Page 368 - Excel 2013 All-in-One For Dummies

350 Formula Auditing
Figure 2-4:
Clicking
the Trace Precedents command button again shows the indirect precedents of the formula.
Each time you click the Trace Precedents command button, Excel displays another (earlier) set of precedents, until no more generations exist. If you are in a hurry (as most of us are most of the time), you can speed up the process and display both the direct and indirect precedents in one opera- tion by double-clicking the Trace Precedents command button. To clear the worksheet of tracer arrows, click the Remove Arrows command button on the Formulas tab.
Figure 2-5 shows what happened after I clicked the Trace Precedents com- mand button a third time (after clicking it twice before, as shown in Figures 2-3 and 2-4). Clicking the command button reveals both the indirect prec- edents for cell C5. The formulas in cells B2 and C2 are the direct precedents of the formula in cell C5. The direct precedent of the formula in cell C2 (and, consequently, the indirect precedent of the one in cell C5) is not located
on this worksheet. This fact is indicated by the dotted tracer arrow coming from that cute miniature worksheet icon sitting on top of cell A3.