Lotus Outline ========================== PROJECT ONE (approximately) Basic Spreadsheet Skills (Pages 1-58) I. What is Lotus? It is a software program which provides a workspace to perform calculations, organize data, create graphical representations of data, and do all this in a format which is easy to use. Some Important Spreadsheet terminology: Worksheet: A computerized version of an accountant's ledger. Made up of rows and columns. A single worksheet contains 256 columns and 8,19 2 rows for information. A file can be made up of multiple works heets, each worksheet can also be given a specific name. [the default names for worksheets are alphabetical a, b, c... and are located on a tab in the upper left-hand corner of the workspace] Columns (alphabetical):Vertical columns for data input. These are referre d to by their corresponding letter at the top of the column A, B, C.... Rows (numerical): Horizontal rows for data input. These are referred to by their number located on the left side of the workspace. Cell: Any intersection of a column with a row. A cell is referred to by its column letter followed by its row number. Cell Address: The address of the intersection of a column and a row. The column letter followed by the row number, for example A1 is the first cell in the worksheet. Other examples include: B12, F31, IC5... Range: The highlighted cells used to indicate where a command will have an effect. The range is identified by the top-left cell to the last bottom-right cell of the highlighted area. Ex: A1..B10 or C3..F15 Window: The area of the worksheet which is visible to the user on the screen. Label: Any entry which represents information which Lotus will NOT use in a calculation, for example titles, text or numbers which are used as titles. Value: Numeric data which can be used in calculations within Lotus. These include (1) actual numbers entered in the cells, (2) formulas which are typed in with numbers or as references to specific cell contents, and (3) @ functions which are used in calculating cell values or range values. II. Anatomy of the Lotus window Control Panel: The first three lines at the top of the window including the Title Bar, Main Menu and Edit Line. Title bar - is the same as other window apps, Control Menu button, application and current filename, min/max button Main Menu - command line, press Alt + underlined letter Edit Line - used to display and edit data. The Selection indicator displays the location of the current selection in the worksheet. The @function selector and navigator help with tasks in Lotus. And the contents box is used to display information being entered into the spreadsheet and to edit the contents of the cells. B. Work Area: This area includes the smarticons and the next line below it which shows the worksheet tabs plus more icons. The worksheet with the column letters and row numbers plus the scroll bars to view different parts of your spreadsheet. C. Status Bar: At the bottom of the window, display the formatting options of the current cell and can be used to change the formatting. Includes the system date and time, the smarticons selector and the mode indicator. III. Basic Lotus Skills: Creating a small table & charting the results. A. Entering Labels: Point to the cell where you want to enter in your data. Type in the contents of the cell and it will be displayed in the Contents Box in the Edit Line. 1. Using the Contents Box: If you change your mind you can press the Cancel button (or X) next to the Contents Box or press the Confirm button (check) to enter the label into the spreadsheet. You can also simply press return when you are finished entering your label. 2. Formatting Labels: You can change the appearance of your labels using the smarticons to make the label bold, italicized or underlined. Some icons on other smarticon sets also allow you to change the font size or color. This can also be done using the status line. B. Entering Values: remember that values include anything which Lotus can use in calculations including numbers, formulas and functions. 1. Use the number pad for repetitive number entry or for larger tables and spreadsheet data. 2. A formula is simply a way of referring to a particular cell of data in Lotus to perform mathematical operations. Instead of referring to specific numbers, you can refer to the cell where the numbers are located. This makes for easy revisions of data and allows Lotus to do all the mathematical work for you. Formulas always begin with a plus sign + followed by the address of the first cell. 3. A function begins with an @ and is the notation Lotus uses to perform various mathematical operations. For example @SUM( range) tells Lotus to add up all of the numbers in a range. @AVG( range) tells Lotus to find the average of the range of values. The smartsum icon is a shortcut to typing in this function for yourself if the total will be directly next to the group of cells. 4. Copying formulas/functions: You can copy any information from one cell to another. You can also copy formulas or functions. If you specified the absolute address of a range, ex. ($A$1..$A$5) by typing in dollar signs, when you copy of formula/function those same cells will ALWAYS be used for the calculation. If you simply specified a range (A1..A5) the copied formula/function will refer to the cells relative to cell you copied that value to. ex. If you copied @sum(A1..A5) from A6 to B6, the function would change to @sum(B1..B5) C. Lotus Tools 1. Templates: These can provide you with ideas for formatting your tables. You can select a range to be formatted and choose from one of the options provided. Step one: highlight the range which you would like to format Step two: select Style, then Gallery Step three: scroll through the named options while viewing the sample in the dialog box window Step four: when you find one you like click on OK 2. Spellcheck: You can spellcheck the contents of your spreadsheet and charts appearing on the spreadsheet. Step one: Select Tools, Spellcheck Step two: decide whether you want to check the file, one worksheet or the highlighted range and select OK D. Charting from a Table A chart is a pictorial representation of the data. This can be displayed as a graph or pie chart. We will discuss this feature in greater depth later. Here is simply how to create a chart. Step one: highlight the range which you would like to chart including the title and row and column titles Step two: click the chart icon Step three: move the mouse pointer to the area on the worksheet where you want the chart to appear and click and drag the rectangle to cover the desired length and width of your chart, release the mouse button Step four: click on any area of the chart which you want to edit or change the formatting of Use the right mouse button to access quick menus to hide axis title or change their formatting. E. Printing, Saving, Opening and Closing a Lotus file 1. Printing - to print, click on the print icon, choose either the worksheet or highlight a range to be printed and click on OK You can preview your printout first by selecting the Preview button. You can alter the page margins and the layout by selecting the Page Setup button. 2. Saving - to save a file simply click on the save icon or press Cntrl+S 3. Opening - to open a Lotus file click on the smarticon or press Cntrl+O. You can also go to the File command and at the bottom is a list of the previous five files which you have worked on in Lotus, click on one of these to open the file. You can have multiple files open in Lotus, use the window command to cascade or tile them. 4. Closing - to close a file, double-click on the control menu button for that file.