CCNC/CCNC Module 4/Spreadsheets/Application/Subsection 3

Locating the components of the CALC screen

You need to be very familiar with the tool you are working with. We will begin the that part of the tool that is visible on your computer screen. We refer to it as the CALC screen. Running across the top and down one side are a set of bars each of which displays a series of icons or buttons you will click on when you want to perform certain tasks. To put it another way, you click on those buttons when you want to execute specific commands. These are the bars:

The menu Bar:

SCREENSHOT

The menu bar displays global commands. These commands are grouped according to categories. For example, the File menu consists of a set of commands related to file operations such as opening an existing file, creating a new file, closing files, and so on.

The Function Bar:

SCREENSHOT

The Function Bar displays the path and name of the current file as well as a series of icons representing commonly used commands

The Object Bar

SCREENSHOT

The Object Bar contains commands that ae used to format cells

Formula Bar

SCREENSHOT

The formula bar contains the address of thee current cell, that is the cell on which the cursor is placed. It also serves as the entry point for all data to be entered in that highlighted cell.

Toolbar and Work Area

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The toolbar runs down the left side of the work area and provides a quick route of accessing common spreadsheet functions. The work area consists of a grid formed by the intersection of rows and columns.

Columns, Rows and Cells The main feature of a spreadsheet is that it is organised into columns and rows. The lines that run vertically and horizontally The columns run vertically from top to bottom of the work area and are named by the letters of the alphabet. These may be seen at the top of each column. The rows run horizontally from left to right and are numbered 1, 2, 3, 4, etc.

The cell is located at the point where the row and the column intersect or cross each other. For example cell C11 is the cell lying at the intersection of Column C and Row 11. C11 is also referred to as the address of the cell.

Tabs

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The tabs are located at the bottom left corner of the work area. By default, there are 3 of them, named Sheet 1, Sheet 2, Sheet 3. These tabs identify the worksheets that are contained in a single spreadsheet. When we click on a tab, its worksheet is displayed. The work area that we have been looking at thus far is essentially the work area of a single worksheet when displayed on the CALC screen. We will look more closely at spreadsheets and worksheets in a later subsection.