The magazine of the Melbourne PC User Group Excel Books - for the bookshelf Major Keary |
Excel: The Missing Manual
So, you have the latest version of Excel, but no manual. The answer is, Excel: The Missing Manual, which covers both Excel 2002 and 2003. It is suitable for all levels of user; the first part of the book, Worksheet Basics, is a comprehensive and detailed introduction that explains how to create worksheets, navigate, format, enter and alter data, print, and so on.
The following parts deal in depth with formulas and functions (the index lists about 240 functions that are described in the text); organising worksheets (includes a discussion of data lists — a new feature in Excel 2003 — and also covers templates and data-related issues, such as sorting and grouping); charts and graphics (presenting output in various ways other than a plain-vanilla spreadsheet format); advanced data analysis (pivot tables, setting what-if scenarios, using Goal Seek, and describes Solver, a sophisticated non-Microsoft add-in); sharing data (worksheet collaboration, exchanging data with other applications, XML, and web publishing); and programming Excel (macros and using VBA).
Appendices include a quick menu reference that lists menus by function (file, edit, view, etc.).
A particularly well organised book; information is easy to find with the help of a detailed table of contents and excellent index. The style is well
suited to the purpose: clear language, clear instructions, and plenty of screen shots to support the text. Throughout there are boxed items that contain additional explanatory notes for new users, information for `power users', and useful comments and hints for all users.
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Matthew MacDonald: Excel: The Missing Manual ISBN 0-596-00664-0 Published by Pogue Press/O'Reilly, 770 pp., RRP $74.95 in GST |
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Excel Formulas And Functions
The power of spreadsheets lies in functions that enable users to create complex
formulas. Excel has, in common with other modern spreadsheet packages, an
extensive repertoire of functions that can be further extended with
roll-your-own functions created — in the case of Excel — with VBA. Working out
how to devise a formula can be frustrating, which is the reason for Excel
Formulas and Functions for Dummies. It takes up where general, introductory
texts leave off. The content does not involve VBA scripts or programs, which
means that users of other spreadsheet programs — especially OpenOffice's Calc —
will find Formulas and Functions quite relevant to their needs.
The book is written in a tutorial style and uses solutions to real-world
problems to illustrate the 'lessons'. This Dummies title is an excellent
introduction to using formulas and functions, and will serve as a how-to
reference for common spreadsheet solutions (such as calculating mortgage
repayments).
Readers are expected to know how to use Excel (or any modern spreadsheet
program) at a basic level. From that point no assumptions are made and
instruction is strictly to do with formulas and functions, beginning with an
introductory chapter that explains the concepts and terminology.
Topics covered include loans and investments, array formulas, math functions,
statistical functions, prediction and probability functions, and data-related
functions (dates, time, lookup, information). Also described — in an appendix —
is the Excel Analysis ToolPak add-in, which offers many additional functions.
There are specialist formula/function texts, but this is the only one I have
seen that is an introduction to the general topic. For anyone who wants to
develop Excel skills this is a particularly useful resource.
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Ken Bluttman and Peter Aitken: Excel Formulas and Functions for Dummies ISBN 0-7645-7556-2 Published by Wiley, 385 pp., RRP $44.95 in GST |
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Reprinted from the November 2005 issue of PC Update, the magazine of Melbourne PC User Group, Australia
