5) d; (6) a,b,c; (7) a,b,c; (8) a,b,c,d; (9) c

mailto:[email protected]

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