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| Microsoft Excel 97 |
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Quick Studies August 1999 • Vol.10 Issue 8 |
Microsoft Excel 97 Putting Excel On Auto | ||
 AutoComplete You can use AutoComplete to avoid typing the same entry, such as a client's name, into a column more than once. To use this feature, type the first few characters of your entry. If the characters you type match an existing entry in the same column, Excel automatically displays the remainder of the entry. To accept the proposed entry, press ENTER. If the string of text doesn't match the string in another column, then keep typing to replace the "automatic" entry. Instead of typing entries, you can also choose an item from a list. Select the cell for your entry and then press ALT-Down arrow to display a list of existing column entries. Use the Up and Down arrow keys to highlight the entry you want before pressing ENTER. You can also right-click the cell, select Pick From List, and then click the text you want to add to your column.
If you don't like the AutoComplete function, you can easily turn it off. To do this, click the Tools menu, select Options, and then click the Edit tab. To turn off AutoComplete, uncheck the Enable AutoComplete For Cell Values box and click the OK button. AutoCorrect Notoriously poor spellers, sloppy typists, and people who want to save time will want to use the AutoCorrect feature. AutoCorrect works by automatically replacing common typing and spelling errors as you enter text. For example, AutoCorrect can change "hte" to "the" or automatically capitalize the word "monday." To make sure this feature is on, choose AutoCorrect from the Tools menu. Next, confirm that the Replace Text As You Type box has a check mark. While you are there, you can also scroll through AutoCorrect's built-in list to see which words it will automatically replace. When you finish, click OK. To test the feature, incorrectly enter a word on AutoCorrect's list into a spreadsheet and press the Spacebar. Excel will then correct your mistake. You can also add words to the AutoCorrect list. For example, imagine you live in a town called Gallipolis. Instead of typing the town's full name each time you need to use it, you can create an abbreviation (such as Ga) for it on the AutoCorrect list. When you type the abbreviation, AutoCorrect will automatically expand to show the full name. To add a word to the list choose AutoCorrect from the Tools menu. Then, type the word (or abbreviation) you want to replace in the Replace text box. Enter the replacement word in the With text box, then click Add. Choose OK to close the dialog box. In your worksheet, type the abbreviation followed by a space to quickly enter the replacement word. AutoCalculate Finally, you can use a spiffy feature, AutoCalculate, to quickly determine the total for a selected range. This gives you a fast way to check figures without having to create a formula. For example, you can sort (or filter) a list to show revenue from a particular client, then display the total income from the client. To use AutoCalculate, simply click the first cell and then drag over the cells you want to total. Then, view the results on the right side of Excel's status bar. By default, Excel shows the sum of the selected cells. You can, however, quickly use a different calculation, such as Average, Max, or Min. With the cells still selected, right-click the status bar to display a shortcut menu, then click the formula you want.  by Linda Bird |
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