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Department of Technology |
TECH 394 - Tech Computer Applications |
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Summer 2004 |
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Using Multiple WorksheetsOne feature of modern spreadsheet programs that is often overlooked is the use of multiple worksheets. While each sheet is large enough to include all but the largest project, it is often useful to use seperate sheets for input, calculation, and output. That way, the user interacts only with the input screen, proprietary calculations remain hidden, and a formatted output can be readily displayed or printed. When Excel loads, the default configuration is to include three worksheets, labeled Sheet1, Sheet2, and Sheet3. The user switches between them by selecting the tabs at thebottom of the screen. If your workbook will need only one worksheet, you can reduce the size of the file by right-clicking on unnecessary tabs, and choosing Delete. You can also right-click to rename the sheet. Names like "Input" and "Output" are often more helpful than "Sheet1" and Sheet2". Although Excel will allow you to select names with blank spaces, such names can cause problems in macro operation, so I recommend you not include blanks in worksheet names. Formulas on one sheet may refer to cells on another by using an external reference. For example, the formula: =SUM(Input!b3:b16) will look in the worksheet named "Input", find the values in cells b3:b16, add them, and place the total in the cell where the formula is written. The exclamation point (programmers call it Bang!) is the seperator between the sheet name and the cell addresses. Note that range names are assigned to the workbook, not the worksheet, so if you assign the name "Totals" to cells d6:d15 in the sheet called "Summary", you don't need to include the sheet reference to use it. If the sheet named "Report" is active, and you want a grand total, the sum of all the values in the range "Totals", you need only write =SUM(Totals). This also means you can't assign the same range name to ranges on different worksheets.
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