Excel's AutoFill facility relies on the program's ability to recognize patterns in the values that you enter. For example, say you type "Week 1" in a cell; you can have the program automatically enter "Week 2", "Week 3", etc. by dragging the AutoFill handle. This is situated in the bottom right of the cell. When the cursor moves over it, the cursor changes appearance to a plus sign (+). At this point you simply click, hold, drag in any direction and Excel will pick up the pattern and reproduce it to create automatic data entries.
Whenever you make use of the AutoFill handle Excel displays the AutoFill Options drop down menu below the last cell which has been generated. If the program has not entered the required data, you can choose one of the entries in the AutoFill Options so that it knows what you actually meant it to do. For example, choosing Copy Cells, gives you an exact copy of what was in the original cell.
Excel also contains the ability to automatically enter arbitrary series of data using a facility called Custom Lists. Some lists are built into Excel, for example, the months of the year. To use the AutoFill feature, type in the first value in the list, for example, "Jan" or "January". Next, click on the AutoFill handle (in the bottom right of the active cell) and drag it in any direction. Excel will automatically enter the rest of the custom list.
In addition to these built-in lists Excel allows you to create your own custom lists. For example, suppose we worked for a company that has branches in several towns. It's almost certain that we would list these towns quite frequently in our spreadsheets. We could therefore save ourselves considerable time by setting this up as a custom list.
To do this, simply select cells in one of your worksheets that contain the information. Next, click on the Office button and choose Excel options. Click on "Edit Custom Lists" in the "Popular" category. Excel displays the contents of the cells that we highlighted. To convert the selected data into a custom list, we simply click on the "Import" button.
Once you've created a custom list, it can be used in any of your worksheets, not just the sheet that contained the original information. To generate the entries in the list, simply type the first value. Next, drag the AutoFill handle to conjure up the remaining entries. When using this facility, we can drag in any direction and we don't have to start with the first member of the custom list.
Custom lists can also be created directly in the "Custom Lists" dialog box. To do this, click on the "List Entries" button and type the entries separated by a carriage return. When you've finished entering the list, click on the Add button.
To delete a custom list, simply highlight its name and click on the "Delete" button. Excel checks to see that you really want to delete it. When you click "OK", the list is permanently deleted. - 16738
Whenever you make use of the AutoFill handle Excel displays the AutoFill Options drop down menu below the last cell which has been generated. If the program has not entered the required data, you can choose one of the entries in the AutoFill Options so that it knows what you actually meant it to do. For example, choosing Copy Cells, gives you an exact copy of what was in the original cell.
Excel also contains the ability to automatically enter arbitrary series of data using a facility called Custom Lists. Some lists are built into Excel, for example, the months of the year. To use the AutoFill feature, type in the first value in the list, for example, "Jan" or "January". Next, click on the AutoFill handle (in the bottom right of the active cell) and drag it in any direction. Excel will automatically enter the rest of the custom list.
In addition to these built-in lists Excel allows you to create your own custom lists. For example, suppose we worked for a company that has branches in several towns. It's almost certain that we would list these towns quite frequently in our spreadsheets. We could therefore save ourselves considerable time by setting this up as a custom list.
To do this, simply select cells in one of your worksheets that contain the information. Next, click on the Office button and choose Excel options. Click on "Edit Custom Lists" in the "Popular" category. Excel displays the contents of the cells that we highlighted. To convert the selected data into a custom list, we simply click on the "Import" button.
Once you've created a custom list, it can be used in any of your worksheets, not just the sheet that contained the original information. To generate the entries in the list, simply type the first value. Next, drag the AutoFill handle to conjure up the remaining entries. When using this facility, we can drag in any direction and we don't have to start with the first member of the custom list.
Custom lists can also be created directly in the "Custom Lists" dialog box. To do this, click on the "List Entries" button and type the entries separated by a carriage return. When you've finished entering the list, click on the Add button.
To delete a custom list, simply highlight its name and click on the "Delete" button. Excel checks to see that you really want to delete it. When you click "OK", the list is permanently deleted. - 16738
About the Author:
Author is a developer and trainer with OnSiteTrainingCourses.Com, an independent computer training company offering Microsoft Excel training courses at their central London training centre.
