Microsoft® Office Excel 2003 Inside Out

Does the Worksheet Rely on Imported Data?

Many people work with data that is compiled elsewhere as the basis for their worksheet analyses. For example, a database located either on your computer or somewhere on a network is often the repository for specific information that you extract and analyze. If this is the case, try to make it easy on yourself. Often, we use the "ad hoc" approach to working—that is, we do it quickly, when it's needed, with no particular attention paid to repeatability. If you gather information from a database, you might be able to construct queries that you can execute again and again, on whatever schedule you need, rather than starting from scratch each time. This way, you can ensure that the imported data will be structured ...