Page 218 - Excel 2007 Bible

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Introducing Formulas and
Functions
ormulas are what make a spreadsheet program so useful. If it weren’t for
formulas, a spreadsheet would simply be a glorified word-processing docu- IN THIS CHAPTER
Fment that has great support for tabular information. You use formulas in Understanding formula basics
your Excel worksheets to calculate results from the data stored in the worksheet.
When data changes, those formulas calculate updated results with no extra effort Entering formulas and functions
on your part. This chapter introduces formulas and functions and helps you get into your worksheets
up to speed with this important element.
Understanding how to use
references in formulas
Understanding Formula Basics Correcting common formula
errors
A formula is entered into a cell. It performs a calculation of some type and
returns a result, which is displayed in the cell. Formulas use a variety of opera- Using advanced naming
tors and worksheet functions to work with values and text. The values and text techniques
used in formulas can be located in other cells, which makes changing data easy
and gives worksheets their dynamic nature. For example, you can see multiple Tips for working with formulas
scenarios quickly by changing the data in a worksheet and letting your formulas
do the work.
A formula can consist of any of these elements:
n Mathematical operators, such as + (for addition) and
* (for multiplication)
n Cell references (including named cells and ranges)
n Values or text
n Worksheet functions (such as SUM or AVERAGE)
When you’re working with a table, a new feature in Excel 2007
NEW FEATURE enables you to create formulas that use column names from
NEW FEATURE
the table — which can make your formulas much easier to read. I discuss table
formulas later in this chapter. (See “Using Formulas In Tables.”)

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