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Thread ID: 26297	2002-10-24 01:10:00	Attn:Spreadsheet users	csinclair83 (200)	Press F1

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
92361	2002-10-24 01:10:00	anyone here with good skills of Excel, or any spreadsheet program, as i dont think it matters what one.. I'm just trying to find some definations for some words...relationing to spreadsheats :-) what does absoulute references mean? or is it absoultue cell reference, whichever is right...what does it mean... and how do u use it...get it to work... What does a "IF Formula" mean/ do? I know these might be high..class questions but some help would totally be appreciated...website links with the full definations would be awesome, if theres any... Thanks heaps :D Chris	csinclair83 (200)
92362	2002-10-24 01:21:00	hi again cs, absolute cell referencing means that it will always use those cells in the formula. (unless you change them):p by the way its a small p If you copy the formaula to somewhere else on the sheet then the absolute cell reference will be copied as well, and use those values. Very handy for some cases:)	raddersnz (684)
92363	2002-10-24 01:27:00	An absolute reference means that any formula is referenced to the absolute reference and that refernece only. It is indicated by a $ sign in front of the item you wish to make absolute. For example. - A formula with ($A$1) when moved to any other cell will always refer back to (A1). You can also make rows (A$1) or columns ($A1) absolute. Especially useful when you want to move, copy or fill formulae. The IF formula is one of the most useful formula in excel (my opinion anyway). Basically you test your data against a criteria to give a true/false answer. Have a look through Excel help. It will probably things as well as any website.	Capt Jimbo (17)
92364	2002-10-24 02:05:00	The IF formula in Excel is:=IF(test_this,show_this_answer_if_true,show_thi s_answer_if_false)So, if cell (A1) has a value of 20, and you place this IF formula in cell (B2): =IF(A1=20,"true","false") then the word "true" would appear in cell(B2). If (A1) had any other value in it, then (B2) would display the word "false".	antmannz (28)
92365	2002-10-24 03:30:00	When I write functions (formula), I use the function wizard in Excel (its the button with the funny looking small 'fx'). It's handy when doing long functions as it keeps track of everything and puts all the comas in the right places. You can also see right away if the formula you have written is going to work and fix any invalid enteries you may have created. Craigb	Craigb (688)
92366	2002-10-24 03:47:00	The others have explained absolute cell references pretty well but in case you're still not quite sure of their use think of it like this: You have column A for vege names and column B for vege prices and the rows are filled appropriately . Now you want to use column C for adding GST to the prices in column B . Say cell A2 has carrots and B2 has price $1 . 00 . Cell C2 needs a formula to calculate the GST: =sum(B2*1 . 125) with the sum being $1 . 12 . You can then copy this formula down column C to calculate the prices for the rest of the veges . But what if the GST changed? You'd have a big job going through all your prices if you had lots of them when it would have been much easier to put the GST rate into a cell by itself and have column C reference that cell . So, say we put 1 . 125 into cell C1 . If we changed the formula in C2 to: =sum(B2*C1) we would get the same result . BUT now we've got another problem . If we now go and copy C2 down column 3 the program will alter the reference to C1 to the cell above the current formula so the result will then be wrong for every cell except C2 . To get around this we make the cell reference absolute for so that it does not change, like thus: =sum(B3*$C$2) - the $ signs make the references absolute . Now we can copy that formula down column 3 and the reference to C1 will not change . When the GST amount changes (hopefully downwards!) then all you need do is change cell C1 and all the prices will then update to the new rate . If you've got a spreadsheet try the above out and it should become easier to understand .	Susan B (19)
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