Oh Noes! The dreaded #REF error! August 18, 2007 2:13 PM Subscribe
In the world of conversation killers, talking about Excel to the average person ranks up there with the best. At the same time, there is always a chance that you wish you could have that conversation at work when it gets down to the wire. Even as a pro, you might need that brush up on
Array Functions,
calculation tricks,
VBA examples or some examples from one of the
well known authors on Excel. There is also no shortage of people who dedicate their working lives to this arcane program and are more than willing to assist others for free by posting solved issues on their websites. People like
David McRitchie,
OzGrid,
Rob Bovey,
Ron de Bruin,
John Walkenbach,
Dick Kusleika,
Joseph Rubin and
Chip Pearson.
Sadly, you are welcome. The crazy part is I am the nudge that people try to get away from, but in this case, they can't. posted by lampshade at 2:22 PM on August 18, 2007
Oh Noes is right; this brings back the nightmares of my previous life as a spreadsheet jockey. "What rate of return would we need to get that project approved sir? No, problem, let me just play with a few of the assumptions in the model." We also got to do some cool things like program a heat balance into a spreadsheet, complete with steam tables etc. Good geeky fun it was. posted by caddis at 2:22 PM on August 18, 2007
Or, an excellent set of linkies to allow one to excel at an accelerated pace....
ooh, breakout! posted by drhydro at 2:26 PM on August 18, 2007
Awesome. I've been converting 20 years worth of by-hand accounting to Excel and this stuff will save me a lot of googling. posted by robocop is bleeding at 2:27 PM on August 18, 2007
Just to add a link - free financial spreadsheets from Matt H. Evans.
Peltier has a macro I've used a lot to switch x and y axes on an xy scatter chart here - it's awesome. posted by thatwhichfalls at 2:33 PM on August 18, 2007
Excel: the site that looks like someone already made a chart on it.
/Word and Quicken user posted by Cranberry at 2:37 PM on August 18, 2007
Does Excel have a "more inside" option? posted by stirfry at 2:37 PM on August 18, 2007
Apologies for the snark. I'm a Debbie Downer . posted by stirfry at 2:39 PM on August 18, 2007
Which one of these pages will tell me how, when building a formula, to use the numerical value in the cell I click on and not a reference to the cell? posted by nowonmai at 2:48 PM on August 18, 2007
If anyone wants, I have an HTML file with jus the links. May be a little easier than hitting all the add bookmark a billion times.
Just email me. Address in profile. posted by lampshade at 2:52 PM on August 18, 2007
It’s a fast and easy way to ward off lounge lizards.
So this, then, is probably something John Lurie should be aware of.
BTW, lampshade, I'd also say that taking up so much blue with those line breaks isn't very considerate of other FPPers here. Just something to keep in mind for the future, perhaps... posted by flapjax at midnite at 2:57 PM on August 18, 2007 [2 favorites]
On second thought about the bookmarks.
Actually, better than email, just click here and save the page.
And for all the Line Debbie Downers, email matt. It is two freaking lines. posted by lampshade at 3:07 PM on August 18, 2007 [1 favorite]
And should you feel like using an open source alternative, the OpenOffice Calc Tips blog is full of delightful reading. posted by Nelson at 3:13 PM on August 18, 2007
Do I need own Excel® to understand this? ; ) posted by ericb at 3:15 PM on August 18, 2007
[Cleaned up post spacing a little. lampshade, next time throw the second paragraph inside, neh?] posted by cortex at 3:35 PM on August 18, 2007
Excel is for sissies. I use Visicalc. posted by neuron at 5:26 PM on August 18, 2007
talking to me about excel will earn you a good look at my back and tail. posted by bruce at 5:40 PM on August 18, 2007
I reimplemented sequence alignment, a commonly-used computational biology algorithm in Excel (self-link). It makes a fun teaching tool. Excel's really just a functional programming language at heart. posted by grouse at 5:41 PM on August 18, 2007
Is there a name for us Excel geeks? Excelites? Excelons?
thrakintosh, Yes, Filemaker is the cure for Access madness. posted by X4ster at 5:57 PM on August 18, 2007
Excel's really just a functional programming language at heart.
That is what alof people miss about the app - that is basically a development tool. If used like (as mentioned earlier) like Visicalc, it really shines. Trying to make like Access or FMP for database and the shortcomings really show.
OTOH, trying to do a data scrub with Access or FMP is a nightmare.
The right tool for the job rule applies posted by lampshade at 6:00 PM on August 18, 2007
Is there a name for us Excel geeks? Excelites? Excelons?
I put down "Excel Freak" on freelance job apps. Never had an HR person dispute it. posted by lampshade at 6:01 PM on August 18, 2007
Excel is where I drew the line. I realized that I would not ever want a job, where I had to use this. Most people who use it casually, can't make a usable phone and email list.
Excel is not for me,
No no
Excel is not for me.
Wheeeee.
I can't
I won't
I can't
I won't
Excel is not for me,
Wheee. posted by Oyéah at 6:10 PM on August 18, 2007
Thanks for this, lampshade, unfortunately I too find it fascinating. posted by paduasoy at 6:34 PM on August 18, 2007
OK Excleperts,
I just posted a question to AskMifi. I need some advice on how to build a searchable data table or database to locate records within fields from a magazine contents list. First problem is converting seventy year old printed docs to text. Second step is integrating text to data table. Anybody have any good ideas? posted by X4ster at 7:20 PM on August 18, 2007
32 comments, but 75 people favourited it.
Some of them is like me. We hates it, but we knows how useful tips for it may be coming when the deadline she approacheth. posted by imperium at 3:42 AM on August 19, 2007
Can't get overlords to spring for all the shit I need in order to build a proper intranet, so I was forced to use a shared google spreadsheet... it's a bit sticky but it works, even with eight users editing it. posted by chuckdarwin at 3:49 AM on August 19, 2007
No MrExcel? Their forums always seem to help me... posted by anthill at 8:43 AM on August 19, 2007
Oooh, I'm always looking for new Excel outlets for work. Thank you
I used to fear Excel, but then I was forced to use it and the more I used it the easier it got, and now I really like working in it. My favorite is comparing and synching up two different files...all sorts of fun tricks to get that done.
Yes, I'm pathetic. posted by evening at 9:56 AM on August 19, 2007
OK, I added this to favorites. Have nothing useful to add other than thanks - I'm very certain that I'll need this info sometime....I'm into simple excel work, nothing too unusual or exotic. It's a good tool for calculations, (course, I like to use it to write letters in sometimes too because of the control it gives for layout when you've both text and numbers - easier than InDesign.) posted by mightshould at 5:59 AM on August 20, 2007
Ironically I won't be able to actually use these sites for work since the internet filter blocks MeFi (but not MeTa, bizarrely, so I can still get my flameout/deletion-bitching fill). I guess I could email myself the links or something. posted by EndsOfInvention at 3:14 PM on August 20, 2007
EOI, email yourself this link. I put all the sites there for convenience. You can also save as an html file. There is notthing else at the site. I just have it around for stuff like this.
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posted by gwint at 2:17 PM on August 18, 2007