Review of:
Excel 97 Annoyances 
by Jacquelyn Sykes, Alamo PC

Excel 4.0 was the first Microsoft application program I learned back in 1993. This past Summer I read one of the introductory books on Excel 97 (I don't remember the title). In its first few chapters it said that if you knew the tasks presented you knew more than 80% of Excel users. Since I knew how to do almost everything that book talked about I thought I knew Excel. After reading just a few of the chapters in Excel 97 Annoyances I found out how much I didn't know. 

You don't have to use Excel's advanced features to gain a lot from reading this book. Even the most casual user will learn useful skills. This book taught me things I didn't know I needed to learn. There is a nice balance between seriousness and unforced humor. 

 Why do I recommend this book so highly? After all, it's not the longest one on Excel 97 available. First, I believe you get very good value for your money. While the book has only 320 pages, including the index, they all pertain to its subject. Second, the authors wrote very tightly without losing clarity. It was a joy to read. Chapter 5 was more difficult than the rest since it discusses programming. Third, it contains many concrete explanations of various aspects of Excel 97, why you should change its options and how to do it. It even tells you how to use Microsoft's new IntelliMouse. (I have one and now that I'm used to it I don't like to give it up. I even find myself trying to use it in programs where I can't use it.) Unlike Word 97 Annoyances, it does go into some detail on using the program. 

 What This Book is Not

So, What is This Book?

 What annoyances? The blurb on the back cover gives this example: "Since an Excel 97 worksheet supports 65,536 rows, how do you easily navigate from cell A1 to cell E6990, for instance." Other annoyances include features that don't work the way they're supposed to or the way you want them to. My favorite feature of Excel 97 may be your major annoyance. The authors recognize these differences so they explain the purpose of a feature or toolbar button and why you might want to change it. Then they tell you how to do so. They also tell you how to use many of the unknown or rarely mentioned capabilities of Excel. 

What does Excel 97 Annoyances Cover?

What exactly do the chapters cover?

 Chapter 2, Excel as Workhorse, "covers all the new Specifications of Excel 97 and how you can capitalize on them." Unlike the similarly named chapter in Word 97 Annoyances this chapter doesn't discuss Visual Basic for Applications. Instead it provides an overview of the Word 97's specs, tells how to use the IntelliMouse, talks about the row and column indicators, and the Multiple Undo. It goes into detail about all the command bars and Office Art (they even have screen shoots of all the built in shapes). This chapter contains the only recommendation for changing Windows' registry in the book. Although the authors tell you to be careful, they don't tell you to back it up before changing it. 

Chapter 3, Tales of the Toolbar and Other Aides-de-Camp, "walks you through a complete reworking of Excel's Standard and Formatting Toolbars." The authors consider the setup of the Standard and Formatting Toolbars especially to be a demoware version for marketing purposes. This chapter also introduces you to the Office Assistant and the audio cues built into Office 97. If you have a sound card, but you don't hear sounds they tell you how to set up Windows 95 and Excel to play them. 

Chapter 4, How Excel Works, gets into the real nitty gritty of using Excel. While it appears to be covering the basics of spreadsheets it actually goes into some of the advanced features, such as data validation and range names and labels. This chapter tells you how AutoEntry and AutoFill work. It also discusses backward compatibility issues. As the Preface says, its "a from-the ground-up, feature-pounding review of the tools in Excel you need to be using to increase your productivity and lower your annoyance level." 

 Chapter 5, Using VBA to Customize Excel, is a basic tutorial on Visual Basic for Applications, the language used for macros. It walks you through creating several VBA programs. Since I did some of them when I reviewed Word 97 Annoyances, I didn't do them again. I didn't find any of the Excel specific programs useful for what I do so I didn't try them. (If you are on the web you might want "to download the code from ftp://ftp.ora.com/published/oreilly/windows/excel.annoy and then search for Intro to VBA.xls.") They tell you what questions to ask the Office Assistant or look for in the Index for further information. I particularly like that since I have a hard time second-guessing Microsoft programmers on what they call things. 

Chapter 6, Excel Strategies, discusses macro viruses in Excel, "creating error traps and self monitoring formulas; using Excel's extensive set of auditing tools; crating simple VBA macros to solve some major spreadsheet annoyances" (I may actually implement some of these.) It also tells about Excel's Internet connection, Presentation strategies, using maps and charts and how to print your spreadsheets. 

 Chapter 7, Excel in the Office, explains how to use various shortcuts to start Excel, setting up and using templates, how to protect your spreadsheets from yourself and others, how to use Excel as a database and introduces pivot tables. You'll find this chapter valuable even if you don't use Excel in an office environment. 

Chapter 8, Where and How to Get Help, provides a list of magazines, web sites, newsletters and listservers where you can get help. This short chapter contains many on-line links. Several other chapters also give links. Visit Woody Leonhard's web site at http://www.wopr.com/wow/wow.htm to receive an e-mail newsletter full of news and tips for Office 97. I think everyone who uses Excel 97, whether beginner or long time user, should read this book. One small quibble—I found that it's not quite as polished as Word 97 Annoyances. When the authors used expressions from books and movies in the latter, they footnoted them so the reader would know where they came from. They didn't do that in Excel 97 Annoyances. 

Vital Statistics