Introduction to Spreadsheets (Part One)

A spreadsheet consists of a number of columns, 230 in a standard Excel spreadsheet. Each of these columns has an alphabetical reference, A-Z, followed by AA - AZ, then BA - BZ through to IA - IV. The rows within a spreadsheet have a numerical ascending value, 1 through to 65,536. When you consider the amount of column and rows in a standard spreadsheet, you will realize that you are only viewing a fraction of a very large spreadsheet on the screen.

Cell References
Every cell in a spreadsheet has a unique cell reference. This is defined by the selected cells intersection of the column reference, followed by the row reference. To select a cell within a spreadsheet we simply click into the cell with the mouse pointer. You will know which cell is selected by the dark border around the cell. In the diagram above the cell selected is C3. Remember, it's the column reference first, followed by the row reference second.

Cell Ranges
In the diagram to the left, a range of cells are selected. To define the range selected, the top left-hand corner cell reference is used, in this case B2, followed by a colon :. Following the colon the bottom right-hand corner cell is used, in this case C5. So, the range of cells selected is B2:C5. Even when the selected range is a single column of cells, it still follows the same principle of top left-hand cell, followed by a colon, then the bottom right-hand corner cell. To select a range of cells, click into the centre of the first cell, hold your left-hand mouse button down and drag over the required cells.