More on Shortcuts
So we've talked to you about shortcuts before ... but while that article talked about customizing shortcuts, we haven't given you much detail about the additional functionality that we give you right out of the box. And since that's what we're all about (giving you more power to help you build models more efficiently), we wanted to give you some more details on how you can be more productive.
Some of these "additional features" are small, but powerful. For example, if
you are a spreadsheet power user, you already know that you can use Ctrl-Page
Up and Ctrl-Page Down to switch between sheets. Well the Grid Mule takes
that one step further by allowing you to move sheets by pressing
Ctrl-Shift-Page Up or Ctrl-Shift-Page Down (while these are the defaults,
you can switch them to be whatever keys you like). In other packages, you'd
normally have to use your mouse to do this or some serious keyboard hacking
(e.g., in Excel 2007 you can accomplish the same feat with Alt-H-O-M and
choosing which sheet you'd like to move the sheet after). On a related note,
you can also create new sheets with Shift-F11 (similar to other packages
we've used in the past). But again we take it one step further by allowing you
to rename a sheet with Ctrl-Shift-F11.
Another feature that we've built in is the "Repeat" command. This doesn't
actually have an equivalent in other spreadsheets as far as I know. It
essentially allows you to repeat the last thing you did by pressing Ctrl-.
(that's a dot) or F4. So how is this useful? Well, pretend that you are
utilizing our [PREV] or [NEXT] functionality (e.g., enter =[PREV]3 into
cell D3 and notice how it is now equal to cell C3 ... i.e., the "PREV"ious
column, 3rd row). Instead of having to copy / paste this formula, you can now
just hit Ctrl-. as often as you like and the same formula will be entered for
you. And eventually this will be able to be used for anything; for example,
"repeat the formatting I just did", etc.
Rather than drag on with a long-winded article, I'd like to conclude by presenting you with some of my favorite shortcuts:
Ctrl-Shift-V. Paste values.Alt-S. Paste special (bring up the dialogue).Ctrl-Space. Select columns (and it's cousinShift-Spaceto select rows).Ctrl-Shift-C. Rename columns (and it's cousinCtrl-Shift-Rto rename rows).
If there are other shortcuts you'd like to see added, drop us a line at feedback@datamules.com.