Microsoft Office Tutorials and References
In Depth Information
Having access to more cells isn't the real value of using multiple worksheets in a workbook. Rather, multiple
worksheets are valuable because they enable you to organize your work better. Back in the old days, when a
spreadsheet file consisted of a single worksheet, developers wasted a lot of time trying to organize the work-
sheet to hold their information efficiently. Now, you can store information on any number of worksheets and
still access it instantly.
You have complete control over the column widths and row heights, and you can even hide rows and columns
(as well as entire worksheets). You can display the contents of a cell vertically (or at an angle) and even wrap
around to occupy multiple lines. In addition, you can merge cells together to form a larger cell.
A chart sheet holds a single chart. Many users ignore chart sheets, preferring to use embedded charts, which are
stored on the worksheet's drawing layer. Using chart sheets is optional, but they make it a bit easier to locate a
particular chart, and they prove especially useful for presentations. I discuss embedded charts (or floating charts
on a worksheet) later in this chapter.
Macro sheets and dialog sheets
This section discusses two obsolete Excel features that continue to be supported.
An Excel 4.0 macro sheet is a worksheet that has some different defaults. Its purpose is to hold XLM macros.
XLM is the macro system used in Excel version 4.0 and earlier. This macro system was replaced by VBA in
Excel 5.0 and is not discussed in this book.
An Excel 5.0 dialog sheet is a drawing grid that can hold text and controls. In Excel 5.0 and Excel 95, dialog
sheets were used to make custom dialog boxes. UserForms were introduced in Excel 97 to replace these sheets.
The Excel User Interface
A user interface (UI) is the means by which an end user communicates with a computer program. Almost every
Windows program that you use employs a menu and toolbar approach. That is, at the top of the screen is a menu
bar that contains virtually every command available in the application, and below that is at least one toolbar,
which provides shortcuts to some of the more frequently used commands.
With the release of Office 2007, though, the days of menus and toolbars are over. The UI for Excel consists of
the following components:
• Tabs and the Ribbon
• The Quick Access toolbar
• Right-click (shortcut) menus
• The mini-toolbar
• Dialog boxes
• Keyboard shortcuts
• Task panes