Question on the different symbols used in formulas

[Meenie]

Hi,
Is there a page somewhere that explains how to use the different symbols
that are used in formulas for excel?
I don't understand some of them like ! or quotes around nothing "", etc.
I could figure out a lot better how to build formulas for various things if
these symbols made sense to me.
I can make the basic formulas, but have to ask about more complex ones
because I just don't know how to ask excel to do what I want it to do at
time!
This discussion list has been a God-send for me!!
Thanks to everyone here!!!
Meenie

 

[Bernard Liengme]

1) The ! thingy
In cell A1 of Sheet1, type a number (say 12)
Go to sheet2 and in any cell type =
Now open Sheet1, click on A1 and press Enter
On Sheet2 you will see the number (12?) from Sheet1
Look at the formula; it will be =Sheet1!A1
That is what the ! thingy is for

2) Double quotes around nothing
I have a formula in C1 that reads =A1/B1
I want this repeated down the column wait for some new data to be entered in
row 2 and on
But since B2 is zero I get the dreaded #DIV/0!; here the exclamation is to
show an error
To fix the problem, I replace the formula by =IF(B1<>0,A1/B1,"")
Now if B1 is zero, the cell displays nothing - there is no text between the
two double quotes.

Hope this helps
best wishes

 

[Mike]

Hi Meenie,

Try here for most of the symbols

http://chacocanyon.com/smm/readings/referenceoperators.shtml

One that you may think is missing is "" i.e the quotes around nothing, well
it means nothing literally for example

=if(A1="",B1,C1)

This asks if A1 is nothing then show the contenst of B1 or if A1 isn't
nothing show C1.

The ! sign is used when referencing other worksheets.

Mike

 

[Meenie]

Thank you, Bernard, this is very helpful. I'll print it out so I can
familiarize myself with it
Meenie

 

[Meenie]

Thank you Mike! That is a very helpful page!! I've saved it in my favorites
and will be using it a lot I'm sure!! Thank you so much and for your
explanations below also!!
Meenie