What does the $ & ! mean in a formula?

"gamegirl" wrote in message
...
What does the $ & ! mean in a formula?

"$" means that the reference is absolute, i.e. it won't change when you copy
or drag the formula.

"gamegirl" wrote:
What does the $ & ! mean in a formula?

Since this is a "for dummies" question, I hope you won't mind a word of
advice. In the future, include concrete examples in your question.

The answer to your question so far is: it depends on the context. You
neglect to offer anything.

In the first place, I presume you are asking about "$" and "!", not also
"&". (Hint: Don't use symbols ambiguously when you are asking about
symbols. Klunk!)

If the context is something like Sheet1!$A$10, the answer is:

1. "!" is merely a separator, a way to tell Excel that the preceding string
is a worksheet name.

2. "$" denotes an absolute reference, in contrast with a relative reference
like A1. The difference becomes evident when you copy a formula. An
absolute reference like $A$10 rarely changes. (Exception: If you delete any
one of rows 1 through 9, Excel will change $A$10 to $A$9 automagically.) A
relative reference might be changed automagically; Excel tries to be
intelligent about if and how it is changed.

For example, put the formula =A1 into B1. Now copy B1 into B2:B10. You
will see =A2 in B2, =A3 in B3, etc. In contrast, put =$A$1 into B1, and copy
B1 into B2:B10. You will see =$A$1 in all cells.

....and the "!" is used to seperate the Sheet name from the cell reference.

--
Best Regards,

Luke M
"Gordon" wrote in message
...

"gamegirl" wrote in message
...
What does the $ & ! mean in a formula?

"$" means that the reference is absolute, i.e. it won't change when you
copy or drag the formula.

As this is a learning opportunity don't forget that the absolute reference
does not have to be applied to both column and row references.

The examples given all quote e.g. $a$1

It is possible to have $a1 or a$1 depending upon your requirements.


--
Russell Dawson
Excel Student

Please hit "Yes" if this post was helpful.


"gamegirl" wrote:

What does the $ & ! mean in a formula?

Hello!

For the 3 symbols:

$ - you use this so that the ranges or cells within a formula don't change when you copy-paste or drag formulas across the spreadsheet.

& - You can use this to combine 2 cells together or concatenate them

! - Usually used as a separator or when you want to identify that the source of certain values are from different sheets of the same excel file.



For more tips on excel and Financial models, you can check this out. Hope this helps!