Applying Numeric Formatting to Cells

In Figure 8.9, the amounts that appear in cells B5.E9 don't line up. In fact, they represent dollar amounts and, in some cases, you don't even see two decimal places. Quattro Pro controls the appearance of numeric values using numeric formatting, and these numbers will be a lot easier to read if we apply numeric formatting to them.

Although all the values in the range are dollars, I'm going to apply Currency formatting to the totals and Number formatting to the rest of the rangecells B4.D7because I believe the numbers will be easier to read. Readability is your top priority if you want your audience to seriously consider your spreadsheet work.

When you apply Currency formatting to numbers in Quattro Pro, Quattro Pro includes a dollar sign in the formatting. When you apply Number formatting, Quattro Pro does not include the dollar sign.

Because my values are really dollars, I set the Decimal Places counter to 2.

Follow these steps to apply numeric formats:

1.	Select the cells you want to format; for this example, I'll select cells B4.D7, the range to which I want to apply Number formatting.
2.	Open the Format menu and click Selection Properties. Quattro Pro displays the Active Cells dialog box shown in Figure 8.10. Figure 8.10. Use the Numeric Format tab to select a format for numbers in your spreadsheet.
3.	Click the Numeric Format tab.
4.	In the Numeric Formats list, click an item. Quattro Pro displays information about the format to the right of the list; in the lower-right corner of the dialog box, you see a sample.
5.	If you want to include a comma to separate thousand increments, check the Use 1000 Separator box.
6.	Click OK. Quattro Pro applies the selected formatting.

Tip

To select the range B8.E8 and E4.E8 simultaneously, I dragged across B8.E8 and then, while holding the Ctrl key, I clicked E4, E5, E6, and E7.

If asterisks appear in any cells, the column isn't wide enough to display the information along with the formatting. Read the next section to learn to adjust column width.

To apply Currency formatting to the totals, I selected the range B8.E8 and E4.E8 simultaneously. Then, I repeated steps 2 through 6, selecting Currency in step 4. The Currency format allows you to use Accounting alignment, which adds space between the dollar sign and the first digit of the number. After applying both numeric formats, the spreadsheet looks like the one shown in Figure 8.11.

Figure 8.11. Cells B5.D8 use Number formatting, and cells B9.E9 and E5.E8 use Currency formatting with Accounting alignment.