Book Image

Exploring Microsoft Excel’s Hidden Treasures

By : David Ringstrom
Book Image

Exploring Microsoft Excel’s Hidden Treasures

By: David Ringstrom

Overview of this book

David Ringstrom coined the phrase “Either you work Excel, or it works you!” after observing how many users carry out tasks inefficiently. In this book, you’ll learn how to get more done with less effort. This book will enable you to create resilient spreadsheets that are easy for others to use as well, while incorporating spreadsheet disaster preparedness techniques. The time-saving techniques covered in the book include creating custom shortcuts and icons to streamline repetitive tasks, as well as automating them with features such as Tables and Custom Views. You’ll see how Conditional Formatting enables you to apply colors, Cell icons, and other formatting on-demand as your data changes. You’ll be empowered to protect the integrity of spreadsheets and increase usability by implementing internal controls, and understand how to solve problems with What-If Analysis features. In addition, you’ll master new features and functions such as XLOOKUP, Dynamic Array functions, LET and LAMBDA, and Power Query, while learning how to leverage shortcuts and nuances in Excel. By the end of this book, you’ll have a broader awareness of how to avoid pitfalls in Excel. You’ll be empowered to work more effectively in Excel, having gained a deeper understanding of the frustrating oddities that can arise daily in Excel.
Table of Contents (18 chapters)
1
Part 1: Improving Accessibility
6
Part 2:Spreadsheet Interactivity and Automation
12
Part 3: Data Analysis

The SORT function

In Figure 10.13, I clicked on cell D3 and then clicked on Sort Largest to Smallest on the Data tab of Excel’s ribbon. The =SORT(B3:E12) formula in cell G3 shows the list sorted back into alphabetical order again. In this case, the SORT function is spilling results into columns H:J and rows 4:12:

Figure 10.13 – The SORT function

The SORT function has the following arguments:

  • Array – The range of cells that you wish to sort, which, in this case, is cells B3:E12.

Tip

Make sure that you don’t include your heading row in the array; otherwise, you’ll most likely sort the column headings into the body of your list.

  • Sort_index – An optional column position that you wish to sort on. In this case, I omitted this argument, but I’ll show you an example later.
  • Sort_order – This optional argument defaults to 1, which indicates you want to sort in ascending order, or you...