What happened to cell notes in Excel 97?
	What is Page Break Preview?
	What is Named Range View?
	How have the capacities of worksheets and charts increased in Excel 97?
	What is Conditional Formatting?
	What is Data Validation?
	When would I use Hyperlinks?
	How do I use AutoShapes?

What happened to cell notes in Excel 97?
Keywords: Excel 97, Comments, Notes
Posted July 18, 1997

In Excel 97, the cell Comments features has taken over the part played by cell Notes in Excel 5/95. A Comment is added to a cell in the following manner:

• Select the cell with your mouse to which you want to add the Comment.
• From the Excel menu choose Insert/Comment. A text box similar to a yellow sticky note appears on your screen. The Comment has your username as it's first line by default. You may keep or delete this as you wish.
• Type your comment text directly into the yellow text box. You may format the text any way you like. In fact, you can format different parts of the text differently. For instance, you can give certain words within the text an italic font while the rest are regular.
• When you are finished typing your comment simply select some other cell and the Comment will disappear.
• In place of the Comment you will see a red triangle, called a Comment Indicator, in the upper right corner of the cell that contains the Comment. (If you do not see this indicator, choose Tools/Options/View from the Excel menu and click the Comment indicator only option under the Comments section.) When you hold your mouse pointer over a cell containing a comment indicator the comment will pop up so that you can read it.
• Once you have created a Comment, you can edit it by selecting the cell that contains it and choosing Insert/Edit Comment from the menu.

In addition to their extended formatting capabilities, Comments will hold far more text than a cell note could. And unlike cell notes, you can alter the amount of text displayed by the Comment by using your mouse to drag the borders of the Comment text box into the size and shape you desire.

What is Page Break Preview?
Keywords: Excel 97, Page Breaks
Posted July 18, 1997

In Excel 5/95 it was often difficult to determine where page breaks would occur in your document. This was especially so if you were using the Fit To option to force your document into a certain number of pages wide or tall. Excel 97 solves this problem with its new Page Break Preview option. You access Page Break Preview by choosing View/Page Break Preview from the Excel menu.

Once you are in Page Break Preview, your worksheet will be overlaid by a semi-transparent diagram of what areas fall within each page. Manual page breaks are indicated by solid blue lines, while automatic page breaks are indicated by dashed blue lines. You can adjust the location of any page break by clicking and dragging it with your mouse.

What is Named Range View?
Keywords: Excel 97, Named Ranges
Posted July 18, 1997

If you created many multi-cell named ranges in Excel 5/95, the only way to review their location was to look at their definition in the Define Name dialog or select the range from the Name box and see what range was selected as a result. Excel 97 has added a new feature called Named Range View that makes reviewing these ranges easy. Simply reduce the zoom factor for your worksheet to 39% or less, and all multi-cell named ranges on that sheet will be overlaid by their range name.

How have the capacities of worksheets and charts increased in Excel 97?
Keywords: Excel 97, Named Ranges
Posted July 18, 1997

Yes, the capacity of worksheets and charts has been greatly expanded in Excel 97. Here is a table that shows some specific numbers:

Item	Excel 5/95	Excel 97
Number of rows in a worksheet	16,384	65,536
Maximum characters per cell	255	32,767
Maximum points in a chart series	4,000	32,000
Multiple levels of Undo	No	Yes

What is Conditional Formatting?
Keywords: Excel 97, Conditional Formatting
Posted February 10, 1997

Conditional formatting allows you to change the appearance of a cell based on the value it contains. For instance, you can give the cell red shading if its value is less than zero, yellow shading if its value is between zero and ten, and green shading if its value is greater than ten. The conditional formatting feature is accessed through the Format/Conditional Formatting menu item. To apply the conditional format described above:

1. Select the cell or range you wish to format and choose Format/Conditional Formatting from the Excel menu.
2. For Condition 1 choose "Cell Value Is" from the first dropdown, "less than" from the second dropdown and enter the number 0 in the third control.
3. Click the Format button and choose the Patterns tab. Select the red color from the palette and click OK.
4. Click the Add button to add Condition 2. choose "Cell Value Is" from the first dropdown and "between" from the second dropdown. Enter the numbers 0 and 10 in the next to controls.
5. Click the Format button and choose the Patterns tab. Select the yellow color from the palette and click OK.
6. In a similar fashion, add Condition 3 and give the cell a green pattern if its value is greater than 10.
7. Test your conditional format by entering different values in the cell.

You can also use conditional formatting to hide formulas that evaluate to error values. Here's an example:

1. In cell A1 enter the number 1, in cell A2 enter the number 0 and in cell A3 enter the formula =A1/A2. Cell A3 should now show a #DIV/0 error.
2. Select cell A3 and choose Format/Conditional Formatting from the Excel menu.
3. For Condition 1 choose "Formula Is" from the first dropdown and enter the formula =ISERR(A3) in the second control.
4. Click the Format button and choose the Font tab. Select a font color that is the same color as the background of your worksheet.
5. When you are finished you will notice that the error value in cell A3 has disappeared. Enter some number other than zero in cell A2 and a numeric value will become visible in cell A3.

Conditional formatting cannot be used to change the number format of a cell. All conditional formatting is copied, pasted and cleared in the same way that normal cell formatting is.

Remember, array formulas are entered by pressing CTRL-SHIFT-ENTER instead of just the ENTER key alone.

What is Data Validation?
Keywords: Excel 97, Data Validation
Posted February 10, 1997

Data validation allows you to control what values are entered in a worksheet cell. For instance, you can limit entries to be text values, numeric values, dates or entries from a list. For numeric values (including dates and times) you can specify that the entry be within a certain range. In the following example data validation will be used to limit a cell entry to workdays.

1. Enter the names of the five workdays into range A1:A5.
2. Select cell C1 and choose Data/Data Validation from the Excel menu.
3. Select the Settings tab choose "List" from the Allow dropdown.
4. Place your cursor in the control labeled Source and select range A1:A5 with your mouse.
5. Click the OK button to finish.

You will notice the now, whenever cell C1 is selected, a dropdown arrow appears. Only items that appear in the dropdown list can be entered into cell C1.

For validation that requires typing an entry into a cell, the Error Alert tab allows you to set levels of warning and display warning messages. You can also create data entry prompts using the Input Message tab.

1. Select cell E1 and choose Data/Data Validation from the Excel menu.
2. Select the Settings tab. Choose "Whole number" from the Allow dropdown, "greater than" from the Data dropdown and enter the number 0 in the Minimum control.
3. Select the Input Message tab and type the message "Please enter a number greater than zero." into the Input message textbox.
4. Select the Error Alert tab. In the Style dropdown choose "Stop", in the Title textbox enter "Error!" and in the Error message textbox enter "You must enter a number greater than zero."
5. Click the OK button to finish.

Now, whenever cell E1 is selected, a tooltip-style prompt appears explaining what type of entry is requested. If you enter a number less than or equal to zero in cell E1, an error message appears. Only entries that match your validation criteria will be allowed in that cell.

All data validation settings are copied, pasted and cleared in the same way that normal cell formatting is.

When would I use Hyperlinks?
Keywords: Excel 97, Hyperlinks
Posted February 10, 1997

Hyperlinks allow you to add web browser style navigation links in your workbook. Using hyperlinks you can create jumps from one part of your workbook to another, to a different workbook or other Office document, or to a file or Web page on the Internet. Hyperlinks are added using the Insert Hyperlinks dialog, which can be accessed through the Insert/Hyperlink menu item in Excel. This dialog has three entries:

Link to file or URL – This entry must be completed if you are creating a link that is external to the current workbook (i.e. to an Internet address), but it can also be used to create a link within the current workbook. You can either type the name of the document or the Internet address directly into the edit box, or you can select the Browse button and use the resulting Link to File dialog to locate your link.

Named location in file – When creating links to Office documents, this optional entry can be used to point the link to a specific place within the linked document. If you are linking to an Excel workbook, you can click the browse button after selecting the file in the Link to file or URL setting and you will be presented with a dialog that displays a list of sheets or named ranges to choose from. For other document types you must know the name of the item to link to and type that named directly into the edit box. The following list shows valid entries for various document types.

• Excel workbook – Sheet name (and optionally, range address) or named range.
• Word document – Bookmark name.
• PowerPoint presentation – Slide name.
• Access database – Object name.

Use relative path for hyperlink – This setting determines whether or not you can use relative paths when specifying the location of documents that you are linking to in the Link to file or URL setting. Relative paths are paths specified in relation to the location of the workbook which contains the link.

This setting is useful when you are organizing linked files in subdirectories below the workbook which contains the links. It allows you to easily move the whole set of linked documents without adjusting all of the hyperlink pointers. This setting is only enabled when creating links to other documents; it is not available for Internet address links.

Editing and Formatting Hyperlinks

To edit an existing hyperlink in your workbook, right-click on the link with your mouse and choose Hyperlink/Edit Hyperlink from the shortcut menu. This will display the Edit Hyperlink dialog, which is a duplicate of the Insert Hyperlink dialog but with the information on the hyperlink you selected already displayed in its controls. Using this dialog you can change the hyperlink pointer or pathing scheme, or remove the link. Removing the link simply unlinks the text of the link. The text itself is not removed until you delete it.

The text of a hyperlink is formatted by default with blue, underlined text. This is not a requirement. You can format the text of your hyperlinks any way you want without having any affect on the link itself. Hyperlink text is edited just like the text of any other cell. Just use the arrows keys on your keyboard to move the cursor over the link and then use the standard text formatting options to change it. The specific text displayed in the cell can be modified from the formula bar. You can clear both the hyperlink and the hyperlink text by choosing Edit/Clear/All from the menu.

How do I use AutoShapes?
Keywords: Excel 97, AutoShapes
Posted February 10, 1997

AutoShapes are a new feature in Excel (and Office) 97. They allow you to create flow chart, diagrams and other illustrations in your workbook. The AutoShapes feature is most easily accessed through the drawing toolbar. From the Excel menu choose View/Toolbars and select Drawing from the list of toolbars. The drawing toolbar will now appear on your screen. You can dock the drawing toolbar at the top or bottom of the screen by clicking and holding on its left edge with your mouse and dragging it to either location.

The following example demonstrates how to use the AutoShapes feature to create a simple flow chart.

1. From the Drawing toolbar, select AutoShapes/Flowchart and select the Process shape (the rectangle in the upper left corner. Notice that each shape button has a tooltip that indicates what type of shape the button draws.
2. Your mouse pointer will now turn into a small plus sign, indicating that you can drag out a shape on your worksheet. Drag out a small Process shape in the upper left corner of your worksheet by clicking and holding with your left mouse button, dragging out a rectangle and then releasing.>
3. Right-click over the center of the Process shape and choose Add Text from the shortcut menu. Type My Process, then center this text and make it bold using the standard Excel formatting capabilities.
4. Right-click over the edge of the Process shape and choose Format AutoShape from the shortcut menu. Select the Colors and Lines tab and give the shape a yellow fill.
5. Repeat the steps above to draw a Data and a Decision shape below the Process shape. Leave about an inch of space between each of the controls. Enter the text My Data and My Decision into these shapes. Give the Data shape a green fill and the Decision shape a blue fill.
6. From the Drawing toolbar choose AutoShapes/Connectors and select the Straight Arrow Connector (second from left).
7. Move your mouse cursor over the bottom center of your Process shape. Notice that four connection points appear around the Process Shape and that your mouse cursor turns into a box when it is above the Process shape. Click and hold with your left mouse button and drag an arrow from the bottom of the Process shape to the top of the Data shape.
8. Repeat the previous two steps to draw an arrow connector between the bottom of the Data shape and the top of the Decision shape. You will notice that once you have made your connections, you may drag your shapes around on the worksheet and the connectors will remain locked in place.
9. Your worksheet should now look like the example shown here. (Please note: the worksheet will not open if you are not using Excel 97.)

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