Simon Fraser University Faculty of Business Administration

FORMATTING AND CHARTING

Objectives:
1. Formatting setting up worksheets copy and fill options examples of cell format options linking two worksheets 2. Creating Charts with the Chart Wizard selecting chart contents chart types chart options editing chart options adding data to an existing chart

1. Formatting
An example (Uncle Eddys HotDawg Emporium) will be used to illustrate the different formatting techniques available in Excel. In the example, Uncle Eddy is interested in making some predictions about the revenue his hot-dog stand will be making over the next four months.

A) Setting up worksheets You begin by defining the cells that you want to use to display your revenue estimates. These are provided below and were placed in a worksheet entitled Revenues:

Excel 5.0 Introduction - Formatting and Charting The results of the revenue estimates will depend on the assumptions that Uncle Eddy makes regarding the number of items sold per month, the growth rate of sales per month, and the price charged for the item. This information is captured in a separate worksheet labeled Assumptions. This worksheet is shown below:

Note that the items are in the same order and the orientation of the itemes in both sheets are the same. The careful and thoughtful planning of data throughout the sheets can significantly reduce your work as you build more functionality into your workbook. Think about the final product before you start placing items in worksheets.

B) Copy and Fill Techniques One way of preserving the order of the items across the sheets is to copy the list of items from one sheet to another sheet. This is done using the Copy option. Three steps are required for copying an item: 1. Highlight what you want to copy with the mouse, 2. Select the Copy option from the Edit menu item, and 3. Paste the copy into the new area in the workbook. The Copy procedure is pictured below: 1. Select Cells to Copy Select what you want to copy by clicking on the first cell and dragging the mouse while holding down the right mouse button

When you have selected what you want to copy, let go of the mouse button. The area should still appear highlighted.

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Excel 5.0 Introduction - Formatting and Charting

2. Select the Copy from the Edit Menu The Cut command will move the selected data to a new location

The Copy command creates a new copy of the selected data

This side of the menu suggests shortcut keys for the operations. Instead of selecting Copy from the Edit menu, you could simply press the CTRL and c simultaneously. These shortcuts make editing faster.

3. Select the new location for data and select Paste To complete the copy, select the first cell where you want to place the copy and then select Paste from the Edit Menu (or hit Ctrl and v)

Excel 5.0 also has some interesting Fill features that reduce the amount of work required to develop and design your worksheets. One of the more convenient techniques is the Fill option that can be used to fill formulas or series of data. For example, the Fill option can be used in the Revenue worksheet to automatically fill in the months associated with the revenue estimates. To fill in the months use the following procedure:

1. Start off by entering two months (example Mar and Apr).

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Excel 5.0 Introduction - Formatting and Charting

To extend the selection, click in this corner after cursor changes shape 2. Select the two months you entered Select March and April using the click and drag technique with the mouse. Make sure to let go of the mouse button after the selection.

Voila! A quick way to create a series. You can do the same with numbers too. 3. Extend the Selection Grab the bottom right hand corner of the selection (notice how the cursor changes shape) and drag out the required number of months.

C) Cell Formatting Options Excel 5.0 has a variety of options available for formatting the contents of a cell. If you are doing a large amount of formatting, it is a good idea to open up the Format toolbar provided by Excel. To open this toolbar, select the Toolbar option from the View menu. Selecting the Toolbar option provides you with the following box:

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Excel 5.0 Introduction - Formatting and Charting

Selecting the Formatting toolbar will give you easier access to the following options:

Use this button to choose font type

Centering Bold, Italics, and Underline Percentage or currency formats

Cell Border Options

Cell color options

Font Size Select the format options by clicking on the Some formatting options are not available directly from the formatting toolbar. Further tabs. formatting options are available in the Cells option in the Format Menu. An example of one of these options is Word Wrap. Word Wrap allows text to wrap around a cell width creating several lines of text in a single cell. To format a cell for Word Wrap, first select the cell, then select Cell from the Format menu. This will give you the following options box: Word Wrap is enable by placing an X in this box. To select a toolbar, click the box so that an X appears next to the toolbar you want. Then press the OK button

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Excel 5.0 Introduction - Formatting and Charting

As you can see, many other options for cell formats also exist - too many to go through in this introduction. The best way to discover how these formatting options work is to try them yourself . The only thing to remember is to select the cells you want to format, before you apply the options.

D) Linking Spreadsheets Through Formulas Our example currently has 2 worksheets; one set up to display revenue predictions, and a second to hold the assumptions behind the predictions. The question is, How can these two sheets be hooked together to create the required predictions. Fortunately, the answer is simple. We link the two worksheets through formulas. As a reminder, the two worksheets are provided below (with a little more formatting): The Revenues Worksheet

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Excel 5.0 Introduction - Formatting and Charting The Assumptions Worksheet

To link these two worksheets together we create a formula in the Revenues worksheet that utilizes the assumptions Uncle Eddy has made about sales. For March, the total revenue generated by Big Dawgs is equal to the initial demand multiplied by the price. This formula is shown below:

Note that the formula now includes not only the cell references, but also the worksheet reference. Formulas can therefore extend through several Excel worksheets. The formula for April is somewhat different due to the growth rate in demand. The formula for April is (note the absolute cell addressing for cell C5 in the assumptions worksheet. Why is this necessary?):

Using the Fill option in the Edit menu, the rest of the formulas are filled in without having to type. The result is the following Revenues worksheet:

Andrew Gemino

Excel 5.0 Introduction - Formatting and Charting

Andrew Gemino

Excel 5.0 Introduction - Formatting and Charting

2. Creating Graphs using the Graph Wizard

Creating graphs has been simplified in Excel 5.0 with the introduction of the Graph Wizard. The Graph Wizard provides an easy step by step set of instructions for creating a graph. Well use our example to show how graphs can be created.

A) Selecting graph data The first step is to select the data that you want to grab. We will start easy and just graph a single month from our example. To select the data for graphing, use the same procedures you learned for copying and pasting. It is a good idea to include both the headings for the data along with the data itself when creating a graph using the wizard. The selection for the month of March is shown below:

Once you have selected the data for graphing, you then select the Chart Wizard icon. It is located on the standard toolbar and looks like this:

After pressing the Chart Wizard icon, your arrow cursor will change its shape to something similar to the Chart Wizard icon shown above. This change in shape of the cursor is indicating that the Chart Wizard wants to know where you want to place the chart you are about to create. Its a good idea to keep your data and charts separate, so a good suggestion is to place the chart in a new worksheet. To select a new worksheet, move your cursor to the bottom left-hand corner of your display and click on one of the unused worksheet tabs. This will give you a fresh worksheet to work from. Now, move your cursor back into the worksheet area and then click, hold and drag out a rectangle with the chart wizard wand. Your chart will be placed in this rectangle. When you are happy with the size of the rectangle, let go of the mouse button and the wizard will display the following box:

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Excel 5.0 Introduction - Formatting and Charting

This box indicates the data that will be used in the chart. If the data is incorrect, just hit the Cancel button and start again. If everything is OK then hit the Next button. Hitting the next button produces the second step in the process.

The second step asks for the type of graph you want. There are many types, but for our data a column graph will do nicely. Clicking on the graph you want and then pressing the next button moves you to the third step, where you select the type of column chart that you want.

After selecting the type of chart, click the Next button and the following box appears: Andrew Gemino 10

Excel 5.0 Introduction - Formatting and Charting

This step shows you an example of the chart and gives you the opportunity to rearrange the axis and choose the columns and rows that indicate the headings for your data. We can move on to the final step by pressing the Next button:

This box provides the ability to add Chart and Axis titles, gives you the choice of a Legend and displays an example of the finished graph so you can judge the results of your work. When you are satisfied with the chart, press the Finish button and the chart will be drawn in the rectangular box you created for it previously.

B) Editing the Chart All of the features in the chart can be edited. To edit the chart you must first select it for editing by double clicking on the chart itself. After you have double clicked on the chart, the chart border will change to a hatched design (see diagram below) and all of the chart features including axes, colors, titles, and legends can be edited. Andrew Gemino 11

Excel 5.0 Introduction - Formatting and Charting

Note thatched border. This indicates chart options can be edited.

Note, after double clicking on the graph, the Format and Insert menus have changed to reflect Charting Options.

Most of the editing options are straightforward and are left to the inquisitive to explore.

C) Adding Data to a Chart The chart shown above could be altered to include more than just a single month of data. There are two ways to accomplish this. The first way is to redraw the chart starting with a larger selection (2 or more months of data) and using the wizard as described above. Since we have already seen the wizard, we will choose the second method: adding data to an existing graph. Fortunately, Excel 5.0 makes it easy to add additional data. To add other months of data to an existing graph, select the data you wish to add. The example below selects the next two months of additional data.

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Excel 5.0 Introduction - Formatting and Charting To add the selected data to the previous chart you simply copy the new data into the chart. This can be done using Copy and Paste procedure. While the data is selected, just select Copy from the Edit menu as shown below:

After selecting Copy, the new data is pasted into the existing chart by first selecting the chart (use a single click) and then selecting the Paste Special option from the Edit Menu as shown below:

After selecting the Paste Special option, the following box will appear:

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Excel 5.0 Introduction - Formatting and Charting

Indicates the selected data are to be added to the current data

Indicates that first row contains the month heading.

When you are satisfied with the options for the paste, press the OK button. The new graph will then be displayed with the additional information as shown below:

Selecting Non-adjacent Cells for Graphing Up to this point, we have chosen to select data that were adjacent to each other. This may not always be possible. For instance, what if I wanted to graph the data for the month of July ONLY, but I wanted to include the item titles in the first column. These non-adjacent cells are shown below:

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Excel 5.0 Introduction - Formatting and Charting

Selecting two non-adjacent columns in the same selection can be accomplished using the click and drag mouse selection in conjunction with the Ctrl key. Holding down the Ctrl key enables any previous selections to be maintained, and allows new selections to be made. The process is simple. First, start a selection using the same techniques (click and drag) as used previously. For example, select the first column of item names:

Now, before selecting the July column, HOLD DOWN the Ctrl key and then click and drag the mouse in the July column. Next, let go of the mouse button and Ctrl key. Your selection should look like this:

You can now press of the Graph Wizard icon and impress your friends by producing a graph displaying only July data (like the one shown below). How can you select only these two columns at the same time?

Andrew Gemino

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Excel 5.0 Introduction - Formatting and Charting

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