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a spreadsheet for the terminal: lotus 1-2-3 looks, google sheets keys and formulas, one go binary

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title: "References" sidebar_position: 2

References

  • Cells: A1, ranges: A1:B3 (1-2-3's A1..B3 also works), whole columns A:C and whole rows 2:5 ($A:$A, $2:$2 absolute). Whole columns and rows stay whole when copied, filled or when lines are inserted and deleted; A1:A1048576 reads back as A:A.
  • Absolute parts: $A$1, A$1, $A1. F4 while typing cycles the reference at the caret through them. Copying, filling, sorting and inserting or deleting rows and columns adjust the relative parts, as in Sheets; references to deleted cells become #REF!.
  • Named ranges: =SUM(Sales). Define them from Data > Named ranges or Data > Define named range. Names are case-insensitive, follow the selection when rows move, and renaming one rewrites the formulas that use it.
  • Tables by column name: =SUM(Sales[Amount]), =Sales[@Amount]*2; see Tables by column name.
  • Other sheets: =Sheet2!A1, =SUM('Q3 plan'!B2:B9); names with spaces or punctuation, or that look like a cell, go in single quotes. While typing a formula, Ctrl+PgDn or clicking a tab points into another sheet and inserts the reference. Renaming a sheet rewrites the formulas that use it; deleting one leaves them as written, showing #REF! ("Unresolved sheet name") until a sheet of that name exists again, as in Sheets. Inserting and deleting rows moves references into that sheet from every sheet, and leaves references to other sheets alone. Named ranges belong to the whole file and may point into any sheet.
  • Each sheet is 16,384 columns (A to XFD) by 1,048,576 rows, Excel's size; a reference past them (XFE1, A1048577) reads as a name. Formulas cost what their ranges hold, not their size: SUM(A:A) over ten numbers reads ten cells, and ROWS(A:A) is still 1,048,576. See Bounds of support for what that means in practice.

Tables by column name

A table, or a notebook output sent to a sheet, is read by its columns' names with a structured reference: the table's name, then in brackets what to read of it.

Reference Reads
Sales[Amount] The Amount column's data rows, under the header
Sales or Sales[] Every data row, header left out
Sales[#All] The whole table, header row included
Sales[#Headers], Sales[#Data] The header row; the data rows
Sales[@Amount] The Amount cell in the formula's own row (Sales[[#This Row],[Amount]], as Excel's files write it); outside the table's rows, #REF!
Sales[[#Headers],[Amount]] The Amount column's header cell
Sales[[Units]:[Amount]] The columns from Units to Amount
Sales[[#Headers],[#Data],[Units]] The Units column, header and data

Names match in any case. A column whose name has characters other than letters, digits, _ and spaces goes in brackets of its own, Sales[[Total, EUR]], and [, ], # and ' in a name take a ' before them: Sales['#Items]. In a locale that separates arguments with ;, so are the items: Sales[[#Headers];[Amount]].

A structured reference is kept as written and read when the formula computes, so it follows the table: rows added at its end, columns inserted or moved, the table moved or resized. Renaming the table or a column's header rewrites the formulas that read it; a deleted column, or a deleted table, reads as #REF!. Copying, pasting and filling keep structured references as they are, since they name columns rather than positions: filled down a table, Sales[@Units]*Sales[@Amount] reads each row's own cells.

While typing, the table's name is offered with the named ranges, and after its [ its columns, or after # the items; the context line lists the columns with the one being typed marked (Building formulas).

A range where one value is wanted

A range used where a formula wants one value (with an operator, or as an argument that takes a number or text) reads as one of its cells, as in Sheets and Excel (implicit intersection):

  • a single column gives the cell in the formula's own row, so with the named range Rent = B2:B4, =Rent*2 in F4 is B4*2 and =B:B+1 in G5 is B5+1;
  • a single row gives the cell in the formula's own column: =B6:D6+1 in C8 is C6+1;
  • a single cell is itself;
  • anything else is #VALUE!: a formula outside the range's rows (or columns), and a range of several rows and columns.

Ranges on other sheets work the same, by the formula's row or column: ='Q3 plan'!C2:C9*10 in A3 reads 'Q3 plan'!C3. A range that is a cell's whole formula, =B2:B4 or =Rent, is an array and spills, as in Sheets (see Arrays and spills). Functions that take ranges (SUM, COUNTIF, MATCH, VLOOKUP, SUMPRODUCT and the like) read the whole range, and an expression given to them is computed over arrays: SUM(B2:B4*2) doubles each cell and adds them.