Excel 2010 Comprehensive Glossary

Comma delimited file

A file type that saves the contents of the cells by placing commas between them and an end-of-the-paragraph mark at the end of each row; also referred to as a CSV (comma separated values) file.

Advanced Filter

A filter that can specify three or more criteria for a particular column, apply complex criteria to two or more columns, or specify computed criteria.

AutoPlay

A Windows feature that displays when you insert a CD, a DVD, or other removable device, and which lets you choose which program to use to start different kinds of media, such as music CDs or CDs and DVDs containing photos.

Clear Filter

A command that removes a filter.

Compressed file

A file that has been reduced in size and thus takes up less storage space and can be transferred to other computers quickly.

Cloud computing

Use of Web servers of a third-party provider on the Internet to store files and run applications.

Chart sheet

A workbook that contains only a chart.

AutoFit

An Excel feature that adjusts the width of a column to fit the cell content of the widest cell in the column.

Auto Fill

An Excel feature that generates and extends values into adjacent cells based on the values of selected cells.

All Programs

An area of the Start menu that displays all the available programs on your computer system.

Criteria range

An area on your worksheet where you define the criteria for the filter, and which indicates how the displayed records are filtered.

Command

An instruction to a computer program that causes an action to be carried out.

Application

Another term for program.

Back and Forward buttons

Buttons at the top of a folder window that work in conjunction with the address bar to change folders by going backward or forward one folder at a time.

Criteria (Excel)

Conditions that you specify in a logical function.

Data

Facts about people, events, things, or ideas.

ActiveX controls

Graphhic objects, such as check boxes or buttons, that you place on a form to display or enter data, perform an action, or make the form easier to read. When the person filling in the form clicks the ActiveX control, a macro or script runs that automates a task or offers options.

Constraints

In Solver, values that limit or restrict the outcome.

Change history

Information that is maintained about changes made in past editing sessions.

Data labels

Labels that display the value, percentage, and/or category of each particular data point and can contain one or more of the choices listed--Series name, Category name, Value, or Percentage.

Chart elements

Objects that make up a chart.

Add-ins

Optional commands and features that are not immediately available and must be installed or activated to use.

Data series

Related data points represented by data markers; each data series has a unique color or pattern represented by a chart legend.

Comparison operator

Symbols tat evaluate each value to determine if it is the same (=), greater than (>), less than (<), or in between a range of values as specified by the criteria.

Constant value

number, text, dates, or times of day that you type into a cell.

Active area

The area of the worksheet that contains data or has contained data--it does not include any empty cells that have not been used in the worksheet.

Chart Elements box

The box in the Chart Tools tabs from which you can select a chart element so that you can format it.

Category labels

The labels that display along the bottom of a chart that identifies the categories of data; Excel uses the row titles as the category names.

Alignment

The placement of paragragh text relative to the left and right margins.

Auditing

The process of examining a worksheet for errors in formulas.

Base

The starting point; used in calculating the rate of increase, which is the amount of increase divided by the base.

Arithmetic operators

The symbols +, -, *, /, %, and ^ used to denote addition, subtraction (or negation), multiplication, division, percentage, and exponentiation in an Excel formula.

Additive

The term that describes the behavior of a filter when each additional filter that you apply is based on the current filter, and which further reduces the number of records displayed.

Compound criteria

The use of two or more criteria on the same row--all conditions must be met for the records to be included in the results.

Absolute cell reference

A cell reference that refers to cells by their fixed positions in a worksheet; an absolute cell reference remains the same when the formula is copied.

Backstage view

A centralized space for file management tasks; for example, opening, saving, printing, publishing, or sharing a file. A navigation pane displays along the left side with tabs that group file-related tasks together.

Column chart

A chart in which the data is arranged in columns and which is useful for showing data changes over a period of time or for illustrating comparisons among items.

Data marker

A column, bar, area, dot, pie slice, or other symbol in a chart that represents a single data point; related data points from a data series.

Context Sensitive Command

A command associated with activities in which you are engaged.

Context sensitive

A command associated with activities in which you are engaged; often activated by right clilcking a screen item.

Copy

A command that duplicates a selection and places it on the clipboard.

Cut

A command that removes a selection and places it on the clipboard.

Cycle

A continual process diagram.

Cell style

A defined set of formatting characteristics, such as font, font size, font color, cell borders, and cell shading.

AutoFilter menu

A drop-down menu from which you can filter a column by a list of values, by a format or by criteria.

Compatability Checker

A feature that finds any potential compatability issues and creates a report so that you can resolve the issues.

AutoComplete (Excel)

A feature that speeds your typing and lessens the likelihood of errors; if the first few characters you type in a cell match an existing entry in the column, Excel fills in the remaining characters for you.

CSV (commas separated values) file

A file type in which the cells in each row are separated by commas; also referred to as a comma delimited file.

Compound filter

A filter that uses miore than one condition--and one that uses comparison operators.

Custom Filter

A filter with which you can apply complex criteria to a single column.

DAVERAGE function

A function that determines an average in a database that is limited by criteria set for one or more cells.

Chart Layout gallery

A group of predesigned chart layouts that you can apply to an Excel chart.

Chart styles gallery

A group of predesigned chart styles that you can apply to an Excel chart.

Axis

A line that serves as a fram of reference for measurement and which borders the chart plot area.

Break-even

A point at which an entity covers its costs and starts to make a profit.

Data table (Excel)

A range of cells that shows how changing certain values n your formulas affect the results of those formulas and that makes it easy to calculate multiple versions in one operation.

Bevel

A shepe effect that uses shading and shadows to make the edges of a shape appear to be curved or angled.

COUNTIF function

A statistical function that counts the number of cells within a range athat meet the given condition and that has two arguments--the range of cells to check and the criteria.

Data validation (Excel)

A technique by which you can control the type of data or the values that are entered into a cell by limiting the acceptable values that are entered into a cell by liniting the acceptable values to a defined list.

Check boxes

A type of ActiveX control that the person filling in the form can select to indicate a choice.

Data point

A value that originates in a worksheet cell and that is represented in a chart by a data marker.

Column

A vertical group of cells in a workbook.

AVERAGE function

An Excel function that adds a group of values, and then divides the result by the number of values in the group.

Column Labels area

An area in the layout section of the PivotTable Field List in which you can position fields that you want to display as columns in the PivotTable report; field names placed here become column titles and the data is grouped in column by these titles.

Database

An organized collection of facts related to a specific topic.

Cell address

Another name for cell reference.

AutoSum

Another name for the SUM function.

Cell content

Anything typed into a cell.

Constraint cells

Cells that contain values that limit or restrict the outcome.

Contextual tabs

Tabs that are added to the Ribbon automatically when a specific object, such as a picture is selected, and that contain commands relevant to the selected object.

Data (Excel)

Text or numbers in a cell.

Arrange All

The command that tiles all open program windows on the screen.

And comparison operator

The comparison operator that requires each and every one of the comparison criteria to be true.

.xls file name extension

The default file format used by Excel 2010 to save an Excel workbook.

Chart area

The entire chart and all its elements.

Chart (Excel)

The graphic representation of data in a worksheet; data presented as a chart is usually easier to understand than a table of numbers.

Cell reference

The identification of a specific cell by its intersecting column letter and row number.

Cell

The intersection of a column and row.

Column heading

The letter that displays at the top of a vertical group of cells in a worksheet; beginning with the first letter of the alphabet, a unique letter or combination of letters identifies each column.

Chart style

The overall visual look of a chart in terms of its graphic effects, colors, and backgrounds; for example, you can have flat or beveled columns, colors that are solid or transparent, and backgrounds that are dark or light.

Data bar

A cell format consisting of a shaded bar that provides a visual cue to the reader about the value of a cell relative to other cells; the length of the bar represents the value in the cell--a longer bar represents a higher value and a shorter bar represents a lower value.

Conditional format

A format that changes the appearance of a cell--for example, ny adding cell shading or font color--based on a condition; if the condition is true, the cell is formatted based on that condition, and if the condition is false, the cell is not formatted.

DCOUNT function

A function that counts the number of occurances of a specified condition in a database.

Accounting Number Format

The Excel number format that applies a thousand comma separator where appropriate, inserts a fixed U.S. Dollar sign aligned at the left edge of the cell, applies two decimal places, and leaves a small amount of space at the right edge of the cell to accommodate a parenthsis for negative numbers.

Certificate authority

The certificate associated with a digital signature that is issued to the reputable sugnoer. A commercial organization that issues digital certificates, keeps track of who is assigned a certificate, signs ertificates to verify their validity, and tracks which certificates are revoked or expired.

Chart layout

The combination of chart elements that can be displayed in a chart such as a title, legend, labels for the columns, and the table of charted cells.

Comma Style

The Excel number format that inserts thousand comma separators where appropriate and applies two decimal places; Comma Style also leaves space at the right to accommodate a parenthesis when negative numbers are present.

Associated PivotTable report

The PivotTable report in a workbook that is interactive with its PivotTable chart.

Click

The action of pressing the left button on your mouse pointing device one time.

Center alignment

The alignment of text or objects that is centered horizontally between the left and right margin.

Category axis

The area along the bottom of a chart that identifies the categories of data

Backstage tabs

The area along the left side of backstage view with tabs to display various pages of commands.

Address bar

The bar at the top of a folder window with which you can navigate to a different folder or library, or go back to a previous one.

Active cell

The cell, surrounded by a b lack border, ready to receive data or be affected by the next Excel command.

Collaboration

The process of working jointly with others.

Command dialog boxes

The set of dialog boxes that includes Open, Save, Save as, which are provided by the Windows programming interface, and which display and operate in all of the Office programs in the same manner.

3-D

The shortened term for three-dimensional, which refers to an image that appears to have all three spatial dimensions--length, width, and depth.

Ascending

The term that refers to the arrangement of text that is sorted alphabetically from A to Z, numbers, sorted from lowest to highest, or dates and times sorted from earliest to latest.

Arguments

The values that an Excel function uses to perform calculations or operations.

Chart types

Various chart formats used in a way that is meaningful to the reader; common examples are column charts, pie charts, and line charts.