Technology Q&A

Technology Q&A

How to suppress cells that calculate zero…E-mail just a portion of a spreadsheet…Stretch and squeeze type to fit…Use a code word to instantly generate a word, sentence, paragraph, graphic or table…Fast way to highlight words, sentences, lines and more in Word…Erase an e-mail in just one step…Create and keep tabs on projects assigned to others…A fast way to evoke Web sites inside Excel, Word or PowerPoint.

Key to Instructions
To help readers follow the instructions in this article, we use two different typefaces.
Boldface type identifies the names of icons, agendas, URLs and application commands.
Sans serif type indicates instructions and commands that users should type and file names.

EXCEL
Q. When I create a spreadsheet in Excel, I usually want to suppress any cell that calculates to 0 (zero). Is there a way to do this?

A. Yes, and it takes just a few steps. Go to Tools, Options, and click on the View tab. Near the bottom of the Options screen (see right) uncheck the Zero values box.

Q. I regularly e-mail an Excel worksheet that includes a monthly sales report to a staff member in another city. I would rather not send her the entire worksheet, just the monthly sales portion. Is there some way I can do that?

A. If you’re using a version later than Excel 2000 and running the Office Suite with Outlook, the answer is yes and the process is easy. Begin by highlighting the portion of the worksheet you want to send and then click on the Mail Recipient button.

If that button is not available on your toolbar, go to File and Send To, prompting the screen above.

Click on Mail Recipient to bring up this Outlook e-mail screen at right:

Fill in the e-mail address information and a short note, if you wish, and send.

WORD
Q. When I prepare a memo for a client presentation, I give each section a headline. But sometimes the headlines don’t easily fit on one line. I don’t want to reduce the size of my type any more. Is there some way to squeeze or shrink the text into the available space?

A. Word has a function for compressing—or expanding—text. Let’s take the following phrase and see how it works:

Expanding or Shrinking Text

Begin by highlighting the text and then go to Format, Font, and click on the Character Spacing tab. Click on the arrow next to the Spacing box and choose Condensed. Now move over to the By box and adjust the amount of condensing you want.

You can make the text look like this:

or this:

or something in between.

Q. Each month I create a table that shows our monthly sales figures. Except for the dollar amounts, the table format is unchanged from month to month. Is there an easy way to duplicate it?

A. You can make a template of the box. To do that, click on File, Save As, give it a name and save it as a Document Template (*.dot).

Then, the next time you want to access the box, click on File, New, and your list of templates will be displayed. Click on it, and presto, your box appears ready to be filled in.

Another way is to use the AutoText feature of Word: It’s a powerful tool. As the name implies, AutoText automatically reproduces any saved text, but it also will do the same for graphics and tables. The reproduction is evoked by the use of a code word you create.

To illustrate, begin by preparing your table.

Month	January	February	March	April
Sales

Now highlight the table and click on Insert, AutoText and New, which generates the screen at left.

AutoText suggests a code name, but you can override it with a word of your choice. Let’s use sales and click on OK. Now, every time you type the word sales, you will be alerted with this pop-up message on the screen:

If you press Enter, the table will appear. But, if you just keep typing, the message will disappear and the table won’t come up.

You can leave the AutoText entry in your memory for future use or easily erase it by returning to Insert, AutoText, clicking on AutoText again, highlighting the code word sales and clicking on Delete. Likewise, you can leave your entry in AutoText for as long as you like.

Q. I read there is a host of ways to highlight words, sentences, lines, paragraphs and even whole documents by clicking on certain places on the screen. Try as I might, I can’t do it. Is it like a secret handshake known only to insiders, or am I doing something wrong?

A. While it’s true there are undocumented processes in many Microsoft applications—as in other tools as well—your inability to make them work is not because you lack some secret information. Instead, perhaps you haven’t done the right thing yet. For example, before those clicking “tricks” can work, you have to inform Word of your preferences. To do that, go to Tools, Options and click on the Edit tab.

Notice in the middle of the screen, on the right side, a box marked When selecting, automatically select entire word. Place a check in it. Without that box marked, none of the screen clicking will work. Here are the clicking tricks. To select

A single word, double-click on it.

An entire paragraph, triple-click anywhere inside the paragraph or double-click on the left margin.

A sentence, hold down Ctrl and click on the sentence.

A line (all text in one line from left to right margin), single-click on the left margin.

An entire document, triple-click on the left margin or press Ctrl+A.

Another useful trick: To easily move an entire paragraph up or down, highlight it, press Alt+Shift and then either click on the up arrow (to move the paragraph up) or the down key (to move it down). And if you use automatic numbering, it even will adjust any existing numbers.

OUTLOOK
Q. Whenever I delete an e-mail in Outlook, the message goes into my Deleted Items folder. I guess that’s a good idea because it provides a second chance before an item can be permanently deleted. But frankly some messages don’t need a second chance. How can I bypass the Deleted Items folder and wipe out the files I want to get rid of?

A. If, when you highlight the item, you just press Shift-Delete, you will bypass the Deleted Items folder and permanently wipe the item out.

Q. I have a Tasks function in Outlook; it creates a to-do list with due dates and priorities. I like that, but I’d like it even better if I could assign tasks to my staff using this function.

A. You can. In fact, not only can you assign a task by e-mail to a colleague whose Outlook is network-connected, you can add a deadline, keep an updated copy of the task on your Task List and customize your Tasks so you receive status reports.

Begin by clicking on Tasks on your Folder List and then click on New, opening this screen right:

After filling in all the details, click on Actions on the toolbar, generating the screen at left.

Now click on Assign Task, and you’ll get the screen below.

Notice you can set the due date, start date, status, priority and the percent completed. In addition, you have two options:

Keep an updated copy of this task on my task list.

Send me a status report when it is complete.

HYPERLINKS
Q. Clients often send documents, and even spreadsheets, that contain hyperlinks for me to examine. It’s really handy: When I click on one, a Web page opens up. How can I do that, too?

A. Welcome to the world of high technology. You’ll be happy to discover that this feature is very easy to use. Open either a document, spreadsheet or PowerPoint file you want to add a Web site link to. Click on Insert and Hyperlink (shortcut: Ctrl+K), evoking the Insert Hyperlink screen. Either type in the URL of the site, or better yet, open your browser and go to the target site and then return to the Insert Hyperlink screen and you’ll find the address automatically inserted. Click on OK and your link gets added to what you’re working on.

It’s that simple.

Do you have technology questions for this column? Or, after reading an answer, do you have a better solution? Send them to Senior Editor Stanley Zarowin via e-mail at zarowin@mindspring.com.

Because of the volume of mail, we regret we cannot individually answer submitted questions. However, if a reader’s question has broad interest, we will answer it in a forthcoming Technology Q&A column.

On occasion you may find that you cannot implement a function I describe in this column. More often than not it’s because not all functions work in every operating system or application. I try to test everything in the 2000 and XP editions of Windows and Office. It’s virtually impossible to test them in all editions and it’s equally difficult to find out which editions are incompatible with a function. I apologize for the inconvenience.