Formulas
Let your sheet add up and work out numbers for you.
Your first formula
A formula does the maths for you. It always starts with an equals sign, =. That's what tells cDox "work this out".
Try it. Type 5 in cell A1 and 3 in cell A2. Then click cell A3, type =A1+A2 and press Enter. The cell shows 8.
Here's the nice part: if you change the 5 to a 10, A3 changes to 13 on its own. A formula updates whenever the numbers it uses change.
You can use the usual signs: + to add, - to subtract, * to multiply and / to divide. For example, =B2*C2 multiplies a price by a quantity.
A cell with a formula in it has a small red triangle in its top-right corner. Click it to see the formula itself in the formula bar above the grid.
If a formula can't be worked out, the cell shows a code in red, like #DIV/0! (dividing by zero), #REF! (a cell that's no longer there) or #NAME? (a misspelled function name). Rest your mouse on the cell to see what went wrong.
Point to cells and ranges
In a formula, you point to a cell by its name: its column letter, then its row number, like A1, B5 or C10. No need to retype the numbers: the formula picks them up from those cells.
To point to a whole group of cells at once, write the first and the last with a colon between them. That's called a range. A1:A10 means "A1 down to A10", so all ten cells in column A. A1:C1 means the three cells from A1 across to C1.
You can combine several. =SUM(A1:A5, C1:C5) adds up two different ranges.
Add up a column, and other functions
The quickest way to get a total: select the numbers you want to add up, click the Σ button in the toolbar and choose SUM. The total appears in the cell just below the column. Select several columns and each one gets its own total. If you selected a row, the total appears on the right.
The same menu also has the average (AVERAGE), how many cells have a number (COUNT), the smallest (MIN) and the largest (MAX).
If you click a single empty cell below your numbers before choosing, the formula opens with the numbers above already picked. Press Enter to accept it.
Those words in capitals are called functions. You can also type them yourself: the name, then the cells to use in brackets. For example, =SUM(A1:A10) adds up A1 down to A10. Here are the ones people use most:
| Function | What it does | Example |
|---|---|---|
| SUM | Adds numbers up | =SUM(A1:A10) |
| AVERAGE | Works out the average | =AVERAGE(B1:B5) |
| COUNT | Counts the cells that have a number | =COUNT(A1:A20) |
| MIN / MAX | Finds the smallest or largest | =MAX(C1:C10) |
| IF | Shows one thing or another, depending on a test | =IF(A1>0, "Yes", "No") |
| ROUND | Rounds a number (here, to two decimals) | =ROUND(A1, 2) |
| CONCATENATE | Joins text together | =CONCATENATE(A1, " ", B1) |
| TODAY | Today's date | =TODAY() |
There are hundreds more functions. If you're looking for a particular one, see the full list of functions (on another website). Everything on it works in cDox.
The Σ button never writes over a cell that already has something in it. If there's no empty cell where the total would go, nothing is added and a message tells you so.
The formula bar
The formula bar is the long box between the toolbar and the grid. On the left, it shows the name of the cell you've picked (like A1 or D7). On the right, it shows what's in that cell. For a formula, you see the formula itself there, while the cell shows the answer.
Click into the formula bar to edit the cell with more room. That's handy for a long formula that doesn't fit in the cell. On a phone, it's often the easiest place to type.
Use another tab
If your sheet has several tabs, a formula can pull numbers from another tab. Write the tab's name, an exclamation mark, then the cell:
=Sheet2!A1takes the value from A1 on the tab called Sheet2.=SUM(Sheet2!A1:A10)adds up A1 down to A10 on the tab called Sheet2.
This is handy for a "Summary" tab that gathers the totals from all your other tabs, like one tab per month.
If the tab's name has spaces in it, put it between single quotes: ='My Tab'!A1.