Names

Usually, when you refer to items of data in a formula, you enter the data explicitly or refer to cell coordinates, e.g. 10, A1, B1F10 or {1, 2, 3}.

Names enable you to give a name to items of data. Names can be easier to remember and are often easier to change than data items in your spreadsheet.

For example, you could have a name VAT, which you would use instead of entering 0.175 into your formulae directly. Then, when the Chancellor puts up VAT to 20%, all you have to do is change the definition of the name VAT instead of having to find all occurrences of 0.175 in your spreadsheets and change them individually.

The following rules apply to names:

Names can refer to the following:

Examples:
Name Refers to
apples A1A100
VAT 0.175
January_sales [sales]A56
[costs]total B78
_freda "freda"
arg_123 {1,2,3}
SalesDate 12.6.1989

Examples of bad names:

A1 - The digit is not preceded by an underscore character;

abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz - Too long.

Defining a Name

To define a name:

  1. Click the Function toolbar button.
  2. In the Function menu, slide off the Define name option to bring up the Define Name dialogue box.
  3. Type in the name that you want to define in the Name input field.
  4. Type in the item the name refers to in the Refers to input field.
  5. Click the Define button (or press Return↵).

The name is now defined. It ‘belongs’ to the document in which you defined it and its definition will be saved when the document is saved.

Using a Name

To insert a name into your document, either type it in or:

  1. Position the caret where you want to insert the name.
  2. Click Select on the Function button.
  3. When the Function menu appears, slide off the Names option.
  4. When the list of names appears, click Select on the name that you want to insert.

The name will be inserted into the formula editing line.

Changing the Definition of a Name

To change a name’s definition:

  1. Click the Function toolbar button.
  2. When the Function menu appears, slide off the Edit name option.
  3. When the list of names appears, click Select on the name you want to edit.
  4. When the Edit Name dialogue box appears for the chosen name, change the Refers to input field as required.
  5. Click the Change button (or press Return↵).

The name’s definition is now changed.