Excel Hacks

Millions of users create and share Excel spreadsheets every day, but few go deeply enough to learn the techniques that will make their work much easier. There are many ways to take advantage of Excel's advanced capabilities without spending hours on advanced study. Excel Hacks provides more than 130 hacks -- clever tools, tips and techniques -- that will leapfrog your work beyond the ordinary.Now expanded to include Excel 2007, this resourceful, roll-up-your-sleeves guide gives you little known "backdoor" tricks for several Excel versions using different platforms and external applications. Think of this book as a toolbox. When a need arises or a problem occurs, you can simply use the right tool for the job. Hacks are grouped into chapters so you can find what you need quickly, including ways to: Reduce workbook and worksheet frustration -- manage how users interact with worksheets, find and highlight information, and deal with debris and corruption. Analyze and manage data -- extend and automate these features, moving beyond the limited tasks they were designed to perform. Hack names -- learn not only how to name cells and ranges, but also how to create names that adapt to the data in your spreadsheet. Get the most out of PivotTables -- avoid the problems that make them frustrating and learn how to extend them. Create customized charts -- tweak and combine Excel's built-in charting capabilities. Hack formulas and functions -- subjects range from moving formulas around to dealing with datatype issues to improving recalculation time. Make the most of macros -- including ways to manage them and use them to extend other features. Connect Excel to the world -- use XML and take advantage of web sites and services from Google and Amazon to get information into and out of your spreadsheets.You can either browse through the book or read it from cover to cover, studying the procedures and scripts to learn more about Excel. However you use it, Excel Hacks will help you increase productivity and give you hours of "hacking" enjoyment along the way.

List of contents

From the contents:
Credits
Preface
Chapter 1. Reducing Workbook and Worksheet Frustration
1. Create a Personal View of Your Workbooks
2. Enter Data into Multiple Worksheets Simultaneously
3. Prevent Users from Performing Certain Actions
4. Prevent Seemingly Unnecessary Prompts
5. Hide Worksheets So That They Cannot Be Unhidden
6. Customize the Templates Dialog and Default Workbook
7. Create an Index of Sheets in Your Workbook
8. Limit the Scrolling Range of Your Worksheet
9. Lock and Protect Cells Containing Formulas
10. Find Duplicate Data Using Conditional Formatting
11. Find Data That Appears Two or More Times Using Conditional Formatting
12. Tie Custom Toolbars to a Particular Workbook
13. Outsmart Excel's Relative Reference Handler
14. Remove Phantom Workbook Links
15. Reduce Workbook Bloat
16. Extract Data from a Corrupt Workbook
Chapter 2. Hacking Excel's Built-in Features
17. Validate Data Based on a List on Another Worksheet
18. Control Conditional Formatting with Checkboxes
19. Identify Formulas with Conditional Formatting
20. Count or Sum Cells That Meet Conditional Formatting Criteria
21. Highlight Every Other Row or Column
22. Create 3-D Effects in Tables or Cells
23. Turn Conditional Formatting and Data Validation On and Off with a Checkbox
24. Support Multiple Lists in a ComboBox
25. Create Validation Lists That Change Based on a Selection from Another List
26. Use Replace ... to Remove Unwanted Characters
27. Convert Text Numbers to Real Numbers
28. Extract the Numeric Portion of a Cell Entry
29. Customize Cell Comments
30. Sort by More Than Three Columns
31. Random Sorting
32. Manipulate Data with the Advanced Filter
33. Create Custom Number Formats
34. Add More Levels of Undo to Excel for Windows
35. Create Custom Lists
36. Boldface Excel Subtotals
37. Convert Excel Formulas and Functions to Values
38. Automatically Add Data to a Validation List
39. Hack Excel's Date and Time Features
40. Enable Grouping and Outlining on a Protected Worksheet
41. Prevent Blanks/Missing Fields in a Table
42. Provide Decreasing Data Validation Lists

About the author

David Hawley of Perth, Australia is a professional Microsoft Excel consultant whose company, OzGrid Business Applications, offers services in all aspects of Excel, and VBA for Excel. The company's web site at www.ozgrid.com provides online and email Excel training, a directory of useful Excel add-ins, a user forum, and lots of tips and tricks.

Raina Hawley of Perth, Australia is a professional Microsoft Excel consultant whose company, OzGrid Business Applications, offers services in all aspects of Excel, and VBA for Excel. The company's web site at www.ozgrid.com provides online and email Excel training, a directory of useful Excel add-ins, a user forum, and lots of tips and tricks. Raina is also a lecturing team member at West Australian Institute of Management (WAIM) with specific expertise in Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Internet and email.

Summary

Millions of users create and share Excel spreadsheets every day, but few go deeply enough to learn the techniques that can make their work much easier. this work provides more than 130 hacks - clever tools, tips and techniques - that can leapfrog your work beyond the ordinary. It also includes ways to create customized charts.

Product details

• Authors: Hawley, David Hawley, Raina Hawley
• Publisher: O'Reilly Media
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 01.01.2007
• EAN: 9780596528348
• ISBN: 978-0-596-52834-8
• No. of pages: 352
• Weight: 407 g
• Illustrations: w. figs.
• Series: Hacks; Hacks
• Subjects: Natural sciences, medicine, IT, technology > IT, data processing > Application software; Spreadsheet software, COMPUTERS / Business & Productivity Software / Spreadsheets, Excel, spreadsheet, Microsoft, Office, pivot table