Tools developed in Excel can save your company time and money.
Microsoft Excel is one
the most versatile environments for developing advanced tools. Maybe
your first question asked
when developing an advanced tool is, "Can we build it
in Excel?"
The Microsoft Excel components that are used to build things.
In a nut shell, Microsoft Excel is a
spreadsheet tool that is capable of performing advanced calculations,
analyzing data, presenting information in various visual interfaces
and integrating information from different programs. That is
just for starters. Microsoft Excel is comprised of
organizational units called workbooks. A standard workbook
contains worksheets and chart sheets that can be viewed by clicking on their tabs
at the bottom of the workbook.
In the workbook example above, you can see a worksheet and
the tabs at the bottom of the window you click on to view each program element. When
you save your work in Excel, it is saved in a workbook file with a basic extension of
.xlsx.
Worksheet: A worksheet can perform
calculations; control what people type; color cells based on logic; store, query, organize and analyze data; display shapes, pictures, charts
and controls like a web page; they are extremely versatile. A
worksheet is comprised of millions of cells. The job of a cell is to store typed data. It can also store a formula that performs a calculation.
A cell can also store data and refresh it from an external data source such as a database.
The sample worksheet above contains a view
of some its most important elements and functionality. Notice
the tab at the bottom that says Sheet1, you click on a tab to
view a worksheet. In Excel, a user learns to combine these
elements together to form a solution. The trick is to know how to combine them and
have them operate as one. We do.
Chart Sheet:
A chart sheet's job is to present a chart (graph) developed from data stored on
a worksheet or from some other data source. They come in all different
flavors like column, line, pie, sunburst, waterfall,... the list is
pretty extensive. They can be formatted many different ways and they update
when their sources change
In the chart sheet example above, the notorious UFO pie chart is being displayed. Mix in some transparent gradient formatting, a whole lot of 3-d effects and the look speaks for itself. It's good to know that even if the data is not good news, at least the chart looks great.
Some key tasks that Microsoft Excel can perform.
Think of Microsoft Excel as a
modular tool set that can be rapidly configured to accomplish a
desired task. Some of Excel's key tools include:
- Worksheets that can store and
organize massive amounts of data like a database
- Formulas that perform basic
algebraic operations
- Formulas that perform basic logic
operations using relational operators
- Array Formulas that can
analyze massive amounts of worksheet data and perform advanced logic
- Worksheet functions that perform
automated tasks on massive amounts of data that simple
formulas cannot do
- Data validation that is used to
protect against invalid cell data entry, allows forms to be
constructed
- Conditional formatting that
colors worksheet cells based on logical conditions
- Chart creation that visualizes
worksheet data
- Excel tables that organize and
adapt to resizing worksheet data
- Power Query that can fuse, clean
and edit data from multiple data sources
- PivotTables (Power Pivot) that
can be used to rapidly organize, analyze and display
worksheet data
- Grouping outlines that can group,
hide and display data
- Built-in drawing shapes, imported
pictures and ActiveX controls that can be used to create
advanced visual interfaces like dashboards
- Built-in programming language
called Visual Basic for Applications (VBA, Macros) that can
be used to automate Excel's features and develop time saving
tools
By using Microsoft Excel, company funds
and time are not invested in developing software tools from the
"ground up" in computer languages that take large staffs to
maintain.
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