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ORDER OF OPERATION
When performing calculations using a formula, Calc follows certain rules of precedence:
Calc calculates expressions within parentheses ‘(‘ , ’)’ first.
Calc calculates exponent '^' before multiplication, division, addition and subtraction.
Calc calculates multiplication and division before addition and subtraction.
Calc calculates consecutive operators with the same level of precedence from left to right.
For example, the formula = 20 + 20 * 3 gives a result of 80 as Calc multiplies 20 by 3 and then
adds 20. However, the formula = (20 + 20) * 3 produces a result of 120.
This is because Calc calculates the expression (20 + 20) within the parentheses first. It then
multiplies by 3. If you are unsure of the order in which Calc calculates, use parentheses even if
the parentheses aren’t necessary. Parentheses also make your formulas easier to understand.
CELL REFERENCING IN FORMULAS AND ITS TYPES
A formula may contain reference to contents of other cells. In such case, the result of the formula
depends on the values in the referenced cells. The contents of cell where referencing has been
used change automatically when the values in the referenced cells change. To see how this works:
Enter 20 in cell A1
Now select cell A2
and type =A1*3, and
press ENTER key.
The value in cell A2 is 60. If you change the value in cell A1 from 20 to any value, the value in
cell A2 will also change. Cell references are especially helpful when you create complex formulas.
There are three types of cell references used in Calc.
Relative References
In relative reference, you actually refer to cell that is above or below or left or right to a number
of rows or columns. For example, if you refer to cell B3 from K3, you are actually referring to a
column that is nine columns to the left of cell R3 and in the same row (the third ‘3’ row).
When a formula that possesses a relative reference is copied from one cell to another cell, the
value in the copied cell also changes, i.e., if you copy a formula = D3 + E3 from F3 to the cell
F4, then formula in F4 adjusts in such a way that when the cell F3 is dragged downwards by one
row, the formula automatically changes to D4 + E4 and places the resulting value of D4 + E4 in
cell F4.
Absolute References
In case, if you wish to maintain the original references as they were, then you should make use
of the absolute references. If you want to make the above example retain the original reference
when it is copied, then you should precede the columns reference and the row reference by a
20 Plus (Ver. 3.2)-VII

