Office Productivity Software
This domain tests practical control of a word processor, spreadsheet and presentation tool - the features that appear in skill-subject practicals: styles, mail merge, cell referencing, functions, charts, slide masters and transitions.
Word processing
- Heading styles build an automatic table of contents; changing a style updates every heading at once.
- Mail merge = main document + data source (spreadsheet or table) → merged letters with fields such as «Name».
- Track Changes and Comments support review; headers and footers repeat on every page; page setup controls margins and orientation.
Spreadsheets
- A1 means column A, row 1. Relative (A1) shifts when copied; absolute ($A$1) never shifts; mixed ($A1 or A$1) locks one part only.
- Functions: =SUM(range), =AVERAGE, =COUNT (numbers only), =COUNTA (non-empty cells), =IF(condition, true, false), =MAX, =MIN.
- Every formula starts with =; sorting rearranges data, filtering hides rows without deleting them.
- A chart needs a data range with labels.
Presentations
- The slide master controls theme and layout for all slides.
- A transition moves between slides; an animation moves objects within a slide.
- Speaker notes are visible to the presenter, not the audience.
Worked example
D2 contains =B2*$C$1. Copied to D3 it becomes =B3*$C$1: the relative B2 shifts down one row while $C$1 stays locked. Copied sideways to E2 it becomes =C2*$C$1. Reasoning: only the unlocked part of a reference adjusts to the new position.
Traps that cost marks
- Numbers typed with spaces or commas become text and refuse to sum.
- Using COUNT on names returns 0 because names are text.
- Sorting a single column without expanding the selection destroys row alignment.
- Confusing animation with transition.