Beginning Microsoft Excel 2010 phần 4 pps

CHAPTER 4 ■ KEEPING UP APPEARANCES—FORMATTING THE WORKSHEET 106 Figure 4–37. Centered data—centered vertically, that is click one of the buttons shown in Figure 4–36. What these do is position data along a vertical axis in the cell—at the bottom of a cell (the default, when you think about it), in the center (as above), or even at the cell’s ceiling (Figure 4–38): Figure 4–38. Hitting the heights. Cell data top-aligned Just bear in mind that if you apply these formats to cells of normal heights, you won’t see the above effects. That’s because the default row height is too low to enable these to happen, and so you’ll need to elevate the heights of the rows you want. How do you do that? The technique is in many ways the right-angled equivalent of the column- widening methods we described in chapter 2. In order to raise a row height, click on the row’s lower boundary and drag down (or up, if you want to shrink the row’s height). And if I select several row boundaries at the same time by dragging along the row numbers, releasing the mouse and then dragging on any selected row boundary, I’ll see something like this (Figure 4–39): CHAPTER 4 ■ KEEPING UP APPEARANCES—FORMATTING THE WORKSHEET 107 Figure 4–39. Modulating row heights I can then modulate the height of all the selected rows at the same—and they’ll all exhibit the same, new height. So to achieve the row height you see in Figure 4–40—brought about in cell A10—I simply dragged down on the lower boundary by the 10 (Figure 4–40): Figure 4–40. Cell A10, now heightened And once I’ve engineered the desired height I then clicked the Top Align button—and you get your top-of-the-cell number. Of course as always I can heighten the row first, click Top Align, and then enter the number. The sequence of clicks doesn’t matter here. Now you’ll recall my flippant aside about 48-degree text, the one I threw out on the opening page of this chapter. Well, if you need or want something like that, look here (Figure 4–41): Figure 4–41. The Orientation Button CHAPTER 4 ■ KEEPING UP APPEARANCES—FORMATTING THE WORKSHEET 108 That’s the Orientation button. Click its down arrow, and you’ll see this (Figure 4–42): Figure 4–42. Orientation options That’s a pretty illustrative, what-you-see-is-what-you-get drop-down. Select a cell, then click Vertical Text, for example, and you get (Figure 4–43): Figure 4–43. Vertical text: Like THIS And so on. Note, though, that when you call upon these Orientation options they automatically raise the heights of rows (as also happens with font size changes|) in order to accommodate their effects, unlike the vertical alignment buttons, which require the user to heighten the rows. When you click the last Orientation button, Format Cells: Alignment, the aforementioned Format Cells dialog box appears, with the Alignment tab in view (Figure 4–44): CHAPTER 4 ■ KEEPING UP APPEARANCES—FORMATTING THE WORKSHEET 109 Figure 4–44. The Alignment tab of the Format Cells dialog box If you type a number in the Degrees field on the box’s right side and click OK, you can achieve that 48-degree angle, or any other tilt you want, at least between -90 and 90 degrees. You can also click on the red diamond referenced by the arrow above, and drag it along that Orientation half-circle to angle your text, too. Either way, you could get the example shown in Figure 4–45: Figure 4–45. 48 degrees worth of text alignmnent To turn this effect off—that is, to restore the data to a level orientation—return to the Degrees field and type “0.” And if you click that vertical Text field you see beneath the Orientation heading, that’s what you’ll get—vertical text in their cells, as per the Vertical Text options we saw in the Orientation drop-down menu in the Alignment Group. On the left side of the Format Cells dialog are various Text alignment options. Now some of the options in those Horizontal and Vertical drop-down menus are obscure, but here goes: General—Brings about standard data alignment defaults, e.g., text is left-aligned, numbers right- aligned. Obviously you’d only select this to restore realigned data to their original alignments. Right and Left (Indent)—These simply push, or indent, data in their cells to the right or the left by the number of characters you type in the Indent field in the dialog box. But just remember that if you select a right indent, the text will move left, because it is the indent itself that pushes to the right. CHAPTER 4 ■ KEEPING UP APPEARANCES—FORMATTING THE WORKSHEET 110 Indents can bring about some rather unusual visual results. If I select a right indent and type 10 in the indent field, I can wind up with something like this (Figure 4–46): Figure 4–46. Cell-dom used: the indent option Don’t be fooled—the text is actually “in” the cell selected by the cell pointer. This can’t happen with a number, however, and for a reason we’ve already discussed in the chapter on data entry; Excel won’t allow a number to creep into another cell. Thus, if I type 43 in the very cell you see above with the same indent settings, this is what I’ll get (Figure 4–47): Figure 4–47. An indented number Here the indent carries out what’s tantamount to an Auto Fit. The number is indeed indented, but only within its own cell. Yeah—you’re not likely to use this very often. The two indent buttons (Figure 4–48) found on the Alignment Group on the Home tab of the ribbon: Figure 4–48. The Indent buttons equate respectively with the Right and Left Indent options in the Alignment Dialog box—but look at the buttons. What I’m calling Right Indent features an arrow pointing left, and what I’ve called Left Indent bears an arrow pointing right. Nevertheless that’s what they are. Moreover, the Alignment Group caption clinging to the first of the two buttons above (seen when you rest you mouse over it) calls it Decrease Indent, and not Right Indent; and the other button is labeled Increase Indent; and CHAPTER 4 ■ KEEPING UP APPEARANCES—FORMATTING THE WORKSHEET 111 neither of these labels corresponds to what the same commands are called in the Alignment Dialog box. A couple other qualifications to what is again, not the sort of command you’re likely to call upon daily: Click the left-pointing indent button arrow in the button group and nothing happens in the cell at the outset—the data stay put. But click either left or right setting in the dialog box and type a number in the indent field and the data will indent in the desired direction. Sorry about that. Center—Really an equivalent of the Center alignment button. Typing a number in Indent here has no effect. Fill—Takes any data you’ve written in the cell and repeats it in the cell, until the cell’s width is taken up with the data. For example, if I type the word “the” in a cell and select Fill, I’ll see (Figure 4– 49): Figure 4–49. Filling the cell with data—repeatedly And if I go on to widen the cell now, I’ll get Figure 4–50: Figure 4–50. Same command, wider cell. And yes, you can bring about the same effect with a number—though I can’t imagine why you’d want to. That is, if I type 3 in a cell and invoke the Fill format I’ll see 333333 across the width of the cell—but its actual value is still….3. Don’t ask questions, but remember— this is a format, and as such, it doesn’t change the number’s value. The Justify and Distributed options are similar, though not quite identical to one another. These commands represent a kind inverse of the column Auto Fit; instead of widening a column to accommodate its widest entry, Justify and Distributed treat the current column width as a fixed margin and stack the text in the cell so that it all fits. So for example, if I type (Figure 4–51): Figure 4–51. Before justifying the text… And select Justify, the text is realigned like this (Figure 4–52): CHAPTER 4 ■ KEEPING UP APPEARANCES—FORMATTING THE WORKSHEET 112 Figure 4–52. … and after The text continues to use the existing column width, and so needs to raise its row height in order to pinch all the text within that width. The command is called Justify because it emulates a similar effect in Word, whereby text in a paragraph exhibits straight left and right margins—at least to the extent possible. Distribution differs only in that it attempts to distribute the text equally across each line in the cell, so that each line spans the current column width, including the last line—again, to the extent possible. Here’s another instance of a justified cell (Figure 4–53): Figure 4–53. Justified vs. Distributed text And here’s the same test subject to the Distributed option (Figure 4–54): CHAPTER 4 ■ KEEPING UP APPEARANCES—FORMATTING THE WORKSHEET 113 Figure 4–54. The text, Distributed Note how the word “happen” is centered here. It’s the closest Distribute could come to spanning the entire column width with that one word. Try typing the above phrase, applying the Justify and Distribute effects, and widening the column. Center Across Selection centers a cell entry across a range of cells. That is, if I type this: This is how to center data across a selection in cell E28, and then select this range (Figure 4–55): Figure 4–55. Data about to be centered across a range selection And select Center Across Selection, I’ll view this (Figure 4–56): Figure 4–56. The data, now centered CHAPTER 4 ■ KEEPING UP APPEARANCES—FORMATTING THE WORKSHEET 114 The effect is clear. Excel treats the selected range as a single space—in essence as one big cell, even though each cell retains its own identity— and centers the data accordingly. You may want to contrast this with the Merge & Center command coming up soon. Of the five Vertical Alignment drop-down options in our dialog box (Figure 4–57), Figure 4–57. Vertical cell alignment options the first three—Top, Bottom and Center—are clones of the Vertical Alignment buttons we’ve already seen in the Alignment Group. The other two—Justify and Distributed—attempt to realize the same effects as their similarly-named Horizontal options, but to appreciate how they work you need to tinker with column widths and text length. Here are two examples (Figures 4–58 and 4–59): Figure 4–58. Vertically distributed text CHAPTER 4 ■ KEEPING UP APPEARANCES—FORMATTING THE WORKSHEET 115 Figure 4–59. Text, vertically jusftified The three Text control options in the Alignment dialog box are variations on themes we’ve previously sounded. As with Justify and Distribute, Wrap text regards a cell’s current width as a margin, and wraps cell text accordingly. The difference here is that Wrap text doesn’t try to flatten the right text margin, but rather lets text advance unevenly against cell’s right boundary (Figure 4–60): Figure 4–60. Wrapping and styling: text wrapped in its cell Wrap text allows text to wrap naturally to the next line, and doesn’t try the spacing heroics of Justify or Distribute; this command is represented by the Wrap Text button in the Alignment Group. Those options—Wrap text, Justify, and Distribute—that realign text by raising row heights instead of stretching column widths do serve a real purpose. They’re usefully applied to worksheets in which you want to present data in a series of columns and maintain the same width for all of them, even as the data in the columns exhibit various widths. Shrink to fit is a curious flip side to the workings of Wrap text and column Auto Fit. Whereas Wrap text tries to pile text into a cell without changing its width by raising its row height instead, and Auto Fit tries to widen columns to accommodate all text in one cell, Shrink to fit changes neither col umn width nor row height; it shrinks text in order to gather it all into existing width and height. So if you start with this (Figure 4–61): [...]... fill handle, e.g., the interval shown in Figure 4 94: Figure 4 94 Selecting an interval of 4 to be filled down a range it will yield this (Figure 4 95): Figure 4 95 Note the Smart Tag If you go on to click that Smart Tag (pointed to by the arrow above), the options include (Figure 4 96): 135 CHAPTER 4 ■ KEEPING UP APPEARANCES—FORMATTING THE WORKSHEET Figure 4 96 Tag, you’re it: Smart Tag fill options Fill... stretching in time from the baseline January 1, 1900 to May 4, 1972 Put otherwise, May 4, 1972 really is 2 642 3 As a way of corroborating this point, you’ll note that when you click on a cell containing numerical data—say 345 67—and click the Number Format down arrow, you’ll see something like this (Figure 4 78): Figure 4 78 Mark that date 1 24 CHAPTER 4 ■ KEEPING UP APPEARANCES—FORMATTING THE WORKSHEET Look... type: 41 and select that cell, and click Percent Style, I’ll see: 41 00% And not 41 % That’s because percentages really express a number’s percentage of the number 1— which is, after all, 100% Thus our number above—which is 41 times the size of 1—has to turn out to be 41 00% If you were expecting 41 %, you will need to have typed 41 But there is an alternative way to institute the Percent Style If I type: 41 %... 3 245 6.00, in order to enable you to format a cell with either date or time readings If you enter 3 145 6.17 in a cell and opt for Short Date, you’ll muster 02/13/1986 But if you select the Time format instead, you’ll see 04: 04: 48, the time of day which stands for exactly 17 of an entire day Choose a Date format, and the original 125 CHAPTER 4 ■ KEEPING UP APPEARANCES—FORMATTING THE WORKSHEET number—3 145 6.17—extracts... happening here is that Fraction starts by treating 34. 32 as 34. 3—one digit’s worth of a decimal; but if we choose the next option, Up to two digits, we’ll get (Figure 4 84) : Figure 4 84 Options for representing numbers as fractions The number is now regarded as the two-digit decimal it truly is, and the sample shows 34 8/25— or, exactly 34. 32 What about Special? This category automatically formats... exactly that (Figure 4 65): Figure 4 65 The Merge & Center button 116 CHAPTER 4 ■ KEEPING UP APPEARANCES—FORMATTING THE WORKSHEET By default, clicking Merge & Center on our selection of J12 through N12 brings about (Figure 4 66): Figure 4 66 A mega, merged cell This option resolves an old spreadsheet problem—the need to center a title over a collection of columns (Figure 4 67): Figure 4 67 How to center... results for the exam 1 in cells B8:C18, minus the formatting (Figure 4 1 04) : 139 CHAPTER 4 ■ KEEPING UP APPEARANCES—FORMATTING THE WORKSHEET Figure 4 1 04 Exam 1 grades , without the formatting Next, select cells C9:C18, the range containing the test scores Then click Conditional Formatting, revealing this sub-menu (Figure 4 105): Figure 4 105 The Conditional Formatting drop-down menu Then rest your mouse... cell using No Borders, the paste will bring about this (Figure 4 92): Figure 4 92 …can be pasted to another cell without the borders Note the orange fill and altered font have been copied to the destination cell; but the borders have not And this button (Figure 4 93): 1 34 CHAPTER 4 ■ KEEPING UP APPEARANCES—FORMATTING THE WORKSHEET Figure 4 93 Another route to the Format Painter which is called simply... really 34. 32 in any case But by default Fraction estimates the fractional equivalent of a decimal up to one digit If we click on the cell containing 34. 32 we’ll see (Figure 4 83): Figure 4 83 Fraction options 129 CHAPTER 4 ■ KEEPING UP APPEARANCES—FORMATTING THE WORKSHEET And note the sample captures the actual value in the cell we’ve selected What’s happening here is that Fraction starts by treating 34. 32... examine the broad strip—called Number Format —sitting atop all these buttons in the Number group, you’ll view the default entry General (Figure 4 74) : Figure 4 74 The General number format Click the accompanying drop-down arrow and you’ll see (Figure 4 75) Figure 4 75 The Number Format drop-down menu Each of those eleven options (you can’t see that eleventh one—Text—in the screen shot, because you need . box appears, with the Alignment tab in view (Figure 4 44 ): CHAPTER 4 ■ KEEPING UP APPEARANCES—FORMATTING THE WORKSHEET 109 Figure 4 44 . The Alignment tab of the Format Cells dialog box If. achieve the row height you see in Figure 4 40 —brought about in cell A10—I simply dragged down on the lower boundary by the 10 (Figure 4 40 ): Figure 4 40 . Cell A10, now heightened And once. entry; Excel won’t allow a number to creep into another cell. Thus, if I type 43 in the very cell you see above with the same indent settings, this is what I’ll get (Figure 4 47 ): Figure 4 47 .