In this lesson, you'll learn how to start and end a typical Excel work session and how to get online help.
To use Excel, you must master some basic techniques in Microsoft Windows 95, including opening windows, running applications, dragging, and scrolling. If these terms are unfamiliar to you, refer to the Windows 95 Primer at the back of this book before moving on.
After you installed Excel (see the inside front cover of this book), the installation program returned you to the desktop. To start Excel, follow these steps:
The Excel opening screen appears (see Figure 1.2) with a blank workbook labeled
Book1. Excel is now ready for you to begin creating your workbook.
Figure 1.1
Select the Microsoft Excel program item to start the program.
Plain English: Workbook An Excel file is called a workbook. Each workbook consists of 16 worksheets. Each worksheet consists of columns and rows that intersect to form boxes called cells into which you enter text. The tabs at the bottom of the workbook (which are labeled Sheet1, Sheet2, and so on) let you flip through the worksheets when you click on them with the mouse.
You will perform most operations in Excel using the menu bar, at the top of the
screen, and the Standard toolbar, just below it. In the next two lessons, you'll
learn about the various operations available from the menu bar and the Standard toolbar.
Figure 1.2
Excel's opening screen displays a blank workbook named Book1.
Windows 95: Newly Styled Components For the most part, the components in the Excel for Windows 95 and Excel 5 window are the same. The main difference is that the title bar, the Minimize, Maximize, and Restore buttons, and the Control menu have a new look in Excel for Windows 95. Also, the windows have a Close button (in the top right corner, marked with an x) that lets you close the window with just one click.
You can get help in Excel in three different ways:
Pull down the Help menu. Pull down the Help menu for various help options. You can then select Microsoft Excel Help Topics (for groups of help topics), Answer Wizard (to search for a specific topic), The Microsoft Network (for specific details on how to work with Excel and the Microsoft Network), Lotus 1-2-3 Help (for specific details on how to make the transition from this program), or About Microsoft Excel (for licensing and system information and technical support for Excel from Microsoft).
Click on the Help button. The Help button is in the Standard toolbar; it's the button that has the arrow and the question mark on it. When you click on the Help button, the mouse pointer turns into an arrow with a question mark. Click on any item or part of the screen with which you need help, and Excel displays help for that item or screen area. Double-click on the Help button to search for a Help topic.
Click on the What's This? button in a dialog box. The What's This? button appears in the upper right corner of a dialog box. It's the button that has a question mark on it. When you click on this button, the mouse pointer turns into an arrow with a question mark. Click on any item in the dialog box with which you need help, and Excel displays a pop-up box that contains information about that item. To close the Help box, click anywhere on the screen or press the Esc key.
Timesaver Tip: Quick Description You also can right-click an option in a dialog box to see a description of the selected option.
When you choose Help, Microsoft Excel Help Topics in the menu bar, Excel displays a Help window like the one in Figure 1.3. The Help window is organized like a reference book with four tabs: Contents, Index, Find, and Answer Wizard.
Panic Button: Accidents Happen If you don't want to use the first list that Excel created, don't worry. You can rebuild that list to include more words or exclude words from the list. Click the Rebuild button and choose a word list option to recreate the word list.
If you want to print the list of help topics in the Help Topics: Microsoft Excel window, click the Print button at the bottom of the window. The Print dialog box appears. Click the OK button to print the list of help topics and subtopics in the Help Topics: Microsoft Excel window.
When you open a page in a chapter, a Help menu bar appears at the top of the Help window (see Figure 1.4). The Help menu bar includes three buttons: Help Topics, Back, and Options.
Help Topics Returns you to Help's table of contents.
Back Closes the current Help window and returns to the preceding one.
Options Displays a menu with the following commands: Annotate, Copy, Print Topic, Font, Keep Help on Top, Use System Colors, and Help Version.
Panic Button: Wrong Place at the Wrong Time If you accidentally select the wrong Help topic, don't worry. You can always click the Help Topics button on the Help toolbar, and then select the correct Help topic.
Figure 1.3
The Help Topics: Microsoft Excel window.
Most Help windows contain terms or topics that are underlined with a dotted line.
These are called jumps. If you click on a dotted underlined word, Excel displays
a pop-up text box that provides a bit more information about the term.
Some Help windows contain shortcut buttons that allow you to jump to the area
of Excel to which the Help information refers. A shortcut button contains two right
arrowheads. For example, suppose you're reading a Help topic that contains information
on how to select cells in a worksheet. You click the Shortcut
button to jump to the Help window that contains more information on selecting cells
in a worksheet.
Figure 1.4
An Excel Help window.
Timesaver Tip: Fast Help You also can press F1 to get help on a menu command or an item in a dialog box. Place your mouse pointer over the item you want help on, then press F1.
New and Improved Help Excel for Windows 95 and Excel 5 Help are organized differently. Excel for Windows 95 has the main functions Contents, Index, Find, and the Answer Wizard. Excel 5 contains the main functions Contents, Search, and Glossary. Also, you no longer have to scroll the Help window by clicking the scroll arrows because the list of Help topics is short; the topics all fit on one small screen. To exit Help, perform any of the following steps:
To move the Help window out of the way without closing it, click on the Minimize button in the upper right corner of the Help window. This shrinks the window down to a button on the Taskbar. To get the help window back, click on the ? Microsoft Excel button on the Taskbar.
Excel's TipWizard shows you a few of the many shortcuts in Excel. The TipWizard gives you pointers or shortcuts on how to perform a command. For example, if you are summing a group of numbers, an alternate way to sum numbers displays in the TipWizard box.
To use the TipWizard, follow these steps:
Figure 1.5
The TipWizard offers timesaving advice.
To exit Excel and return to the Windows 95 desktop, follow these steps:
If you changed the workbook in any way without saving the file, Excel will display a prompt asking if you want to save the file before exiting. Select the desired option.
Timesaver Tip: Quick Exit For a quick exit, press Alt+F4, or double-click on the Control-menu in the upper left corner of the Excel window. You can also click the Close (X) button in the upper right corner of the Excel window.
In this lesson, you learned how to enter and exit Excel and get online help. In the next lesson, you'll learn about the Excel workbook window.
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