FastTips for Microsoft Excel 4.0: Usage Q&A

ID: Q85075

SUMMARY



Microsoft Excel for the Macintosh, Version 4.0 Automated Product Support Service Fax-Script

Questions and Answers: Usage



  1. Q. Can I change Microsoft Excel 4.0's new tool bars to better match the way I work with the program?

    A. Microsoft Excel 4.0 has many new tool bars beyond the Standard tool bar. You may want to customize these tool bars to improve the way you work with Excel. Excel gives you the ability to modify the built-in tool bars, or to create your own custom tool bars.

    To modify the built-in tool bars, follow these four steps:

    1. Choose Toolbars from the Options menu.


    2. If the tool bar is not already visible, click the tool bar name that you want to modify, and then click the Show button. You must then re-choose Toolbars from the Options menu.


    3. Click the Customize button.


    4. You may drag any of the tools shown in the box on the right to the tool bar of your choice. Different tools are displayed by selecting different categories on the left side of the dialog box. If you are uncertain of the function of a particular tool, click the tool once and Excel will display a brief message of its function in the lower-left corner of the dialog box.




    To create your own tool bar, in addition to Excel's default tool bars, perform the following five steps:

    1. Choose Toolbars from the Options menu.


    2. In the Toolbars dialog box, click in the box in the lower-left corner underneath the words "Toolbar Name."


    3. Delete the name that appears there and type the name that you want your tool bar to have.


    4. Click the Add button and Excel 4.0 will create your tool bar in the upper-left corner of your screen. Excel will then automatically take you into the Toolbar Customize dialog box.


    5. You may now choose any tool category listed on the left side of the dialog box, and drag any of the associated button icons to your newly created tool bar.

      For more information, see Book 2, Chapter 4 of the "Microsoft Excel User's Guide."




  2. Q. What can Microsoft Excel 4.0's Crosstab ReportWizard do for me, and how do I use it?

    A. Microsoft Excel 4.0 includes a new Crosstab ReportWizard. This tool allows you to summarize, analyze, and compare selected database information.

    To create a new Crosstab table, follow these 11 steps:

    1. Open a worksheet that contains a database you want to tabulate.


    2. If you have not already done so, select the database range on your worksheet, and choose the Set Database command from the Data menu.


    3. From the Data menu, choose Crosstab. Excel 4.0 will bring up the first window of the Crosstab ReportWizard.


    4. Click the button labeled "Create a New Crosstab."


    5. Excel will display the next dialog box, showing the fields included in your database. Choose the field that you want to see down the left side of the Crosstab table, and click the Add button.


    6. Click the Next button, and Excel 4.0 will take you to the next dialog box.


    7. Excel will again display the list of fields in your database; select the field you want to see across the top of the Crosstab table. After selecting the field name, click the Add button.


    8. Click the Next button, and Excel will take you to the next dialog box.


    9. From the list of fields in your database, select the field you want to summarize. If you do not select any field name, Excel will count the number of instances that the particular record is found in the database.


    10. Click the Next button, and Excel will take you to the next dialog box.


    11. The Crosstab ReportWizard will summarize your selections on the left side of the dialog box. If they are correct, click the Create It button, and the Crosstab ReportWizard will create your table in a new worksheet.

      If you have a question at any point during the selection of options, you may click the Explain button in the lower-left corner of the dialog box. This will display on the left side of the dialog box a brief explanation of what Excel is expecting.

      During the selection of options, you must select at least two categories to summarize. In other words, you may select a row category and a value category, but leave the column category blank. Or, you may select a row category and a column category, but leave the value category blank.

      To modify or recalculate a Crosstab table that you have already created, activate the worksheet that contains the table by selecting the worksheet name from the Window menu. From the Data menu, choose Crosstab. Excel will give you the option to modify or recalculate the existing Crosstab. Click Recalculate Current Crosstab if your database has changed, or click Modify Current Crosstab if you want to change any options used in the current table.




  3. Q. Microsoft Product Support technicians often ask what version of Excel or the Macintosh operating system that I am running. How can I easily find this information?

    A. Microsoft has included a special add-in with Excel 4.0 called Checkup. This tool will tell you much of the information that our technicians will ask you for, or that other support technicians for some of your other Windows products might ask about. To run the Checkup add-in, follow these four steps:

    1. From the File menu, choose Open.


    2. Change to your Microsoft Excel 4.0 folder, and you will see several subfolders listed.


    3. Change to the Macro Library folder.


    4. Open the file called Checkup. Excel will automatically display a dialog box listing the pertinent information about your machine. You may print this by clicking the Print button; otherwise, click the Close button, and the Checkup dialog box and add-in will close.




  4. Q. How do I share Excel files between my Macintosh and my PC running Excel for Windows?

    A. Excel for the Macintosh 4.0 and Excel for Windows 4.0 share the same file format, so translation of the files is not necessary between the two platforms. The remaining step is getting the file from one platform to the other. There are many ways to move files between the Macintosh platform and the PC platform. The following steps outline the most common method.

    To transfer files from the Macintosh to the PC, follow these three steps:

    1. Start the program called Apple File Exchange. This application comes with the Macintosh. If this program is not on your hard drive, then you will find it on one of the Utilities disks that came with your Macintosh (not the disks that came with Excel for the Macintosh.)


    2. After starting the Apple File Exchange program, place a PC- formatted disk into your Macintosh and copy the Excel file onto the floppy disk.


    3. Eject the disk by clicking the Eject button at the bottom of the window; you are now ready to read the file into Excel for Windows.

      The method for transferring files from the PC to your Macintosh is exactly the same as going from the Macintosh to the PC, except that you copy the file from your floppy disk to your hard drive, rather than from your hard drive to a floppy disk. Remember that for the Macintosh to read an MS-DOS disk, you must be running the Apple File Exchange program. For more information on this application, see the manuals that came with your Macintosh, or contact your authorized Apple dealer.




  5. Q. When I import a text file containing ZIP Codes, the ZIP Codes that begin with a zero no longer have the leading zero. Also, when I type in a number with a leading zero, Excel will not display it. How can I correct this?

    A. Excel does not display leading zeros unless you specifically format your worksheet to do so. To format a cell or range of cells to display leading zeros, use the following three steps:

    1. Select the cell or the range of cells that you want to display leading zeros.


    2. From the Format menu, choose Number.


    3. At the bottom of the dialog box where it says Code, type in the number of zeros equal to the number of digits you want to see in the cells. For example, in the case of ZIP Codes, you might type in five zeros, showing Excel that you always want to see five digits in the cell, even if the digit is a zero.






Additional query words: noupd 


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Last Reviewed: March 24, 1999