Baffeled by Excel

[wizzkid]

I am currently doing a small assignment, to attempt to gain a little knowledge using Excel. But I'm truely stumped. Could any one answer this problem for me. Please look at the attachment and you will understand what is needed??????????

The question is, how do I do this:

"Staffing costs have increased, and the cost of fuel and staff for a day is now £145. As this is a figure that may change in the future, it has been decided to enter this in a cell and write a formula that retrieves it so that it is not necessary to change each cell in the Staff/fuel column when the cost alters. Insert a row before the column labels and enter this label in the first cell: staff/fuel per day. In the cell right of it, enter the figure 145 and format it as a currency value."

I have read the question over and over and I'm lost.

 

[wizzkid]

Sorry am unable to attach file. Wrong format

 

[Anne Troy]

Copy your file.
Change the extension from xls to txt.
Attach to a reply here, wizz.

 

[wizzkid]

Pardon my ignorance, but how can I do that.

 

[wizzkid]

Ok.....I have managed to change the file from .xls to .txt. So here it is.

Are you going to change it back to .xls, because at the moment I can't understand a word of it.

 

[Anne Troy]

Ok, I got it, but where are your calculations??

Did you File-Save as?

Don't do that--next time just right-click the file name from Windows Explorer---not from Excel---and hit Rename. Then change the xls to txt.

I didn't want a text file, I only wanted you to rename the file, not change it's format.

I think I see what they want though.

Instead of the £/day that they are currently charging for boat rental, they want you to set it up to use one price, and one price only, which is the 145 £/day.

So, you should likely delete the entire £/day column, and put the 145 £/day where they said ...

Hit Row 2, then Insert-Row.
In A2, put £145.

Then, figure out how to get the values in D column to all look at A2 for their multiplication. Now, they don't want you to have to type the formula in manually for each row, so I believe that they're trying to get you to use relative references.

That should be enough to get you going, wizz. Let me know if it's not.

 

[wizzkid]

Thanks dreamboat I will give it a try later as I am going to college shortly (attempting to learn something about IT) and I will get back to you as soon as possible...

 

[Anne Troy]

Great. Good luck!

 

[phoneguy55]

Dreamboat,....
quick thought here...unrelated to wizzkids problem..

reading between the lines of the threads here you touched upon a very useful function that is not often discussed...changing file names ...without changing file formats. I know how to...and have done it before a few times, but can't really think of where or how to post this as I am not 100% sure of all the implications associated. Maybe in tips and tricks ...if it could be explained in a nutshell, without a rambling dialog....?

example.... a music site with mp3 files names them as text files ...after you download them, you rename them back and voila...tunes. Does this prevent "bots" from hunting down music files? ....so the data in a file remains in it's original form, no matter what you name it...just as long as you don't convert it...thus allowing it to "go" where the original file type might not be allowed...?

( feel free to move or delete this if out of line with original topic)

 

[Anne Troy]

Sure. I would put it in tips and tricks. However, I'd keep it kind of low key as far as doing it to upload files to forums like this....if you catch my drift.



And make sure that we mention that we should always be careful regardless of the file type...

 

[wizzkid]

Hi there dreamboat,

The problem I was having with excel has now been sorted. I approached a tutor at college, who explained what the problem was and he explained it. He was amazed at it, as it is mean't to be a beginners course I am doing, thought it was rather advanced. the end result went something like this. Staff/fuel =C6*$I$3. It is rather hard for me to explain, as I am a complete Excel dingbat.

Thanks for all your help. I know you would have sorted it if I was able to sent you the attachment correctly..

Wizz

 

[Anne Troy]

Wizz.

I'm sorry.



I thought you understood.
When people are doing coursework and asking questions online, I don't like to answer, but "point".

I said earlier:

That should be enough to get you going, wizz. Let me know if it's not.

And I meant it. I KNEW the answer to your question, and it's really NOT advanced, IMHO. I mean...what if you have a list of sales people and you pay them commissions? Are you going to put that commission percentage in every formula? Are you going to create a column in your file just to put the SAME percentage in every row? No.

So it's a really common and useful tool: absolute references.

You let me know when you get stuck. I'll help all I can, but I don't like coming right out with an answer when it's school work. If you're sick to death of looking, I WILL give you an answer.



You should try to be honest about it (and you have been!) so that you learn more. If you don't tell people you're doing coursework and you just get answers, you won't learn as well. Anyway, ANYTIME you need help, come on back.

 

[wizzkid]

Ok, thanks dreamboat. I will bear that in mind. .too. I will let you know if and when a problem arises again and I am P^**"D 07f looking for the answer.

 

[Anne Troy]

Hey. I'll "point" too--point you in the direction of answers...