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Spreadsheeting I: Basic concepts

While word processing programs are the most commonly used office application and browsers are probably the most commonly used application of all, much of the success of personal computers is due to spreadsheets. In 1979, two blokes – Dan Bricklin and Bob Frankston –...

Shading every other row in Excel

I sometimes wonder whether Microsoft spends so much on its programming budget it has little left over to spend on designers. This thought often crosses my mind when working with Office sample files, templates and styles. Take, for example, the auto-formats supplied...

Understanding Excel references

When you refer to a cell in an Excel formula, you can use any of three different ways of referring to that cell, known as relative, absolute and mixed references. Relative cell references are the most commonly used. A relative cell reference in a formula is based on...