Excel for Marketing Managers

Secret Code Maker

Secret

Code Maker

Using the Application..............................................................................................................

To use the application, the student simply types a message, one character per
box, into the grid at the top of the Code Maker. Remember that a space can not
be an empty cell; the student has to press the Spacebar key one time.

To send the message to a friend, the student has several options. The numbers
can be hand-copied, or can be cut-and-pasted into an e-mail or a word processor
such as Word. Cut-and-paste will allow the message recipient to cut-and-paste
the numbers into their version of the worksheet, instead of typing them in.

Excel Extras

The code can be made a bit more difficult by adding to or subtracting from the
number generated from the CODE function. That number could be the first
character in the message, so that the decoding key travels with the message.
The formula in cell B19 in the coding grid would simply be =B7. Cell C19, for
example, would then have to be changed to the following formula:
=IF(C7=””,””,CODE(C7)+$B$7
You can then copy and paste one row at a time to fill in the rest of the grid.

For decoding purposes, you will also need to change the formulas in the
decoding grid, but this will take more than find and replace. The new formula
for cell C16 would be as follows:
=IF(C7=””,””,CHAR(C7-$B$7)
Again, this would need to be copied into all the other cells in the bottom grid of
the Decoder page. There does not need to be a formula in cell B16.

You can have your students experiment with multiplication and division to
change the CODE numbers as well. However, using division may require the
use of the ROUND or INTEGER functions in order to make the worksheet
work correctly.