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Excel 2002
Excel 2002
pros and cons
- Cross worksheet and format-based searching Watch Window formula evaluator error-checking Smart Tag.
- Charting engine still needs work.
- Editors' review
- Specs
You might think that there would be little room for improvement with Excel, but this latest version manages to introduce a number of innovations to an already excellent application.
Other than the addition of Smart Tags and Data Panes which we cover elsewhere, Excel 2002's main advancements are centred on handling Web data. A reworked Web Query interface makes selecting data from an Internet source as easy as cut and paste, using a browser-style interface that lets you click on the elements to be imported along with options to manually or automatically update. This is useful if you want to track exchange rates or stock prices, for instance. Alternatively, if your Web site or corporate intranet runs from information held on a spreadsheet, Auto Republish lets you set up regular updates.
Excel's Web Components have also been updated to include support for native Excel files, named ranges, wrapped texts and the ability to publish entire interactive workbooks to the Web using the Save As and Add Interactivity options.
You'll find that significant improvements have been made to the Find/Replace feature, which now allows you to search across all the worksheets contained within a workbook, and display the results in a single window. You can also include cell formatting in your query. AutoSum has been tweaked, and now includes a drop-down menu for Average, Count, Max and Min functions, as well as allowing you to add your own from an extensive function list. If you can't find the function you're after, Excel's natural language query tool will let you ask questions such as 'how do I calculate interest on my investment?' and will provide results with clear explanations.
As well as the ability to trace precedents and dependents in the Formula Auditing toolset, you can also select Watch Window. This allows you to keep track on a cell value anywhere in your workbook while you alter values or formulae elsewhere. Additionally, Evaluate Formula will take you through any problems with complex formulae step by step until you find where you went wrong.
Excel 2002 also improves on previous document protection with an option to use 128-bit RC4 encryption to both password and document contents -- which is also found in Word and PowerPoint. Other useful additions include the ability to send selected cells via email (although this only applies to consecutive cells), colour coding on sheet tabs as well as EuroConvert for currency conversion, making Excel 2002 one of the best reasons for upgrading to Office XP.