MHS Excel 2010 Comprehensive Glossary

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.

Defined name

A word or string of characters in Excel that represents a cell, a range of cells, a formula, or a constant value; also referred to as simply a name.

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.

Design mode

An Excel view in which you can work with ActiveX controls.

Expand horizontal scroll bar button

An Excel window element with which you can increase the width of the horizontal scroll bar.

Expand Formula Bar button

An Excel window wlwmwnt with which you can increase the height of the Formula Bar to display lengthy cell content.

Criteria range

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

Criteria (Excel)

Conditions that you specify in a logical function.

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.

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.

Deselect

Tha action of canceling the selection of an object or block of text by clicking outside of the selection.

Constant value

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

Cell reference

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

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.

Extract area

The location to which you copy records when extracting filtered rows.

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.

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.

Embedded chart

A chart that is inserted into the same worksheet that contains the data used to create the chart.

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.

Copy

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

Clear Filter

A command that removes a filter.

Cut

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

DGET function

A function that extracts from your data table a single record that matches the conditions you specify.

DSUM function

A function that sums a column of values 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.

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.

Dialog Box Launcher

A small icon that displays to the right of some group names on the Ribbon, and which opens a related dialog box or task pane providing additional options and commands related to that group.

Dialog box

A small window that contains options for completing a task.

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.

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.

Evaluate Formula

An auditing tool that helps you examine complex formulas.

Cell address

Another name for cell reference.

AutoSum

Another name for the SUM function.

Cell content

Anything typed into a cell.

Dependent cells

Cells that contain formulas that refer to other cells.

Constraint cells

Cells that contain values that limit or restrict the outcome.

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.

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.

Displayed value

The data that displays in a cell.

.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

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.

Error Checking command

A command that checks for common errors that occur in formulas.

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.

Enhanced ScreenTip

A screentip that displays more descriptive text than a normal screentip.

Excel Table

A series of rows and columns that contains related data that is managed independently from the data in other rows and columns in the worksheet.

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.

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.

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.

Embed

The action of inserting something into the same worksheet that contains the data used to create the chart.

Drag and drop

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

Edit

The actions of making changes in text or graphics in an Office file.

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

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.

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.

Chart Elements box

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

Active cell

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

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.

Alignment

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

Auditing

The process of examining a worksheet for errors in formulas.

Collaboration

The process of working jointly with others.

Error Value

The result of a formula that Excel cannot evaluate correctly.

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.

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.

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.

Descending

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

Default

The term that refers to the current selection or setting that is automatically used by a computer program unless you specify otherwise.

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.

Arguments

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

Cloud computing

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

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.