Hi all. This is the first article in a series about Microsoft Excel. Today you will learn:

• What is Microsoft Excel
• What is it for?
• What does his workspace look like?

In the next article we will discuss the program's working environment a little more. But we’ll be in the third post of this series, so the most interesting things are very close! In the future, we will focus on practice, since it is interesting to everyone.

To master this and subsequent articles in the series, you will need a computer with Microsoft Office, including Excel number. If you do not have this program yet, you can buy it, for example, here.

What is Excel and what to use it for

Microsoft Excel is a program with a tabular structure that allows you to organize data tables, systematize, process them, build graphs and diagrams, perform analytical tasks and much more. Of course, this is not the entire list of capabilities, as you will soon see as you study the course materials. The program can perform many useful operations for you, which is why it has become a worldwide hit in its industry.

Excel workspace

An Excel workspace is called a workbook, which consists of worksheets. That is, one workbook file can contain one or more tables called Sheets. Each sheet consists of many cells that form a data table. The rows are numbered sequentially from 1 to 1,048,576. The columns are named with the letters A through XFD. Cells and coordinates in Excel In fact, these cells can store a huge amount of information, much more than your computer can process. Each cell has its own coordinates. For example, the cell at the intersection of the 3rd row and 2nd column has coordinates B3 (see figure). The cell coordinates are always highlighted in color on the sheet; look in the picture at what the number of the third line and the letter of the second column look like - they are darkened.

By the way, you can place data in any order on the sheet; the program does not limit your freedom of action. This means you can easily create various reports, forms, layouts and choose the optimal place for.

Now let's take a look at the Excel window as a whole and understand the purpose of some of its elements:

Page title displays the name of the current working document

Selecting a view– switching between

Ribbon– an interface element on which buttons for commands and settings are located. The tape is divided into logical blocks tabs. For example, the View tab helps you customize appearance working document, “Formulas” - tools for carrying out calculations, etc.

Display scale– the name speaks for itself. We choose the relationship between the actual size of the sheet and its presentation on the screen.

Panel quick access – area for placing elements that are used most often and are absent on the tape

Name field displays the coordinates of the selected cell or the name of the selected element

Scroll bars– allow you to scroll the sheet horizontally and vertically

Status bar displays some intermediate calculations, informs about the inclusion of “Num Lock”, “Caps Lock”, “Scroll Lock”

Formula bar serves to enter and display a formula in the active cell. If this line contains a formula, you will see the result of the calculation or a message about it in the cell itself.

Table cursor – displays the cell that is in this moment active to change content

Row numbers and column names– the scale by which the cell address is determined. In the diagram you can see that the cell is active L17, 17 scale line and element L highlighted in dark color. You can see the same coordinates in the Name field.

Sheet Tabs help you switch between all sheets workbook(and by the way, there can be a lot of them)

Excel workspaceThis concludes our first lesson. We have reviewed the appointment Excel programs and the main (not all) elements of her worksheet. In the next lesson we will look at. Thank you for reading this article to the end, keep it up! If you have any questions, write in the comments, I will try to answer everything.

Spreadsheet is not an easy thing, although we take the existence of such applications for granted. In those days when such programs did not exist, people used cumbersome computing machines or calculators, working for hours on tasks that today only take a few minutes to complete.

First there was VisiCalc

Briefly about the main versions of Excel for Windows.

The original version of Excel for Windows, Excel 2, appeared in late 1987. This version of the program was called Excel 2 because the first version was developed for the Macintosh. At that Windows time was not yet widespread. Therefore, Excel came with an operating version of Windows - an operating system that had functions sufficient to work in Excel. By today's standards, this version of Excel seems underdeveloped.

In 1990 Microsoft company released Excel 3 for Windows. This version had more advanced tools and appearance. Excel 3 introduced panels
tools, drawing tools, workbook outline mode, add-ins, 3D diagrams, collaborative document editing, and much more.

Excel 4 was released in the spring of 1992. The appearance of this version of the program had a significant impact on the growth of the popularity of Windows. Excel 4 had many new features. In addition, this version was much more convenient to use, and now novice users could quickly master a program unfamiliar to them.

Excel 5 hit the market in early 1994. This version introduced a huge number of new features, including multi-sheet workbooks and a new macro language, Visual Basic for Application (VBA). Like its predecessor, Excel 5 received best reviews in all industry publications.

Excel 95

Excel 95 (also known as Excel 7) was released in the summer of 1995. Externally, this version resembled the previous one (Excel 95 added only a few new features). However, the introduction of this version was still significant because Excel 95 introduced the more modern 32-bit code for the first time. Excel 95 and Excel 5 use the same file format.

Excel 97

Excel 97 (also known as Excel 8) is a significant improvement over previous versions. The appearance of toolbars and menus has changed, reference system is now organized at a qualitatively new level, the number of lines in the workbook has been increased fourfold. The Excel (VBA) programming environment has been significantly improved. In addition, the VBA help for the Russian locale was in Russian. In Excel 97 appeared new format files, and the worksheet was increased to 65536 rows and 256 columns.

Excel 2000

Excel 2000 (also known as Excel 9) was released in June 1999. This version was characterized by a slight expansion of capabilities. Important
advantage new version became an opportunity using HTML as universal format files. Excel 2000, of course, also supported a standard binary file format compatible with Excel 97.

Excel 2002

- this is actually Excel 10. You, of course, think that this is the tenth version of the program. Think carefully. Microsoft is a very successful company, but they have
There have always been problems with numbering software products. In fact, Excel 2002 is the eighth version of Excel for Windows.

This version of Excel 2002 was released in June 2001. She forms part Microsoft package Office XP. This version contains several new features aimed primarily at beginner Excel users. The main innovation of Excel 2002 is the ability to save your work in the event of an abnormal termination of the program and restore files from a damaged workbook that you were once working on. This version of Excel also introduces background formula checking, as well as new tools debugging Many of these versions of Excel have had multiple releases. For example, Microsoft has created two service packs for Excel 97 (SR-1 and SR-2). These releases helped solve many problems that arose during the operation of the application in question.

Excel 2003

11th version.

The most popular version of the program. The best combination of functionality and interface. It's no surprise that many people still use it today.

Excel 2007

Version 12.

This version went on sale in July 2006. The release was radically different from the Excel interface we were already familiar with. A ribbon and a quick access panel appeared. In addition, Excel functionality has been expanded with several new functions, such as SUMIFS(). The developers' decision to increase the worksheet to 1,048,576 rows and 16,384 columns, as well as the use of new (four-letter) file extension notations, was also revolutionary.

Excel 2010

Superstitious MS executives decided not to assign the 13th number to the next version, but immediately jumped to the 14th. In October 2009, free distribution of beta versions of the next release began. Interesting innovations include Sparkliness (micrographs in a cell), Slies (pivot table slices) and the PowerPivot add-in for working with 100,000,000 rows.

Excel 2013

Version 15.

The test version of the program was presented on July 16, 2012. The ribbon and quick access panel have been designed completely new (Metro interface). In addition, Excel functionality has been expanded with several new functions, such as FORMULA(), F.TEXT() and SHEET().

Real-time stock and currency rates now available in Excel

2017: Added function for collaborative editing of documents in real time

According to the corporation, this was a big step towards distant work has become as convenient and comfortable as working in the office shoulder to shoulder with colleagues. With co-editing in Excel, users can easily see who else is working on a document and respond to changes immediately.

In addition to the co-editing feature in Excel, Microsoft announced support for AutoSave in Word, Excel and PowerPoint for Office 365 subscribers who store documents on OneDrive and SharePoint. Previously, these features were only available to members Office programs Insider, but now all users can use them. Now, regardless of whether one person or several are working with a document at the same time, everyone last changes automatically saved in

Introduction

Dealing with large tables containing large amounts of data occurs in many areas of life. In particular, this applies to all types of financial and accounting activities.

In the pre-computer era, tables of this kind had to be maintained manually. Automation of spreadsheet calculations has greatly increased the efficiency and quality of work.

The purpose of this work is to consider the method of processing information using spreadsheets. Based on this goal, we can highlight the particular tasks posed in this work:

• 1) find out the history of the creation of spreadsheets;
• 2) study the purpose and basic capabilities of spreadsheets;
• 3) analyze work with a spreadsheet on Microsoft example Office Excel.

To create this work, a PC with the Windows XP operating system with a tabular Microsoft processor Office Excel 2003.

History of Spreadsheets

The idea of ​​spreadsheets was first formulated by the American scientist Richard Mattessich, who published a study in 1961 called Budgeting Models and System Simulation. In 1970, Pardo and Landau added to the Concept by applying for a corresponding patent (U.S. Patent No. 4,398,249). spreadsheet link function

The generally recognized founder of spreadsheets as a separate class of software is Dan Bricklin, who together with Bob Frankston developed the famous program VisiCalc in 1979 (visual calculator0 - a spreadsheet editor for the Apple II computer. VisiCalc, the first program in history for working with spreadsheets.

But the best among all systems at that time was considered the Multiplan package, which was not released by it at all in the previous year - 1982, which was originally planned as an easily portable program for working on Apple, IBM PC and other systems, and a Lotus 1-2-3 product company Lotus Development, developed under the leadership of Mitch Kapor, the chief of Lotus.

Lotus 1-2-3 has surpassed VisiCals in popularity. It was released exclusively for the IBM PC and completely replaced Microsoft's Multiplan package. Lotus combined the capabilities of spreadsheets, business graphics and some functions of a relational database management system. Almost all subsequent spreadsheet processors (Multiplan, QuattroPro, SuperCalc and others) supported these three functions.

In 1983, a production company still quite young compared to today software Microsoft, founded in 1975 by Paul Allen and William H. Gates, better known as Bill Gates, decided to develop a new competitive spreadsheet program. The project received the internal code name Odyssey.

The goal that Bill Gates set for Microsoft from the very beginning can be formulated as follows: a personal computer on which applications will run. Microsoft programs running the Microsoft operating system, with the ability to design new products using Microsoft tools and programming languages, it should be on every desk.

By this time, most of Microsoft's employees were developing the first Windows versions. Windows was supposed to be the first operating environment to support GUI user for IBM PC. In 1984, Gates was focused entirely on Windows and Odyssey. The program was aimed at the IBM PC. However, in the middle of the year there was an unexpected change of course: now Odyssey, temporarily called "Excel", was to be developed for the Macintosh, as Gates learned that Lotus was also taking over new development for Macintosh. New program Lotus spreadsheets were supposed to contain, as integrated software, a database, a system business graphics And text editor. It was developed as part of a project called Jazz.

Due to the reorientation of Excel to the Macintosh, development slowed down. But later Gates still managed to convince the chief programmer of the project, Doug Klunder, that Excel should first work on the IBM PC. On May 2, 1985, Excel was finally officially launched in New York.

From the long history of Excel and Odyssey, Lotus 1-2-3 and VisiCalc, one thing is certain: spreadsheet programs still represent one of the most important sectors of the market application programs For personal computers. Subsequently, numerous other products of this class appeared on the market - SuperCalc, OpenOffice.org Calc, AppleWorks and gnumeric tables.

You can save the Excel file in a different format by clicking file _Gt_ Save as. File formats available in the dialog box Save as" depend on what type of sheet is active (sheet, chart sheet, or other sheet type).

Note: When you save a file in a different format, some formatting, data, and functionality may be lost.

To open a file created in a different format, either in an earlier version of Excel or in another program, click file _gt_ Open. When you open an Excel 97-2003 workbook, it automatically opens in compatibility mode. To take advantage of the new features in Excel 2010, you can save your workbook in the Excel 2010 file format. However, you can also continue to work in compatibility mode, which preserves the original file format for backward compatibility.

Excel File Formats

Format	Extension	Description
Excel workbook		Standard format Excel 2010 and Excel 2007 files, based on the XML language. Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) macro code and Microsoft Office Excel 4.0 macro sheets (XLM) cannot be saved in this format.
Excel workbook with macro support (code)		XML-based file format with macro support for Excel 2016, Excel 2013, Excel 2010, and Excel 2007. VBA macro code and sheets can be saved in this format Excel macros 4.0 (XLM).
Binary Excel Workbook		Binary file format (BIFF12) for Excel 2010 and Excel 2007.
		Default Excel template file format for Excel 2010 and Excel 2007. Does not allow saving VBA macro code or Microsoft Excel 4.0 macro sheets (XLM).
Template (code)		Macro-enabled file format in Excel templates Excel 2010 and Excel 2007. VBA macro code and Excel 4.0 macro sheets (XLM) can be saved in this format.
Excel 97-2003 workbook		Excel 97 - Excel 2003 (BIFF8) binary file format.
Excel 97-Excel 2003 template		Excel 97 to Excel 2003 (BIFF8) binary file format for storing Excel templates.
Microsoft Excel 5.0/95 book		Excel Binary File Format 5.0/95 (BIFF5).
XML 2003 table		XML Table File Format 2003 (XMLSS).
XML data Data		XML data format.
Microsoft Excel add-in		An XML-based Excel 2010 and Excel 2007 add-in file format with macro support. An add-on is a program that provides the ability to execute additional code. Allows you to use VBA projects and Excel 4.0 macro sheets (XLM).
Excel 97-2003 Add-in		Excel 97-2003 add-in, an additional program designed to run additional code. Supports the use of VBA projects.
Excel 4.0 workbook		Excel 4.0 file format that saves only regular, chart, and macro sheets. You can open a workbook in this file format in Excel 2010, but you cannot save an Excel file in this format.
Spreadsheet Works 6.0-9.0		Spreadsheet saved in Microsoft Works 6.0-9.0. Note: This format is only supported in Excel Starter.

Text file formats

Format	Extension	Description
		Format for Lotus, separated by spaces. Saves only the active sheet
		Saves the workbook as text file, separated by tabs, - for use in another operating system Microsoft Windows- and ensures that tabs, line breaks, and other characters are interpreted correctly. Saves only the active sheet.
Text (Mac)		Saves a workbook as a tab-delimited text file - for use on the Macintosh operating system - and ensures that tabs, line breaks, and other characters are interpreted correctly. Saves only the active sheet.
Text (MS-DOS)		Saves the workbook as a tab-delimited text file - for use in the operating room MS-DOS system- and ensures that tabs, line breaks, and other characters are interpreted correctly. Saves only the active sheet.
Unicode text		Saves the book as text in Unicode, a standard character encoding developed by the Unicode Consortium.
CSV (comma delimited)		Saves the workbook as a text file, separated by commas, for use in another operating room Windows system- and ensures that tabs, line breaks, and other characters are interpreted correctly. Saves only the active sheet.
CSV (Mac)		Saves a workbook as a comma-separated text file - for use on the Macintosh operating system - and ensures that tabs, line breaks, and other characters are interpreted correctly. Saves only the active sheet.
		Saves the workbook as a comma-separated text file - for use on the MS-DOS operating system - and ensures that tabs, line breaks, and other characters are interpreted correctly. Saves only the active sheet.
		Data exchange format. Saves only the active sheet.
		Symbolic Link format. Only the active sheet is saved.

Note: If you save the workbook in any text format, all formatting will be lost.

Other file formats

Format	Extension	Description
		dBase III and IV. Files in this format can be opened in Microsoft Excel, but Microsoft Excel files cannot be saved in dBase format.
OpenDocument table		OpenDocument table. You can save Excel files 2010 so that they can be opened in spreadsheet applications that use the OpenDocument spreadsheet format, such as Google Docs and OpenOffice.org Calc. You can also open spreadsheets in ODS format in Excel 2010. Formatting may be lost when you save and open ODS files.
		Portable Document Format (PDF). This file format preserves document formatting and includes general access to files. When you view a PDF online and print it, the original view is preserved. The data in the file cannot be easily changed. PDF format also useful for documents that will be reproduced using professional printing techniques. Note:
XPS document		Specification documentation in XML format(XPS). This file format preserves document formatting and enables file sharing. When you view an XPS file online or print it, it saves the data in in the required format, and they cannot be easily changed in the file. Note: This format is not supported in Excel 2007.

File formats that use the clipboard

You can paste data from the Microsoft Office clipboard into Excel using the " command Insert" or "Special Insert" (tab " home", Group " clipboard", button " Insert") if the Office clipboard data is in one of the following formats.

Format	Extension	Clipboard Type Identifiers
		Pictures in Windows Metafile (WMF) or Windows Enhanced Metafile (EMF) format. Note. If you copy a Windows Metafile (WMF) from another program, Microsoft Excel inserts the picture as an Enhanced Metafile (EMF).
Bitmap		Pictures saved in raster format(BMP).
Formats Microsoft files Excel		Binary file formats for Excel versions 5.0/95 (BIFF5), Excel 97-2003 (BIFF8) and Excel 2010 (BIFF12).
		Symbolic Link format.
		Data exchange format.
Text (delimited by tabs)		Text format with tabs as delimiters.
CSV (comma delimited)		Comma-delimited format
Rich text (delimited by spaces)		RTF. Only from Excel.
Embedded object	GIF, JPG, DOC, XLS or BMP	Microsoft Excel objects, objects from properly registered programs that support OLE 2.0 (OwnerLink), and drawings or other presentation format.
Linked object	GIF, JPG, DOC, XLS or BMP	OwnerLink, ObjectLink, Link, Picture or other format.
Office picture object		Office or Picture Format (EMF)
		Display text, OEM text
Web page in one file		Web page in one file (MHT or MHTML). This file format combines embedded graphics, attachments, linked documents, and other supporting elements that are referenced in a document. Note: This format is not supported in Excel 2007.
Webpage		HTML format. Note: If you copy text from another program, Microsoft Excel will paste the text into HTML format regardless of the source text format.

File formats that are not supported in Excel

The following file formats are no longer supported in Excel 2016, Excel 2013, Excel 2010, Excel Starter, and Excel 2007. You cannot open or save files in these file formats.

File formats that are not supported in Excel Starter

Additionally, the following file formats are no longer supported in Excel Starter. You cannot open or save files in these file formats.

Opening and viewing files in unsupported formats

If the file format you want to use is not supported in Excel, you can try the following:

Search the Internet for file formats that are not supported in Excel using file format converters.

Save a file in a format supported by another program and export it to a format supported by Excel.

additional information

You can always ask a question to an Excel Tech Community specialist, ask for help in the Answers community, and also suggest new feature or improvement on the website