Posts Tagged ‘Computer Software’
Aspects Of An Effective Microsoft Excel 2007 Training Course
April 23, 2010
Upgrading to Excel 2007 may be something of a shock to you and your staff. The initial reaction of most people is: “where is everything?” Bearing this in mind, you may well find that a training course on Excel 2007 is a good investment. The training should first of all get you past the initial state of confusion caused by the fact that 2007 looks so different from previous versions. Then it should give you some guidance on the new features in Excel 2007 such as the enhancements to charting and graphics, functions and conditional formatting.
At the end of any training on Excel 2007, you should feel that you have grasped the logic of the new interface and be able to navigate the ribbon and find all the basic commands. You should be getting used to doing things the Office 2007 way rather than the Office 2003 way.
In addition to this, however, you will want to learn the new features that Excel 2007 has to offer: the stuff that either wasn’t available in previous versions or which has undergone considerable enhancement.
One fundamental new feature in Excel 2007 is the dimension of a worksheet which is now about 1000 times bigger (in terms of the number of cells) than previous versions. A good Excel 2007 training course should show you how to fully exploit the space available and how to quickly navigate and manage the larger worksheets that will result.
Pivot tables have been considerably improved in Excel 2007. However, given that so many users are a bit vague on getting the best out of pivot tables, why not ask that your training on pivot tables begins with a review of fundamental pivot table concepts before moving on to look at how Excel 2007 implements pivot table features.
Charts and graphics are a great way to add impact to your Excel reports. Does your organisation use them? If so, make sure that your Excel 2007 training course incorporates gives you plenty of practice examples in using Excel 2007′s new features to create and manipulate charts and graphics. You should become a dab hand at using the new charting ribbons: the format ribbon, the design ribbon and the layout ribbon. Do you need advanced features too? If so, you should also be looking to learn about pivot charts, scatter charts and adding trendlines to your charts.
Conditional formatting has been around in Excel for some time. However, this feature has now been considerably improved. If you are getting trained on Excel 2007, you should definitely make sure that you will learn about these improvements and how to use the Color Scale and Data Bars features.
An Excel spreadsheet without formulas and functions is not much use to anyone. Functions are what Excel is all about. Microsoft have improved the way in which function are entered and edited and added several new functions. When you book training on Excel 2007, make sure that your course will include coverage of new functions like SumIfs, IfError and AverageIf as well as a demonstration of the improvements to the editing of formulas.
You can find out more about Excel and Excel VBA training courses, visit On Site Training Courses . Com, a UK IT training web site offering On-site Excel training all over the UK.
Microsoft Excel Training In Its Many Forms
April 22, 2010
We all have been around computers and some of us use them on a daily basis but we all have to admit that we don’t use all of the programs chances are we don’t even know all of the programs on the computer itself. By taking time to go through Microsoft Excel Training you will have more knowledge of what your program and computer can do for you?
Computers are full of programs that some of us don’t even know about because it just isn’t an everyday program that we use. With Microsoft Excel Training you can now learn these programs and how to use them for what they are worth.
Microsoft Excel is one of those programs that you don’t use on a daily basis unless you have a company or business. Many things can be done with Microsoft Excel such as spreadsheets, charts and more. The program can be fun, exciting and do anything that you want to do with a matter of a few simple steps.
Microsoft Excel training can be very useful and can teach you many things such as what buttons perform which functions and how to use them effectively and to your best ability.
There are many ways to get Microsoft Excel training such as private instructors, videos, classes and more. Most computer programs offer a step by step tutorial that shows you simply and briefly how the program works and how to install it but the features and functions that it shows you are limited. In order to use a program effectively you need to know all the features not just a few.
Private tutors can cost a lot of money but if you really need the help to understand the program then it is worth it and you can get the attention that you need so if you don’t understand a specific thing or function then you can ask and get one on one attention.
There are a variety of online products ranging from videos, online classes and DVD’s if you don’t have much time to go somewhere and need something more catered to your bust life then chances are an online program is the right one for your situation.
There are many advantages and disadvantages to training in Excel such as learning the program, cost and more it is up to you as the consumer to decide which program best suits your needs.
You can find out more about Excel and Excel VBA training courses, visit On Site Training Courses . Com, an independent computer training web site offering Excel training courses all over the UK.
Using Hidden Worksheets In Microsoft Excel 2007
April 21, 2010
A Microsoft Excel workbook is really a container, a bit like a folder. Each Excel workbook contains one or more worksheets and it is the worksheet that is the actual container of your information. Worksheets are identified by a tab which carries the name of the sheet. Clicking a tab will activate that particular sheet.
In exactly the same way that Microsoft Excel allows you to hide columns, it is also possible to hide entire worksheets. Hiding a worksheet is particularly useful where you have a workbook that contains a lot of sheets. Naturally, hidden worksheets can be made visible again by using the Unhide command. It is possible to hide either an individual sheet or to hide a group of sheets. However sheets can only be unhidden one sheet at a time.
To hide a single sheet, just right-click on the sheet tab and choose Hide. The corresponding worksheet will then vanish. There is also a ribbon command which achieves the same thing. First, select the sheet by clicking on its tab and then, in the Cells section of the Home Tab of Excel Ribbon, choose Format-Visibility-Hide and Unhide-Hide.
To hide more than one sheet at a time, simply select the sheets by clicking on the first, holding down the Control key on your keyboard and clicking on each of the others. Next, right-click on any of the highlighted sheet tabs and choose Hide.
To make a hidden worksheet visible once more, you can right-click on any sheet tab and choose Unhide. The Unhide dialog will then appear. Unfortunately, it is not possible to select more than one sheet to unhide; if you try Control-click or Shift-click, you’ll soon find that only one sheet can be highlighted. Highlight the name of the sheet that you wish to make visible and click OK.
If you prefer, you can also use the Excel Ribbon command Format-Visibility-Hide and Unhide-UnHide Sheet. When the Unhide dialog box appears, highlight the sheet you would like to unhide and click OK. You will notice that when sheets are unhidden they very conveniently return to the position that they originally occupied.
If you would like to learn more about Excel training courses, visit Macresource Computer Training, an independent computer training company offering Excel training courses in London and throughout the UK.
Understanding Number Formats In Microsoft Excel 2007
April 20, 2010
When entering numbers into a spreadsheet, you sometimes need to ensure that the number format is consistent. For example, if the numbers in question represent prices, you may want to display a currency symbol or you may simply want to make sure that the number of decimals displayed is consistent..
Unless you specify otherwise, all numbers in Excel are rendered in the “General” format. This means that numbers are displayed exactly as you enter them: if you enter two decimals, two decimals are displayed; if you went to one decimal, one decimal is displayed; and so on.
When setting the number format, the best idea is usually to highlight the whole column. To do this, click on the letter or letters at the top of the column. (Any text contained in the highlighted column will not be affected by the number format you specify.)
Number formats are displayed in the “Numbers” section of the Home Tab of the Ribbon. There are three main formats related to numbers: the first is called “Number”, the second “Currency” and the third “Accounting”. To gain access to the full range of number formats, choose “More Number Formats” from the drop-down menu. Another way of accessing the same dialog box is to click on the launch button in the “Numbers” section of the Home Tab.
Clicking on any of the number formats on the left, displays a series of choices which enable you to refine the way that the format will work. For example, if you have numbers referring to an hourly rate, you might click the “Number” category in the left column and then specify two decimal places. The option which reads “Use Thousands Separator” is used to insert the appropriate separator to demarcate thousands. The separator used will depend on your locality: for example, in most European countries a dot will be used; in the UK or USA, a comma will be used.
The last option in the “Number” category controls the display of negative numbers. The default setting is to display a minus sign in front of the number and leave the colour of the text unchanged. However, you can also choose not to display the minus sign and change the colour of negative numbers to red. Alternatively, you can change the colour of negative numbers to red and also display the minus sign.
When we click the “Currency” category, we have pretty much the same choices with the addition of the currency symbol. We can specify which currency symbol is used or we can dispense with the symbol altogether.
The “Accounting” number format is almost identical to “Currency”. Here again, we can choose our currency symbol. However, there are no choices relating to negative numbers. This is because the convention in accountancy is to put negative numbers in brackets.
In addition to using the number dialog box, you’ll notice that there are a series of handy buttons which can apply each of the appropriate formats with one click. There are also two buttons for increasing and decreasing the number of decimals displayed in the selected numbers.
Finally, there may be times where you enter a number into a cell but do not want Excel to treat it as a number. For example, if you have a column of data representing an ID, although the ID may be numeric, you may not want Excel to regard it as a number or to modify it in any way. You will probably want it to simply stay exactly as it was entered. Whenever that’s the case, it’s best to format the number as “Text”. The simplest way of doing this is to highlight the appropriate column and in the number dialog box choose “Text” as the category.
To learn more about Excel and Excel VBA training courses, visit On Site Training Courses . Com, an independent computer training web site offering Excel Classes all over the UK.
Does Your Microsoft PowerPoint Presentation Need Audience Handouts?
April 13, 2010
PowerPoint audience handouts offer a way of giving the attendees of your presentations something to remember you by. They normally consist of printouts of the presentation; one, two, three, four six or nine slides to a page. Naturally, however, whether or not the essence of your presentation can be captured by this kind of printout depends on the nature of the presentation.
You will almost certainly want to personalize the look and feel of your handouts. To do this, click on the View tab of the PowerPoint ribbon and then click on the Handout Master button. In PowerPoint, masters allow you to determine the format of the three main elements within a presentation; slides, speaker notes and handouts. When you are in handout master mode, the Handout Master contextual tab appears. It contains a Page Setup section which allows you to choose the orientation of both the page as a whole and of the individual slide miniatures. It also contains buttons for activating or deactivating the header, footer, date and page number as well as for formatting the background of the slide.
Given that Microsoft PowerPoint allows you to produce three separate elements (slides, speaker notes and handouts), when the print command is used, you need to specify which of these elements you wish to print. This is done by choosing an option from the Print What drop-down menu. In addition to the three elements mentioned above, you can also print the outline of the presentation.
For presentations containing a fair amount of important detail, it may be more useful to print out the slide outline and distribute it to the audience in place of PowerPoint’s usual handouts. Better still, you can export your presentation into Microsoft Word and then customise it for your audience. To export an outline, from the Office button, choose Publish and then Create Handouts in Microsoft Word.
Using the Create Handouts in Microsoft Word command brings up a dialogue box which allows you to choose one of five page layout options. Firstly, you can have speaker notes next to slides. This will create a two column layout with a slide miniature in column one and speaker notes next to it in column two. If you have used the speaker notes feature in your presentation, this may be a useful solution. The second option is Blank Lines Next to Slides: this produces the same two column layout as the first option but the right hand column is blank, so that you can enter notes next to each slide.
The options Speaker Notes Next to Slides and Blank Lines Next to Slide don’t offer you much room for text. If you have made or wish to make extensive notes on each slide, options three and four (Notes below Slides and Blank lines below Slides) provide a layout with the text below the slide miniature and leaves approximately 60 percent of the page free for notes.
If you just want the audience to have a summary of the content of the presentation, you can choose the final option: Outline Only. This simply exports the text on each slide into Microsoft Word.
As is often the case when transferring data from one Microsoft Office application to another, you have the choice of activating the Paste Link option. This will create a link between the exported file and the original PowerPoint presentation, such that, if the presentation is modified, the exported Word file will also be updated.
If you want more information Microsoft PowerPoint training courses, visit On-site Training Courses . Com, an independent IT training web site offering PowerPoint Classes in London and throughout the UK.
Creating Excel VBA Macros That Run On Opening A Workbook
April 1, 2010
In Excel VBA, as well as macros that can be run manually, it is possible to create macros which are executed automatically when a certain event takes place in the Excel environment. One such event is the opening of a workbook. There are two principal methods of creating macros which run when a particular workbook is opened, both of which involve placing code inside the workbook itself.
One technique is to create an event-handling macro within the code module of the workbook. The second is to create a macro in a regular module and give it the special name “Auto_Open”.
If you are taking the event-handling approach, double-click the “ThisWorkbook” object in the Project Explorer window of the Visual Basic Editor. This opens the code window of the workbook object. Next, choose “Workbook” from the drop-down menu in the top left of the code window. Excel will automatically create the default event-handling subroutine for a workbook object which just happens to be the “Open” event. Your code window should now contain the following subroutine:
Private Sub Workbook_Open()
End Sub
Now you can simply insert the code you would like to run when the workbook is opened.
Now let’s look at the second method. Here, you must begin by inserting a regular VBA module, by choosing Module from the Insert menu. Inside the module, enter the following code:
Sub Auto_Open()
End Sub
Once again, just insert any code you would like to execute when the workbook is opened.
Both of the above techniques achieve a similar result; but there is one key difference between them. The “Auto_Open” macro will only execute if you manually open the file: if the file is opened programmatically by another macro, the “Auto_Open” macro will be ignored. By contrast, the event-handling macro will run whenever the workbook is opened, either manually or programmatically.
If you are writing code which opens a workbook with an “Auto_Open” macro inside it, you can still launch the macro by writing a line of code similar to the following.
Application.Workbooks(“WorkbookX.xlsm”).RunAutoMacros xlAutoOpen
You can get up to date information on Excel VBA training courses, visit Macresource Computer Training, an independent computer training company offering Excel VBA Classes in London and throughout the UK.
Ways To Get Microsoft Training Courses
March 31, 2010
When you go to apply for a job, you might find that there is something that you have to have. When it comes to a job, you have to know your stuff on a computer. What’s more, you really have to know how to use Microsoft. For some of you out there, it might mean that you need Microsoft training courses.
There are a few places that you can find these. Right now the big buzz is online. They have classes for people all over the world. The only downfall with that is if you aren’t too sure about how to use a computer, you might not know how to access it and that can be very difficult. However, for those who just need a tutorial and know other aspects about the computer, they enjoyed this.
There are some places that offer computer classes for people. Sometimes these are held at colleges. However, if you go to a college for these classes that are normally open to the public, then you might be paying more than you really have to. Why pay that price?
Other places may offer free training. These can normally be found at the community centers in your area. Many people don’t know where to look for these. Sometimes if you check community calenders, you can then find them. There are usually a whole bunch of them available at different times because different locations are finding that people are needing this sort of training.
The last option are different training course software. They walk you through this and gives you a hands on example of these different Microsoft applications. You can do this from the comfort of your own home. You can do this online, but if you don’t want to have to download anything, you can just pop a CD in and work from that.
So, find something in your area and learn what you need about Microsoft. You don’t have to feel out of the loop. It’s easy and help is out there. It’s more readily available than it was before.
You can find out more about Microsoft Office training courses, visit On Site Training Courses . Com, a UK IT training web site offering Microsoft Office Classes all over the UK.
Sourcing The Best In Microsoft Excel 2007 Training Courses
March 31, 2010
Having taken the plunge and upgraded to Excel 2007, you will almost certainly benefit from some training. Which type of training you choose depends on your existing experience in using the program. However, in general, the ideal course will first of all rid you of the disorientation most Excel users feel when faced with the Excel 2007 interface. In addition, your Excel 2007 training course should show you how to make the most of the new features version 2007 has to offer.
At the end of any training on Excel 2007, you should feel that you have grasped the logic of the new interface and be able to navigate the ribbon and find all the basic commands. You should be getting used to doing things the Office 2007 way rather than the Office 2003 way.
However, after being trained on 2007, you will want to do more than just get back to where you were with 2003. You will want the training to show you what new features have been added to Excel 2007 and how these new features can benefit you.
One fundamental new feature in Excel 2007 is the dimension of a worksheet which is now about 1000 times bigger (in terms of the number of cells) than previous versions. A good Excel 2007 training course should show you how to fully exploit the space available and how to quickly navigate and manage the larger worksheets that will result.
Pivot tables have been considerably improved in Excel 2007. However, given that so many users are a bit vague on getting the best out of pivot tables, why not ask that your training on pivot tables begins with a review of fundamental pivot table concepts before moving on to look at how Excel 2007 implements pivot table features.
Do you or your organisation use charts and graphics when creating Excel reports? If so, be sure that your Excel 2007 training covers the new and improved charting engine within this new version. You should learn how to fully exploit the new chart ribbons: format, layout and design. You should come away from the training knowing all about SmartArt graphics, adding trendlines, scatter charts and pivot charts.
Conditional formatting has been around in Excel for some time. However, this feature has now been considerably improved. If you are getting trained on Excel 2007, you should definitely make sure that you will learn about these improvements and how to use the Color Scale and Data Bars features.
Formulas are the lifeblood of Excel. They analyse the raw data entered in other cells and provide most of Excel’s awesome power. You should definitely request that your Excel 2007 training shows you the improvements that have been made to the entry of formulas in the formula bar and the key new functions that have been introduced, especially AverageIf, SumIfs, and IfError
You can find out more about Excel VBA training courses, visit Macresource Computer Training, a UK IT training company offering Excel VBA Classes at their central London training centre.
Microsoft Excel Charting Basics
March 31, 2010
Charts offer a quick and easy way of graphically illustrating trends within your data. One glance at a chart can make it very plain where there is a dip in sales figures, a surge in visitor numbers and a host of other trends in whatever data is being represented. In this article we will examine the various elements of an Excel chart.
The first requirement is a set of data which can easily be converted into a readable chart. It is normally best to plot data which is a summary of your information. It is also useful if your data is arranged in columns or rows with headings at the top of columns or on the left of rows.
An typical example of information which would be easy to convert into a chart is a selection containing two columns with data on the left and the corresponding values on the right. When the chart is generated, the labels are placed on what is variously known as the category axis, horizontal axis or x axis; while values are arranged on the y axis. When your data is arranged in this format, the chart that Excel plots will not need much modification.
Charts may either be embedded or standalone. Embedded charts are created directly on the worksheet, often alongside the data being plotted. A stand-alone chart has an Excel sheet dedicated solely to the chart. This is known as a chart sheet; in contrast to a worksheet.
Whether embedded or standalone, the key components of the chart are always the same. First of all, we have a chart area. This is the background to the chart as a whole. Next, we have the plot area. This is the area where the graph or chart is actually plotted. Then, as we have seen, there are two or more axes. In a typical, “no frills” chart, there are two axes: the horizontal, or category, axis and the vertical, or value, axis.
Next, we have one or more series of data. In the example given above, where we select a column of labels and one column of values, there would be only one series of data. In a chart containing more than one series, it is necessary to clarify what each column represents. This is done by adding a legend to the chart. The legend acts as a key which tells us what each colour within the chart actually stands for.
As well as the text labels associated with the axes and with the legend, we can also include chart titles. In addition to the main chart title, we also have the option of placing titles on the axes. Within the plot area, we can also choose to display grid lines. These make it easy to read the value associated with each point on the chart.
These then are the main components within a chart. However, Excel allows you to customise each of these components and add other elements which enable you to create charts which convey exactly the message you have in mind.
For more information on Excel VBA training courses, visit Macresource Computer Training, a UK IT training company offering Excel VBA Classes at their central London training centre.
Understanding Arrays In Microsoft Excel VBA
March 29, 2010
An array is basically a variable which can hold multiple, related values. One of the most useful benefits of using arrays is that you can loop through the values within the array, performing actions which use, test or modify those values. Excel itself contains dozens of arrays which are referred to as collections. For example, the “Workbooks” collection is essentially an array containing a reference to all of the workbooks currently open in Excel.
Since it is capable of holding multiple values, when you declare it, you must also declare the size of the array. The syntax for doing so is to put the size in brackets after the name of the array. For example, the line:
Dim strBranches(12) As String
could be used to declare an array capable of holding 12 string values.
When you need to refer back to the data within the array, both for the purposes of retrieval and modification of data, use the name of the array followed by an index number in brackets. However, by default the first item in an array has an index number of zero rather than one. Thus, to place the word “London” in the first item in our “strBranches” array in the example above, we would say:
strBranches(0) = “London”
Array indexing differs from the way that collection indexes are handled within Excel VBA. To access the first worksheet in the active workbook, you would say:
ActiveWorkbook.Worksheets(1)
You will find that the convention of using zero as the first index of an array is used in most programming languages; so it is probably as well to go with the flow. However, if you prefer to have one as the first index, VBA offers you two methods of doing so.
One approach is to use an “Option” declaration at the top of the module above any sub routines and variable declarations. The syntax is simple.
Option Base 1
An alternative approach is to specify the start and end index numbers in brackets after the array name when the array is declared. This approach offers more flexibility since it allows you to map the array numbers to any other numbers referred to elsewhere in your code. Thus, we could map the array index numbers to years, using a statement like the following.
Dim intYear(2000 to 2010) As Integer
If you would like to learn more about Excel VBA training courses, visit Macresource Computer Training, a UK IT training company offering Excel VBA Classes in London and throughout the UK.
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