Ok, everybody serious about modelling seems to say that the use of a mouse is inefficient & amateur. Now I am by all accounts an amateur modeller and I wonder how a serious modeller without a mouse would do the following extremely simple things: - If you want to add a few cells for a quick check, but these is no sum in the spreadsheet for these cells exclusively and they are not next to each other. I just select these cells with the mouse while holding CTRL after the first gap. At the bottom right of the screen there is this little sum that appears and that was it. - If you want to see which cells come in a sum. The sum cell is in say, A100, but the inputs for that sum are spread in the column,say in A5, A51, A60 to A70 and A80. I just click on the A100, then F2 and scroll up and down with the mouse to get a visual of these cells. So, how would you do these little things effectively without a mouse ? Txs, I am very curious.
If you’re “serious” about modeling, you shouldn’t be using excel.
Shift F8, move cursor with arrow keys, shift F8, move cursor etc. If the second or subsequent cells are a single cell you will need to press F8 twice for reasons unknown. If you are just doing single cells dotted all over the place it can be quicker with the mouse. Shift F8 is more useful if you are doing blocks of numbers.
i’ve never used f8 before. i’m not completely sure if i ever will again, but it’s interesting to know. thanks big bean
justin88 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > If you’re “serious” about modeling, you shouldn’t > be using excel. Disagree, Excel is nice as a frontend app for the models 
But I still wish I knew more of these short-cuts, I like the tip.
Tried it. Cool, thanks. In this specific case it is , however, slower than using the mouse, isn’t it ? Not trying to be an a$$, really. Just trying to understand why people hate on the mouse so much.
Viceroy Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Tried it. Cool, thanks. > > In this specific case it is , however, slower than > using the mouse, isn’t it ? > > Not trying to be an a$$, really. Just trying to > understand why people hate on the mouse so much. It is much quicker to use the keys if you wish to add two blocks of cells (and use ctrl, shift and arrow keys effectively), but for several single cells it is one of the few things that is quicker with the mouse. Most people dislike the mouse as virtually everything else is quicker with the keys. I even have a personal macro workbook always open in the background to allow additional short-cuts for things where you might be reduced to mouse use due to the number of key strokes required, such as changing the cell colour. But then, I use Excel a lot.
Viceroy Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Ok, everybody serious about modelling seems to say > that the use of a mouse is inefficient & amateur. I use a mouse and I don’t think it matters. Unless you’re working on a laptop, then I don’t think people are really being that efficient. I’m much more efficient by designing my excel spreadsheets to be efficient. For instance, if all I have to do is copy in new data and not make any other changes for the new results to be calculated, I have saved significantly more time than someone who knows every shortcut without a mouse, but doesn’t design their sheets as well.
I would like another tip for cells that are linked to input cells: 1) I disable the direct editing of cells and edit them with F2. So when a cell is linked with another one I double click it and land on the input. What is the keybord equivalent of that double click ? 2) If you want to check a long formula which is linked to other cells in different sheets, what is the best way to doing this if you want to avoid the retarded following things (which I do): - copy the formula in word - memorise it - always go back to the original formula during your check because you failed to memorise it There has to be some function which brings the formula in a little window or something and even highlights the input cells, as you switch sheets ? Txs alot in advance, it would really save me some time.
The keyboard really is convenient for a lot of things, but there’s no real need for mouse snobbery. If you find yourself doing certain things often with the mouse, then it makes sense to look for a keyboard shortcut, but don’t freak out every time you reach for the mouse. I use a trackball at home, which is good for some stuff, and I have a Logitech mouse with a weighted scroll wheel at the office, which is nice for spinning down long lines of data. It’s especially good for scrolling down to charts that might be further down, but not quite at the bottom. Recently, I got one of those Apple Magic Trackpads to go with my Mac Pro. I can’t decide if I like it better than the trackball or not. It’s better than the trackball for scrolling and multitouch gestures, but the trackball is really nice for zeroing in on a cell or a particular icon.
Does anyone have a keybord trick for my last question two posts up ? I made a little search but couldn’t come up with anything.
I only do nude modelling, so having a mouse nearby makes me a little nervous. Better than a shaved gerbil I guess, but still a little unsettling.