The first few rows

How to take the first few rows from a table? How do we make this a parameter that we can change? This feature can be useful when we simply want to retrieve the first few rows from a table, or when it contains e.g. some sales data, we can sort them in descending order by the column that contains the sales value, and then we extract  the Top 5 items.

What language do you speak?

The TRANSLATE function became part of Excel in July 2024, and recently we have another useful function that you can use to detect the language in which a text is written. It’s a new DETECTLANGUAGE function, and you can use it in conjunction with the TRANSLATE function.

Two dashes

Although Excel recognizes only two types of data: numbers and text, sometimes you’ll be working with Boolean values, such as TRUE and FALSE expressions. There is a simple trick to convert these values into ones and zeros respectively, so that you can add them more easily, and you will find out how to do this in a short “recipe” that follows.

How to write a good prompt?

When creating queries to Microsoft Copilot, it’s important to be concise and clear. There are rules on how to write a quality prompt, and if you follow them, the likelihood of getting the desired response in fewer steps increases. However, keep in mind that artificial intelligence is not omnipotent or intelligent, but that it is a complex software that has access to a huge knowledge base, and it is up to you to extract the desired information.

Microsoft Copilot

Microsoft Copilot is a digital assistant, based on artificial intelligence (AI), or large language models (LLMs), that understands human language and can provide answers to questions: give explanations, write texts, generate images, etc. It can be used independently, within a web browser, and is also integrated into applications and services that are part of the Microsoft 365 package, such as: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook…