Anatomy of Word: Taking Word tables to the next level
I've provided both the formula and the result. The shaded cells indicate which cells are involved in the formula for a particula
Here, I've provided some example formulas for you to look at.
I've provided you with a look at a bunch of different things. First, you can see that I've used cell references this time around. Second, you also see that I've done some direct calculations, such as C3 * C5 (the * character is used to denote multiplication) and D2-D4.
Finally, you've seen two different ways to address cell ranges in a formula. In column B (August), I've used the formula =SUM(B3,B4), which, when read literally, reads "Add up cells B3 and B4". Now, look at column E (November) and look at the formula, which reads =SUM(E2:E5). When read literally, this formula would read "Add up cells E2 through E5, inclusive." The only difference is a comma versus a colon. A comma allows you to provide a list of cells to add up whereas a colon allows you to specify a range of cells.
Note also that the second total column showing the formulas has a bunch of curly braces. The reason: Those cells actually contain the formula and I've set the Toggle Field Codes option to on. When you select a cell with a formula and a result and choose to Toggle Field Codes on, Word shows you the formula instead of the result. This can be really handy. To do this yourself select a cell with a formula, right-click it, and, from the resulting shortcut menu, choose Toggle Field Codes.
Recalculating formulas
This will be a quick one since it's pretty straightforward. Suppose you make a change to your table's data. One big difference between Word and Excel: Excel recalculates your entire spreadsheet every time you make a change. Word does not. You need to tell Word to redo its calculations. To make this happen, select your entire table and press the F9 key on the keyboard. This will recalculate your formulas so you don't need to enter them all over again.
Shortfalls
Word tables can be very useful when used as mini-spreadsheets, but Word tables will never replace the power and flexibility of Excel, a program designed to do nothing more than crunch numbers. Here are a couple of areas where Word tables fall seriously short of Excel:
For many, Word tables are more than sufficient. If you need more, but also need the power of Word's document-creation capabilities, a future article in this series will detail how you can combine the best of both products into a single document.
I've provided you with a look at a bunch of different things. First, you can see that I've used cell references this time around. Second, you also see that I've done some direct calculations, such as C3 * C5 (the * character is used to denote multiplication) and D2-D4.
Finally, you've seen two different ways to address cell ranges in a formula. In column B (August), I've used the formula =SUM(B3,B4), which, when read literally, reads "Add up cells B3 and B4". Now, look at column E (November) and look at the formula, which reads =SUM(E2:E5). When read literally, this formula would read "Add up cells E2 through E5, inclusive." The only difference is a comma versus a colon. A comma allows you to provide a list of cells to add up whereas a colon allows you to specify a range of cells.
Note also that the second total column showing the formulas has a bunch of curly braces. The reason: Those cells actually contain the formula and I've set the Toggle Field Codes option to on. When you select a cell with a formula and a result and choose to Toggle Field Codes on, Word shows you the formula instead of the result. This can be really handy. To do this yourself select a cell with a formula, right-click it, and, from the resulting shortcut menu, choose Toggle Field Codes.
Recalculating formulas
This will be a quick one since it's pretty straightforward. Suppose you make a change to your table's data. One big difference between Word and Excel: Excel recalculates your entire spreadsheet every time you make a change. Word does not. You need to tell Word to redo its calculations. To make this happen, select your entire table and press the F9 key on the keyboard. This will recalculate your formulas so you don't need to enter them all over again.
Shortfalls
Word tables can be very useful when used as mini-spreadsheets, but Word tables will never replace the power and flexibility of Excel, a program designed to do nothing more than crunch numbers. Here are a couple of areas where Word tables fall seriously short of Excel:
- Word has a fraction of the functions provided by Excel.
- Excel calculates changes on-the-fly.
For many, Word tables are more than sufficient. If you need more, but also need the power of Word's document-creation capabilities, a future article in this series will detail how you can combine the best of both products into a single document.
