Absolute Beginners Guide to Quattro Pro X3

1. Getting Started

IN THIS CHAPTER

• Opening the program and selecting a working mode

• Opening menus and using toolbars and dialog boxes

• Understanding the spreadsheet window

• Exploring ways you can use a spreadsheet

Some say I can be pretty funny in person, but that doesn't seem to carry through to my writing; I knowI've tried. So, out of respect for you, I won't crowd this book with my feeble attempts at humor. Instead, I will try my best to keep from boring you silly by remembering that I'm not writing Computer Books: the $29.95 Cure for Insomnia, and I will focus on helping you understand how to use Quattro Pro.

Quattro Pro is a spreadsheet program; like their paper counterparts, spreadsheet programs enable you to work with rows and columns of data in a variety of ways. Later in this chapter, in the section "Understanding Spreadsheets and Notebooks," I'll introduce you to some of the ways that you might find a spreadsheet program useful.

As the title of this chapter implies, this is the place where you'll learn the basics about opening the program and using menus, toolbars, and dialog boxes. Then we'll explore the concepts that define a spreadsheet, how the Quattro Pro window uses those concepts, and general ways in which you can use a spreadsheet program. Finally, I'll show you how to get help within the program and how to close the program.