Excel 2010 Bible

Part II: Working with Formulas and Functions

206

Cross-Reference
See Chapter 4 for information about defining names. n

FIGURE 10.3

Use the Paste Name dialog box to quickly enter a defined name into a formula.

Inserting functions into formulas.............................................................................

The easiest way to enter a function into a formula is to use Formula AutoComplete (the drop-down

list that Excel displays while you type a formula). To use this method, however, you must know at

least the first character of the function’s name.

Another way to insert a function is to use the Function Library group on the Formulas tab (see

Figure 10.4). This method is especially useful if you can’t remember which function you need.

When entering a formula, click the function category (Financial, Logical, Text, and so on) to get a

list of the functions in that category. Click the function you want, and Excel displays its Function

Arguments dialog box. This is where you enter the function’s arguments. In addition, you can click

the Help on This Function link to learn more about the selected function.

FIGURE 10.4

You can insert a function by selecting it from one of the function categories.

Yet another way to insert a function into a formula is to use the Insert Function dialog box (see

Figure 10.5). You can access this dialog box in several ways: