Excel 2010 Bible

Part I: Getting Started with Excel

100

Setting up data like this in a range of cells is very straightforward. The magic happens when you

tell Excel to convert a range of data into an “official” table. You do this by selecting any cell within

the range and then choosing Insert ➪ Tables ➪ Table.

When you explicitly identify a range as a table, Excel can respond more intelligently to the actions

you perform with that range. For example, if you create a chart from a table, the chart will expand

automatically as you add new rows to the table.

Figure 5.1 shows a range of data that has not yet been converted to a table. Notice that this range

corresponds to the description I provide earlier: It’s a range of structured data with column head-

ers. In this example, each row contains information about a single real estate listing. The range has

10 columns and 125 rows of data (plus a descriptive header row).

FIGURE 5.1

This range of data is a good candidate for a table.

Figure 5.2 shows the range after I converted it to a table by choosing Insert ➪ Tables ➪ Table.

On the CD
If you’d like to practice working with tables, the workbook shown here is available on the CD-ROM. The file is
named real estate table.xlsx.