Introduction

  
StartOffice StarCalc is a spreadsheet application used to process business and financial transactions of various kinds. It is important to know and analyze the application as a software product and as a Windows application.

During this tutorial, you will sometimes be directed to open an existing file that you might not have created and you will be asked to get in a particular folder. We will first install the folder where our exercises should be stored.

1. Download the exercises.

2. When you have finished downloading, if you are using MS IE 5, from the Download Complete dialog box, click the Open button; otherwise, from Windows Explorer, double-click the downloaded file to start the installation.

3. Delete content of the Extract To edit box and type
   C:\My Documents\StarCalc Exercises

4. Click Extract.

5. When the extraction operation is over, click OK. 

To carry its various tasks, StarCalc organizes each one of its workbooks into worksheets. You can have just one worksheet in a workbook or you can have a lot of worksheets in a workbook.

When StarCalc starts, it is ready to receive your instructions. The application opens with an empty document, impressive and quite unfamiliar the first time you launch it.

1. To start StarCalc, from the Taskbar, click Start -> Programs -> StarOffice 5.2
2. From the main menu of StartOffice, click File -> Spreadsheet
3. Just like any menu that is part of the operating system, there are three classic categories of menus in StarCalc.
4. A sub-menu that stands by itself will perform a simple action, some of those actions even occur behind the scenes, sometimes giving you the impression that nothing happened when you clicked them. Examples of such menus include Edit -> Copy, etc (The File -> Save As... menu will behave like the next category if the workbook has not been saved yet).
5. Menus in another category have three dots on their line. These menu items will call a dialog box when you click them.
   To see an example, click Format, observe that the Cells... sub-menu has three dots, just like Conditional Formatting...
6. The last category of menus have a right pointing arrow. You don't need to click these menus, the arrow means they have a sub-menu; just position your mouse on them and you will have access to the sub-menu.
   To see an example, on the main menu, click File, then position your mouse on AutoPilot. While the menu still has focus, on the main menu, position the mouse on View, then position the mouse on Toolbars. Notice the list of toolbars.
7. To dismiss the menu, click the File menu.
8. Whether a menu falls under one of our categories or not, some menu items display a combination of buttons on their line, these are shortcuts. A shortcut is a key or a combination of keys that you press (simultaneously) to perform an action.
   To see some of the shortcuts, on the main menu, click Edit and notice the shortcuts on Cut or Copy.
9. Whenever you have opened a menu by mistake or you simply want to get rid of it, you usually can click somewhere else or the same menu.
   To cancel the open menu, press Esc.
10. To perform a single key shortcut, press the corresponding key. To perform a combination key shortcut, press and hold the first key, then press the second key once.
    To see a shortcut in action, notice the name of the workbook on the title bar (it might be Untitlled1); press and hold Ctrl, then press N once, and release Ctrl.
11. A dialog box comes up. Click Cancel.
      

    From now on, if I ask you to press Ctrl + O, I mean press and hold Ctrl, then press the letter O once and release Ctrl.

12. Since we already know that StarCalc is an MDI, you can check how many workbooks are opened at this time, using the main menu. On the main menu, click Window, observe the names of different workbooks. Press Esc to dismiss the menu.
13. Under the menu bar, the Object Bar provides some of the most regularly used actions performed on the main menu. A bar provides the same actions you would perform from the main menu, only faster, so that instead of going through the menu to save a workbook, you can just use the Save button. Since there are various buttons and sometimes they are unpredictable, to know what a particular button is used for, position your mouse on top of a button, a small yellowish box appears and lets you know what that particular button is used for, that small box is called a tool tip. You can also use context sensitive help to get information about a button.
    To see how this works, position your mouse (don't click) on the first button on one of the bars and keep it there for one or two seconds. After seeing the tool tip, move the mouse to another button.
14. To use context sensitive help and find out about a button, press Shift + F1. Notice that there is a question mark on your mouse pointer.
15. Position the mouse (don't click) on any buttons on one of the bars. Notice that the tool tip now is longer than the classic tool tip.
16. Press Esc to dismiss the Context Sensitive Menu.
17. On the right side of the the Function bar, there is another toolbar called the Function toolbar. This second toolbar offers other formatting features that we will use as we move along. Its buttons also provide tool tips and respond to context sensitive help. Besides other buttons, the Function Bar is equipped with combo boxes, and each combo box can display an appropriate tool tip.
    Position the mouse on the first combo box on the Function Bar and observe the tool tip.
18. Under the toolbars, there is a white box displaying a name like A1 (if it doesn't display A1, you might have clicked something), that small box is called the Sheet Area. Position your mouse on it and observe the tool tip.
19. On the right side of the Name box, there is a gray box with an = button; that = button is not the = sign, it is indeed a button and it is called the Function button. Position your mouse on it and observe the tool tip.
20. On the right side of the Function button is a long empty white box or section called the Input Line. Position your mouse on it and observe the tool tip.
    
    Under the Sheet Area and the Input Line, you see the columns. The columns are labeled A, B, C, etc. There are 255 of them.
    
    On the left side of the main window, there are gray boxes called rows. Each row is labeled with a number, starting at 1 on top, then 2, and so on.
21. The main area of StarCalc is made of cells. A cell is the intersection of a column and a row. A cell is identified by its name and every cell has a name. By default, StarCalc appends the name of a row to the name of a column to identify a cell. Therefore, the current cell is named A1. You can check the name of the cell in the Sheet Area. To see different cells names, find the cell that intersects a column and a row. For example, press the down arrow key and observe the Sheet Area.
22. To get another cell's name, click cell D12.
23. On the right side of the cells area, you have a vertical scroll bar that allows you to scroll up and down in case your worksheet cannot display everything at a time.
    Click and hold the down pointing arrow of the vertical scroll bar for a few seconds, then release it. Press Ctrl + Home.
24. On the lower right section of the main window, there is a horizontal scroll bar that allows you to scroll left and right if your worksheet has more items than can be displayed all at once.
    To experiment with it, click and hold the right pointing arrow on the horizontal scroll bar for a few seconds, then release. Press Ctrl + Home.
25. On the left side of the horizontal scrollbar, there are the worksheet tabs. By default, StarCalc provides three worksheets to start with. You can work with any of them and switch to another at any time. You can also delete some worksheets or add other worksheets as your work needs more or less. You can also change the names of worksheets anytime to suit their purpose.
    Click Sheet2, click Sheet3, click Sheet1.
26. On the left side of the worksheet tabs, there are four navigation buttons. If you happen to use a lot of worksheets or the worksheet names are using a lot space, which will result in some worksheets hidden under the horizontal scroll bar, you can use the navigation buttons to move from one worksheet to another.
27. Under the navigation buttons and the worksheet tabs, the Status Bar provides a lot of information about the job that is going on.
      

    From now on, I will refer to a StarCalc file or document as a workbook.

A StarCalc workbook gets saved like any traditional Windows application file. You need to pay attention to two primary things. Whenever you decide to save a file for the first time, you need to provide a file name and a location. The file name helps the computer identify that particular file and registers it in its database (the Registry).

A file name can consist of up to 255 characters, you can include spaces and dashes in a name. Although there are many characters you can use in a name (such as exclamation points, etc), try to stay away from fancy names. Give your workbook a name that is easily recognizable, a little explicit. For example such names as Time Sheets, employee's Time Sheets,  GlobalEX First Invoice are explicit enough.

The second important piece of information you should pay attention to when saving you workbook is the location. The location is the folder where the file will be saved. By default, StarCalc saves its workbooks in the C:\My Documents folder. You can change that very easily in the Save As dialog box. Just click the arrow of the Save In combo box and select the folder you want.

StarCalc allows you to save its files in a variety of type. To save a workbook in another format than the default StarCalc workbook, from the Save As dialog box, click the arrow of the Save As Type combo box and select a format of your choice.

There are other things you can do in the Save As dialog box, we will address them as we move along.

To save a file for the first time, you can click File on the main menu, then click Save As.

1. To save the current workbook, from the main menu, click File -> Save As...
2. Type Allentown Car Sales
3. Click the Up One Level button. That will select the (C:) hard.
4. From the list in the dialog box, double-click My Documents.
5. Double-click StarCalc Exercises. Now the Save In combo box displays StarCalc Exercises
6. After making sure that the StarCalc Exercises is the folder displayed in the Save In combo box, click the Save button.

  
As you are aware, when StarCalc starts, it opens a workbook made of three worksheets. A worksheet is simply made of cells that are patiently waiting for you to do your thing. You should first practice typing different kinds of stuffs and see what happens.

At all times, at least one of the cells on the worksheet you are working on has focus. That cell is referred to as the default cell. That cell is surrounded with a thicker border. If you type something, it goes into the default cell. If you click a cell and start typing, the new entry will replace the content of that cell, whether that cell had data or not, this could be advantageous or disastrous.

Data you type in a cell can consist of any kinds of characters, letters, numbers, etc. Sometimes, a long text will look like covering more than one cell; unless you merge cells, the text you type goes into one cell regardless of the length of the text.

1. Press Ctrl + Home. Observe the cell's name in the Sheet Area
2. Press the down arrow key. Observe the cell's name in the Sheet Area
3. Press the right arrow key twice.
4. Press the up arrow key.
5. Press the left arrow key.
6. Click cell A2.
7. Click cell B4.
8. Click cell D12.
9. Click cell B4, type Honda
10. Press Enter. Notice that text is left aligned.
11. Type Buick
12. Press Enter.
13. Type Mazda
14. Press the down arrow key.
15. Type Folks Wagon
16. On the main menu, click Edit -> Undo Insert. That deletes the content of cell B7.
17. Type VW  and press the down arrow key.
18. Type H and notice that the cell is auto-completed with Honda.
19. Click cell B2, type Make, press Tab.
20. Type Model, press Tab.
21. Type Month, press the right arrow key.
22. Type Miles, press the right arrow key.
23. Type rice, press Esc. Type Price. Press Tab.
24. Type Contact, press the right arrow key.
25. Type Published
26. Click cell C4, type Corolla and observe the signs on the left of the Edit Formula button on the Formula Bar.
27. Click the Cancel button on the Formula Bar .
28. Type Accord, press Tab.
29. Type 1988. Notice that the number is left aligned. Press Tab, notice that the number is right aligned now.
30. Type 172460, press right arrow key.
31. Type 2350, press Tab.
32. Type Brenda. Press the right arrow key.
33. Type 08/15/1999, press Enter. Notice that the date is converted to a two year digits.
34. Click cell D2 and type Year. Notice that when you click a cell and start typing, the new word replaces the old cell content. That's how you can replace the content of a cell. Press Enter.
35. Click cell B8. Double-click Honda in the Formula Bar to select it. Type Ford.
36. Double-click cell E2. Notice that the cursor is positioned in the cell. Press End, press Backspace to delete s, type age. Now the cell displays Mileage.
37. Click cell G5, type David, press the down arrow key.
38. Type B, press Enter. Notice that StarCalc completed the word Brenda for you.
39. In cell G7, type Alex and press Enter. To undo your last action, press Ctrl + Z. Now cell G7 is empty.
40. To redo the last action, press Ctrl + Y. That puts Alex back in cell G7.
41. To save the current workbook, click the Save button on the Function Bar.

  
Every workbook has some characteristics, attributes, and features that make it unique as a file, these are its properties.

You can access a workbook's properties from three main areas on the computers.

If the file is saved on the desktop and/or it has a shortcut on the desktop, if you open My Computer, Windows Explorer, or the folder (as a window) where the file is stored, right-click the workbook and click Properties. If the file was saved on the desktop, you will see only some of its properties, the most you can do there is to assign a Read-Only attribute. In My Computer and Windows Explorer, you will be able to change the file's properties.

Before opening a file or while in the Open dialog box, you can view some of the workbook's properties although you won't be able to change them.

When the workbook is opened in StarCalc, click File -> Properties to access its properties.

A workbook's properties are used for various reasons. You can always find out how much size the file is using, where it is located (the hosting folder), who created the filed, or who was the last person to access or modify it. The Properties dialog box is also a good place to leave messages to other users of the same workbook, about anything, whether you work as a team or you simply want to make people aware of a particular issue regarding the file.

1. While the Allentown Car Sales workbook is still opened, on the main menu, click File -> Properties (in StarCalc, if you don't see the Properties menu, double-click the File menu; you can also press Alt, f, i).

2. Click the General tab. Notice the icon associated/registered with the file. Review the created, modified and accessed dates.

3. Click Description

4. Click the Title text box and type Allentown Car Sales

5. Click the Subject text box and type Weekly car sales summary

6. Click the Keywords text box and type accounting, sales, review, employees, cars

7. Click the Comments text box and type This is an attempted summary sales review, if you have any concern, please contact Georgia Delaine, the Sales Accounts Manager. If you make any changes, send her an e-mail immediately.

8. Click the User Defined, Internet, and Statistics property sheets to review their content.

9. Click OK to register the changes and close the dialog box.

  
To change the zoom setting, on the main menu, click View -> Zoom... From the Zoom dialog box, select the zoom setting of your choice.

1. On the main menu, click View -> Zoom...
2. Click the 200% radio button and click OK. Notice that everything displays in big characters.
3. Once more, on the main menu, click View -> Zoom...
4. Click the Variable radio button and type 135, and press Enter.
   Now the display is smaller than the previous setting.
5. Press Alt, v, z. That will call the Zoom dialog box
6. Click the 100% radio button and click OK.

  
The workbooks you use could be created by you or someone else. They could be residing on your computer, on a floppy disk (or other media), or on a network. Once one of them is accessible, you can open it in your application.

To access the open dialog box, on the main menu, click File -> Open... You can also click the Open button on the Function Bar. A shortcut to call the Open dialog box is Ctrl + O.

1. On the main menu, click File -> Open...
2. In the Open dialog box, double-click My Documents
3. Double-click StarCalc Exercises
4. Click Allentown Car Sales1
5. Click the Open button.

  
It is very important that you be able to select cells in order to do a very effective job. You select cells to manipulate their content (s), either to edit them or to change the way they look.

If you can use your mouse, you can select cells.

1. To select one cell at a time, click cell B2.
2. Click cell C4.
3. Click cell E7.
4. To select multiple cells on the same row, position the mouse on cell B5, your mouse turns into a big + sign .
5. Click and hold down the mouse. Drag the mouse in the right direction until the 1996 number in cell D5 is selected, then release the mouse. Notice that these three cells are selected.
6. Position the mouse on cell C6, then click and hold the mouse down. Drag the mouse down until Ranger in cell C10 is highlighted. Notice that the range of cells on the same column is selected.
7. Click cell B4 and hold the mouse down. Drag the mouse right and down until 1999 in cell D9 is included in the highlighted range. That selects adjacent cells in the same area.
8. To select a column, click on column header D.
9. To select more than one column, click on column C and hold the mouse down. While the mouse is still down, move it right until column F is selected, then release the mouse.
10. To select a row, click on the row header 4.
11. To select more than one row, click on row 2 and hold the mouse down. While the mouse is still down, move it down until row 8 is selected. Release the mouse.
12. To select the whole worksheet, click the button on the intersection of the column and row headers.
13. To deselect, click cell C5.

  
Your keyboard is made of various keys that are not just used to type or enter text, or to perform shortcuts, but also to help perform many other fancy actions such as accessing the menu or simply selecting cells. Once you master your keyboard, nobody will be able to stop you.

1. To select one cell at a time, press the down arrow key; that selects cell B5.
2. Press the right arrow key; that selects cell C5.
3. Press the up arrow key.
4. Press the left arrow key.
5. To select multiple cells on the same column, press and hold Shift (with your left hand, preferably using your left pinky). While Shift is down, press the down arrow key twice, then release Shift. That selects multiple cells on the same column.
6. Press the up arrow key. Cell C4 receives focus.
7. To select multiple cells on the same row, press and hold Shift. Press the right arrow key three times, and release Shift.
8. Press the left arrow key. Cell B4 should receive focus.
9. Press and hold Shift.
10. To select adjacent cells, while Shift is still down, press the left arrow key three times and the down arrow key four times, then release Shift.
11. Press the arrow keys a few times until cell D4 receives focus.
12. To select a column, for example column D, while cell D4 has focus, press Ctrl + Space.
13. To deselect, press the down arrow key. That moves the cursor to cell D5.
14. To select a row, for example row 5, while cell D5 has focus, press Shift + Space.
15. To deselect, press the left arrow key.
16. To select the whole worksheet, press Ctrl + Shift + Space.
17. To deselect, press the right arrow key.
18. To select the whole worksheet again, press Ctrl + A.
19. To deselect, press the down arrow key. 

  
Now that you have discovered how to select cells using either the mouse or the keyboard, it is time to find out whether you can use a combination of the mouse and the keyboard to perform the same actions. Indeed, a combination of these two pieces of hardware offers features that each one of them cannot perform alone. The most valuable action this combination offers is to select cells at random.

1. Click cell B6
2. To select adjacent cells, press and hold Shift, click cell D10, then release Shift. All cells in the range are included in the selection.
3. To select cells at random, click cell D5. Press and hold Ctrl. While you are holding Ctrl, click cells B7, H10, and E9. Release Ctrl.
4. To select columns on a range, click column B, press and hold Shift, then click column F.
5. To select rows on a range, click row 4, press and hold Shift, then click row 14.
6. To select columns at random, click column D, press and hold Ctrl, then click columns G, then D, and release Ctrl.
7. To select rows at random, click row 5, press and hold Ctrl, then click rows 12, 3, and 10.
8. Press Ctrl + Home.
9. To save the current workbook, press Ctrl + S.

 
Like any other Star Office application, StarCalc opens and saves by default to C:\My Documents, this is just one of the default settings that your application uses. And like many other software products, you can change these values to ease your experience with the software.

1. From the main menu, click Tools -> Options...
2. Click the General link.
3. In the Settings section, increase the Recently Used File List to 6.
4. Increase the Sheets In New Workbook to 5.
5. Click the arrow of the Standard Font combo box and select Verdana from the list.
6. Click the arrow of the Size combo box and select 12 from the list.
7. Change the Default File Location to C:\Windows.
8. Click the View property sheet.
9. Remove the check mark of the Gridlines check box.
10. Click OK. If you receive a message saying that for the changes to take effect..., click OK.
11. To close StarCalc completely, on the main menu, click File -> Exit.
12. To restart StarCalc, click Start ->Programs -> StarCalc.
13. Notice that the cells are wider and bigger. Notice also that the workbook started with 5 worksheets.
14. Type Treasure and press Enter. Notice that the characters are unusually large.
15. On the main menu, click File -> Open... Notice that the Windows folder displays in the Open dialog box.
16. Press Esc to dismiss the Open dialog box.
17. On the main menu, click Tools -> Options...
18. Click the General property sheet. Set the Sheets In New Workbook spin button to 3. Set the Standard Font to Arial. Set the font Size to 10. Set the default File Location to C:\My Documents\StarCalc Exercises
19. Click the View property sheet. Click the check mark on the Gridlines check box (actually this one doesn't get saved, it is only configured for the worksheet you are working on).
20. Click OK.
21. To close StarCalc, click the top most  X close button. You will receive a message asking whether you want to save the file, click No.

  
From now on, unless specified otherwise,

1. If I write click G5, I mean click cell G5.
2. If I write select B2:F8, I mean select cells from B2 to F8, and that will include all cells in the range B2 to F8.
3. If I write select cells D4, B10, A2, and H16, I mean select only those cells at random.
4. If I write click cell F4, I mean using your mouse, click cell F4. On the other hand, if I write press F4, I mean using your keyboard, press function key F4. Remember that "click" refers to using the mouse and "press" refers to using the keyboard.
5. If I write select row 4, I mean position the mouse on the row header which is the gray box where the row number is displaying, then click.
6. If I write select rows 4 and 5, or select rows 4:8, use one of the methods we learned to select the row headers.
7. If I write select column E, I mean position the mouse on the column header which is the gray box where the column letter(s) is displaying, then click.
8. If I write select columns D and F, or select columns C:H, use one of the methods we learned to select the column headers.

1. Start StarCalc.
2. Press F1 to call the Office Assistant.
3. Type How to create a workbook? Press Enter.
4. Click Create a new workbook.
5. After reviewing Help, close the Help window.
6. To close StarCalc completely, on the main menu, click File -> Exit.