Excel 97 Annoyances (Nutshell Handbooks) (Paperback)

~ (Author), T J Lee (Author), Lee Hudspeth (Author), Timothy-James Lee (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Learn how to shape Excel 97 in a way that will not only make it most effective, but will give you a sense of enjoyment as you analyze data with ease. Excel 97, which ships with Office 97, has many new features that may be overwhelming. All of the various toolbars, packed with what seems to be an unending array of buttons, might seem a bit intimidating, not to mention annoying, to the average user. Excel 97 Annoyances is a guide that will help create some order to the plethora of available options by providing many customizations that require only a few simple clicks of the mouse button. This book uncovers Excel 97's hard-to-find features and tells how to eliminate the annoyances of data analysis. It shows how to easily retrieve data from the Web, details step-by-step construction of a perfect toolbar, includes tips for working around the most annoying gotchas of auditing, and shows how to use VBA to control Excel in powerful ways.

About the Author

Woody Leonhard: Curmudgeon, critic, and perennial "Windows Victim," Woody Leonhard runs a fiercely independent Web site devoted to delivering the truth about Windows and Office, whether Microsoft likes it or not. With up-to-the-nanosecond news, observations, tips and help, AskWoody.com has become the premiere source of unbiased information for people who actually use the products.
In the past decade, Woody has written more than two dozen books, drawing an unprecedented six Computer Press Association awards and two American Business Press awards. Woody was one of the first Microsoft Consulting Partners and is a charter member of the Microsoft Solutions Provider organization. He's widely quoted -- and reviled -- on the Redmond campus.

Justin Leonhard: Lives with his dad in Phuket, Thailand. Justin contributed to "Windows XP All-in-One Desk Reference For Dummies," He frequently helps Woody with various writing projects and keeps the office network going. Justin is an accomplished scuba diver, budding novelist, and the best video game player for miles. He was admitted to Mensa International at the age of 14.

Hudspeth is a cofounder of PRIME Consulting Group, Inc. in Hermosa Beach, CA., a Microsoft Solution Provider. His background is in operations research, financial analysis, and marketing analysis.

Lee is a cofounder of PRIME Consulting Group, has a background as a certified public accountant and has done computer and management consulting for years. He has written countless courseware packages and manuals, co-authored the Microsoft Education Services course on Developing Applications in Word, and taught and lectured for thousands of developers and end users.

Product Details

• Paperback: 350 pages
• Publisher: O'Reilly Media; 1 edition (September 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 156592309X
• ISBN-13: 978-1565923096
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,449,585 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Lots of Tips, July 11, 1998

By A Customer

This book is useful in describing many odds and ends of using EXCEL. This book is not an overall introduction, like Running Microsoft EXCEL 97, nor a series of examples, like EXCEL for Scientists and Engineers. Rather, it is a helpful handholder to assist you in setting up the program and operating it to suit yourself. Like its companion volume, WORD 97 Annoyances, the theme of the book is to put VBA to use in customizing the program to your own tastes. However, the main love of the authors is WORD, and there are fewer VBA fixes in this book than in the WORD 97 book. There also are large scale repetitions of whole sections of the WORD book in this book.

Nonetheless there are a number of useful examples of using VBA in EXCEL, of setting up menus and rearranging toolbars etc. There also are some good points about spreadsheet organization, checking for spreadsheet errors, and precautions to be taken against crashes, viruses, and misuse of macros.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not the standard set by Word Annoyances, July 14, 1998

By	johare4 (Santa Fe, NM) - See all my reviews

The idea is the same as WORD Annoyances--to provide VBA workarounds to tailor operation to your own tastes. However, not nearly as many workarounds are provided as in the WORD Annoyances book. Also, large sections are copied verbatim. For example, the introductory VBA examples are the same as WORD Annoyances, although there are a few EXCEL specific VBA programs as well. The discussion of worksheet auditing (tracking down mistakes in entries) and organization of worksheets inside a workbook is better than most.

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Excel book I have read; funny, critical, informative., May 20, 1998

By	[e-mail] (Santa Monica, CA) - See all my reviews

In 1995 I read a book entitled "The Underground Guide to Excel 5.0" by Lee Hudspeth and T.J. Lee. I read it from cover to cover. Since then I have been searching for more from these guy and I finally found it in "Excel 97 Annoyances." Unlike most computer books, which are rehashes of the user manual, "Excel 97 Annoyances" has "soul." It is a funny, irreverent, critical look at Excel. This is a unique book, full of useful tips and techniques. Read it and you'll have more fun learning about Excel than you ever could have imagined.