Excel Chapter 2, Excel Chapter 1

Select all box

A box in the upper left corner of the worksheet grid that, when clicked, selects all of the cells in a worksheet

Chart elements button

A button that enables you to add, remove, or change chart elements such as the title, legend, gridlines, and data labels

Chart Filters button

A button that enables you to change which data displays in the chart.

Chart styles button

A button that enables you to set a style and color scheme for your chart

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 the other cells; its length represents the value in the cell.

Absolute Cell Reference

A cell reference that refers to cells by their fixed position in a worksheet. It remains the same when the formula is copied

Legend

A chart element that identifies the patters or colors that are assigned to the categories in the chart

Column chart

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

Freeze Panes

A command that enables you to select one or more rows or columns and lock them into place.

Merge & Center

A command that joins selected cells in an Excel worksheet into one larger cell and centers the contents in the merged cell.

Find and replace

A command that searches the cells in a worksheet, or selected range, for matches and then changes each match to the value of your choice.

Cell Style

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

Conditional format

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

IF Function

A function that uses a logical test to check whether a condition is met, and then returns one value if true and another value if false.

Logical functions

A group of functions that test for specific conditions and that typically use conditional tests to determine whether specified conditions are true or false.

Series

A group of things that come one after another in succession; for example, January, February, March, and so on

Row

A horizontal group of cells in a woksheet

SUM Function

A predefined formula that adds all the numbers in a selected range of cells

SUM function

A predefined formula that adds all the numbers in a selected range of cells

Function

A predefined formula that performs calculations

Theme

A predefined set of colors, fonts, lines and fill effects that coordinate with each other

COUNT

A statistical function that counts the number of cells in a range that contain numbers.

COUNTIF Function

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

Volatile

A term used to describe and Excel function that is subject to change each time the workbook is reopened. Example: NOW Function

Sparkline

A tiny chart in the background of a cell that gives a visual trend summary alongside your data; makes a pattern more obvious

Column

A vertical group of cells in a worksheet

Print Titles

An Excel command that enables you to specify rows and columns to repeat on each printed page.

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.

Workbook

An Excel file that contains one or more worksheets

AVERAGE Function

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

MAX Function

An Excel function that determines the largest value in a selected range of values.

MIN Function

An Excel function that determines the smallest value in a selected range of values.

MEDIAN Function

An Excel function that finds the middle value that has as many values above it in the group as are below it.

NOW Function

An Excel function that retrieves the date and time from your computer's calendar and clock and inserts the information into the selected cell.

Formula Bar

An element in the Excel window that displays the value or formula contained in the active cell

Name box

An element of the Excel window that displays the name of the selected cell, table, chart or object

Formula

An equation that performs mathematical calculations on values in a worksheet

Cell address

Another name for a cell reference

Spreadsheet

Another name for a worksheet

X-axis

Another name for the horizontal (category) axis

Y-axis

Another name for the vertical (value) axis

Cell content

Anything typed into a cell

Accounting Number Format

Applies a thousand comma separator, a fixed U.S. dollar sign, applies two decimal places, and leaves a small amount of space at the right edge of the cell to accommodate a parenthesis for negative numbers.

Format

Changing the appearance of cells and worksheet elements to make a worksheet attractive and easy to read

Criteria

Conditions that you specify in a logical function.

Split

Cuts the window into multiple resizable panes so that you can view multiple distant parts of your worksheet at one time.

Scale to Fit

Excel commands that enable you to stretch or shrink the width, height, or both, of printed output to fit a maximum number of pages.

Statistical Functions

Excel functions, including the AVERAGE, MEDIAN, MIN, and MAX functions, which are useful to analyze a group of measurements.

AutoComplete

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.

Constant Value

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

Flash Fill

Recognizes a patter in your data and then automatically enters in values based on examples of the output you want.

Data series

Related data points represented by data markers

Data

Text or numbers in a cell

Comma style

The Excel number format that inserts thousand comma separators and applies two decimal places

Paste

The act of placing cells contents that have been copied or moved to the Clipboard into another location.

Drag and drop

The action of moving a selection by dragging it to a new location.

Numbered row headings

The area along the left edge of a worksheet that identifies each row with a unique number

Active cell

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

Chart layout

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

Underlying value

The data that displays in the formula bar

Chart

The graphic representation of data in a worksheet. It is usually easier to understand than a table of numbers.

Cell

The intersection of a column and a row

Sheet tabs

The labels along the lower border of the Excel window that identify each worksheet

Sheet tabs

The labels along the lower border of the workbook window that identify each worksheet.

Column heading

The letter that displays at the top of a vertical group of cells in a worksheet

Chart style

The overall visual look of a chart in terms of its graphic effects, colors, and backgrounds

Worksheet

The primary document that you use in Excel to work with and store data, and which is formatted as a pattern of uniformly spaced horizontal and vertical lines

Sort

The process of arranging data in a specific order based on the value in each field.

Filter

The process of displaying only a portion of the data based on matching a specific value.

Fill handle

The small black square in the lower right corner of a selected cell

Range

Two or more selected cells on a worksheet that are adjacent or nonadjacent