Excel Commands
Math 108, Spring 2015
This is a list of Excel commands that we have used so far.
1. +, -, *, and / are the four arithmetic operations, and parentheses ( and ) are used
for grouping. The dollar sign $ is used before cell references to prevent them from
changing.
2. CODE(letter) returns the ASCII code for the given letter. For a capital letter, the result
is between 65 and 80, so you need to subtract 65 to get a number between 0 and 25.
3. CHAR(number) converts the given number to a letter using the table of ASCII codes.
If you want a capital letter, the number must be between 65 and 80, which means you
usually add 65 to a number before applying CHAR.
4. MOD(number,modulus) reduces the given number with respect to the given modulus.
For example, MOD(32,26) yields 6.
5. COUNTIF(range,letter) is used to count the occurrences of the given letter in the given
range. We use this for tabulating letter frequencies.
6. HLOOKUP(lookup-value,table,2) is used to look up the lookup-value in the table. We
use this for deciphering substitution ciphers and for automatically repeating Vigenère
keywords.
7. IF(test,value-if-true,value-if-false) starts with a test. If the test is true, the result is
the second input. If the test is false, the result is the third input.
8. SUM(range) adds up all the numbers in the given range.
In addition to these commands, we have also learned various operations such as filling,
copying and pasting, inserting blank rows, changing the column width, sorting data, and
paste special (including paste values and paste transpose).