WEEK 7

MS OFFICE EXCEL

Microsoft Excel is a commercial spreadsheet application written and distributed by Microsoft for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X. It features calculation, graphing tools, pivot tables, and a macro programming language called Visual Basic for Applications. It has been a very widely applied spreadsheet for these platforms, especially since version 5 in 1993, and it has almost completely replaced Lotus 1-2-3as the industry standard for spreadsheets. Excel forms part of Microsoft Office. The current versions are 2010 for Microsoft Windows^[1]and 2011 for Mac OS X.^[2]

Basic operation

Main article: Spreadsheet

Microsoft Excel has the basic features of all spreadsheets,^[3] using a grid of cells arranged in numbered rows and letter-named columns to organize data manipulations like arithmetic operations. It has a battery of supplied functions to answer statistical, engineering and financial needs. In addition, it can display data as line graphs, histograms and charts, and with a very limited three-dimensional graphical display. It allows sectioning of data to view its dependencies on various factors for different perspectives (using pivot tables and the scenario manager).^[4] It has a programming aspect, Visual Basic for Applications, allowing the user to employ a wide variety of numerical methods, for example, for solving differential equations of mathematical physics,^[5][6]and then reporting the results back to the spreadsheet. It also has a variety of interactive features allowing user interfaces that can completely hide the spreadsheet from the user, so the spreadsheet presents itself as a so-called application, or decision support system (DSS), via a custom-designed user interface, for example, a stock analyzer,^[7] or in general, as a design tool that asks the user questions and provides answers and reports.^[8][9][10] In a more elaborate realization, an Excel application can automatically poll external databases and measuring instruments using an update schedule,^[11] analyze the results, make a Word report or Power Point slide show, and e-mail these presentations on a regular basis to a list of participants.

Use of a user-defined function sq(x) in Microsoft Excel. The named variables x & y are identified in the Name Manager. The function sq is introduced using the Visual Basic editor supplied with Excel.

Subroutine in Excel calculates the square of named column variable x read from the spreadsheet, and writes it into the named column variable y.

Graph made using Microsoft Excel

Microsoft allows for a number of optional command-line switches to control the manner in which Excel starts.^[12]

Using external data

This section requires expansion.(February 2010)

Excel users can access external data sources via Microsoft Office features such as (for example) .odc connections built with the Office Data Connection file format. Excel files themselves may be updated using a Microsoft supplied ODBC driver.

Excel can accept data in real time through several programming interfaces, which allow it to communicate with many data sources such as Bloomberg and Reuters (through addins such asPower Plus Pro).

• DDE : "Dynamic Data Exchange" uses the message passing mechanism in Windows to allow data to flow between Excel and other applications. Although it is easy for users to create such links, programming such links reliably is so difficult that Microsoft, the creators of the system, officially refer to it as "the protocol from hell".^[17] In spite of its many issues DDE remains the most common way for data to reach traders in financial markets.

• Network DDE Extended the protocol to allow spreadsheets on different computers to exchange data. Given the view above, it is not surprising that in Vista, Microsoft no longer supports the facility.^[22]

• Real Time Data : RTD although in many ways technically superior to DDE, has been slow to gain acceptance, since it requires non-trivial programming skills, and when first released was neither adequately documented nor supported by the major data vendors.^[23][24]

Alternatively, Microsoft Query provides ODBC-based browsing within Microsoft Excel.^[25][26][27]

Excel 2007

This release was a major upgrade from the previous version. Similar to other updated Office products, Excel in 2007 used the new Ribbon menu system. This is different from what users are used to, but the number of mouse-clicks needed to reach a given functionality is generally less (e.g., removing gridlines only required two mouse-clicks instead of five). However, most business users agree that the replacement of the straightforward menu system with the more convoluted ribbon dramatically reduces productivity. ^[50]

Also like other office products, the Office Open XML file formats were introduced, including .xlsm for a workbook with macros and .xlsx for a workbook without macros.^[51]

Specifically, many of the size limitations of previous versions were greatly increased. To illustrate, the number of rows was now 1,048,576 (2²⁰) and columns was 16,384 (2¹⁴; the far-right column is XFD). This changes what is a valid A1 reference versus a named range. Other features included an improved management of named variables through the Name Manager, and much improved flexibility in formatting graphs, which now allow (x, y) coordinate labeling and lines of arbitrary weight. Several improvements to pivot tables were introduced. This version made more extensive use of multiple cores for the calculation of spreadsheets; however, VBA macros are not handled in parallel and XLL add‑ins were only executed in parallel if they were thread-safe and this was indicated at registration.

MY LIFE IN AIU

THIS WEEK I TOOK PART IN A LOT OF ACTIVITIES AND THIS WAS AWESOME! I HAVE MET AND TALKED WITH OUR RESPECTED VC FOR THE THIRD TIME AND IT WAS AN HONOR. 

SOON NEW STUDENTS WILL COME TO AIU FROM DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE WORLD AND I HOPE I CAN MAKE NEW FRIENDS.