Two types of information can be entered into the spreadsheet cells of a worksheet: constant values and formulas. In addition, a cell can reference another cell in that worksheet or in another worksheet.
All information is entered in the worksheet Formula bar located at the top of the worksheet. Formulas can contain functions, which are detailed in Additional Worksheet Operations.
Constant values consist of numbers, spaces, non-numeric characters, or any combination of these. Constant values are not part of a formula or the result of a formula.
The formula phrase “=1”, or any number following an equal sign, is also considered a constant value.
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Constant values are treated as text except for some combinations of numeric and non-numeric characters, which may be interpreted as a number with a particular number format (see Formatting Worksheet Cells)
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Text is left-aligned unless the cell is formatted on the Alignment tab in the Format Cells dialog box (select Format Cells from the Worksheet menu)
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Numbers entered in cells are formatted as General; they can be changed to Dimension on the Number tab in the Format Cells dialog box (select Format Cells from the Worksheet menu)
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Formulas are entered in a spreadsheet cell to analyze and perform operations on the data. A formula is entered in the worksheet Formula bar. Formulas can be applied to a single cell, or across a range of cells by selecting the cells and pasting the formula in the range. Formulas always begin with an equal sign (=) and consist of a combination of functions, cell references, or operators.
Formulas combine values with operators, such as a multiplication sign, to produce a new value (see Operators). Formulas must be entered in a specific manner. If the formula is not entered correctly, it produces an error and does not execute. Two common mistakes in syntax include forgetting to use pairs of parentheses, and omitting required commas when no argument is present.
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Parentheses ( )
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Square brackets [ ]
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Periods .
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Colons :
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To keep VectorWorks from treating numbers entered as text in a cell as a number, enclose the number in single quotation marks, as in '40' or format the cell as Text on the Number tab of the Format Cells dialog box.
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4.
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The formula executes as soon as the cell entry has been validated (Auto-recalc must be selected in the worksheet preferences; see Preferences).
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3.
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Select Paste Function from the Worksheet menu.
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4.
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Select a function from the list, and then click Done. See Worksheet Functions for more information on the functions.
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5.
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Select Paste Criteria from the Worksheet menu.
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6.
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Set each of the three fields to the desired search criteria. Click More Choices to add additional search fields. Click Fewer Choices to remove added search fields.
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7.
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Click OK.
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9.
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The formula executes as soon as the cell entry has been validated (Auto-recalc must be selected in the worksheet preferences; see Preferences).
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If an object is selected when the Paste Criteria command is selected, the Paste Attributes dialog box opens.
Rather than selecting from search fields, the criteria are based on the selected object. Select the object attributes to include in the criteria search. To access the standard Criteria dialog box, click the Custom button.
Cell references specify the location of one or more cells to use cell data or values in a formula. The cells can be referenced within the current worksheet (internal references), or from another worksheet (external references) within the same drawing.
External references must include the full path name to the other worksheet. The syntax for entering an external reference into a formula is:
If the name of the worksheet contains spaces, then the name must be enclosed with single quotes as in the following example: ='The Worksheet':A1
An external reference is updated by selecting Recalculate from the Worksheet menu.
There are two forms of cell reference data used with cell addresses in a worksheet: relative and absolute. An absolute reference refers to a specific cell address, while a relative reference refers to a cell relative to the location of the cell containing the reference.
An absolute reference makes use of the special dollar sign ($) character. The $ character locks that part of the cell reference it precedes. There are three combinations when using the $ character in an absolute reference.
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Locks the specified column reference but leaves the row reference relative; the same column is always referred to, although the row can change
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Locks both the specified column and row references; regardless of where the formula is copied, it always refers to the original cell
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Locks the specified row reference but leaves the column reference relative; the same row is always referred to, although the column can change
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