| Excel 2007 What Would We Do Without Functions |
View Comments
| Computers - Computers |
| Written by Andrew Whiteman |
| Thursday, 16 October 2008 09:17 |
|
As most of us know, to create an Excel formula, you start by typing an equal sign: this distinguishes it from other types of data. A formula is made up of a series of expressions. There are three main components in these expressions: mathematical operations, such as addition and subtraction; functions; and cell references.
As most of us know, to create an Excel formula, you start by typing an equal sign: this distinguishes it from other types of data. A formula is made up of a series of expressions. There are three main components in these expressions: mathematical operations, such as addition and subtraction; functions; and cell references. To create a formula which calculates the total of two of the numbers in a spreadsheet (say 3 and 34), we could simply type "=3 34". When we press the Enter key, we would see the correct result. However, the formula would have no link to the two cells which contain the numbers. If the data in the cells were to change, the formula would still calculate the old result. Obviously, the solution is to ensure that our formula contains a reference to the two cells in question. The simplest way of doing this is to click on the first cell having typed "=". Excel then automatically creates a reference to that cell. Next type the plus sign and click on the second cell. Excel creates a reference to the second cell and we then confirm the formula either by clicking on the Enter button (on the left of the formula bar) or pressing the Enter key on the keyboard. Now that the formula contains a reference to these two cells, any time their contents change, the result generted by formula will be updated. If this was the only way of performing calculations in Excel, formulas would very quickly become extremely long and very complex. To avoid this, we can use Excel's built-in functions. Functions perform complex mathematical calculations without the user having to worry about how the result is arrived at. For example, imagine that we wanted to add up the contents of a hundred different cells. If we relied purely on addition, we would end up creating a formula with a hundred different arguments; in other words, a hundred cell references to each of the cells containing the numbers. Thankfully, we can use the SUM function instead. To use a function in a formula, type "=" followed by the name of the function. Next type open brackets and enter the arguments of the function. The arguments of the function are the values required by that function in order to return a result. In the case of the SUM function, we simply need to specify which cells contain the numbers we want to total. We can do this by clicking or dragging across the cells that contain those numbers. When you have finished entering references to all the cells containing numbers that we want to total, you can enter the formula. You don't even need to put in the closing brackets. Excel will do this for you. About the Author: The The writer of this article is a training consultant with Macresource Computer Solutions, an independent computer training company offering Microsoft Excel training courses at their central London training centre. |