Objective 2. Select Parts of a Worksheet
In Excel, text or numbers in a cell are referred to as data. Before you enter data into a worksheet, you must select the location in the worksheet where you want the data to display. After the data is in the worksheet, you can select one or more cells of data to which you can apply Excel's commands and functions.
Activity 1.4. Selecting Parts of a Worksheet
Recall that a cell is the rectangular box formed by the intersection of a column and a row. In the following activity, you will select both individual cells and groups of cells in the worksheet. Selecting refers to highlighting, by clicking or dragging with your mouse, one or more cells so that the selected cells can be edited, formatted, copied, or moved. Selected cells are indicated by a dark border, and Excel treats the selected rangegroup of cellsas a single unit; thus, you can make the same change, or combination of changes, to more than one cell at a time.
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In Sheet1, move the mouse pointer overpoint tothe cell at the intersection of column A and row 3, and then click. Compare your screen with Figure 1.23.
Figure 1.23. A black border surrounds the cell, indicating that it is the active cell. The active cell in a worksheet is the cell ready to receive data or be affected by the next Excel command. A cell is identified by the intersecting column letter and row number, which form the cell address. A cell address is also referred to as a cell reference. The cell address displays in the Name Box. Although either lowercase or uppercase letters can be used interchangeably to indicate columns, uppercase letters are commonly used.
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On the keyboard, press
Cell A6 becomes the active cell. Pressing one of the four direction arrow keys relocates the active cell. The cell address of the active cell always displays in the Name Box.
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Point to
Figure 1.24. The eight cells, B2 through B5 and C2 through C5, are selected. This adjacent range of cellscells that are next to each otheris referred to as B2:C5. When you see a colon (:) between two cell references, the range includes all the cells between the two cell addresses. The cell addresses used to indicate the range are the upper left cell and the lower right cellin this instance, B2 and C5. When you select a range of cells, the cells are bordered by a thick black line, and they change color except for the first cell in the range, which displays in the Name Box.
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At the left edge of the worksheet, point to the number 3 until the select row pointer
Figure 1.25. |
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Click the row 3 heading.
Row 3 is selected. A row is a horizontal group of cells in a worksheet. Beginning with number 1, a unique number identifies each rowthis is the row heading, located at the left side of the worksheet. All the cells in the row are selected, including those that are out of view.
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In the upper left corner of Sheet1, point to the letter A until the select column pointer
Figure 1.26. Column A is selected. A column is a vertical group of cells in a worksheet. Beginning with the first letter of the alphabet, A, a unique letter identifies each columnthis is called the column heading. All the cells in the column are selected, including those that are out of view.
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Click in the Name Box and notice that the cell address A1 moves to the left edge and is highlighted in blue. Recall that text highlighted in blue in this manner will be replaced by your typing. Type d4:f6 and then compare your screen with Figure 1.27.
Figure 1.27. |
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Press
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Click in the Name Box, type b2:b8,e2:e8 press
Figure 1.28. (This item is displayed on page 608 in the print version) Two nonadjacent rangescells that are not next to each otherare selected. Ranges of cells that are nonadjacent can be selected by typing the ranges into the Name Box separated by a comma. Although cell references are usually referred to with an uppercase letter, when typing a cell reference, you can use either lowercase or uppercase letters.
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Select the range C3:C5 and notice that the previously selected cells are deselected. Then, with the range selected, hold down
Figure 1.29. Use either technique to select cells that are nonadjacent (not next to one another). A range of cells can be adjacent or nonadjacent. A range of cells that is nonadjacent can be indicated in instructions by separating the ranges with a comma. In this instance, the selected ranges can be referred to as c3:c5,e3:e5.
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At the upper left corner of your worksheet, locate and then click the Select All buttonthe small gray box above row heading 1 and to the left of column heading A, and then compare your screen with Figure 1.30.
Figure 1.30. |
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Point to any cell on your worksheet and click to cancel the selection.
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[Page 609 (continued)] Objective 3 Enter and Edit Data in a Worksheet
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