Instructions for Copying Search Results to an Excel Spreadsheet for Analysis

To get the search results into an Excel spreadsheet is relatively easy. I will describe the process in simple terms to accommodate users with limited spreadsheet experience.

In the browser page, click and drag to highlight the entire search table results (or specific portions of interest), then press <Ctrl><C> to copy (or Edit/Copy from the taskbar). Open Excel to a new spreadsheet, click on the top left cell (A1) - or any other cell where you want the top left corner of the data to appear - then "Paste" (press <Shift><Insert>, or click on the "Paste" icon in the toolbar, or select Edit/Paste from the taskbar). Immediately after the Paste operation is done, save your new spreadsheet (File/Save As). After each subsequent data entry or formatting change, save the file again. Use File/Save, or click on the Save icon (the miniature diskette toward the left end of the toolbar).

You may have to reformat the cells, as the cell heights may be variable in the new spreadsheet thus created. Click on the row label for the top row (at the right side of the spreadsheet - e.g., "A" for the first row), then highlight all rows by dragging down the label column to the end of the entries. Go to Format/Row/Height, and enter the desired number - 12 or 14 is a good start. Similarly, the cell widths may need adjusting to accommodate the largest text line in each column. That is most easily done by placing the cursor over the boundary line between the column labels until you see a cross formed with arrows at each side, then clicking and dragging to the desired width. You may also need to change the coloring, shading, or borders of the spreadsheet cells. To do this, highlight the appropriate cell(s), go to Format, click on Cells, and then choose the appropriate formatting selection.