Page 351 - Excel 2013 All-in-One For Dummies

The reason that the formulas all appear identical (although they’re really not) is because I selected the Omit Column Name If Same Column and Omit Row Name If Same Row check boxes. When you use these settings, Excel doesn’t bother to repeat the row name when the formula is in the same row, and Excel repeats the column name when the formula is in the same column.
When you deselect the Omit Row Name if Same Row check box while still selecting the Use Row and Column Name check box in the Apply Names dialog box, the formula in cell E3 would appear as follows:
=Table Retail_Price–Dining-Table Discount
If you were then to select cell E4 below, the formula would now appear quite differently in this form:
=Side_Chair Retail_Price–Side_Chair Discount
Now Excel displays both the row and column names separated by a space for each cell reference in the formulas in this column. Remember that the space between the row name and column name is called the intersection operator. (Refer to Table 1-1.) You can interpret the formula in E3 as saying, “Take the cell at the intersection of the Table row and Retail_Price column and subtract it from the cell at the intersection of the Table row and Discount column.” The formula in E4 is similar, except that it says, “Take the cell at the intersection of the Side_chair row and Retail_Price column and subtract it from the cell at the intersection of the Side_chair row and Discount column.”
Adding Linking Formulas
Linking formulas are formulas that transfer a constant or other formula to a new place in the same worksheet, same workbook, or even a different work- book without copying it to its new location. When you create a linking for- mula, it brings forward the constant or original formula to a new location so that the result in the linking formula remains dynamically tied to the original. If you change the original constant or any of the cells referred to in the origi- nal formula, the result in the cell containing the linking formula is updated at the same time as the cell containing the original constant or formula.
You can create a linking formula in one of two ways:
✦ Select the cell where you want the linking formula, type = (equal sign), and then click the cell with the constant (text or number) or the formula that you want to bring forward to that cell. Complete the cell entry by clicking the Enter button on the Formula bar or pressing the Enter key.
Adding Linking Formulas 333
Book III Chapter 1
Building Basic Formulas