Computer Science 1000
Spreadsheets III
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Referencesup until now, all values in cells depended
only on the information in their formulas in other words, cell B6 was only affected by the
data/formula entered into B6 this results in a few inefficiencies:
data has to be repeatedupdating information in one cell requires
manually updating all related cells
Consider our previous example:
Note that all prices had to be repeated in this cell. Furthermore, if the price of socks changes, we have to update 4 different cells.
Referencesa formula that refers to the information in
another cell/rangewhen the name of a cell or range is used as a
formula (or in a formula), that name is replaced with its stored values
as a result:data doesn’t have to be copiedcells automatically update themselves when
referred cell values change
Simple Cell Reference the simplest formula for a cell reference is the label of a cell
remember: a cell label consists of its column, then row
Cell Reference this simple notion of cell references is very powerful consider our previously mentioned inefficiencies
Note that to use the value 3 from the previous cell, we did not have to repeat that value in B1.
Cell Reference this simple notion of cell references is very powerful consider our previously mentioned inefficiencies
Note that anytime we change A1, all cells that reference A1 automatically update.
Cell Reference – Automatic Updatingnote that the automatic updating feature
cascadeswhen B1 automatically updates, any cells
referencing B1 will update as well
References as with numbers and text, cell references are
typically not used as a standalone formula rather, they are used as part of another formula recall the max function shown earlier
Cell References previous example shows how powerful references
can be however, there is still a matter of user efficiency
What would happen if there were 150 items purchased in the transaction?
Range References recall that a range is a reference to multiple cells many Excel functions allow a user to pass a range
in place of multiple parameters e.g. the max function:
Cell References there is a function called sum, that works like max, but returns
the sum of its input values, rather than the largest one use sum to compute Subtotal
Cell References let’s extend our receipt example to allow a quantity to be
attached to each item we’ll rename Price to Cost
Cell References first, we’ll insert a couple of columns (Quantity, Price)
the formulae should stay under the Price heading
Cell References the quantity column will be updated by the user, depending on
how many items they buy
Copy and Fill the previous example works, but we see a
similar user efficiency issue as before
What would happen if there were 150 lines of items purchased in the transaction?
Copy and Fill fortunately, Excel (and others) allow two convenient
methods to easily repeat a formula in multiple cells Copy
Select the cell that you want to copy the formula from Indicate Copy (e.g. Ctrl+C)
cell will indicate that it’s about to be copied via an animated highlight
Select the cell(s) that you want to paste to can be a single cell, or a range
Indicate Paste (e.g. Ctrl+V)
Copy and Fill
Notice that the Excel modified each formula appropriately, to match the cell. This is due to relative references (explained later).
Copy and Fill Fill
similar to copy, but doesn’t require clipboard
Method: Select the cell that you want to copy the formula from Grab the Fill Handle on bottom right corner Drag around cells that you wish to copy into