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Spreadsheet calculations employ data stored in various cells in formulas.
The simplest way to reference a cell is to use its column & row location
(e.g., A4). Sometimes, however, you may wish to have more control over the
reference. This is particularly important when copying and pasting formulas
and is also an important part of designing a spreadsheet.
Fixed Cell References
One of the major ways to control a cell reference is to set either the column
or row reference or both references. This is typically done by using a dollar
sign ("$") before the column or row reference (e.g., "$A4",
"A$4", or "$A$4"). The dollar sign indicates that the
reference will not change, even if the formula is copied and pasted. This
would insure, for example, that if you wished to calculate a proportion
of a total for a column of numbers, that you can reference the cell containing
the sum for that column in a formula.
In this example, the formulas in C2:C6 all refer to the value in cell
B8. In order to prevent the automatic updating of the row reference when
the first entry was copied, the notation "$B$8" was included in
the formula. This way you don't have to enter each formula manually. The
formula for calculating C2 was entered (including the $B$8), then copied
and pasted int C3:C6. Column D shows how the formulas in Column C look.
Note that the $B$8 is constant for all cells, where the numerator changes
from B2 to B6.
Labeled Cell References
You may also wish to refer to a cell by a name other than the cell location.
For example, you might want to use the name "ColumnTotal" instead
of using "B8" in a formula, since that would help you understand
what was being used in the calculation. Many spreadsheets now provide you
with a way to specify a cell or cell range by name, so you don't have to
keep track of As, Bs, 1s, 2s, etc.
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Department of Geography
San Jose State University 118 Washington Square Hall One Washington Square San Jose, CA 95192-0116 Telephone: 408-924-5475 Fax: 408-924-5477 http://www.sjsu.edu/depts/geography |
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