5/20/24, 10:39 AM The Gnumeric Manual, version 1.

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The Gnumeric Manual, version

The Gnumeric Manual, version 1.12 1.12

1. Welcome!

2. How to Use This Manual

3. A Quick Introduction
3.1. Working with Gnumeric
3.2. Starting Gnumeric the First Time
3.3. The Parts of Gnumeric
3.4. Using Commands
3.5. Data in Gnumeric
3.6. Cell Formats
3.7. Complex Cell Selections
3.8. Moving Cell Contents, Inserting New Cells or Deleting Cells
3.9. Sheets
3.10. Graphing
3.11. Printing
3.12. File Opening and Saving
3.13. Closing Gnumeric

4. Gnumeric Elements
4.1. Overview
4.2. Menus
4.3. Context Menus
4.4. Toolbars
4.5. Data Entry Area
4.6. The Cell Grid
4.7. The Information Area
4.8. The Mouse Pointers used by Gnumeric

5. Working with Data

5.1. Data in Gnumeric Cells
5.2. The Types of Cell Elements
5.3. Data Entry
5.4. Advanced Data Entry
5.5. Obtaining Data from External Sources
5.6. Selecting Cells and Cell Ranges
5.7. Moving and Copying Data
5.8. Deleting Data
5.9. Inserting New Data Cells
5.10. Formatting Cells
5.11. Conditional Formatting of Cells
5.12. Filtering Data
5.13. Modifying Data
5.14. Generating Data
5.15. Comments in Cells
5.16. Hyperlinks
5.17. Defining Names

6. Advanced Analysis
6.1. Advanced Analysis in Gnumeric
6.2. Analysis using Complex Numbers
6.3. Goal Seek Tool
6.4. Simulation Analysis
6.5. Analysis using scenarios

7. The Solver
7.1. Solver

8. Statistical Analysis
8.1. Overview

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8.2. Descriptive Statistics
8.3. Sampling Tool
8.4. Dependent Observations
8.5. One Sample Tests
8.6. Two Sample Tests
8.7. Multiple Sample Tests
9. Graphics: Images, Widgets, and Drawings
9.1. Overview
9.2. Images
9.3. GUI Widgets
9.4. Drawing Elements

10. Graphs
10.1. Overview of Graphs
10.2. The Graph Guru
10.3. Plot Types
10.4. Configuring Graph Element Properties
10.5. Pre-Selecting Data

11. Using Worksheets

11.1. Worksheet Overview
11.2. Worksheet Navigation
11.3. Worksheet Display
11.4. General Settings
11.5. Print Settings
11.6. Managing Worksheets

12. Workbook Settings

12.1. Overview
12.2. Document Summary
12.3. Document Settings
12.4. Document Named Elements

13. Configuring Gnumeric

13.1. Overview
13.2. General Preferences
13.3. Toolbars
13.4. Plugins
13.5. Languages and Locales

14. Working with Files

14.1. Files in Gnumeric
14.2. File Formats
14.3. Opening Files
14.4. Importing Text Files
14.5. Saving Files
14.6. Exporting Text Files
14.7. Sending Files
14.8. Converting Files

15. Printing
15.1. Printing to a Printer or a File.
15.2. Page Setup.
15.3. Print Preview

16. Getting More Help

16.1. Sources of Help
16.2. Web Resources
16.3. Related Manuals
16.4. The Mailing List
16.5. Internet Chat (IRC)

17. Reporting a Problem

17.1. Overview
17.2. Defining the error
17.3. Opening an account
17.4. Filing a report

18. Extending Gnumeric

18.1. The Approaches to Extending Gnumeric
18.2. Defining New Functions

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18.3. Programming Gnumeric using Python
18.4. Writing New Plugins
A. Function Reference
A.1. Bitwise Operations
A.2. Complex
A.3. Database
A.4. Date/Time
A.5. Engineering
A.6. Erlang
A.7. Finance
A.8. Gnumeric
A.9. Information
A.10. Logic
A.11. Lookup
A.12. Mathematics
A.13. Number Theory
A.14. Random Numbers
A.15. Statistics
A.16. String
A.17. Time Series Analysis

B. Keybinding Reference

1. Welcome!

Gnumeric is a spreadsheet, a computer program used to manipulate and analyze numeric data. Gnumeric can
help you keep track of information in lists, organize numeric values in columns and rows, perform and update
complex calculations by defining each step of the calculation and modifying particular steps subsequently,
create and display or print graphical plots of data using bar plots, line graphs, pie charts or radar charts,
implement complex optimization modeling or perform many other tasks involving numbers, dates, times,
names or other data.

The features of Gnumeric make it versatile and powerful. The screenshot (picture) of Gnumeric shown in Figure
1-1 demonstrates the main program window and some of the features currently available.

Figure 1-1 An example of what Gnumeric can do.

An example of Gnumeric, shrunk to fit in this document.

Gnumeric currently supports a full complement of calculation functions, formatting options, graph types and
drawing options.

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Gnumeric aims to be the best spreadsheet available. It has been developed over many years to become mature
and mathematically correct. Gnumeric was created and is maintained by the GNOME project. This manual
describes version 1.12 of Gnumeric.

Releases of Gnumeric in the 1.12 series have numbers starting with 1.12 but with extra numbers
afterwards, such as 1.12.0 or 1.12.3. These are stable releases which are only changed with minor
improvements and fixes for problems (bugs) in the program. These releases can be considered safe
for use in a production environment.

The 1.13 series of releases are unstable releases meant for developer testing. If you want a stable
release get the most recent release from the 1.12 series.

Goals of Gnumeric

Gnumeric is developed with a specific set of goals in mind.

Stability

Gnumeric has undergone significant amounts of testing. A diverse group of users evaluates Gnumeric in a
wide variety of environments. Testing workbooks are used to assess the mathematical correctness of the
calculations and to validate the quality of the file importers.
Accuracy

Calculating the correct answer is important, and Gnumeric has worked hard to surpass the competition.
Recent reports indicate that it has done so.
File compatibility

Transparent access and manipulation of files from other applications is vital in a modern office. The
Gnumeric file format is simply compressed XML which can be decompressed using gunzip, the GNU gzip
program's decompression utility, into text. Gnumeric can open files from several well known proprietary
and free spreadsheets including MS Excel™, Lotus 1-2-3™, Applix™, OpenOffice.org™, Psion™, Sylk™,
XBase™, Oleo™, PlanPerfect™, Quattro Pro™ and HTML. Gnumeric can save files to several versions of the
MS Excel™ file format and can save tables into LaTeX \longtable, HTML, and roff files. Gnumeric also
benefits from a highly configurable text importer and exporter which ensures that data can be transferred
smoothly, and allows new formats to be added easily as plug-in software routines.
Minimal cost of transition

Learning new and unfamiliar interfaces is an expensive and frustrating process. Gnumeric attempts to
present itself so that a user's familiarity with other applications will still apply and to offer new features in
an intuitive manner.
Extensive feature set

Gnumeric now has enough of the features that users expect in a spreadsheet to provide for the vast
majority of user needs. However, new features are constantly being added. People often quote the
statistic that most users only need 20% of the features of the software they use. This statistic does not
mean that only 20% of the features are needed but, rather, that most users share a common need for 10%
of the features and require distinct features for the rest of their work. Gnumeric attempts to provide full
implementations of the features it offers, leaving features unimplemented until a robust and complete
implementation exists.
Internationalization

Gnumeric has been translated into 46 languages, and is being used by people around the globe with the
symbols and date/monetary conventions appropriate for their local setting.
Scalability

The core architecture is designed to ensure that Gnumeric can comfortably scale to moderately large loads
(1 million cells) while remaining usable on older hardware.
Openness

Gnumeric is free software in the sense of giving its users several freedoms related to the program including
the freedoms to use, modify and redistribute the program. These freedoms are explained at the Free
Software Foundation web site page on the philosophy of free software. In order to maintain these
freedoms for everyone, certain restrictions are required which prevent anyone limiting these freedom for
others. Gnumeric is therefore released under a particular license agreement; Gnumeric is licensed under
the terms of the GNU GPL.

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One of the consequences of these freedoms, is that everyone can have access to the source code used to
create Gnumeric. This code is explicitly maintained and documented to make it easy for anyone to modify in
any way they choose. This makes it possible to modify the spreadsheet, write custom routines or extend
Gnumeric for special needs.

The Gnumeric 1.13 Series of Releases for Developers

The Gnumeric 1.13 series of releases are developer releases. These releases are kept as stable as possible.
However, each release in this series includes changes and improvements some of which may be quite large.
These new changes may cause the program to crash and lose data. Do not use these releases if you cannot
afford to lose any data or work. However, these releases include many new features that can be helpful. If you
use this series, backup your data often, not just by saving files but by renaming them and checking that they can
be reopened. If you experience mistakes or crashes while you are using this version, please report these using
the GNOME project's bug reporting interface as detailed in Chapter 17 ― Reporting a Problem.

New features introduced in the Gnumeric 1.12 release series:

The 1.12 series of Gnumeric is primarily a port of Gnumeric to version 3 of the GTK library. It alos includes some
other improvements over the versions in the 1.10 series.

Improved OpenDocument Format (ODF) support

Both ODF import and export have been improved.

New features introduced in the Gnumeric 1.10 release series:

The 1.10 series of Gnumeric includes numerous improvements over the versions in the 1.8 series.

Adjustable Sheet Size

Sheets are no longer restricted to 256 columns of 65536 rows.

Improved OpenDocument Format Import and Export

Basic import and export support for the OpenDocument Format ("ODF") format was added, focussing on
standard spreadsheet content and charts. Gnumeric also supports nearly all functions in the large group of
functions in the current OpenFormula Draft.
Improved Microsoft OfficeOpenXML import and export

Import and export of Office Open XML ("OOXML") format files was significantly improved.
New and Improved Graphs

New plot types for surfaces and probability plots have been added. Moreover, when an axis is a date or
time axis, reasonable places for tick marks will now be picked. Trend lines have also been improved
Conditional Formatting

Gnumeric now supports conditional formatting of cells. Gnumeric's conditional formatting supports an
arbitrary number of conditions.
Faster Evaluation

Evaluation of some fairly common sheets with large numbers of calls to HLOOKUP, or similar functions,
over the same database have been improved from “rather slow” to “instant”. Similar improvements have
been implemented for farms of RANK or PERCENTILE calls.
Reduced Memory Usage

The memory usage for large sheets has been decreased significantly.
Added Statistical Analysis Tools

The statistical analysis tools have been improved and there are quite a few new ones, for example Kaplan
Meier Estimates, Normality Tests, Principal Component Analysis, Sign Tests, improved Exponential
Smoothing, various basic non-parametric tests, etc.
Improved Sheet Objects

Support for sheet objects (lines, arrows, widgets, …) has been improved.

New features introduced in the Gnumeric 1.8 release series:

The 1.8 series of Gnumeric includes numerous improvements over the versions in the 1.6 series.

Improved .gnumeric and export

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Gnumeric now uses the faster SAX based parser by default for parsing .gnumeric files. The schema was
improved and additional features were added.
Microsoft OfficeOpenXML import and export

Basic import and export support for the Office Open XML ("OOXML") format was added, focussing on
standard spreadsheet content. Charts and embedded objects are not yet supported.
New value formatting engine

Improved compatibility and performance.

Use new Gtk based Printing

The printing infrastructure was changed to use Gtk based printing instead of the deprecated
libgnomeprint libraries.
Improved in-cell drop downs

In cell validation lists, and improved finger feel for autofilters.

New features introduced in the Gnumeric 1.6 release series:

The 1.6 series of Gnumeric included numerous improvements over the versions in the 1.4 series.

Better Charting:

Several new types of charts have been added, and many features, such as regression lines, have been
added.
Improved Accuracy:

While Gnumeric 1.4 was already the best available source for accuracy in statistical calculations, Gnumeric
1.6 is even better. We are continuing our behind-the-scenes cooperation with The R Project to make this
happen. We have also added a new plugin supplying consistently named probability density, cumulative
density, and reverse cumulative density functions to Gnumeric. The new function names mirror their R
counterparts.
The Port to Microsoft Operating Systems

Our "Windows" port is now mature enough for everyday use. We have improved the theming support of
our custom widgets, so Gnumeric now looks and feels slightly more like a native application. The build
might still have a few rough edges, but those are being worked on.
Right-to-Left Support:

We now support right-to-left orientation of the sheets as well as for text within cells.

New features introduced in the Gnumeric 1.4 release series:

The 1.4 series of Gnumeric included numerous improvements over the versions in the 1.2 series.

The Port to Microsoft Operating Systems

The port of the core of Gnumeric to the GTK+ libraries will enable the application to be run on the series of
operating systems sold by Microsoft and colloquially known as "Windows".
Improved Analytics

The analytical correctness of Gnumeric is a primary concern of the team. The precision and correctness of
the analytics are constantly being evaluated and improved. Updated versions of the solver libraries
(lp_solve and GLPK) were added.
Improved Charting

The graphical system is improving rapidly with new types of graphs, such as radar plots. There is now
support for error bars and additional styles. The plots also look significantly sharper on screen, and off
thanks to some pixel tuning. The axes now support various mappings (logarithmic, inverse), and there are a
wider selection of markers. There is also support for formatting individual points in a plot.
Rich Text In Cells

The ability to use Rich Text has been added in this version. This allows a single cell to contain text with
mixed formatting including bold, italic and other formats.
Improved Microsoft Excel Compatibility

The file format used by the Microsoft Excel™ spreadsheet is commonly used to exchange spreadsheet
documents. The Gnumeric team spends a considerable effort reverse engineering that file format to
ensure that Gnumeric can read and write files in that format. This release now supports all forms of 'array

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formula' and adds export support for charts, rich text, and images. More compatibility accelerator keys
were added to simplify transition, and improve the finger feel. There is better support for hyperlinks.
Printing

Using Pango throughout the printing subsystem improves the consistency between on screen and resulting
paper.
Improved Analytics:

This version of Gnumeric includes 470 sheet functions including all of the functions from the North
American edition of Microsoft Excel 2000 (TM). This version also includes numerous new functions and
statistical routines imported from the R statistical language, from the GNU Scientific Library, and from
other sources. The random number generation has been updated to include Beta, Cauchy, Chi-Squared,
Exponential power F, Gamma, Geometric, Laplace, Levy alpha-Stable Logarithmic, Logistic, Log-normal,
Pareto, Rayleigh Rayleigh tail, T, Type I Gumbel, Type II Gumbel, Weibull Gaussian Tail, Landau, and Uniform
integer distributions. The derivative valuation routines have been expanded to include Black-Scholes (and
sensitivities), Garman Kohlhagen, Merton Jump Diffusion process, Bjerksund and Stensland (American
options), Forward Starts, Simple and Complex Choosers, Exchange Options, options on future spreads, and
most favourable state payouts. The solver has been improved with new linear and quadratic programming
routines. There were improvements in the T-Test, Z-Test, and F-Test. More accuracy for GEOMDIST,
BINOMDIST, BETADIST, BETAINV, FINV, CAUCHY, FDIST, FTEST, HYPGEOMDIST, ERF, FISHER, EFFECT,
NOMINAL, MIRR, IRR, XNPV, NPV, PMT, RATE, PV, FV, IPMT, PPMT, ZTEST, EXPM1, LN1P.
Import/Export

The xml exporter is now much faster and lighter for .gnumeric files, and the GNOME enabled Gnumeric
supports gnome-vfs and drag-n-drop images and files.
GTK+ Port

One of the principal aims of this developers series is to make Gnumeric work using only the GTK+ libraries.
These libraries, following their 2.4.0 release, have all the functionality needed for the core of Gnumeric.
This work will remove all dependencies in the core code on GNOME libraries although a version with the
more complete features included in GNOME will still exist.

The 1.4.x release is dedicated to the memory of lost colleagues, Chema (Grandma) Celorio who helped make
Gnumeric as stable as it is, and Mel Seder who kept us smiling. They'll be missed.

For more details on the changes in Gnumeric, refer to the file; named NEWS in the source code distribution.

Known Issues in Gnumeric:

The current list of all known and reported problems with Gnumeric is maintained in the GNOME bugzilla
database. This list can be accessed using this bugzilla query.

2. How to Use This Manual

There are several ways to use this manual depending on what kind of user you are.

New users

If you are new to computers or to spreadsheets consider reading Chapter 3 ― A Quick Introduction, titled
"A Quick Introduction", which explains the basics of spreadsheets in general and Gnumeric in particular.
Users who want specific help

Quickly finding help for a particular question can be quite hard. We suggest first reading the explanations
of the contents of each chapter which are given below to try to figure out where your question might be
answered, and then go directly to that section.

The chapters of this version of the Gnumeric manual are organized as follows:

Chapter 3 ― A Quick Introduction: A Quick Introduction

The best way to learn how to use Gnumeric is to begin exploring the program yourself. This chapter will
help you get started trying new things and seeing what happens. The chapter explains the fundamentals of
spreadsheets in general and of Gnumeric in particular. The chapter attempts to help new users get started
with Gnumeric and provides background for the more detailed explanations given in the rest of the
manual.
Chapter 4 ― Gnumeric Elements: Gnumeric Elements

This chapter describes all of the pieces of Gnumeric which a user can manipulate. The chapter provides
explanations for each of the menus, menu entries, toolbar buttons and other elements of the graphical

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user interface.
Chapter 5 ― Working with Data: Working with Data

This chapter explains the core functionality of Gnumeric including the basic types of data manipulated by
Gnumeric, the methods of entering, altering and formatting data, and the basic tools for analysis of these
data. More advanced analysis is described in Chapter 6 ― Advanced Analysis.
Chapter 6 ― Advanced Analysis: Advanced Analysis

This chapter explains the advanced analytic tools available in Gnumeric including linear algebra calculations,
the goal seek tool, simulation analysis, and scenarios.
Chapter 7 ― The Solver: The Solver

This chapter explains how to use Gnumeric's linear programming Solver.

Chapter 8 ― Statistical Analysis: Statistical Analysis

This chapter explains the various statistical analysis tools available in Gnumeric including tools to create
descriptive statistics, as well as parametric and non-parametric hypotheses tests.
Chapter 9 ― Graphics: Images, Widgets, and Drawings: Graphics: Images, Widgets, and Drawings

This chapter explains how to add graphical elements to a Gnumeric worksheet, including images from
external files, graphical user interface widgets which interact with worksheet data, and simple drawing
elements.
Chapter 10 ― Graphs: Graphs

This chapter explains how to add data graphs to a Gnumeric worksheet, that can be used to plot worksheet
data.
Chapter 11 ― Using Worksheets: Using Worksheets

This chapter explains the use and manipulation of worksheets in Gnumeric. The chapter explains how to
move around a worksheet, how to alter the appearance and display organization of the worksheet
contents, how to manipulate entire worksheets and how to protect worksheet contents.
Chapter 12 ― Workbook Settings: Workbook Settings

This chapter explains the contents of a Gnumeric workbook which are not part of the worksheets. This
includes several settings which apply to the workbook and are saved in the Gnumeric file. Settings which
apply to the Gnumeric program itself are called `preferences' and are explained in Chapter 13 ―
Configuring Gnumeric.
Chapter 13 ― Configuring Gnumeric: Configuring Gnumeric

This chapter explains how to change the default behaviour of Gnumeric including the startup behaviour
and default locale (language and number display).
Chapter 14 ― Working with Files: Working with Files

This chapter explains how to use files in Gnumeric. The chapter provides an extensive description of the file
formats used by Gnumeric. The chapter also explains how to open files, import data from text files, save
files, export data to text files, send data to others via electronic mail, and convert files from one format to
another.
Chapter 15 ― Printing: Printing

This chapter explains how to print spreadsheets, tables and plots from Gnumeric to a printer directly or
into PostScript or PDF (both are page description languages).
Chapter 16 ― Getting More Help: Getting More Help

This chapter describes other sources of help which are available to users including the Gnumeric web site,
the mailing list, and the internet relay chat (IRC) discussion channel. The chapter also explains how to tell
the project about a problem with the program.
Chapter 17 ― Reporting a Problem: Reporting a Problem

This chapter explains how to report a problem with Gnumeric so that the problem can be fixed. The same
procedure can be used to file a report requesting an enhancement or a new feature.
Chapter 18 ― Extending Gnumeric: Extending Gnumeric

This chapter explains how to go about extending Gnumeric to provide extra functionality. Because
Gnumeric is Free Software this is quite easy to do.
Appendix A ― Function Reference: Function Reference

This appendix provides a list of all the functions which are currently defined in Gnumeric.

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Appendix B ― Keybinding Reference: Keybinding Reference

This appendix lists the keyboard shortcuts which are defined by default in Gnumeric.

3. A Quick Introduction
The best way to learn how to use Gnumeric is to begin exploring the program yourself. This chapter will help you
get started trying new things and seeing what happens. The chapter explains the fundamentals of spreadsheets
in general and of Gnumeric in particular. The chapter attempts to help new users get started with Gnumeric and
provides background for the more detailed explanations given in the rest of the manual.

Getting started with computers

Unfortunately, this manual cannot teach you the very basics of interacting with a modern computer.
If you have never used computers, don't know the names of the hardware components (the pieces
you can touch) or don't know the names of the elements you see on the screen (like windows or the
mouse pointer), you will probably want to get some basic advice from someone you know or read
the manuals which came with your machine or your operating system. It's all pretty easy but, in
order to understand this manual, you will need to know some basic terminology and have some
basic computing skills.

If you are using the GNOME desktop environment, you can read the the GNOME Desktop User
Guide for help in getting started with computers.

If you are using the another desktop environment such as KDE or another operating system, please
see the instructions from the web site linked with either your desktop environment, your operating
system, your software distribution source or the people who provided you with your computer.
There are also many books providing good introduction to computers.

3.1. Working with Gnumeric

3.2. Starting Gnumeric the First Time
3.3. The Parts of Gnumeric
3.4. Using Commands
3.5. Data in Gnumeric
3.6. Cell Formats
3.7. Complex Cell Selections
3.8. Moving Cell Contents, Inserting New Cells or Deleting Cells
3.9. Sheets
3.10. Graphing
3.11. Printing
3.12. File Opening and Saving
3.13. Closing Gnumeric

3.1. Working with Gnumeric

Using a spreadsheet generally involves several steps. First the application is started to obtain an empty
workbook, which generally has several empty worksheets. Next, data and formulas are entered into one or
several sheets. The data may be entered by hand or imported from external files. The formulas are generally
entered by hand, possibly with the help of various tools. The data may be formatted to appear in particular ways
and to clarify the structure of the data in the worksheet. A user may also create several graphical plots. Certain
parts of the spreadsheets may be printed out as tables. The work is then usually saved into a file which can be
re-opened later to add or modify the contents of the workbook.

A spreadsheet file contains a workbook and possibly some other information about the file.
Because a spreadsheet file contains exactly one workbook, the files themselves are often called
workbooks. A workbook contains one or more worksheets. A worksheet consists of a number of
cells, usually arranged in a two dimensional grid made up of columns and rows. We introduce the
names of the parts of Gnumeric in Section 3.3 ― The Parts of Gnumeric and explain the parts
further in Chapter 4 ― Gnumeric Elements.

3.2. Starting Gnumeric the First Time

Gnumeric can be started in several ways, depending on your computer operating system and desktop
environment. The approaches described below are equivalent; they result in a Gnumeric window appearing on
your monitor as shown below.

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Figure 3-1 The Gnumeric spreadsheet when first opened

We assume that Gnumeric is already installed on your machine. Installing Gnumeric depends on the
particular operating system and distribution used on your machine and is therefore beyond the
scope of this manual. If Gnumeric is not already installed on your machine, read the manuals that
came with your distribution or look at your distribution vendor's web site.

3.2.1. Starting Gnumeric from the GNOME desktop

3.2.2. Starting Gnumeric from another *NIX desktop
3.2.3. Starting Gnumeric from a *NIX terminal
3.2.4. Starting Gnumeric from a Microsoft desktop
3.2.5. Starting from a Spreadsheet file
3.2.6. Other sources of help

3.2.1. Starting Gnumeric from the GNOME desktop

If you are a GNOME user, you should have a ‘panel’ somewhere on your desktop. This panel contains icons and at
least two menus. One of these menus is called Applications and has an icon which looks like the outline of a
foot. If you click on this menu name, a menu will appear. Drag the cursor down to the Office sub-menu name,
and a sub-menu will appear. Drag the cursor into the sub-menu and then release the mouse button when the
cursor is on the entry which reads "Gnumeric Spreadsheet." This will start the program and the main window of
Gnumeric will appear as shown in Figure 3-1.

3.2.2. Starting Gnumeric from another *NIX desktop

If you run a UNIX-like operating system (called *NIX in this manual) such as GNU/Linux, GNU on some other
kernel, or a commercial UNIX (TM) system, or if you use a commercially distributed version of GNOME, KDE (K
Desktop Environment), or a similar desktop system, you will have to find a way to launch Gnumeric yourself.
Hunt around the menus until you find something named "Gnumeric", possibly with the icon, and then click
on that menu entry.

On UNIX-like operating systems, Gnumeric requires the X window system to run.

3.2.3. Starting Gnumeric from a *NIX terminal

You can also start Gnumeric from the command line in an xterm window or equivalent terminal emulator. Open
a terminal. At the shell prompt type:

gnumeric &

This will start the program and send it into the background, which means that you can run other commands in
the terminal window or close it while Gnumeric runs in its own window.

On UNIX-like operating systems, you must be running the X window system to run Gnumeric.

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3.2.4. Starting Gnumeric from a Microsoft desktop

Gnumeric, starting with the 1.4 series, can be run as a native application on the Microsoft Windows operating
systems. On those operating systems, The Start menu should contain an entry which will launch Gnumeric. The
actual location of the menu item depends on the choices made during installation.

3.2.4.1. Starting Gnumeric from a Microsoft command prompt

3.2.4.1. Starting Gnumeric from a Microsoft command prompt

You can also start Gnumeric from a shell window by finding the directory with the program itself which will be
called gnumeric.exe. You can either move to that directory and type:

gnumeric

or you can type the whole name of the path and file, which will be something like:

c:\Program Files\Gnome-Office\gnumeric

either of which should start the program.

3.2.5. Starting from a Spreadsheet file

Gnumeric can also be opened using a spreadsheet file directly. If there is a spreadsheet file on the desktop or in
a file manager like Nautilus, it may be possible to click or double-click with the mouse pointer on the file and
have Gnumeric open the file automatically. Alternatively, you may be able to right click on the file and get a pop-
up menu that will allow you to select Gnumeric as the application to use to open the file.

3.2.6. Other sources of help

If you are still stuck, ask a friend or someone who knows your machine. Unfortunately, getting started is often
the hardest part of learning to use a new program but it is also the one place a manual such as this one cannot
really help.

3.3. The Parts of Gnumeric

After opening, Gnumeric appears as was shown in Figure 3-1 but is shown below with the major components
labeled. The open application contains a menubar at the top, two toolbars below the menu bar, and below
these, on the left, the object toolbar, and, on the right, the data entry area above the cell grid area which itself
is above the list of worksheets and the information area.

Figure 3-2 The parts of Gnumeric

The part names are listed below along with a reference to the section that discusses that element. If you are
reading this document on a computer, you may be able to click on a reference to jump to that section of the
manual.

1 The menubar

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The menubar provides access to the core functions of GNOME. Almost everything that you can
do in Gnumeric you can do through the menus. We discuss the menus and menubar in Section
4.2 ― Menus.

2 The standard toolbar

The standard toolbar provides shortcuts for the most used items in the menus. We discuss the
toolbars in Section 4.4 ― Toolbars and this toolbar in particular in Section 4.4.2 ― The Standard
Toolbar.

3 The format toolbar

The format toolbar changes the display properties of data in the workbook. We present it in
Section 4.4.3 ― The Format Toolbar, part of the general discussion of toolbars in Section 4.4 ―
Toolbars.

4 The object toolbar

This toolbar enables you to draw graphic elements on the sheet, such as text labels, big red
circles or thin green arrows. You can use these to bring attention to a particular part of a
worksheet. We explain the object toolbar in Section 4.4.5 ― The Object Toolbar in the Section
4.4 ― Toolbars portion of this manual.

5 The data entry area

The data entry area is useful for the modification of complex formulas. We discuss it in Section
4.5 ― Data Entry Area.

6 The cell grid area

The cell area lies in the middle of all the rest. The cell area includes the row and column labels,
the scrollbars and the tabs below. We explain the use of these elements in Section 4.6 ― The
Cell Grid.

7 The information area

This area is used by Gnumeric to give you feedback on the status of certain operations. We
explain this information in Section 4.7 ― The Information Area.

For a detailed explanation of each of these elements, see Section 4.1 ― Overview.

By default, Gnumeric opens a workbook with three worksheets and a file name of Book1.gnumeric.

3.4. Using Commands

You can access the commands provided by Gnumeric using several methods. These methods are explained here.
The most important commands are explained in the rest of this chapter. We explain all of the commands in later
chapters of this manual.

3.4.1. Using Menu Commands

3.4.2. Using Toolbar Button Commands
3.4.3. Using Context Menu Commands
3.4.4. Using Keyboard Shortcut Commands

3.4.1. Using Menu Commands

The menus provide the simplest way for you to get to all of the commands provided by Gnumeric. These menus
work like those in any GNOME application: you click on the menu to open it, you drag the mouse cursor onto the
menu and then release the mouse button (or click again) while the cursor is above a menu entry to execute that
command. For further information, see Section 4.2 ― Menus.

3.4.2. Using Toolbar Button Commands

The buttons on the toolbars are quite simple to use. You simply place the mouse cursor above one of the
buttons and press the left mouse button to perform the command and it will either execute immediately or
open a dialog window to obtain further information first. For further information on the toolbar button
commands, see Section 4.4 ― Toolbars.

3.4.3. Using Context Menu Commands

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In many situations, Gnumeric provides a menu right under the mouse cursor if the right hand mouse button is
clicked. This menu contains different entries depending on where the mouse cursor is when you click the right
hand mouse button. For further information, see Section 4.3 ― Context Menus.

3.4.4. Using Keyboard Shortcut Commands

You can trigger certain common commands by using a combination of keys. The menu entries are often
followed by a combination of keys which you can use to trigger that command. For instance, to save the file
which you are currently using, you can jointly type the control key and the s key (i.e. Ctrl+S). For further
information, see Appendix B ― Keybinding Reference.

3.5. Data in Gnumeric

The main purpose of spreadsheets like Gnumeric is to collect information in a coherent manner, perform
calculations on the information and then be able to update those calculations easily if the original numbers
change. The use of a spreadsheet therefore requires a substantial understanding of the types of information
which can be entered into the spreadsheet and the methods which can be used to manipulate that information.
This section explains how you can use data in Gnumeric.

3.5.1. The Types of Data in a Spreadsheet

3.5.2. Putting Data into the Spreadsheet

3.5.1. The Types of Data in a Spreadsheet

Spreadsheets like Gnumeric treat information by separating the data into separate cells and considering the
data in each cell to be separate elements. Each cell in the spreadsheet has both a value, which is what Gnumeric
manipulates, and a representation, which is what is actually shown. Understanding this distinction is
complicated and make take some time if you are new to spreadsheets. This distinction between value and
representation is one of the reasons spreadsheets are so useful.

The cells of the spreadsheet are contained in the cell grid area. The cell grid area is the area with a white
background and grey grid lines. The grid lines separate this area into separate cells. Each cell has a unique
reference name which is the combination of the letters of the name of the column and the number of the row.
For instance, the top, leftmost cell is the cell named "A1" and the cell two over to the right and four rows down
is named "C4" because it is in the column labelled "C" and in the fourth row. Each of these cells can contain only
one single datum.

The datum contained in any cell will have one of five types: a text string type, a number type, a formula type, a
boolean type or an error type. These five types of data values can then have various display formats so that, for
instance, a number value can be displayed as a number, a monetary amount, a date or a time. Text strings are
sequences of characters and punctuation marks and could, for example, contain textual information such as
people's names. Number values are simply numbers but may be input and displayed in various formats including
decimal numbers, dates, times, and numbers in scientific notation. Formulas are instructions to Gnumeric to
calculate a result. The power of spreadsheets comes from these formulas because the results of the calculation
can depend on the contents of other cells. Boolean values are either TRUE or FALSE and can be used in logical
statements. Error values are usually the result of mistakes or impossible calculations.

For more advanced information on the types of data usable in Gnumeric, see Section 5.2 ― The Types of Cell
Elements.

3.5.2. Putting Data into the Spreadsheet

In order to enter data into the spreadsheet, you must first select a cell in which to place the information and
then actually type the information on the keyboard. Once you have entered the information, Gnumeric
attempts to figure out both the appropriate data value type to assign to the cell and the appropriate data
format in which to display this data value. Because this process is quite complex, you may occasionally need to
actively select these parameters of the cells, which we explain in Section 3.6 ― Cell Formats below. The next
two sections explain how to get data into a cell, by first moving the selection box to a desired cell and then
typing the data.

3.5.2.1. Moving the selection box

3.5.2.2. Data input
3.5.2.3. Automatic data recognition
3.5.2.4. Entering text
3.5.2.5. Entering numbers
3.5.2.6. Entering a Boolean
3.5.2.7. Entering a formula

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3.5.2.8. Entering an error value

3.5.2.1. Moving the selection box

In order to enter data into Gnumeric you must place the selection box over the appropriate cell. The selection
box appears on the cell grid as a double lined rectangle with a small grey square in the lower right corner of the
box. By default the selection box surrounds the top, leftmost cell in the cell grid area.

The simplest way to move the selection box is to use the mouse. If the mouse cursor is placed over the cell "C3"
(the cursor will be represented as a thick white cross) and the left mouse button then clicked, the selection box
will move to cell "C3". Note that the selection box can cover more than one cell if the mouse is dragged while
being clicked. The use of these larger selections is explained below in Section 3.7 ― Complex Cell Selections.

The location of the selection box also causes the column and row headers to change slightly. The
letters and numbers turn bold, and colors of the headers (the text color and the header background
color) change in ways that depend on the version of Gnumeric. This helps indicate what is currently
selected.

You can also move the selection box with the keyboard arrow keys. For instance, typing the right arrow twice
and the down arrow once will move the selection box from the cell "C3" to the cell "E4".

The selection box can be moved in other ways and will move in response to certain actions. These movements
become intuitive after using Gnumeric for a little while.

3.5.2.2. Data input

To enter data into a selected cell, you can simply start typing. The characters will then become part of the
spreadsheet when you change the selection either by pressing the Enter key, which moves the selection down
one cell, by pressing the Tab key, which moves the selection one cell to the right, or by selecting any other cell
with the mouse. If the cursor is in the cell and not in the data entry area, pressing any of the cursor movement
keys also causes Gnumeric to record the data in the cell and select another cell.

For example, you could use the mouse to select the cell four columns over (Column D) and three rows down
(Row 3). Then you could type "Hello, this is a line of text." and then press the Enter key. The text would then
appear in cell "D3" and, if the cells to the right are empty, would span into those cells so that the whole entry is
visible. The selection box moves to cell “D4” when you press Enter, ready for the input of more data.

Note that as the data text is entered it appears in both the cell and the data entry area (the area
below the toolbars and to the right of the equals (=) sign).

You can correct mistakes you make during data entry by using the Backspace key or the Delete key. Finer
control can be obtained if the cursor is moved to the data entry area by clicking with the mouse in the box to
the right of the equals (=) sign. Editing in the data entry area lets you use the arrow keys to move backward and
forward in the text. You can also use the mouse to move the cursor.

To change the contents of a cell, select the cell again and either type the new contents or edit the existing
contents of the cell in the data entry area.

If the content of the cell is too large for the size of the cell, the entry may span over the edge of the
cell into the empty cells to the right. If the cell is a number, the cell grid area may display hash marks
(######) to indicate the cell has content which is too large to display in the given cell width.

3.5.2.3. Automatic data recognition

As you enter data into the spreadsheet, Gnumeric interprets the information in order, first, to assign it to a data
category and, second, to give it an appropriate data display format. The entry will be assigned to one of the
basic data types and possibly to a sub-type. Entries which start with an apostrophe (') are considered to be text
no matter what the rest of the contents. Entries which start with an equals sign (=) are automatically considered
to be a formula. Entries which are single numbers or which fall into commonly used patterns for dates or times
will be considered to be numbers.

Gnumeric usually figures out correctly both the type and the appropriate display format for the data being
entered. Occasionally, you will have to force Gnumeric to consider the data to be a different data type than
Gnumeric would guess by default. We explain the details of this process in greater detail in the extended
chapter on data, Chapter 5 ― Working with Data.

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3.5.2.4. Entering text

To enter text, select the appropriate cell, type the text, and then press the Enter key. If the text is too large to
fit in its own cell, and the cell to its right is empty, the text will span into the cell on the right. By default,
Gnumeric uses a display format for text in which the contents are shown left justified.

For more information about text elements, see Section 5.2.1 ― Text Data Elements.

3.5.2.5. Entering numbers

To enter a number, select the appropriate cell, type in the number and then press the Enter key. Gnumeric
recognizes several types of information to be numbers.

The simplest kind of input which Gnumeric recognizes as numbers are standard numeric values. Technically,
these are contiguous sequences of digits which may have a separator symbol between the thousands and
another symbol indicating the decimal separator. These symbols follow the English convention by default
(comma as thousand separator, period as decimal symbol) but will adopt the symbols appropriate for a different
locality if Gnumeric is launched in a particular way (see Section 13.5 ― Languages and Locales). For instance, in a
French setting the period is the thousand separator symbol and the comma the decimal separator symbol. By
default, Gnumeric displays numeric values lined up against the right side of the cell.

Several other types of input are recognized as numeric values which means that calculations can be performed
on the values in the cells.

Dates in the standard format of the locale (see Section 13.5 ― Languages and Locales) are recognized as
numbers. By default, 11/21/1970 will be recognized as the twenty-first of November of the year nineteen
seventy. Gnumeric stores the value as the number of days since the first day of January in 1900.
Time values, such as 10:34 or 11:23:45 PM, are recognized as number values. These values are stored in
Gnumeric as fractions of the whole day.
You can input percentage values simply by appending the percent symbol (%) to the value.
Fractions and mixed numbers are recognized as numbers. For example, “1 1/2” is equivalent to 1.5. Note
that a simple fraction, such as “3/12”, may be interpreted by Gnumeric as a date. You can prevent that by
including a sign (for example, “+3/12”) or by entering the fraction as a formula (“=3/12”).
You can also input numeric values using scientific notation. For instance, 1.003e+6 will be recognized as the
value one million three thousand.

For more information on numbers, see Section 5.2.2 ― Number Data Elements.

3.5.2.6. Entering a Boolean

To enter a boolean value, select the appropriate cell, type in either "TRUE" or "FALSE" and then press the Enter
key.

3.5.2.7. Entering a formula

To enter a formula, select a cell and type the equals sign (=) followed by a valid formula. If Gnumeric cannot
understand the formula which is entered, it will open a dialog box which may have an explanation and gives you
a chance either to re-edit the expression or to accept the entry as a text entry instead of a formula. The second
choice makes it easy to re-edit the entry into a valid formula simply by fixing the formula and removing the
leading apostrophe (') before the equals sign.

Formulas can be quite complex since the power of spreadsheets comes from these formulas. A simple example
of the use of a formula is as follows: first, select cell B2 and input the value "3" into that cell. Second, select cell
D4 and input (without the quotes) "=B2+2" and then type the Enter key. Cell D4 should display the value "5". If
the value of cell B2 is changed from "3" to "100", Gnumeric will automatically update the value of cell D4 to
"102".

A valid formula can be a simple arithmetic expression such as

=3+4-1

which uses a formula to make the cell equal to the value 6.

Formulas may include calls to functions. These are statements which indicate that more complex operations
should be performed. For instance, a formula could be "=EXP(24)" which would give the value of e (the base of
the natural logarithm) raised to the 24th power. The cell would then display "2.6489e+10".

Certain functions return not just a single value but an array of values. To enter such a function, first select a
range of cells to receive the result, then enter the formula to generate the array, and then press the key

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combination Ctrl+Shift+Enter rather than just the Enter key. For more details see Section 5.2.4.5 ― Array
Formulas.

As was shown in the example above, formulas may contain references to the contents of another cell. In the
example given above, the contents of the cell in the second column and the second row was used in a
calculation by using the cell name "B2". These references mean that complex calculations can be automatically
updated when one of the original values change.

You can make references to the cells in other worksheets and even to those in other workbooks (files). The basic
format of a complete reference is made of the name of the file the reference is in, enclosed by square brackets,
followed by the name of the sheet, followed by an exclamation point, followed by the letter(s) of the column
name, followed by the number of the row. For example, a complete reference could be "
[my_file.gnumeric]Sheet3!C3". These complete references can be shortened if the filename or sheet names are
the same as that of the reference. "AE34" would refer to the cell in the current file, in the current worksheet
which is in column "AE" and in row "34".

References can identify a contiguous range of cells. For instance, the reference "A1:E5" refers to all the cells
from the top left corner of the current sheet to the cell five rows down and five rows over. This can be useful in
a formula which uses a function such as MAX(). The formula "=MAX(A1:E5)" would display the value of the
largest number value in this range of cells.

For more information on references see the complete discussion in Section 5.2.4.3 ― Cell Referencing later on
in this manual.

For more on the use of formulas see Section 5.2.4 ― Formula Elements later in this manual. For a list of the
functions available, see the function reference appendix, Appendix A ― Function Reference, or click on the
toolbar button with the symbol "f(x)" on it for an organized list of functions.

3.5.2.8. Entering an error value

Error values are almost never entered into the spreadsheet directly but generally arise when formulas cannot
calculate valid results. The only error value occasionally entered is "#N/A". It can be either typed in directly or
created via "=na()".

3.6. Cell Formats

The data in Gnumeric are stored in the cells of the spreadsheet, each of which has a cell format which dictates
how the data will be displayed, whether the cell will have borders and other information. Cell formatting can be
quite confusing at first because it combines simple changes, such as the colour of the characters being
displayed, with more complex ideas, such as how future changes to the cell will be interpreted.

All of the cell formatting commands can be reached through a context menu by right clicking on a cell and
selecting the Format Cells... menu entry. This will open a dialog window with tabs which group together similar
types of formatting. Clicking on the Font tab allows you to change the font family, style, size and colour. For
instance, if the cell B2 contained the text "Hello, this is my first spreadsheet" then you can make this text bigger
by selecting a larger font size.

3.6.1. Simple Cell Formatting

3.6.2. Formatting the Display and Entry Data Types

3.6.1. Simple Cell Formatting

Simple changes to the format of a cell include changing the alignment of the characters, changing the font type
or colour, changing the border, and changing the colour or pattern of the background.

The Alignment, Font, Border, and Background tabs are simple to understand simply by playing around with the
settings and looking at the effect on a cell which contains text.

The Protection and Validation tabs are advanced functionality which you can ignore at the beginning. For
explanations of these tabs, see the advanced description in Section 5.10.3.2 ― Validation Tab.

3.6.2. Formatting the Display and Entry Data Types

Cell formats are most difficult to understand when they address the type of data stored and the visual display
of that data. This only arises with the options selected in the Number tab of the Format Cells dialog. While
these ideas are complex, you need to understand them early on as they are fundamental to spreadsheet use.

When you enter data into Gnumeric, the spreadsheet interprets the entry based on the input format of the cell.
The default format of empty cells is the General format which instructs Gnumeric to guess both the type of the

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data being entered and a suitable display format for that data type. However, you can change the General
format to a specific format in order to alter both the way Gnumeric interprets any future data input to the cell
and the way data in the cell are displayed.

Changing the format does not alter the data type of data already in a cell but does alter the display
format of that data. This means that the input format will only affect future input whereas the
display format will affect both the data currently in the cell and any data placed later into the cell.

For example, if you enter "12/25/2000" (without the quotes), Gnumeric guesses that this is a date and stores the
value (serial number) 36885. (Usually, the value Gnumeric uses for dates is the number of days since January 1st,
1900.) 1 At the same time, Gnumeric changes the display format to display this number as a date, with a numeric
month, day and year, separated by slashes.

The order in which the formatting operations occur is critical. It is not possible to alter the type of a
datum currently in a cell by formatting. To alter the interpretation of the data type in a cell,
formatting must occur prior to the entry of the data.

It sometimes becomes necessary to override the "General" type if Gnumeric is making an incorrect assessment
of the data being entered. Postal Zip Codes in the United States, for instance, are incorrectly interpreted to be
numbers. Some of these Zip Codes start with a leading zero which the "General" format type drops so the user
must intervene to keep that zero displayed. In order to input these Zip Codes, the following steps must be
performed. First, the cell must be selected. Next, the cell must be formatted to hold a "Text" value. This
formatting changes both the interpretation of any future data entry into this cell and alters the display
formatting of the cell. Finally, the Zip Code can be entered. Following these steps, the data value will be
considered to be a "Text" value, any leading zeros will be retained and the data will be left justified since this is
the default display format for "Text" values.

If you need to alter the data type of a whole column prior to data entry, you can do this in one
formatting operation. You can click the right mouse button on the column header (the letters at the
top) and select Format 1 Column from the context menu, or you can first select the whole column
by clicking on the column header, then selecting the Format menu and the Cells... menu entry. This
quick approach to pre-formatting cells can be done for any group of selected cells.

3.7. Complex Cell Selections

Selections can be more complex than a single cell at a time. Selections may describe a continuous rectangular
block of cells, an arbitrary shaped group of cells or even a discontinuous group of cells.

The most common way to select a continuous rectangular block of cells uses a click and drag mouse motion. You
can select the cells in this continuous block by clicking and holding the left mouse button down on one of the
corner cells (for instance, the top, leftmost cell) and dragging the mouse cursor to the opposite corner (for
instance, the bottom, rightmost cell) before releasing. The selection box will expand to include all of the cells in
this range.

The most common way to select an arbitrary shaped or discontinuous group of cells is to hold down the Ctrl key
while using the mouse to select cells. If the cell containing the mouse cursor when you click is not part of the
selection, it is added, as are any other cells enclosed in the selection box when the mouse button is released. If
the cell initially containing the mouse cursor is already selected, the click or click-and-drag action instead
removes all the enclosed cells from the selection. As long as you hold the Ctrl key down, all of the cells included
by a click or a click and drag motion will be added to or removed from the selection.

For example, to perform an operation on all the cells in a square area except those on its diagonal, begin by
clicking and dragging to select the square area. Next press and hold the Ctrl key and click on each of the cells on
the diagonal, removing them from the selection. You could now use Format ▶ Cells ▶ Format... to apply a
format change to all but the diagonal elements of the square area.

There are several operations which cannot be performed with odd shaped or discontinuous groups
of cells.

For more information and other ways to select multiple cells, see the complete discussion in Section 5.6 ―
Selecting Cells and Cell Ranges.

3.8. Moving Cell Contents, Inserting New Cells or Deleting Cells

The contents of cells, both data values and formatting, can be moved from one part of a spreadsheet to
another so that data do not have to be re-entered if the spreadsheet is reorganized. New cells can be added to

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a spreadsheet and old cells removed but these latter operations cause the layout of the spreadsheet to be
altered.

3.8.1. Moving Cell Contents

3.8.2. Inserting and Deleting Cells

3.8.1. Moving Cell Contents

The simplest way to move cell contents around a spreadsheet involves selecting a block of cells containing the
contents to be moved, either "cutting" or "copying" those cells, selecting the location where these contents are
to be moved and then pasting the data.

Moving data can only be performed with a single selection of cells which means that only continuous
rectangular blocks of cells can be moved. This does mean, however, that columns or rows can be moved as a
unit. By default, Gnumeric moves the entire contents of the cells including both the data values and the
formatting of the cells.

Once you have selected a group of cells, they can be "cut" or "copied" either using the Edit menu, the toolbar
buttons (a pair of scissors or two pieces of paper, respectively), the right mouse button context menu or
keyboard shortcuts (Ctrl+X or Ctrl+C respectively). If cells are "cut" the contents will be removed from the
current location. If cells are "copied", the contents will be duplicated in the new location. These two operations
treat cell references in formulas slightly differently. If cells are "cut", any references in the cells in the new
location will remain pointed at the original cells. If cells are "copied", the references in the cells in the new
location will point to cells in the same relative position.

You can select the new location for the cells in two ways. The simplest is to select the top, left cell of the new
location. Alternatively, you can select the whole new range of cells but the shape of this new range must match
exactly the dimensions of the original range which is more difficult.

Finally you can "paste" the cell contents in the new location using either the Edit menu Paste menu entry, the
toolbar button with a clipboard, the context menu Paste menu entry or the Ctrl+V keyboard shortcut.

An alternative way to move cells in a current worksheet involves dragging and dropping the original selection.
You select the cells to be moved as above. You then place the mouse cursor on the thick white selection border.
If you click and hold the left hand button, you can drag the selected cells to a new location resulting in the same
operation as a "cut" and a "paste". If you hold down the Ctrl key during the click and drag of the mouse, the
result is the same as a "copy" and "paste" operation and can be repeated several times.

Both the Edit menu and the context menu have an extra menu entry called Paste Special... which can be used
during a cut and paste operation to selectively transfer some of the original cell contents or to alter the
contents in specific ways. This option allows the transfer of only the cell contents, only the cell formats or only
the calculated values of the cells. The transferred contents can also be mathematically combined with the
current contents of cells in the new location. Alternatively, the selection can be transposed. See Section 5.7.3 ―
Paste Special for more information on the Paste Special... command.

3.8.2. Inserting and Deleting Cells

A worksheet can also be altered by inserting or by deleting cells. These operations actually alter the locations of
cells in a workbook.

Inserting and deleting columns and rows are easy to understand. If you select a group of columns or rows,
selecting the Column or Row menu entries in the Insert menu will add the same number of columns to the left
of the selected columns or of rows above the selected rows. You can also use the context menu for the insert
operation. The context menu can be used to delete the currently selected columns or rows.

Insert operations can result in the loss of data if the last columns or rows currently contain
information.

Individual cells or contiguous rectangular blocks of cells can also be inserted and deleted. During this operation,
you are asked which way to shift the current cells to allow the insertion or deletion of the selected cells. The
movement can be along the rows or along the columns and will result in the relative movement of cells which
were previously contiguous. This shift is the fundamental difference between insert and delete operations
compared to cut or copy and paste operations.

3.9. Sheets

The worksheets in a workbook can be altered in several ways. The name of a particular worksheet can be
altered. New sheets can be added. A current sheet can be duplicated or removed. The sheets can be reordered.

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Other sheets operations can alter the colour of the tabs or change the "protection" status of a worksheet to
allow cells to be locked or hidden.

To change the name of a worksheet, right-click on its tab to access the Worksheets context menu and select
Rename. Edit the New Name field and click on OK to set the new worksheet name.

You can insert a new empty sheet after the current sheet through the Sheet menu entry in the Insert menu or
through the context menu which appears when you click the right mouse button on a tab.

Instead of an empty sheet, you can add a copy of the current worksheet to the workbook after the current
sheet by selecting the Duplicate menu entry from the context menu.

You can remove the current sheet using the Remove menu entry from the context menu.

You can re-order worksheets from the Manage Sheets dialog.

Many of these operations can be performed at once from the Manage Sheets dialog which can be opened
through the Manage Sheets... menu entry in either the Sheet submenu in the Edit menu or in the sheet tab's
context menu.

3.10. Graphing

A major function of moderns spreadsheets is to provide a quick and easy way to plot numerical data in graphical
charts of various kinds. The use of graphs provides users a way to explore data to discover relationships and
trends in the data values. Graphs also provide an effective way to present data so as to demonstrate
relationships in the data and summarize large amounts of data in an effective image. In Gnumeric, both of these
can be done easily and efficiently. Information on the creation of graphical displays of data is presented in
greater detail in Chapter 9 ― Graphics: Images, Widgets, and Drawings.

When graphs are used to explore data, the aim is usually to produce a plot quickly with a minimum of effort.
These plots are not designed to look polished but must present the required information as quickly as possible.
To produce these graphs, users must learn a simple series of operations which will produce the desired plots.
For speed, the most critical operation involves selecting the cells on the spreadsheet which will be used as data
before starting the graphing process.

Graphs which are used to present data must be carefully crafted to communicate effectively. Clarity of
communication is the critical factor and the plot may include a large amount of work to ensure that the visual
result of the plot helps to communicate the desired result.

The use of a graph may not be the best way to communicate information. A verbal explanation or a
simple table are often sufficient and, because they are more compact, may be more effective ways
to communicate.

Gnumeric includes a large number of features which allow users to craft the look of a particular graph to
maximize the effectiveness of the presentation. In Gnumeric, it is possible to change the fonts, modify the
borders of each element, add patterns and images to backgrounds, add patterns to plot elements and
configure the graph in multiple ways. These features will be explained in detail below.

Graphs which use a large number of the graphical features available in Gnumeric often appear
cluttered. The visual richness of such images can often obscure the message contained in the
presentation of the data. Sparse, elegant and direct graphs will communicate results most
effectively.

3.10.1. A Simple Graphing Example

3.10.1. A Simple Graphing Example

This section will introduce the process of creating a graph by presenting an example of a side-by-side column
plot.

3.10.1.1. Data for the examples.

3.10.1.2. Making the Column Plot
3.10.1.3. Modifying the Simple Graph

3.10.1.1. Data for the examples.

Because a graph requires data, it is first necessary to create some simple data to use in these examples. First we
have to input these data into a worksheet. The data used are shown in Figure 3-3. For clarity in this discussion,

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the word "Interval" should be in cell A1.

Figure 3-3 Gnumeric with the data used in this example.

3.10.1.2. Making the Column Plot

A column plot presents a series of data points as columns whose height depends on the value of each datum.
This is a useful type of plot to show the number of eggs produced in each interval.

Making a Column Plot

1. The quickest way to make a plot starts with the selection of the data. Using the mouse, first select the
range A1:C5 which includes the data both for the number of Eggs and for the number of Females.

2. Next, click on the graphing toolbar button which looks like three colored pillars. This launches a new

window called the graph guru.

3. Next, click on the word "Column" next to the icon with vertical colored bars which will move
the selection to that row.
4. Click on the "Insert" button. This will make the druid disappear and leave the mouse cursor as a thin cross
hair.
5. Finally, we will place and size the graph on a sheet. Click on the sheet and drag downward and to the right.
As the mouse is dragged, a rectangle will expand. When the mouse button is released, a simple column
chart should appear.

The simple graph should look like Figure 3-4.

Figure 3-4 The Simple Graph with a Column Plot.

3.10.1.3. Modifying the Simple Graph

The graph can be customized with titles, extra charts, overlaid plots, label boxes and lots of extra information.
To customize the graph, right click on the plot to open the graph custom menu. The graph context menu will
appear as shown in Figure 3-5.

Figure 3-5 The context menu which appears on a graph object.

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This menu provides access to several functions. Users can customize the appearance of graphs by selecting the
Properties menu item, can save the graph into PNG or SVG formats using the Save as image menu item, can
reorder the various graphical elements displayed in the worksheet using the Top, Up, Down, and Bottom menu
items or can delete graphical elements with the Delete menu item.

If we wanted to add a title and a legend to the graph, we could use the Properties menu item to open the
graph editor and customize the graph as follows:

Adding a title and legend to the simple graph

1. Right click on the graph to open the context menu and select the Properties menu item. This will open the
graph editor.
2. The graph editor opens with the top-level "Graph" entry selected in the element tree displayed in the top
left pane of the editor. The top right pane of the editor displays a preview of the eventual graph. The
bottom pane of the editor has a single or several tabs presenting the elements which can be modified for
the particular item selected in the element tree. Click and hold on the Add button to open the
menu of elements addable to a graph. Note that this menu changes depending on the element selected in
the element tree when the Add is clicked. Drag the mouse cursor down until the selection highlights the
"Title" entry and release the mouse button. This will add a "Title" node in the graph element tree and
change the selection to this "Title" node. The bottom pane of the graph editor will also change to display
the modifiable characteristics of the "Title" element.
3. In the text field of the tab displayed in the bottom pane of the graph editor, add a title such as "Egg
Production and Female Productivity" and type the Enter key. Note that the title appears at the top of the
graph in the preview pane.
4. In the graph tree, select the node labelled "Chart1". Next, click and hold on the add button, drag down to
the Legend menu item and release. Note that this adds a legend on the right of the graph in the preview
pane.
5. Click on the "Apply" button. The plot should now have a title and a legend. Note that Gnumeric has used
the words in the column headers automatically to label the two data series in the legend.

The modified graph should look like Figure 3-6.

Figure 3-6 The Modified Column Graph.

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3.11. Printing

Printing in Gnumeric is quite simple and similar to other GNOME applications. Printing can be done using the
toolbar buttons or can be accessed through the File menu. Printing usually involves configuring the page
properties (like the paper type and margins), then previewing the document to be printed and finally actually
printing the document.

In order to configure a worksheet for printing several parameters must be set such as the correct size of the
paper sheet, the layout of the spreadsheet, headers and footers and such information. These parameters can
be set once for all of the worksheets in a file or separately for each worksheet. The Page Setup... menu entry
invokes a dialog through which to alter the printing parameters.

The Print Preview... menu item or toolbar button will open a window which shows what will be printed with the
current configuration. By default, printing only applies to the current worksheet but this can be changed in the
print dialog explained next.

The Print... menu item or toolbar button will open a dialog which allows the user to select whether to print to a
printer or to a PostScript or PDF file. Various printers can be selected and the parameters of the job, such as
whether to print all the worksheets or only the currently selected worksheet, can be altered. Clicking on the
Print button will perform the printing task.

Printing is explained in greater detail in Chapter 15 ― Printing.

3.12. File Opening and Saving

When you first start Gnumeric a new workbook will be opened. To save this workbook into a file, click on File ▸
Save As … . This brings up the file dialog where you can pick the filename and format for the book you are
saving. It is best to save the book in the Gnumeric XML file format the first time. This allows you to easily edit
the file without worrying about changes in the format and look of the book.

Once the file has a name and a file format, saving subsequent changes can be done easily either through the
File menu, through the toolbar or through a keyboard shortcut. Saving with the menu requires selecting the

File and then the Save menu item. Saving with the toolbar simply requires clicking on in the tool bar.

Finally saving with a keyboard shortcut simply requires typing Ctrl+S.

Sometimes you want your book to be saved often so you do not lose any work. To save the book at intervals
click on Tools ▸ Auto Save …. The Auto Save dialog appears.

Figure 3-7 Auto Save dialog

Click on the Automatic Save Every button and enter the number of minutes will pass between each save. When
the interval is shorter more of your work will be potentially saved, but Gnumeric might appear sluggish. If
Gnumeric is sluggish increase the time between saves. The button Prompt Before Saving brings up a dialog to
ask if you want to save the book.

Using the automatic saving feature of Gnumeric can save time but is dangerous. Gnumeric does not
create a new file each time a file is saved but instead Gnumeric modifies the existing file which

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destroys the previous work. In certain situations, this feature can lead to the loss of possibly
important work. Users are highly recommended to backup their work by copying the original file to
a new name or by saving files to newly named files.

An existing spreadsheet file can be opened in several ways. If the file has an icon on the desktop, this icon can
be clicked or double-clicked with the mouse button. Similarly, if a file manager, such as the Nautilus file
manager, lists the file, then the file name can be clicked and opened. If Gnumeric is already opened, a file can be
opened by clicking on the File and selecting the Open menu item. Alternatively, the "Open file" button on the

toolbar, , can be used or the F3 key clicked. All three of these open the Open File dialog. You can then

select the spreadsheet file you wish to open. Gnumeric can open many different types of spreadsheet file
formats.

If the file has recently been opened in Gnumeric, the file name will appear in the File menu and can
simply be clicked to re-open the file.

3.13. Closing Gnumeric

There are several ways to close Gnumeric. The simplest is to select the File menu and then the Quit menu
option at the bottom of the File.

Gnumeric can also be closed through the window manager by clicking on a close box in the window frame or
through a pop-up menu. The placement of the box and the invocation of the menu depend on the particular
window manager and the theme being used. If the GNOME panel is running the window list applet, clicking with
the right mouse button opens a context menu with a Close which can be used to close Gnumeric.

If any changes have been made to the workbook since the last time it was saved, a dialog will open
to ask what is supposed to happen to the contents of the workbook. At this point the contents of
the workbook can be saved (Save), the request to close gnumeric can be cancelled (Don't Quit) or
the most recent changes can be discarded (Discard). If the user decides to save the content, a
second dialog may open requesting a file name, location and type for the saved workbook.

To delete files that were created by Gnumeric any graphical file manager (such as the GNOME file
manager Nautilus) or the shell command rm can be used.

4. Gnumeric Elements
This chapter describes all of the pieces of Gnumeric which a user can manipulate. The chapter provides
explanations for each of the menus, menu entries, toolbar buttons and other elements of the graphical user
interface.

4.1. Overview
4.2. Menus
4.3. Context Menus
4.4. Toolbars
4.5. Data Entry Area
4.6. The Cell Grid
4.7. The Information Area
4.8. The Mouse Pointers used by Gnumeric

4.1. Overview

This part of the Gnumeric manual explains the pieces of the software that users can manipulate. The menus, the
toolbars and the cell grid area comprise what is called the graphical user interface of an application because it is
an interface --- a way to interact with Gnumeric --- which is made of graphical elements --- pictures --- designed to
be used by human users.

Gnumeric opens by default with a view of an empty workbook which is called "Book 1" and which contains three
worksheets: "Sheet1", "Sheet2", and "Sheet3" as can be seen in Figure 4-1. The outermost portion of the
window is not actually part of Gnumeric and may look different on different machines. Gnumeric attempts to
place its name and the name of the workbook on this outer portion.

The majority of spreadsheet work is done while interacting with this view of Gnumeric. All of the functions
which Gnumeric provides can be accessed quickly from here. The graphic elements of Gnumeric are made of

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several independent pieces. Figure 4-1 shows a newly opened, empty Gnumeric with the principle elements
labelled.

Figure 4-1 The Gnumeric worksheet elements

The elements names are listed below along with a reference to the section that discusses that element. Those
reading this document on their computers may be able to click on the references to jump to that section of the
manual.

1 The menubar
The menubar provides access to the core functions of GNOME. Almost everything that can be
done in Gnumeric can be done through the menus. The menus and menubar are discussed in
Section 4.2 ― Menus.

2 The standard toolbar

The standard toolbar provides shortcuts for the most used items in the menus. The toolbars are
discussed in Section 4.4 ― Toolbars and this toolbar in particular in Section 4.4.2 ― The
Standard Toolbar.

3 The format toolbar

The format toolbar changes the display properties of data in the workbook. It is presented in
Section 4.4.3 ― The Format Toolbar, part of the general discussion of toolbars of Section 4.4 ―
Toolbars.

4 The object toolbar

This toolbar enables the user to draw graphic elements on the sheet, such as text labels, big red
circles or thin green arrows. These can be used to bring attention to a particular part of a
worksheet. The object toolbar is explained in Section 4.4.5 ― The Object Toolbar in the Section
4.4 ― Toolbars portion of the manual.

5 The data entry area

The data entry area is useful for the modification of complex formulas. It is discussed in Section
4.5 ― Data Entry Area.

6 The cell grid area

The cell area lies in the middle of all the rest. The cell area includes the row and column labels,
the scrollbars and the tabs below. The use of these elements is explained in Section 4.6 ― The
Cell Grid.

7 The information area

This area is used by Gnumeric to give feedback on the status of certain operations. This
information is explained in Section 4.7 ― The Information Area.

The next chapters will explain each of these elements. Section 4.2 ― Menus will explain the menus, Section 4.4
― Toolbars will explain the toolbars, Section 4.5 ― Data Entry Area will explain the data entry area, Section 4.6

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― The Cell Grid will explain the cell grid area, and Section 4.7 ― The Information Area will explain the
information area.

4.2. Menus

This section of the manual describes the use of the menubar and the menus themselves. It then explains each
entry in every Gnumeric menu, submenu or context menu.

4.2.1. Using Menus

4.2.2. Menubar
4.2.3. File Menu
4.2.4. Edit Menu
4.2.5. View Menu
4.2.6. Insert Menu
4.2.7. Format Menu
4.2.8. Tools Menu
4.2.9. Statistics Menu
4.2.10. Data Menu
4.2.11. Help Menu

4.2.1. Using Menus

A menu is a graphical element within a program which appears with a list of options. For instance, almost all
applications have a File menu through which the user can access the computer's filesystem to open or save
their work. The main menus are on the menubar. The use of these menus is discussed in Section 4.2.2 ―
Menubar.

Gnumeric also uses context menus to give users a quick way to access certain commands. The context menu will
open up right under the mouse pointer when one of the secondary mouse buttons, usually the rightmost, is
clicked. This menu is called a context menu because the entries in the menu are different depending on the
location of the mouse pointer. The context menus are discussed in Section 4.3 ― Context Menus.

Both the main menus, on the menubar, and context menus may have submenus. A submenu is indicated by a
small right-pointing arrow. To access a submenu, move the pointer down to the submenu entry. When the
submenu opens, move the pointer directly across into the submenu. When there is not enough room to the
right of the currently open menu, submenus may open to the left. Note that the submenu will close if the
mouse pointer moves into any other menu entry.

You can also use the keyboard to navigate menus and submenus. See Section 4.2.2 ― Menubar to access the
main menus using the keyboard. Once a menu is displayed, menu entries can be highlighted by pressing the
down and up arrow keys. When a submenu opens, pressing the right arrow key moves the highlight to the first
entry of the submenu. When a submenu entry is highlighted, pressing the left arrow key removes the highlight
from the submenu. Pressing the space bar or the Enter key activates the highlighted menu entry.

Menu entries ending with an ellipsis (three dots) open a dialog window which asks for more choices.

4.2.2. Menubar

The default location of the menubar is at the top of the application window. The menus provide quick and
organized access to all major commands such as opening files, saving files, printing and quitting the application.

Figure 4-2 The Gnumeric menubar.

To open a Gnumeric menu, click on the name of the menu in the menu bar. Once clicked, the menu will stay
open. If the mouse pointer is moved to the name of another menu on the menubar, the first menu will close and
the new menu open up. This is a useful way to look in each menu to hunt for a commands. Menus can also be
opened through the keyboard. Pressing and holding the Alt key causes one of the letters in each menu name to
be underlined. Press-and-hold Alt and press the underlined letter to open the associated menu. Using the
keyboard for menu activation or navigation causes a letter of each menu or submenu item label to be
underlined. Press that letter key to activate the menu item. Once a menu is open, the arrow keys can be used to
move between menus or select an entry in a particular menu. To close an open menu, click over any other area
of the application or of the desktop or press the Escape key, Esc.

Many menu entries are followed by a series of key names. These keys can be used to perform the menu action
without having to open the menu. These are often combinations of keys involving the control key which is

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labeled as Ctrl, the shift key which is labeled Shift and the function keys which are labeled with an F and then a
number. For example, to quickly cut a selection (accessible through the Edit menu), the user can make a
selection and then type the control key and the "x" key at the same time.

4.2.3. File Menu

The File menu is the most important menu in Gnumeric because it gives the user the ability to interact with the
computer operating system. This menu allows the user to create files containing all the work they have done. It
also enables users to print the results of their work. Finally, the File menu is the best way to close Gnumeric.

Figure 4-3 The File menu.

The menu choices are grouped into the following groups:

1 Workbook creation operations.

These menu items perform operations on files. Each item is presented below. File operations
are critical and are therefore discussed in their own section latter in this manual in Chapter 14
― Working with Files.

New — Create a new workbook. This opens a new workbook in a new window. By default
the workbook will be named "Book1" or another number if there is already a worksheet
with that name open. Note that the opened file has not yet been saved.
New From Template — This menu item brings up a submenu from which a template can
be selected. Rather than creating a new empty workbook, the template specifies some
standard content. The new workbook is opened in a new window. The name named of the
workbook is determined by the name of the template. Note that the opened file has not
yet been saved.
Open — The Open menu item opens the file chooser dialog to allow the user to pick an
existing workbook for Gnumeric to open. Files in many different spreadsheet formats can
be opened. To open files in a non-spreadsheet format, use the Data menu described in
Section 4.2.10 ― Data Menu. See Section 14.2 ― File Formats for details. The Open menu
item creates a new window containing the selected file. A more extensive discussion is
presented in Section 14.3 ― Opening Files.

2 File creation operations.

Save — The Save menu item saves the current worksheet. If the file has been named and
saved before, this will silently save the file to the current filename. If it has not been saved
before, this will act as if the Save As... menu item had been called and prompt the user for
a filename.
Save As... — The Save As... menu item allows users to save a file which has not yet been
named to a named file. This is always used when a user saves a file which Gnumeric has
named by default. This menu item can also be used to save a newly created file or to save
an existing file to a new and different name. To export data from Gnumeric to a non-

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spreadsheet format, use the Data menu described in Section 4.2.10 ― Data Menu. For an
explanation of the file formats which Gnumeric supports see Section 14.5 ― Saving Files.

3 Printing operations.
These menu items enable Gnumeric to print. Each item is presented below and printing issues
are discussed fully in Chapter 15 ― Printing.

Page Setup... — The Page Setup... menu item call the Page Setup dialog. This dialog
allows the user to set various printing options such as paper type, margin sizes and running
header and footer formats. This dialog is explained in detail in Section 15.2 ― Page Setup..
Print Area — The Print Area menu item opens the submenu shown in Figure 4-4. The
items in this submenu allow the print area to be set, shown or cleared; and manual page
breaks to be set or cleared. The print area of a sheet is that range of the sheet that should
be printed. Items outside of the print area are usually omitted when printing. When
printing Gnumeric will usually choose the appropriate page breaks. Manual page breaks can
be used to force Gnumeric to insert a page break prematurely.

Figure 4-4 The Print Area submenu.

Print... — The Print... menu item allows a user to print one or all of the worksheets in a
workbook. Gnumeric can send files directly to a printer or can print to PostScript or
portable document format files. The Print dialog is explained further in Section 15.1 ―
Printing to a Printer or a File..
Print Preview... — The Print Preview... menu item calls a dialog which presents the current
workbook as it would be printed with the current Page Setup settings. The dialog also
permits the user to print. This dialog is explained in Section 15.3 ― Print Preview.

4 Miscellaneous Operations.
Send To... — The Send To... menu item call the Send To dialog. This dialog allows the user
to send a Gnumeric workbook as an attachment to an email message. This dialog is
explained in detail in Section 14.7 ― Sending Files.
Document Properties... — The Document Properties... menu item calls the Document
Properties dialog, a dialog with several tabs that allow many document specific settings to
be adjusted. The dialog is described in detail in Chapter 12 ― Workbook Settings.

5 Recently used files.

The first three menu entries in this section are shortcuts to re-open recently used files. The
list will change dynamically as new workbooks are opened and created. Clicking on a file
name listed here is the same as using the Open menu entry and finding the file in the Find
File dialog. Note that if the file has been moved since Gnumeric last saved it, Gnumeric will
not find the file. To access any recent file not listed, one can use the Full History... menu
item below.
Full History... — The Full History... menu item opens a dialog that shows all recently used
files.

6 The Close and Quit operations.

These menu items either close the current worksheet, Close, or close all open worksheets,
Quit. Gnumeric will prompt the user with a Save Workbook.. dialog for any workbooks that
have been changed since the last time they were opened or saved.

Close — The Close menu item allows the user to close the current workbook. If this is the
only workbook which this instance of Gnumeric has open, the close operation will also quit
Gnumeric. If other workbooks are open, this workbook will close without affecting the
others. If the workbook has unsaved changes, Gnumeric will ask the user if he wants to save
the file.

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Quit — The Quit menu item will close all the workbooks currently being used by Gnumeric
and quit the program. Gnumeric will prompt the user asking if he wants to save any
workbooks which has changes which have not been saved.

4.2.4. Edit Menu

The Edit menu is mostly used for operations on a worksheet or between worksheets. This menu gives users
powerful editing operations such as the ability to undo recent changes, the ability to cut and paste selections of
cells and the ability to search for specific cell contents.

Figure 4-5 The Edit menu.

The menu choices are grouped into the following groups:

1 Change History.
These menu items allow the user to remove recent changes to a worksheet or re-introduce
changes which have been undone. These options give the user control over recent edits. This
functionality is often called the "change history" of an application.
The type of edit has no importance. An edit which deletes the contents of a cell is treated in the
same way as an edit which adds contents to a cell. The change history is session specific. The
user will not be able to undo changes through the change history if the file is saved and then re-
opened. Note also that the list only covers the last few dozen operations. The number of
operations which Gnumeric tracks in its history depends on the size and complexity of those
operations. You can customize this number using the preference facility described in Chapter 13
― Configuring Gnumeric. There are a few unusual operations which are not yet tracked in this
way.

Undo — The Undo menu item is used to remove the last few edits from a workbook. The
edits must be undone in order. This menu item removes only the last edit from the
workbook. The user can also access the undo list through one of the toolbar buttons and
its associated menu. With this menu, the user can undo several operations at once. This is
explained in section Section 4.4.2 ― The Standard Toolbar.
Redo — The Redo menu item is used after an undo operation to restore the change that
was undone. The menu item only restores the last undone operation. Users can also
restore edit using a button on the standard toolbar and through the associated menu. The
menu allows several operations to be redone at once. It is explained in Section 4.4.2 ― The
Standard Toolbar.

2 Operations on selected areas.

These menu items enable selected cell contents to be moved around a spreadsheet, moved
between worksheets or between workbooks. Selections are areas of the spreadsheet that have

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been chosen, usually with the mouse, and are usually colored pale blue. Selections are
explained in greater detail in Section 5.6 ― Selecting Cells and Cell Ranges. Gnumeric currently
only allows single range selections for these operations.
To use these menu items, the user must first select the range of the cut or copy area. When the
user then picks these menu items, the contents of the selected areas will be entered into the
Gnumeric clipboard and into the X clipboard. The contents of the Gnumeric clipboard can then
be inserted into a new region of the spreadsheet, into another worksheet or into a new
workbook. The X clipboard holds the space delimited results of each cell: either the text or the
result of any calculation. The X clipboard can be pasted into any text area.

Cut — The Cut menu item is used to remove a selection from the selected area of a
currently open workbook. When the menu item is chosen, the selected area will be
outlined with a moving dotted line. This is the area which will be moved. The selection will
only be removed after it is moved to the new location. Until then cut has not had an effect
on the worksheet.
Copy — The Copy menu item allows a user to duplicate a selection. The original data
remains where it was and the Gnumeric clipboard (and the X clipboard) has a copy which
can be inserted elsewhere.
Paste — The Paste menu item is used to paste the contents of a selection which has been
cut or copied. If the selection was cut, it is pasted into the new location unchanged. Cell
references will not change in that they will still point to the same cells.
Paste Special... — The Paste Special... is used to paste a selection while altering certain
characteristics. The Paste Special... menu item opens a dialog with three categories. The
defaults make Paste Special... act as if it were the Paste menu item.

Figure 4-6 The Paste Special Dialog

The first set of choices allow the user to control the data pasted.The user can chose to limit
the pasting to only the cell contents (no cell formatting is copied) or --- the opposite --- only
cell formats copied (no contents). Furthermore, the user can insert the selection while
transforming all the contents into values only. In this case, formulae will not be copied,
only the results will be.
A second set of choices allows the user to perform simple mathematical transformations
during the paste. The data in the cells being pasted into are modified by the cell contents.
For instance, using the divide operation will result in each cell in the zone pasted into being
divided by the equivalent cell which was copied originally.
The third set of choices allow the transposition or flip of the original selection. The
transpose choice will change the selection by flipping it about the diagonal from top left
to bottom right. Similarly, flip horizontally and flip vertically paste the selection
accordingly.
The skip blanks check box prevents Gnumeric from taking any action for the cells in the
selection that are blank. Normally Gnumeric will modify formulae that use relative
addressing to cells outside the selection. The do not change formulae checkbox
suppresses this change. (Note that references to cells within the selection are always
preserved.)

3 Data entry and removal operations.

These operations add or remove data from the worksheet. They differ in the type of data
modified or removed and the possible re-arrangement of remaining data, as explained below.
With one exception noted below, these operations are like the previous group in acting based
on the selected cells.

Clear opens a submenu with eight choices, organized into two sets of four. The first group
affects all cells in the selection. The second group applies the same actions to just the

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selected cells that are in rows selected by the filter. See Section 5.12 ― Filtering Data for
details of setting up a filter.
Choose All to clear all the elements of the cells in the selection: the formats and
hyperlinks, the comments, and the contents. Choose Formats & Hyperlinks to clear the
formats and hyperlinks while leaving the data or formula in the cell intact. This removes
any borders, re-sets the cell alignments, changes the background colour to white and the
text colour to black, resets the number format to General, and removes the hyperlink
associated with each cell, if any. Choose Comments to delete the comments for the cells in
the selection. Choose Contents to leave the cell's formatting in place but remove the
formula or data contents of the cell.
Delete opens a submenu with five choices. They permit deleting a range of rows or
columns, deleting just the selected cells, or deleting just the comments or hyperlinks
associated with the selected cells.
Choose Columns or Rows to delete the columns or rows, respectively, that cover the cells
in the selection. Selecting Rows when the selection is one or more columns or Columns
when the selection is one or more rows deletes all cells in the worksheet. The space left by
deleted rows is filled by moving lower rows up. The space left by deleted columns is filled
by moving to the left columns which were right of the selection. For example, if columns D
and E are deleted, Gnumeric will move the contents of all columns from F onwards two
columns to the left.
Cells...: If the selection is one or more columns or one or more rows, Cells... deletes the
selected columns or rows as described above. If the selection is a block of cells, Cells...
opens a dialog asking how to fill in the deleted cells. Blocks of cells can be filled in by the
columns of cells below the block selection or by the rows on the right of the block.

Figure 4-7 The Delete Cells Dialog

For example, if the block of cells from E6:G8 is deleted, those cells would be filled in by the
cells below E8, F8 and G8 if the Shift cells up option were chosen. The cells to the right of
G6, G7 and G8 would fill in the space from the right if the Shift cells left option were
chosen. The two Delete choices are the same as Edit ▶ Delete ▶ Rows and Edit ▶ Delete
▶ Columns.
Comments: This is the same as Edit ▶ Clear ▶ Comments, described above.
Hyperlinks: This is similar to Edit ▶ Clear ▶ Formats & Hyperlinks, as described above,
except that existing cell formats are not disturbed.
Modify opens a submenu with three choices:

Comment... opens the Edit Cell Comment dialog. This is the same as the dialog for
Comment... on the Section 4.2.6 ― Insert Menu. See Section 5.15 ― Comments in
Cells for more information.
Hyperlink... opens the Hyperlink dialog. This is the same as the dialog for Hyperlink...
on the Section 4.2.6 ― Insert Menu. See Section 5.16 ― Hyperlinks for more
information.
Names... opens the Define Names dialog. Section 5.17 ― Defining Names explains
names and describes the dialog.

4 Search and replace operations.

Search... — The Search... menu item opens a dialog to search for cells with particular
content. The dialog has three tabs. In the first the user can enter the information the user
wants to find and some constraints on the search. The second tab gives some extra choices
for the search. When the user has picked the options they prefer, pushing the search
button on the first tab will run the search. The third tab will show which cells match the
search.

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Search & Replace... — The Search & Replace.. menu item will launch a dialog to find cells
with particular characteristics and replace them all with a common content. This dialog is
similar to the Search dialog.

5 Other operations on worksheets.

Sheet — From the Sheet submenu you can perform operations on the worksheet as a
whole. These functions are also available from the worksheet tab context menu. You can
create, duplicate, rename, re-order, or delete worksheets. These functions are described in
detail in Section 11.6.2 ― Worksheet Tab Context Menu.
Select — The Select menu item allows the user to select various portions of the
worksheet. When selected it opens a submenu.

Figure 4-8 The Select Submenu

The All item provides a quick way to select the entire worksheet.
The Row and Column items allow the user to select all the rows or columns spanned
by the current selection.
The Array menu item allows a user to select all the cells which are part of the same
array as the current cell.
The Depends menu item selects all the cells which contain formula that reference
data in the current cell.
Similarly, the Inputs menu item selects all the cells whose data is referenced by the
formula in the current cell.
The Next Object menu item selects the next sheet object on the current sheet. If no
object is selected it will select the object locate at the front.
The Go to Top, Go to Bottom, Go to the First, Go to the Last, menu items move the
selection within a rectangular block of data cells. the front.
Goto cell... — The Goto cell... menu item opens up a dialog which allows the user to
type the name or address of a cell in the worksheet. The current view will then change
to ensure that the selected cell is in the current view and the selection will cover that
cell.

Recalculate — The Recalculate menu item forces the workbook to recalculate its results.
This is useful if a formula in the current worksheet depends on a cell in a different
workbook. Gnumeric will not necessarily know when that data has been updated so a user
can force Gnumeric to recalculate all the cells in the current workbook.

6 General Configuration of Gnumeric.

Preferences... — The Preference... menu item calls the Gnumeric Preferences dialog explained
in detail in Chapter 13 ― Configuring Gnumeric

4.2.5. View Menu

The View menu is

Figure 4-9 The View menu.

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The menu choices are grouped into the following groups:

1 Alternative views of the current document.

These menu items allow the user to open multiple views of the same document.

New View... — The New View... menu item opens up a new window with the current
workbook visible. and where both windows are open to the same section of the workbook.
If the user starts editing a different part of the sheet in one view, the other view moves
automatically to that portion of the worksheet. Similarly, if the user changes to a different
worksheet in one view, the other view changes also.
Freeze Panes — The Freeze Panes menu item is used to freeze the top-most and leftmost
visible portion of the worksheet. This is useful to be able to line up portions of the
worksheet which are not usually together. For instance, if a user had a very large table with
the titles of each column of data on row 12, the user could select row 13 and select this
menu item. If the user scrolled through each data row, the data would line up underneath
each header.
There are 3 ways to determine which rows and/or columns should be frozen.

If the selection is at least partially visible and does not include the cell A1, Gnumeric
freezes the portion of the worksheet above or to the left of the current selection.
If the selection is at least partially visible, includes cell A1, and does not consist of
whole rows or columns, Gnumeric freezes all rows or columns intersecting the
selection.
If the selection is at least partially visible, includes cell A1, and consists of whole rows
or columns, Gnumeric freezes those rows or columns.
If the selection is not visible at all, then Gnumeric freezes those rows and columns to
the left or above the sixth visible column and tenth visible row.

In all cases, the region of the worksheet above or to the left of the currently visible region
will become inaccessible until the view is unfrozen.
Windows — The Windows menu item provides access to a submenu which lists all of the
windows which are currently open. This provides an easy way to jump between all the
different instances and views of Gnumeric documents.

2 Changes to the current view.

These menu items alter the display of the current view.

Toolbars — The Toolbars menu item provides a submenu which lists each Gnumeric
toolbar. The toolbars in this submenu which have a check mark in front of their name will
be shown. The display status of each toolbar can be changed by selecting the menu item
with that toolbar's name.
View Statusbar — The View Statusbar menu item determines whether to display the
status bar and information area at the bottom of each worksheets. Selecting the menu
item toggles the check mark in front. When this menu item has the checkmark, Gnumeric
will display the statusbar.
Full Screen — The Full Screen menu item changes the display of Gnumeric from a window
based display to a display which occupies the whole screen. In full screen mode, the
window borders will not be displayed nor will the toolbars. The key F11 toggles between
full screen and regular display mode. When this menu item has the checkmark, Gnumeric is
in Full Screen mode.
View Properties... — The View Properties... menu item opens the View Properties
dialog.

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Figure 4-10 The View Properties dialog

The View Properties dialog has four tabs. Auto Completion is described in Section 11.4 ―
General Settings, Protection in Section 11.4.1 ― Content Protection.

Figure 4-11 The View Properties dialog, Cell Markers tab

The check boxes on the Cell Markers tab shown in Figure 4-11 determine whether cells are
shown with indicators that they contain formulae and/or that they have clipped content.
The check boxes on the Widget tab shown in Figure 4-10 determine whether the notebook
tabs, the horizontal scrollbar and/or the vertical scrollbars are shown in this view.

3
Zoom... opens a dialog where you can set the magnification of one or more worksheets in the
current workbook.

4.2.6. Insert Menu

The Insert menu is

Figure 4-12 The Insert menu.

The menu choices are grouped into the following groups:

1 Insert into workbook.

These menu items alter the cells available in a workbook.

Cells... — The Cells... menu item opens a dialog asking the user how the sheet should be
altered when new cells are inserted. The dialog lists four choices. The user can choose one
of these by clicking the mouse pointer on one of the four dots. Only one choice is possible
and the currently selected choice has a black dot in front.

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The Shift cells right will insert a region of new cells of the size of the current selection.
Cells which are on the same row as the selection and within or to the right of the selection
will shift over to the right to accommodate the new cells. The Shift cells down choice will
also insert a region of new cells the same size as the current selection. With this choice,
cells which are in the selection or below the selection will move down to accommodate the
new cells. The two other choices will act as if the user had chosen to insert rows or
columns. These actions are explained above.
Columns — The Columns menu item will insert columns to the left of the current
selection. The number of columns inserted will equal the number of columns spanned by
the current selection.
Rows — The Rows menu item will insert rows above the current selection. The number of
rows inserted will be equal to the number of rows spanned by the current selection.
Sheet — The Sheet menu item allows the user to insert a worksheet immediately
following the current sheet.

2 Insert an object into the worksheet or content into the

current cell.
The menu items insert sheet objects into the worksheet or insert content into the current cell.

Graph... — The Graph... menu item will allow a user to insert a graphic plot of data. This
menu item will launch the graph druid. Graphing in Gnumeric is explained in Chapter 10 ―
Graphs.
Image... — The Image... menu item will allow a user to insert a graphic object containing
the image from an external file. The use of images in Gnumeric is explained in Section 9.2
― Images.
Function — This menu item opens a dialog to allow the user to enter a mathematical
formula into the cell. The function dialog includes the names and a brief explanation of all
the available functions.
Function Wrapper — Selecting an item from the submenu shown in Figure 4-13 replaces
every rectangular region in the current selection with an array function in which the
appropriate function is wrapped around an array version of the current content. This can
be used to create a self-sorting data region.

Figure 4-13 The Function Wrapper submenu.

Name... opens a dialog with a list of all defined names that can be pasted into the current
cell. The dialog is similar to the Define Names dialog opened by choosing Modify ▶
Names... from the Section 4.2.4 ― Edit Menu. See Section 5.2.4.4 ― Names for details.
Comment... opens a dialog where you can enter or edit a comment for the active cell. The
dialog is described in Section 5.15 ― Comments in Cells.
Hyperlink... opens a dialog for entering the location of a link. The dialog is described in
Section 5.16 ― Hyperlinks.
Special opens a submenu from which you can insert predefined content into a cell. You can
insert the current date, the current time, or both.

4.2.7. Format Menu

The Format menu allows users to control the formats of cells, columns, rows, worksheets and the workbook.
This menu also gives users access to templates of standard formats.

Figure 4-14 The Format Menu and Its Cells Submenu.

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The Format Menu offers these menuitems:

Cells — The Cells... menu item opens a submenu with choices to allows the user to modify
the formatting of the selected cells.

Format... — The Format... menu item opens the cell format dialog. This dialog is used
to set cell data types and formats. It is explained in Section 5.10 ― Formatting Cells.
Conditional Formatting... — The Conditional Formatting... menu item opens the
conditional format dialog. This dialog is used to set cell data types and formats that
depend on values in the workbook. It is explained in Section 5.11 ― Conditional
Formatting of Cells.
Merge — This menu item combines the current selection into a single large cell.
Unmerge — This menu item divides a merged selection into the original cells.
Auto Fit Height — This menu item makes Gnumeric automatically choose the optimal
row heights to display all of the text in the current selection.
Auto Fit Width — This menu item makes Gnumeric automatically choose the optimal
column widths to display all of the text in the current selection.

Column — The Column menu item opens a submenu with choices to allows the user to
modify the view of the selected columns.

Figure 4-15 The Column Submenu.

Width... — The Width... menu item opens a dialog to enable the user to adjust the size
of the columns which hold the current selection. The dialog has a single entry box in
which the user can change the current size of the column in points.
Auto Fit Width — This menu item makes Gnumeric automatically choose the optimal
column size to display all of the text in the current selection.
Hide — The Hide menu item will hide the columns containing the current selection.
Gnumeric still holds these columns in memory and will save them to a file but will not
display those columns. The only indication that a user has that columns have been
hidden is that the column header names are not sequential.
Unhide — This menu item will show columns which are hidden if the selection spans
the two columns on either side of the selection. If columns D, E, and F have been
hidden, the selection must span at least across columns C and G for this menu item to
unhide columns D, E, and F.
Standard Width — This menu item allows the user to resize the columns which hold
the selection to the standard size. At 100 percent zoom this is 48 points or 64 pixels.

Row — The Row menu item provides the same functions as the Column menu item but
operates on rows.

Height... — This menu item opens a dialog which allows the user to type in a row
height in pixels.
Auto Fit Height — This menu item changes the rows which hold the selection to the
optimal height to hold the text in the selection.
Hide — The Hide menu item will hide the rows in the selection. The workbook still
contains the data in the hidden rows but those rows are not shown.
Unhide — This menu item will make hidden rows visible. The selection must span the
rows which are hidden for this menu item to unhide the hidden rows.
Standard Height — This menu item resizes the rows back to the default height of
12.75 points or 17 pixels (at 100 percent zoom).

Sheet opens a submenu where you can change properties of the current worksheet. With
the exception of Manage Sheets... and Zoom..., all operations on this submenu apply to
just the current worksheet.

Figure 4-16 Sheet Submenu

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1 Sheet Management
These items are also on the worksheet tab context menu, accessed by
clicking (usually with the right mouse button) on one of the worksheet
tabs.
Manage Sheets... opens a dialog from which the names and many
properties of all the sheets can be managed. Properties that can be
managed from this dialog include locking, worksheet visibility, column
display order (left to right or right to left), sheet name, sheet order, and
sheet tab appearance. From this dialog you can also add new worksheets
and duplicate or remove existing worksheets. For more information, see
Section 11.6.3 ― Manage Sheets dialog.
Rename... opens the Rename Sheet dialog. Edit the sheet name in the
New Name: field and press Enter or click OK to change the worksheet
name.

2 Sheet Display Toggles

The second section contains various toggles that control how a worksheet
is displayed. If a toggle is enabled, a small check mark is displayed to the
left of the menu item.

Display Formulas — When this property is enabled, the worksheet

will show the actual formulae for all cells with formulae, instead of
showing the calculated result. You can use this property to quickly
determine which cells contain data and which contain formulae.
Use R1C1 Notation — When this property is enabled, Gnumeric uses
R1C1-style notation to address cells, rather than A1 notation.
Hide Zeros — When this property is enabled, Gnumeric displays all
cells which would display a zero value as empty cells. This can be used
to more easily find cells with non-zero data in sheets with many zero
results.
Hide Gridlines — When this property is enabled, Gnumeric does not
draw the grid lines that ordinarily separate cells.
Hide Column Headers — When this property is enabled, Gnumeric
does not display the column headers, which leaves room in the cell
grid for roughly one more row of cells of default height.
Hide Row Header — When this property is enabled, Gnumeric does
not display the row headers, which leaves slightly more room to
display the contents of cells.
Direction — When this menu item is selected, Gnumeric switches
between left-to-right sheets and right-to-left sheets. If row headers
are displayed, they are moved to the right-hand side of the cell grid
when the worksheet is displayed right to left.

3 Zoom...
Zoom... opens a dialog where you can set the magnification of one or more
worksheets in the current workbook.

Autoformat... — This menu item opens the autoformat dialog to give user access to a list
of format templates. Format templates are useful for users who are often filling out tables
in a particular format. The user picks an area of the worksheet into which they want to

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apply the template. Most templates define headers and footers so the selection area must
be big enough to fit those template elements and the user's data. The template will not
affect data which has already been input into a worksheet.
The dialog has two tabs: Preview and Template Details. The details are simply information
about the template. The Preview tab has three main options: a Settings menu, an Edit
menu and a category chooser. The settings menu allows a user to pick what parts of the
template they want to copy into the worksheet. The edit menu will be used to create new
templates. Currently templates are written as text into an extensible markup language
(XML) format. The category chooser gives the user access to different groups of templates.
Templates in each category are displayed in the middle area of the dialog. Users select the
template they want to use by clicking on it. The currently selected template is highlighted
with a red boundary which may be hard to see.

4.2.8. Tools Menu

The Tools menu is

Figure 4-17 The Tools menu.

The menu choices are grouped into the following groups:

1 Automatic tools
These two tools allow the user to make Gnumeric automatically correct typing or automatically
save workbooks at periodic intervals.

Auto Correct... — The Auto Correct... menu item opens a dialog which allows the user to
configure the way in which Gnumeric automatically corrects text which is being entered.
The dialog presents the user with three tabs. Each of these tabs allows the user to correct
one type of common spelling mistake, while allowing the user to add exceptions to the
rules. Gnumeric can automatically capitalize the names of week days. Gnumeric can
automatically change an entry which starts with two capital letters to only start with one
and Gnumeric can change a sentence entry to start with a capital letter.
Auto Save — The Auto Save menu item opens a dialog which allows the user to have
Gnumeric automatically save the current workbook after a fixed interval of time. The user
can also have Gnumeric ask for confirmation before saving so that the user always remains
aware of the state the workbook was in when it was saved.

2 Linear programming, scenario generation, simulation and

statistical analysis tools
Gnumeric can be used to solve systems of linear equations and other mathematical problems.
These two dialogs enable access to these tools. A full discussion of these tools is presented in
Section 7.1 ― Solver.

Goal Seek — The Goal Seek menu item opens a dialog through which the user can
configure Gnumeric to iteratively search for a numeric value which solves a formula. This
dialog is explained in Section 6.3 ― Goal Seek Tool.
Solver — The Solver menu item opens a dialog through which the user can configure
Gnumeric to solve linear systems of equations. This is explained in Section 7.1 ― Solver.
Scenarios — The Scenarios menu item displays a submenu with two entries. The View...
menu item opens a dialog in which the user can select previously defined scenarios. The
Add... menu item opens a dialog in which the user can define the contents of a new
scenario.

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Simulation — The Simulation menu item opens a multipaned dialog allowing the user to
configure the parameters for a simulation using linear modeling constraints.

3 The Plug-ins dialog.

This entry launches the plug-in management dialog. Plug-ins are programs which are separate
from Gnumeric but provide useful functionality. Some of the core parts of Gnumeric, such as
Excel file format support, are actually plugins. This means that a user who never uses Excel files
can remove this module from Gnumeric and make Gnumeric use less memory.

4.2.9. Statistics Menu

The Statistics menu is

Figure 4-18 The Statistics menu.

The Statistics menu and its submenus contain all available statistical analysis tools. These tools are explained in
Chapter 8 ― Statistical Analysis.

4.2.10. Data Menu

The Data menu is

Figure 4-19 The Data menu.

The menu choices are grouped into the following groups:

1 Data Field tools.

These menu items allow the user to re-organize data.

Sort... — The Sort... menu item opens a dialog which allows users to sort a selection
according to defined criteria. By default Gnumeric sorts the rows in a selected area
depending on the contents of the cells in a particular column of each row. The sort criteria
can be extended to calculate on the basis of the cells in several columns. Gnumeric can sort
a selection using any number of rules. Rules can be added using the Add button. Rules with
no column entered will be ignored or the user can remove these rules with the Remove
button.
For each rule, the dialog has an entry box in which the column to be sorted must be
entered. The dropdown box (the little down pointing arrow) will show a list of appropriate
columns. The user can determine a sort order for the selection. The Advanced button
allows the user to further characterize the sort criteria..

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If the first row of the selection is a header, Gnumeric can be told not to shuffle this row
during the sort. Gnumeric can also sort columns based on the contents of cells in specified
rows, instead of shuffling rows on the basis of columns, if the user toggles the Sort to act
right-left instead of top-down.
Shuffle... — The Shuffle... menu item opens a dialog that allows users to shuffle a
selection. Shuffling means to rearrange the cells in the selection into a random order. The
dialog allows users to shuffle the data within a column, within a row, or within an area.
Fill — The Fill menu item opens a submenu that allows various forms of data to be
created.
Filter — The Filter menu item opens a submenu with three entries: Add Auto Filter, Show
All, and Advanced Filter entry. Filters are explained in Section 5.12 ― Filtering Data.
Validate... — The Validate... menu item opens the cell format dialog to the validation tab.
Validation is a means of constraining the contents of a cell either to have a certain value or
to fall within a certain range.
Consolidate... — The Consolidate... menu item opens a dialog box through which a user
can create derived information based on data in other worksheets.
Table... —
Group and Outline — The Group and Outline menu item provides a submenu through
which users can group rows or columns into units which can be collapsed to be hidden
from view. These entries also allow users to alter the display of the grouping handles on
the borders of the worksheet.

2 Data Modifications or Import.

These entries allow user to convert data already in a worksheet or to import external data
directly into a worksheet.

Text to Columns... — The Text to Columns... menu item opens a dialog box through which
a user can create derived information based on data in other worksheets.
Import Data — The Import Data menu item provides the following submenu:

Figure 4-20 The Import Data submenu.

The items in this submenu allow the user to import data from various non-spreadsheet
formats. To open files in a spreadsheet format, use the Open menu described in Section
4.2.3 ― File Menu. See Section 14.2 ― File Formats for details. These submenu items
create a new window containing the selected file. A more extensive discussion is presented
in Section 14.3 ― Opening Files.
Export Data — The Export Data menu item provides the following submenu:

Figure 4-21 The Export Data submenu.

The items in this submenu allows users to export the current file or sheet to a non-
spreadsheet format. The Repeat Export menu item repeats the last export in the current
session or, if the file was recently imported, exports the file to the original source. To save
data from Gnumeric in a spreadsheet format, use the Save As... menu described in Section
4.2.3 ― File Menu. For an explanation of the file formats which Gnumeric supports see
Section 14.5 ― Saving Files.

4.2.11. Help Menu

The Help menu is quite simple.

Figure 4-22 The Help menu.

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The Help menu connects users to this manual, to the list of functions available for use in Gnumeric and to the
list of people who created this wonderful application.

1 Entries to find help and report a problem with Gnumeric

These menu items allow the user to obtain help from several sources or to report a problem
with the program.

Contents — This menu entry allows the user to launch the local help system and display
this manual.
Gnumeric on the Web — This menu entry allows the user to launch a web browser and
explore the web site dedicated to Gnumeric on the server used by the GNOME project.
Live Assistance — This menu entry allows the user to launch an Internet Relay Chat (IRC)
client to join the GIMPnet network and the #Gnumeric channel. This channel is used by the
Gnumeric developers. There is generally someone around who will, after a few minutes,
notice a nice question and attempt to answer it.

Live assistance is provided on a purely voluntary basis. There are no guarantees

that your question will be answered or that the answer will be correct. We
generally try our best to answer questions when they are asked politely and
when the user shows that they have at least looked in the User Manual for an
answer.

Report a Problem — This menu entry allows the user to launch a web browser and open
the page on GNOME's GitLab issue/ bug entry system for the Gnumeric program. This page
includes instructions on submitting reports of problems. The first time a user reports a
problem, they will be asked to login to the system.

2 The About Gnumeric dialog.

About —Shows basic information about Gnumeric, such as the authors' names and the
application version number.

4.3. Context Menus

Context menus are menus which open up under the mouse pointer and are therefore detached from the format
graphical structure of the application. These menus provide an extra and convenient way to access Gnumeric
commands. All of the commands in context menus are available through the regular menu system. Context
menus provide different commands depending on the position of the pointer.

To activate a context menu, a user simply positions the pointer over the appropriate area and clicks one of the
buttons on their mouse. Since this button is configurable and users have mice with different buttons, it may be
a different button on any given machine or may even require the combination of a keyboard key and a mouse
buttons. The user will have to find how to do this themselves.

Currently Gnumeric provides five different context menus. The context menu that is called in the central grid
area is discussed next in Section 4.3.1 ― The Context Menu for the Cell Grid Area. The Context menu that
appears when the pointer is over the row headers or column headers is presented in Section 4.3.2 ― The
Context Menu for Column and Row Headers. Another context menu relates to the worksheet tabs and is
explained in Section 4.3.3 ― Context Menu for Worksheet Tabs. Yet another context menu applies to
embedded objects or shaped components such as a plot. These are shown in Section 4.3.4 ― The Context Menu
for Embedded Objects and Components.

4.3.1. The Context Menu for the Cell Grid Area

4.3.2. The Context Menu for Column and Row Headers
4.3.3. Context Menu for Worksheet Tabs
4.3.4. The Context Menu for Embedded Objects and Components
4.3.5. The Context Menu for Toolbars

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4.3.1. The Context Menu for the Cell Grid Area

The context menu in the cell grid area appears when the pointer is over the cell grid area. This menu applies to
the cells that have been selected, not necessarily the cell underneath the mouse pointer.

Figure 4-23 The Context Menu for the Cell Grid Area.

The grid context menu merely provides an extra way to access Gnumeric commands. The Cut, Copy, Paste,
Paste Special, Delete Cells..., Clear Contents, Remove Comment, Edit Hyperlink, and Remove Link
commands are taken from the Edit menu and its submenus and are explained in Section 4.2.4 ― Edit Menu. The
Insert Cells... and Add Comment menu items are explained in the section on the Insert menu in Section 4.2.6
― Insert Menu. The Format Cells..., Conditional Formatting... items as well as the items on the Cell, Column,
and Row submenus are explained in the manual section on the Format menu in Section 4.2.7 ― Format Menu.

4.3.2. The Context Menu for Column and Row Headers

The Context Menu for Column and Row Headers

Figure 4-24 The Context Menu of a Row Header

The context menu which relates to column or row headers is similar to the context menu for the grid area. Both
insert and delete operations are modified to operate explicitly on rows or on columns.

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4.3.3. Context Menu for Worksheet Tabs

The context menu for worksheet tabs provides access to functions that manipulate worksheets as a whole,
rather than their contents.

Figure 4-25 The Context Menu for Worksheet Tabs

The context menu for the worksheet tabs provides the same functions as the Sheet submenu of the Edit menu.
These functions are explained in Section 11.6.2 ― Worksheet Tab Context Menu. There are also two submenus
where you can select one of the existing sheets, whether its tab is currently visible or not. The first submenu
lists the sheets in their current order, the second submenu lists them alphabetically.

4.3.4. The Context Menu for Embedded Objects and Components

The Context Menu for Embedded Objects and Components.

Figure 4-26 The Context Menu for Graphical Objects

All embedded objects, such as drawing elements, graphs and images, have a context menu which can be
invoked by placing the mouse pointer over the element and clicking with one of the secondary mouse buttons.

The first menu entry, labeled Properties, will open a dialog specific to the type of element selected in which
the user can configure the properties of the element.

The menu entry labeled Size & Position, will open a dialog that permits the user to adjust the size and position
of the embedded object.

The menu entry labeled Snap to Grid, enlarges the object such that all of its corners are located at cell corners.

The menu entry labeled Order, opens a submenu which allows the user to change the visual order in which the
graphical elements are placed. This order will affect the way in which the graphical elements obscure each
other.

Figure 4-27 The Context Submenu for Graphical Object Order

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The menu entries labeled Cut, Copy, and Delete, allow the user to operate on the whole object at once. The
Cut menu item allows the user to remove the element from its current position and then paste the object in a
different location on the same sheet, in a different worksheet, in a different Gnumeric file, or in a file from a
different program entirely. The Copy menu item provides the same functionality while leaving the original item
in place. The Delete allows the user to remove the graphical element entirely.

The remaining menu item, Print, allows just the selected object to be printed.

For certain types of objects, a menu entry labeled Save As Image... allows the object to be saved as an image
file. This menu item is not present in Figure 4-26 but is shown in Figure 4-28 .

Figure 4-28 The Context Menu for Graphs and Images

Graphs have a context menu that also contains menu entries labeled Open in New Window and Copy to New
Graph Sheet. The Open in New Window menu item shows the graph by itself in a window. The Copy to New
Graph Sheet copies the graph to a special sheet in the current workbook that contains only a single graph.

4.3.5. The Context Menu for Toolbars

The Context Menu for Toolbars

Figure 4-29 The Context Menu for Toolbars.

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The context menu for toolbars allows the user to configure toolbars. Each toolbar can be displayed above the
sheets, to the left of the sheets, or to the right of the sheets. The context menu can also be used to hide a
toolbar. The toolbar can be made visible again via the Toolbars submenu of the View menu. See Section 4.2.5
― View Menu.

4.4. Toolbars

The toolbars contain buttons and other elements which can be used to perform quickly some the more
common operations. Each button has an icon intended to provide a mnemonic reminder of the operation
performed by the button. The toolbar elements are intended to provide fast access to the commonly used
tools. Almost all of these functions are also available through the menu system. The specific actions required to
use each button vary.

Gnumeric has four toolbars, the standard toolbar, the format toolbar, the long format toolbar, and the object
toolbar. The three toolbars are shown in Figure 4-30.

Figure 4-30 The Four Gnumeric Toolbars

These toolbars will be discussed separately in the subsequent sections of this manual. User interaction with
each toolbar happens in essentially the same way. Similarly, the toolbars can be configured in the same way. The
next section explains the standard behavior of Gnumeric toolbars.

The long format toolbar contains all of the buttons of the format toolbar plus a few extra buttons, but in a
different order. Users will usually choose only one of these toolbars to be displayed.

4.4.1. General Toolbar Behavior

4.4.2. The Standard Toolbar
4.4.3. The Format Toolbar
4.4.4. The Long Format Toolbar
4.4.5. The Object Toolbar

4.4.1. General Toolbar Behavior

The toolbar context menu described in Section 4.3.5 ― The Context Menu for Toolbars can be used to
determine where each toolbar (above the sheets, to the left of the sheets, or to the right of the sheets) is
displayed. The Toolbars submenu of the View menu (see Section 4.2.5 ― View Menu) can be used to determine
which toolbars are visible.

If the Gnumeric window is too small to fit all of the toolbar buttons, Gnumeric displays an arrow to indicate that
there are more options. If the user clicks on this arrow, a window will open with the remaining buttons as shown
in Figure 4-31.

Figure 4-31 The Toolbar Extension Menu

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Certain toolbar options, such as the zoom box, are combinations of a button or text entry area and a downward
pointing arrow. If the user clicks on the arrow, a list of available options appears.

4.4.2. The Standard Toolbar

The standard toolbar is shown in Figure 4-32.

Figure 4-32 The Standard Toolbar

The Standard Toolbar gives the user access to file operations, printing, movement of data blocks, the undo
system, and to some of the powerful tools like the function creator and the graphing system.

New File.
Create a new file.

Open
Open an existing file.

Save
Save the current worksheet to disk.

Print
Print the current worksheet or workbook to a file or a printer.

Print Preview
Display a print preview of the current worksheet.

Cut
Copy the cells in the current selection to the clipboard buffer and mark them to be deleted
from the current position. The cells will only be removed if they are pasted into a new position.

Copy
Copy the cells in the current selection to the clipboard buffer.

Paste
Paste the contents of the clipboard buffer into the active cell.

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Undo
Undoes the last operation undertaken.

Redo
This is the reverse of the undo operation, restoring its original state.

Insert a hyperlink
This button opens a dialog to allow the user to define a hyperlink either internally within the
spreadsheet or to an external resource such as a web page.

Sum into the current cell

Starts a simple sum formula in the selected cell with Gnumeric simply waiting for a selection to
be made to complete the sum. The user selects the destination cell, pushes this button, enters
the range to be summed and pushes the confirm button (green arrow) in the data entry area or
types the Return key.

The function druid

This button will start a formula in the current cell using the function druid.

Sort Ascending
Sorts the selected region in ascending order based on the first column selected.

Sort Descending
Sorts the selected region in descending order based on the first column selected.

Graph
This button calls the graph druid to create a graph.

Zoom
The zoom button allows the users to trade-off the extent of the worksheet which is visible
against the size of the visible text and cells.

4.4.3. The Format Toolbar

The Format Toolbar

Figure 4-33 The Format Toolbar

Font Chooser.
The user can change the font of a selection either by typing the name of a new font in the text
area of this box or by clicking on the little arrow to the right of the text area. This will cause a
menu to appear from which a font can be chosen.

Font size
The user can change the font size of a selection by typing the number of a different font size or
by clicking on the little arrow to the right of the entry box and selecting the preferred size.

Bold
Change the style of the current cell or the currently selected text to be bold, or unbold it if it is
already bold.

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Italic
Change the style of the current cell or the currently selected text to be italicized.

Underline
Change the style of the current cell or the currently selected text to be underlined.

Left justify..
Justify the contents of the cell to the left of the cell.

Center
Center the content of the cells.

Right Justify
Justify the content of the cells to the right side of the cells

Center across the selection

Center the content of the cells on the selected cells.

Merge Cells
Merge the selected cells into a single cell.

Split Merged Cells

Split previously merged cells into separate cells.

Money
Sets the format of the selected cells to be monetary.

Percentage
Sets the format of the selected cells to be a percentage.

Thousands separator
Sets the format of the selected cells to use thousands separator.

Increase the displayed precision.

Increases the number of decimals shown in the currently selected cell.

Decrease the displayed precision.

Decreases the number of decimals in the currently selected cell.

Decrease the displayed indentation.

This button decreases the indentation of selected elements.

Increase the displayed indentation.

This button increases the indentation of selected elements.

Change the display borders.

This button and drop down menu can be used to set the borders of all the cells in the selection.

Set the Background Colour.

This button and drop down menu can be used to set the back ground colour.

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Set the Text Colour

This can be used to change the colour of the text.

4.4.4. The Long Format Toolbar

The Long Format Toolbar

Figure 4-34 The Long Format Toolbar

The Long Format Toolbar contains all buttons that the Format Toolbar (described in Section 4.4.3 ― The
Format Toolbar) contains, except in a different order.

In addition, the Long Format Toolbar also contains the following buttons:

Subscript
Change the style of the current cell or the currently selected text to be subscripted.

Superscript
Change the style of the current cell or the currently selected text to be superscripted.

4.4.5. The Object Toolbar

Figure 4-35 The Object Toolbar

The Object Toolbar.

Box
Insert a rectangular box containing optionally some text into the worksheet.

Ellipse
Insert an ellipse or a circle into the worksheet.

Insert a Frame.
This button allows a user to insert a frame into a worksheet.

Line
Draw a line on the worksheet.

Arrow
Draw a line with an arrow head at one end.

Insert a Checkbox.
This button allows a user to insert a check box.

Insert a radio button.

This button allows a user to insert a radio button.

Insert a button.

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This button allows a user to insert a button.

Insert a Scrollbar.
This button allows a user to insert a scrollbar.

Insert a Spinbutton Box.

This button allows a user to insert a spinbutton box.

Insert a Slider.
This button allows a user to insert a slider.

Insert a List.
This button allows a user to insert a list.

Insert a Combo Box

This allows a user to insert a Combo Box.

4.5. Data Entry Area

Immediately above the grid of cells is the data entry area as shown in Figure 4-36.

Figure 4-36 The Data Entry area.

This is a small area, which contains a current cell indicator, a cancel button, a confirm button, an entry button,
and an entry area for detailed editing of the cell contents. These elements are explained individually below.

4.5.1. Current Cell Indicator

4.5.2. The Cancel Button
4.5.3. The Confirm Button
4.5.4. The Equals Button

4.5.1. Current Cell Indicator

On the far left of the Data Entry area is the current cell indicator area. This area is shown in Figure 4-37

Figure 4-37 The Current Cell Indicator.

The cell indicator will show the address for the cell at the top left of the selected region. This address is listed in
the standard column:row notation. The alphabetic part indicates the column of this top leftmost cell and the
numeric part indicates the row of this top left cell. For instance, the cell which is over three columns and down
two rows is designated:

C2

This designation matches the column and row headers for this cell.

While a region is being selected, the current cell indicator will change to show the size of the region which is
being selected. This information is presented in a row number by column number format. For instance, this
designation:

15R x 6C

would indicate a selection area 15 rows high by 6 columns wide. Once the mouse is released at the end of the
selection, the current cell indicator goes back to giving the address of the single top leftmost cell.

4.5.2. The Cancel Button

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The Cancel button can be used to cancel the current edit and to restore the cell contents to the previous
state. If a user decides in the middle of an edit that the data being entered into a cell is not what they want, the
user can push this cancel button to cancel the current data and return the cell to the state it was at before.

The most common use of this button is when overwriting the contents of a cell with new data. If the user
decided to revert the change before confirming it, the cancel button is the answer. Note that this button works
just like typing the escape key on the keyboard.

4.5.3. The Confirm Button

The confirm button . can be used to finish the edit of a cell and enter the edit into the workbook. Note that
this button works in the same way as the enter key.

4.5.4. The Equals Button

The equals button can be used to start a formula in the currently selected cell. If a user wanted to make
cell D10 equal to cell B4, the user could simply click on cell D10, click this equals button, click on cell B4 and type
the enter key. Note that this button works the same way as the equals key.

4.6. The Cell Grid

Most of the work done on a spreadsheet is done to the main Cell area, the large grid like part of the worksheet.
This is where all the formulas and data are entered, and is the center of activity for the spreadsheet.

Figure 4-38 The Cell Grid area, with cells of different sizes.

Figure 4-38 shows the cell grid area, the column and row headers on the top and left, the scrollbars on the right
and bottom and the tab list at the very bottom.

The figure has a few and shows that cell B3 as being selected. In this figure, the columns and rows have been
resized and therefore look uneven.

Each cell in this area is delimited by a light grey line by default. The current selection is indicated by a
rectangular box with a little box on the lower right, this case cell J12. The view in this figure shows the middle
portion of a worksheet which is evident in two ways. Firstly, the column and row headers do not start at column
A and row 1. Secondly, the scroll thumbs are not at the top and left. The thumbs are the boxes within the scroll
bars that are used to scroll. Note also that cell D19 has a comment within it which is shown by the little red
triangle at the top right corner.

The size of a cell is determined by the width of the column and height of the row that the cell is in. The columns
and rows can be resized by acting on the header relevant to the cell. The user must move the mouse pointer to
the edge of the header which is either to the right or below the cell. With the mouse pointer in this position, the

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pointer will change to a set of opposite pointing arrows. The user must then drag this edge away from the top
left corner. This takes a little practice.

The cell area is the core of Gnumeric. Therefore the manual explains the use of cells in much greater detail in a
separate section. Interested users should read Chapter 5 ― Working with Data.

4.6.1. The Column and Row Headers

4.6.2. The Scrollbars
4.6.3. The Tabbed Sheet Indicator

4.6.1. The Column and Row Headers

The sheet is bordered by column headers on the top and row headers to the left. Columns are labeled
alphabetically running horizontally across the top of the sheet as shown in Figure 4-39.

Figure 4-39 The column labels at the top of the worksheet.

Rows are labeled along the left side of the worksheet. Each label is a different integer increasing downward.
This is shown in Figure 4-40.

Figure 4-40 The row labels at the left side of the worksheet.

4.6.2. The Scrollbars

The cell grid area's scrollbars work like other scrollbars. In this case they let the user work on a worksheet which
is much bigger than what could be shown at any given moment.

4.6.3. The Tabbed Sheet Indicator

At the bottom of Figure 4-38, Gnumeric has a tabbed sheet indicator. This is the boxes with the labels "Guppies",
"Turtles", "Mermaids", "seahorses" and so on. In workbooks where there are more than one sheet, extra tabs are
used to indicate how many sheets are there, and also allows the user to move to another sheet by clicking the
proper tab. Each tab is a link to a separate worksheet within Gnumeric. In this figure, the "Turtles" tab has been
selected. Gnumeric shows this by making the "Turtles" since the tab is a little bigger and making it overlap the
two neighbouring tabs.

On the far right, the two arrows indicate that there are more sheets in the workbook and more tabs for those
sheets. Unfortunately, there is not enough space to show them all so Gnumeric displays these arrows. If all the
sheets are visible, these arrows will not be displayed. These arrows can be used to scroll the tabs and bring tabs
that were hidden into view. This may be a little difficult to understand and work with but becomes easier
quickly.

4.7. The Information Area

The section at the very bottom of the worksheet view is the information area as is shown in Figure 4-41.

Figure 4-41 The Information Display Area.

The information area displays information depending on what is happening in Gnumeric.

4.7.1. The Menu Hint Area

4.7.2. The File Status Indicator

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4.7.3. The Running Calculation Area

4.7.1. The Menu Hint Area

The leftmost portion of the information display area, the part which reads: "Sort the selected cells" is a hint
explaining what a menu does. In this case, the Data menu was opened and the pointer is hovering above the
"sort" menu entry. Gnumeric is responding by giving a quick explanation of what that menu entry does.

4.7.2. The File Status Indicator

Whenever Gnumeric opens or saves a file, the file status indicator appears with a progress bar which grows as
Gnumeric progresses. In Figure 4-41, Gnumeric was just over halfway done opening a file.

4.7.3. The Running Calculation Area

In the bottom right hand corner, is an info area that shows some constantly calculated values. The default set is
to show the Sum of all the currently selected cells.

There is a right click option that includes a few more options. This can include Sum, Min, Max, Average, Count.

Figure 4-42 The running calculation area.

4.8. The Mouse Pointers used by Gnumeric

The shape of the mouse pointer (the pointer which is movable by the mouse) changes in different contexts. This
indicates that different functionality is available and that mouse clicks will have different results. The different
mouse pointers and the actions they indicate are discussed below.

The left pointing arrow pointer:

The left hand pointing arrow pointer is the standard pointer used for most of the interaction
with Gnumeric. This pointer is used to select menus and menu entries, toolbar buttons, columns
or rows, the scrolling `thumbs' and various other elements.

The cell selection pointer:

This pointer appears over the cell grid area and can be used to select cells for editing.

The text editing pointer:

The text editing pointer is used to indicate the location in the text where new edits will appear.
This cursor can be used to change the scale of the zoom, to change the name and size of the
font currently used or to edit the cell contents in the cell entry area (the white area to the right
of the equals (=) sign.

The cross hair pointer:

The cross hair pointer can be used to change the cell selection area. The pointer appears when
the mouse pointer is placed over the handle box, the black square at the lower right hand side
of the selection. When the cross hair pointer appear, the selection can be altered by clicking the
left-hand mouse button and dragging the handle to a new position. The cross hair pointer can
also be used to insert a graphic object, by clicking with the left hand mouse button to place one
corner and releasing the button to place another of the corners.

The expansion pointers:

These pointers can be used to change the height of rows or the width of columns. These
pointers appear in certain dialog windows to resize the different parts of the dialog. The
pointers are also used to resize graphical objects as is explained below.

The sheet selection and hyperlink pointer:

This pointer appears above the sheet tabs and can be used, by left clicking, to change the
currently selected sheet or, by right clicking, to obtain the sheet dialog box. This pointer also
appears above cells which are hyperlinks. Left clicking on a hyperlink may change the view to a
new location, or may open an external file.

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The right pointing arrow pointer:

The right hand pointing arrow pointer is used to select graphical objects (such as drawing
objects (e.g. arrows, ellipses) and graph objects (e.g. charts)).

The movement pointer:

The movement pointer can be used to move graphical objects around a worksheet without
resizing the object.

The graphical object re-sizing pointers:

These pointers allow the resizing of graphical objects. If the mouse pointer is placed over one of
the handle boxes of the graphical object, the handle box will turn green and the pointer will
change to one of these forms. When these pointers appear, click dragging with the left mouse
button will resize the graphical object either scaling or stretching the object.

The window resizing pointers:

These pointers are used to change the size of Gnumeric windows and dialogs.

5. Working with Data

This chapter explains the core functionality of Gnumeric including the basic types of data manipulated by
Gnumeric, the methods of entering, manipulating and formatting data, and the basic tools for analysis of these
data. More advanced analysis is described in Chapter 6 ― Advanced Analysis.

5.1. Data in Gnumeric Cells

5.2. The Types of Cell Elements
5.3. Data Entry
5.4. Advanced Data Entry
5.5. Obtaining Data from External Sources
5.6. Selecting Cells and Cell Ranges
5.7. Moving and Copying Data
5.8. Deleting Data
5.9. Inserting New Data Cells
5.10. Formatting Cells
5.11. Conditional Formatting of Cells
5.12. Filtering Data
5.13. Modifying Data
5.14. Generating Data
5.15. Comments in Cells
5.16. Hyperlinks
5.17. Defining Names

5.1. Data in Gnumeric Cells

The purpose of a spreadsheet is to manipulate data and perform calculations on those data. In order to
understand how to use Gnumeric, it is necessary to understand what types of data are available and how these
types can be manipulated.

Because all of the data which are entered into a Gnumeric workbook can eventually be stored in a file, the file
contents define the kinds of data which can be entered into the spreadsheet. A file contains:

metadata about the file contents,

global data for the workbook,
the actual data contents of each worksheet in the workbook.

The metadata include a brief document summary describing the file contents and include the settings
applicable to the data contents, such as the settings for the printing of each sheet and any settings for
automatically saving the file. The global data for the workbook include any names which are defined by the user
and attributes, such as the protected status of the workbook and sheets. The actual data contained in the
worksheets include the contents of the cells, both data and formatting, and other objects such as drawing and
charts.

This chapter describes the information which can be stored in spreadsheet cells. This includes the five types of
data which cells can contain and the formatting which can be applied to each cell. The chapter first describes

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the five data types available, then describes the formatting which can be performed on each cell, then explains
how data can be inserted into a spreadsheet and finally describes how to copy and move data around a
worksheet along with the transformations which can be performed as the data are moved. This chapter does
not describe other types of data which can be stored in a spreadsheet such as drawing elements and graphs
used to chart data. These are explained in later chapters.

5.2. The Types of Cell Elements

Each cell in a Gnumeric worksheet can contain only a single data element. These elements will have one of five
basic types: text, numbers, booleans, formulas, or errors. During data entry, Gnumeric assigns a default data
type to the cell based on an analysis of the cell contents. This assignment can be changed later if Gnumeric
makes the wrong assignment. For information on how to change the data type of a cell, see Section 5.10 ―
Formatting Cells.

The five basic types of data which can be stored in a spreadsheet cell are:

Text
A text element can contain a series of letters, numbers or other contents. For example, the first
cell in a worksheet might contain the characters —This worksheet describes the company's
income — which Gnumeric would interpret to be text. In order to distinguish text elements
from number or formula elements, the text element may start with a single quote. For instance,
if a cell contained only the three digits 345, Gnumeric would consider that to be the number
three hundred and forty five. If this cell is intended to be a string, Gnumeric will store the cell as
'345. The newline character cannot be entered directly but must be entered as Alt+Enter. For
more information on entering and formatting text elements, see Section 5.2.1 ― Text Data
Elements.

Numbers
A number element can contain a series of digits (425) but may include specific text and
formatting characters to indicate negative numbers (-345), decimal separator (34.0567),
thousand separators (12,342), currency ($23), dates (21-10-1998), times (10:23) or scientific
notation (2.3e12). Dates may include the names of months or their abbreviation. The currency,
decimal separator and thousands separator symbols vary depending on the locale (the language
and other location specific behaviour) to which Gnumeric has been set. See Section 13.5 ―
Languages and Locales to understand how to change the locale. If you want a number to be
displayed as a plain string without any number formatting, you can put a single quote (') before
it. For more information on entering and formatting, numeric elements see Section 5.2.2 ―
Number Data Elements.

Boolean
A boolean element can contain one of two values: TRUE and FALSE. These are useful as inputs
or outputs from formulas and for boolean algebra. More information on boolean data elements
is presented in Section 5.2.3 ― Boolean Data Elements.

Formulas
A formula is an instruction to Gnumeric which describes a calculation which should be
performed automatically. These formulas can contain standard arithmetic elements but can
also contain references to other cells. Calculations which depend on other cells are usually
recalculated when the values of another cell changes. Formulas always begin with a special
character — the equals sign (=). The commercial at symbol (@) can be used instead of the
equals sign during data entry but Gnumeric will convert this to an equals sign. Alternatively, an
entry which describes a calculation and which starts with either the plus (+) or minus symbol (-)
will be converted to a formula starting with an equals sign. For a more complete explanation of
formulas, see Section 5.2.4 ― Formula Elements.
A cell reference is the part of a formula which refers to another cell. For example, in the
formula to add two cells =(A4+A1), both A4 and A1 are cell references. These references can be
quite complex referring to cells in different worksheets or even in different files. See Section
5.2.4.3 ― Cell Referencing for a complete explanation of references.

Error
An error element describes the failure to calculate the result of a formula. These values are
rarely entered directly by a user but usually are the display given when a formula cannot be

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correctly calculated. See Section 5.2.5 ― Error Elements for a complete list of error values and
their explanation.

A cell may display a series of hash marks (######). This indicates that the result is too wide to
display in the cell given the current font setting and the current column width. When this occurs,
the value in the cell can be seen in two ways. If the cell is selected, the value will appear in the data
entry area (to the right of the equals button directly above the cell grid). Alternatively, the column
containing the cell can be widened until the data contents become visible: select the whole column
(by clicking on the column header) and choose Format ▸ Column ▸ Auto fit selection.

5.2.1. Text Data Elements

5.2.2. Number Data Elements
5.2.3. Boolean Data Elements
5.2.4. Formula Elements
5.2.5. Error Elements

5.2.1. Text Data Elements

Text elements consist of an arbitrary sequence of characters or numbers entered into a cell. Because Gnumeric
automatically recognizes certain sequences as numbers or formulas, certain sequences of characters (such as
sequences containing only digits or a text element which starts with an equals sign) must be treated specially to
have them considered text. In order to force any sequence to be considered text, the sequence can be started
with an apostrophe symbol ('). Alternatively, the 'number' format of the cell can be specified to be 'text' before
entering the characters, as explained in Section 5.10.1 ― Number Formatting Tab. Text elements are the
simplest elements to enter into spreadsheet cells.

An example of a spreadsheet cell grid with cells containing text is given in Figure 5-1.

Figure 5-1 A Text Data Element in a Cell.

Valid text entries include simple words, whole sentences and even paragraphs.

To include a newline in a cell, a special key combination is required. A newline symbol can be
inserted with the key combination of Alt+Enter.

5.2.2. Number Data Elements

Number data elements include a variety of data all of which are stored and manipulated by Gnumeric as
numbers. This includes integers, decimal fractions, general fractions, numbers in scientific notation, dates,
times, and currency values.

Data are recognized as numbers when they are entered, dependent on the format of the sequence of
characters entered. Gnumeric attempts to intelligently guess the subtype of the data and match the data to an
existing format for numbered data. If it matches a data format, Gnumeric will automatically assign the datum to
a data type and associate an appropriate display format with the cell. The format recognition of Gnumeric
includes a wide variety of data formats which are discussed in detail in Section 5.10.1 ― Number Formatting
Tab.

Because Gnumeric automatically guesses the data type of a number being entered into a cell, this process may
have to be over-ridden for certain types of data. For example, postal codes in the United States consist of a
sequence of numbers which Gnumeric interprets as an integer. However, U.S. postal codes can start with a
leading zero which Gnumeric discards by default. In order to override the default format, the number format of
the cell must be specified before the entry of the data. This is explained in Section 5.10.1 ― Number Formatting
Tab, below.

5.2.3. Boolean Data Elements

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Cells can contain boolean data elements. These elements arise from Boolean logic which is a branch of
mathematics. These elements are useful for manipulation of formulas.

Boolean values can be either "TRUE" or "FALSE". If these strings are entered into a cell, Gnumeric will recognize
these as boolean values. These values can then be used in formulas. Certain formulas will also return boolean
values.

5.2.4. Formula Elements

Formulas are the key to making a powerful spreadsheet. A formula instructs Gnumeric to perform calculations
and display the results. These calculations are defined as a formula data elements. The power of these formulas
arises because these formulas can include the contents of other cells and the results of the formulas are
updated automatically when the contents of any cell included in the formula change. The contents of other
cells are included using "cell references" which are explained below.

Any formula entered into a cell must follow a specific syntax so that Gnumeric can interpret the formula
correctly. This syntax closely follows mathematical notation but also includes spreadsheet formulas, object
names and cell references.

5.2.4.1. Syntax
5.2.4.2. Using Functions
5.2.4.3. Cell Referencing
5.2.4.4. Names
5.2.4.5. Array Formulas
5.2.4.6. Database Formulas

5.2.4.1. Syntax

Formulas are distinguished from regular data by starting with an equals sign (=) as the first character.
Everything following this equals sign is evaluated as a formula.

Alternate Beginnings for Formulas

To accommodate those more familiar with Lotus spreadsheets, Gnumeric recognizes the
commercial at symbol (@) as the beginning of a formula and substitutes an equals sign. The plus and
minus characters (+ and -) may also start formulas that involve calculation, but when used in front of
a single number only indicate the sign of the number.

The simplest formulas just use the standard math operator and symbols. Addition, subtraction, multiplication,
and division are represented by +, -, *, and /, just as you would expect. +,- can be placed in front of numbers to
indicate sign, as well.

Example 5-1 Examples of standard operators

=5+5 returns 10.

=5-4 returns 1.

=-5 returns -5.

=5*5 returns 25.

=(5*5)+11 returns 36.

=(5*5)+(49/7) returns 32.

Formulas can result in error values in several instances. If a formula is entered incorrectly, Gnumeric will display
a warning and allow either the formula to be corrected or will save the formula as text for editing later. If a
syntactically correct formula results in a nonsensical calculation (for instance, a division by zero), then an error
value will be displayed indicating the error.

5.2.4.2. Using Functions

Formulas can also contain functions which denote the use of standard mathematical, business, statistical, and
scientific calculations. These functions take the place of any data element in a formula and can therefore be

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combined with the standard arithmetic operators described above.

These functions have the form:

Example 5-2 Basic Function syntax

FUNCTIONNAME(ARGUMENTS)

where FUNCTIONNAME indicates the name of a function and ARGUMENTS indicates one or more arguments to
the function. The function arguments are separated by commas (,).

While the documentation generally refers to functions and to cells in capital letters, their use is not
actually case sensitive.

Some examples of the use of functions are:

Example 5-3 Some examples of function syntax

=SUM(A1,A2,A4,B5)

=AVERAGE(A1:A16)

=EXP(1)

=PI()

=3+4*MIN(A1,A2,B6)

The arguments of the functions vary in number from none, as in the PI() function, to an unlimited number, as in
the SUM() function, depending on the type of function.

5.2.4.3. Cell Referencing

Formulas can include the displayed data from other cells. These contents are described as `cell references'
which are names indicating that the contents of other cells should be used in the calculation.

Each cell in a spreadsheet is named by its column and row labels. By default, the column labels are letters and
the row labels are numbers. The first cell, therefore, is called A1. One column over and two rows down from cell
A1 is the cell B3. In a worksheet of the default size, the right most and bottom most cell is cell IV65536 which is
the cell in column IV and in row 65536. An alternative cell reference notation uses numbers for both row and
column identification. See Section 5.2.4.3.2 ― References using R1C1 Notation below for details.

The value of a cell can be used in a formula simply by entering its name where a number value would otherwise
occur. For example, to have the data in cell B1 appear in another cell, enter =B1 into that cell. Other more
complex examples include:

Example 5-4 Some examples of simple cell reference syntax

=A1+EXP(B1)-(C3/C4)

=COS(A2)*SIN(A2)

5.2.4.3.1. Absolute cell referencing

5.2.4.3.2. References using R1C1 Notation
5.2.4.3.3. Referencing multiple cells
5.2.4.3.4. Referencing cells on other sheets
5.2.4.3.5. Referencing cells on other files

5.2.4.3.1. Absolute cell referencing

Cells can be referenced in the default way (relative referencing), or by using absolute referencing. Absolute
referencing means that when the cell is copied, the cell reference does not change. Normally, auto-filling a cell

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range or moving a cell will change its cell reference so that it maintains a relation to the original cell. Absolute
referencing prevents these changes.

When Does Relative Referencing Make a Difference?

The difference between absolute and relative cell references only matters if you are copying or
moving cells that contain cell references. For cells that are going to remain in place, both the
relative and absolute references have the same result.

Example 5-5 Relative References

For example, if =A1 is the formula entered into cell B2, cell B2 will display the data in cell A1, which is one row
up and one column left. Then, if you copy the contents of B2 to cell F6, cell F6 will contain the value from E5,
which is also one row up and one column left.

For the copied cell to still refer to A1, specify absolute references using the $ character: $A$1 refers to cell A1,
no matter where it is copied.

The format for absolute cell referencing is to use a '$' in front of the cell coordinate that you want to stay
constant. The column, the row, or both can be held constant.

Example 5-6 Cell referencing examples

What happens when a given formula is entered into cell B2, then copied to other cells?

=A1
=A1 is a normal, or relative, cell reference function. When =A1 is entered into cell B2, it refers to
the value of data one cell up and one cell left from the cell with the reference. Therefore, if this
formula were copied from cell B2 to cell C2, the value displayed in cell C2 will be the value of
data in cell B1. Copied to cell R19, the formula will display the data in cell Q18.

=$A1
In this case, the column value is absolute, but the row value is relative. Therefore, if =$A1 is
entered into cell B2, the formula refers to the data in column A that is one row up from the
current location. Copied to cell C2, the formula will refer to the data in cell A1. Copied to cell
R19, it will refer to the data in A18.

=A$1
This formula uses a relative column value and an absolute row value. In cell B2, it refers to cell
A1 as the data in the cell one column left and in row 1. Copied to cell C3, the formula will display
the data in cell B1.

=$A$1
No matter where this formula is copied, it will always refer to the data in cell A1.

5.2.4.3.2. References using R1C1 Notation

From the Format ▶ Sheet submenu you can select R1C1 notation for a worksheet. This causes all cell
references on the sheet to be shown as “RrCc”, where r is the row number and c is the column number. When
R1C1 notation is selected, the column headers show numbers rather than letters.

When r and c are positive integers, as in “R1C1”, the reference is absolute. To produce a relative reference,
enclose a number in square brackets; if the number is zero, it can be omitted along with the brackets. For
example, “RC[-2]” refers to the cell two columns to the left in the current row, while “R[1]C1” refers to the cell
in the first column of the next row down from the referencing cell. The second example combines a relative row
reference with an absolute column reference.

5.2.4.3.3. Referencing multiple cells

Many functions can take multiple cells as arguments. This can either be a comma separated list, an array, or any
combination thereof.

5.2.4.3.3.1. Multiple individual cells

5.2.4.3.3.2. Referencing a continuous region of cells
5.2.4.3.3.3. Referencing non-continuous regions

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5.2.4.3.3.1. Multiple individual cells

A comma separated list of cell references can be used to indicate cells that are discontinuous.

Example 5-7 Some examples of function syntax

=SUM(A1,B2,C4)

=MIN(A1,B2,C4,C5,D6)

5.2.4.3.3.2. Referencing a continuous region of cells

For functions that take more than one argument, it is often easier to reference the cells as a group. This can
include cells in sets horizontally, vertically, or in arrays.

The ':' operator is used to indicate a range of cells. The basic syntax is upper left corner:bottom right corner.

Example 5-8 Referencing blocks of cells

=SUM(A1:E1)

=AVERAGE(B4:E7)

=MIN(A1:A5)

5.2.4.3.3.3. Referencing non-continuous regions

For referencing cells that are in non-continuous regions, you can use any combination of the above methods to
get the needed cells.

Example 5-9 Referencing blocks of cells

=SUM(A1:E1, B19, L14:L17)

=AVERAGE(A1,A3, A5:C5)

5.2.4.3.4. Referencing cells on other sheets

It is possible to reference cells which are not part of the current sheet. This is done using the
SHEETNAME!CELLLIST syntax, where SHEETNAME is an identifier (usually a sheet name) and CELLLIST is a
reference to a cell or range of cells as described in the previous sections. If SHEETNAME contains spaces or
other special characters, you must quote the whole name to allow Gnumeric to recognize it as a single name.
See the examples below.

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When the reference is to a range of cells, the worksheet name only needs to be given with the first cell
reference. The ending cell of the range is assumed to be on the same worksheet if an explicit sheet name is not
specified. Note, however, that “Sheet1!A1:Sheet3!C5” is a legitimate cell range description. It identifies a range
three columns wide and five rows deep on each of the worksheets from Sheet1 through Sheet3. The preferred
form of such a reference is “Sheet1:Sheet3!A1:C5”, which is the form Gnumeric will display if you subsequently
edit the contents of a cell containing such a reference.

Example 5-10 Referencing cells in other sheets

='Sheet 0'!A1+'Sheet 3'!A5

=SUM(Sheet1!A1:A5)

5.2.4.3.5. Referencing cells on other files

It is possible to reference cells in other files. The canonical form for these references is
[filename]SHEETNAME!CELLLIST. The square brackets serve to quote filename, so you should use quotation
marks only if they are actually part of the file name. Note that the sheet name must be present in references of
this form.

Example 5-11 Referencing cells in other files

=[Name of the file]'Sheet 0'!A1

=CEIL( [First Version.gnumeric]'Sheet 1'!E20 )

5.2.4.4. Names

Names are labels which have a meaning defined in the spreadsheet or by Gnumeric. A name can refer to a
numeric value, a string, a range of cells, or a formula. For details on defining and using names, see Section 5.17
― Defining Names.

Example 5-12 Examples of name usage

If myCellRange is defined as '$A$1:$B$500' and my_E_Constant is defined as 2.71828182845 then we can have:

=VLOOKUP(C1, "gnu", myCellRange, 2, 0)

=LN(my_E_Constant)

=SUM(myCellRange, my_E_Constant)

5.2.4.5. Array Formulas

It is periodically useful or necessary to have an expression return a matrix rather than a single value. The first
example most people think of are matrix operations such as multiplication, transpose, and inverse. A less
obvious usage is for data retrieval routines (databases, realtime data-feeds) or functions with vector results
(yield curve calculations).

Example 5-13 Entering an Array Formula

An array formula is currently entered by selecting the single range in which to store the result, entering the
array formula, and hitting the key combination, Ctrl+Shift+Enter.

The result is displayed as:

={FUNCTION(ARGUMENTS)}(num_rows, num_cols)[row][column]

5.2.4.6. Database Formulas

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Solely for compatibility with Excel and ODF files, Gnumeric supports various database functions: DAVERAGE ,
DCOUNT , DCOUNTA , DGET , DMAX , DMIN , DPRODUCT , DSTDEV , DSTDEVP , DSUM , DVAR and DVARP .

Since these functions are quite restrictive on the criteria that can be used, it is often easier to use array
functions as described in Section 5.2.4.5 ― Array Formulas. Array functions are also useful in the case that a
specific database function does not exist:

Example 5-14 Simulating DMEDIAN with an Array Function

As shown in Figure 5-2, instead of using (the non-existing) function DMEDIAN one can use the alternative
expression median(if(A1:A20="AA",B1:B20)) entered as an array function as described in Section
5.2.4.5 ― Array Formulas. Multiple conditions can be combined using multiplication to obtain AND and addition
to obtain OR as in median(if((A1:A20="AA")+(C1:C20="BB"),B1:B20)) . Using defined names as
introduced in Section 5.2.4.4 ― Names for A1:A20 and B1:B20 can make this code very flexible and
readable.

In this case we cannot use if(OR(A1:A20="AA",C1:C20="BB"),...) since the OR function

would be applied to all 40 equality tests rather than each of the 20 pairs of equality tests.

Figure 5-2 Calculating the MEDIAN of Some Data Values

5.2.5. Error Elements

Cells can display error values if the formula contained in the cell cannot be solved or if other anomalous
conditions occur.

In Gnumeric all error values have names that start with # . 8 error values are standardized:

Table 5-1 The standard error values of Gnumeric

Name Normal Use

#DIV/0! Division by zero occurred.
#N/A Not applicable. This is the result of the =NA() formula.
#NAME? An unknown function name or other name was encountered.
#NULL! The result of specifying an intersecting range that in fact does not intersect.
#NUM! A formula could not be evaluated because an invalid number was used as argument, for example
=SQRT(-1)
#REF! An invalid cell address or reference was encountered.
#UNKNOWN! Usually the result of importing an unrecognized error from a different file format.
#VALUE! A formula could not be evaluated because the wrong type of argument was used.

5.3. Data Entry

There are several ways to add data into a spreadsheet. The simplest data entry technique involves typing the
data into a spreadsheet by hand. This is usually necessary the first time that data are introduced into a
computer. If the data already exist in a computer file of some kind, a simple way might exist to insert these data
into a Gnumeric worksheet. If the data are in a text file, they can be inserted into a worksheet rapidly using the

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text conversion facilities. If data exist in a spreadsheet file of a different format, Gnumeric may be able to open
the file and the data can then be copied where they are wanted.

This section explains how to enter data by hand into a spreadsheet. The techniques necessary to obtain data
from other computer sources are explained in Chapter 14 ― Working with Files which deals with external data
sources.

If the information being entered into Gnumeric cannot be interpreted correctly, Gnumeric will
display an error message. The user may then be forced to edit the data before continuing. For
example, a formula may be mathematically incorrect if the user has two operators in a row (e.g.
=3+*4) and the dialog will give the user the chance to re-edit the entry or accept the entry as text
rather than as a formula. When the formula is corrected, the leading apostrophe can be removed
and Gnumeric will re-interpret the entry as a formula.

5.3.1. Data Entry by Editing Cells.

5.3.2. Entering Text Data
5.3.3. Entering Number Data
5.3.4. Entering Boolean Data
5.3.5. Entering Formulas
5.3.6. Entering Errors

5.3.1. Data Entry by Editing Cells.

The simplest method to place data in a spreadsheet involves selecting the location for the data, typing the data
on a keyboard and then typing the Enter key to finish the input.

Simple Data Entry

1. Select the cell where you want to enter data by clicking on it with the white cross cursor. This will place the
thick `selection' box around that cell.
2. Type in the data or formula. The details of this step are presented below for each of the five types of data
which can be entered.
3. Press the Enter key. This will complete the input and move the selection box down one cell which will then
be able to receive further input.

At any time while entering the data and before the Enter is pressed, the user can cancel the data
entry by typing the Esc key. This will return the spreadsheet to the selection mode and restore the
contents previously in the selected cell.

Instead of the Enter key, other keys can be used to input the data in the current cell. These other
keys will move the selection box to other locations than does the Enter key. The Tab key inputs the
entry in the currently selected cell and then moves the selection box one cell to the right of the
current cell. The arrow keys input the entry into the currently selected cell and move one cell in the
direction of the arrow. The Enter key can also be used in conjunction with other keys. Typing the
Shift+Enter combination will move the selection upwards after entry. Typing the Ctrl+Enter
combination will re-select the currently selected cell.

5.3.1.1. Advanced Editing Mode

5.3.1.1. Advanced Editing Mode

After selecting the cell and initially entering the data, the user is in a limited editing mode. The main key for
editing mistakes in this mode is the backspace key.

For a more complete set of editing options, especially for longer entries, there is an advanced editing mode. To
enter the advanced editing mode, press the F2 function key or click on the editing region. The keyboard focus
will then shift from the current cell to the editing region at the top of the worksheet. There, you can use cursor
keys to position the cursor within the data in the cell, and have all of the capabilities of the data entry area
available.

For example, you can use:

Backspace
Delete the character to the left of the cursor.

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Cursor keys
Move the cursor appropriately.

Ctrl+K
Delete to the end of the line

See Section 5.3 ― Data Entry For more info on the data entry area.

All the normal key bindings for GNOME application entry boxes also apply in the data entry box.

After finishing the data entry, pressing the Enter key will input the data entry and move the selection box
downward just like for the simple editing mode.

5.3.2. Entering Text Data

Text can be entered by selecting a cell, typing the text and then typing the Enter key. Anything that is not
interpreted to be a number, boolean, formula or error will be treated as a text field. To prevent Gnumeric from
interpreting an entry as one of these other elements, a leading apostrophe can be added to force the entry to
be text. Any entry, no matter what the contents, which starts with a leading apostrophe (') will be considered to
be text.

Postal codes in the United States are series of five integers. By default, Gnumeric interprets these to
be numbers. This interpretation means that the leading zeros used in the postal codes of the
northeastern region will be lost by default. To retain these leading zeros, either the code should be
entered with a leading apostrophe (e.g. '02917) or the cells should be formatted as text before data
entry (see Section 5.10 ― Formatting Cells for an explanation of formatting).

5.3.3. Entering Number Data

Numbers can be entered like other items. First the cell in which the number should be entered must be
selected, then a valid number must be typed in and finally the entry must be inserted using the Enter key. The
valid formats for numbers are presented in Section 5.2.2 ― Number Data Elements.

5.3.4. Entering Boolean Data

A boolean can be entered by selecting the cell, typing the boolean (either TRUE or FALSE) and then typing the
Enter key.

5.3.5. Entering Formulas

Formulas can be entered simply by typing a syntactically correct formula in a cell. The correct syntax for
formulas is explained in detail in Section 5.2.4 ― Formula Elements. Formulas begin with an equals sign (=) and
contain arithmetic symbols, functions with their arguments and cell references.

To enter a formula, first the cell must be selected, then the correct formula must be typed, and finally the Enter
key must be typed.

If the formula entered into Gnumeric cannot be interpreted correctly, Gnumeric will display an error
message giving the user the choice of re-editing the formula or saving the formula as a text field to
be edited later. For example, a formula may be mathematically incorrect if the user has two
operators in a row (e.g. =3+*4). If the formula is saved as text, when the formula is corrected the
leading apostrophe must be removed. Gnumeric will then re-interpret the entry as a formula.

5.3.5.1. Shortcuts for including cell references and ranges in formulas

5.3.5.2. Entering formulas using the function list
5.3.5.3. Entering formulas using the formula guru

5.3.5.1. Shortcuts for including cell references and ranges in formulas

Formulas often include cell references or references to ranges of cells as arguments to functions. These
references and ranges can be entered into a formula simply by typing in the proper syntax (see Section 5.2.4.3
― Cell Referencing for more details). But manually entering in cell ranges is slow and cumbersome. In order to

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speed up the entry of these cell ranges, the mouse and the keyboard arrow keys can be used to select these cell
ranges quickly.

When editing a formula, if the cursor is at a point where a cell reference or range would be appropriate, the
reference or range can be selected using the mouse. If the mouse is used to click on a cell, the reference of that
cell will be entered into a formula. Alternatively, if the mouse is used to drag a selection over a range of cells,
that cell range will become part of the formula. The selected range will be highlighted by a border of moving
black dashes, commonly called the "marching ants" border.

Figure 5-3 The highlighted selection

Using the mouse to enter cell references

1. Begin entering a formula as you would normally. Stop at the point where a cell reference is appropriate.
For example, example, type =exp(
2. Click on the cell you want to reference. Its reference will be entered into the formula.
3. To finish the formula, just type in the closing parenthesis. This will also "unselect" the region.

The mouse can be used to select a single cell, a continuous range of cells or several disjoint ranges of cells just
like regular selections.

If entering lots of formulas or even just entering a few formulas, it is often quickest to use the keyboard to
select cells and ranges of cells for use in formulas. Just as reaching a input point allows the user to select cells
with the mouse, it is possible to use the keyboard to select cells. Just use the cursor keys and selection
modifiers to create a selection.

Using the keyboard to enter cell references

1. Select a cell to enter a formula into. For example A1.
2. Enter a formula, but stop the cursor at a point where a cell reference is appropriate. For this example,
=SUM(
3. Move the selection around with the cursor keys. Move the selection cursor to cell B1 to start the selection.
4. Hold down Shift and move the selection one cell over and one cell down. Cells B1,B2,C1,C2 should now be
selected and the formula should show =sum(B1:C2
5. To finish the function, close the parenthesis. The cell should now show =sum(B1:C2). Press enter and the
formula is entered.

To select a range of cell, hold Shift and move over the desired area.

To stop entering a selection or to start over, press Shift+Backspace

5.3.5.2. Entering formulas using the function list

5.3.5.3. Entering formulas using the formula guru

5.3.6. Entering Errors

Errors are almost never entered directly into a spreadsheet but usually arise from problems which Gnumeric
encounters during calculations. A list of errors with their meanings is presented in Section 5.2.5 ― Error
Elements.

In an unusual case where it is needed, an error can be entered by hand like the entry of other elements. First the
cell must be selected, then the error must be entered (e.g. #DIV/0!) and finally the Enter key must be pressed.

5.4. Advanced Data Entry

This section describes advanced methods for data entry in Gnumeric. This includes techniques useful when
adding large amounts of data, methods to automatically catch mistakes during data entry, using pre-defined
templates to format data input, obtaining data from external sources and generating sequences of random
numbers with defined distributions.

5.4.1. Entering Large Quantities of Data

5.4.2. Entering a Regular Sequence
5.4.3. Automatically Correcting Simple Mistakes

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5.4.4. Using a Format Template
5.4.5. Generating Random Number Sequences

5.4.1. Entering Large Quantities of Data

It is sometimes necessary to enter large amounts of data by hand into a spreadsheet. To facilitate this work,
Gnumeric provides several techniques to facilitate the entry of large amounts of data.

If data are to be entered into a series of rows or columns, this region can be selected ahead of time thereby
modifying the behaviour of the data entry keys (the Enter, Tab and arrow keys).

Data entry into a region

1. Select the region with the mouse. For example, the region from cell C4 to cell E8 can be selected by
clicking with the left mouse button on cell C4 and dragging the mouse cursor to cell E8. (More information
on complex selections is presented below.)
2. Enter data by typing the data and the Enter key. If this is done repeatedly, the fifth time the Enter key is
pressed, the selection will not move to cell C9 but will jump up to cell D4.

The Tab key can also be used instead of the Enter key to move sequentially through the selection.

5.4.2. Entering a Regular Sequence

It is often necessary to enter a regular sequence of numbers or a repeated sequence of text. Gnumeric provides
several ways to input series and sequences of this kind.

The simplest way to fill a series with the same element repeated involves entering the element once and
dragging the selection box to fill that element repeatedly. For example, the text "employee:" could be input
into cell C2. That cell could then be selected. The selection box is a thick white rectangle which surrounds the
cell. This selection box has a small white square at the bottom right hand corner. If the mouse cursor is placed
above this square box, it changes to a thin cross. If the left hand mouse button is clicked and held, and the
mouse dragged to cell C10, Gnumeric will automatically fill all of the cells with the identical string.

An alternative way to enter data into a region involves first selecting the region, then typing the value and
finally typing the Ctrl+Enter key combination. This will fill the whole region with the identical value which was
originally entered.

A similar method is available to fill sequences of integers. If the example just given was altered so that cell C2
had the number 14 and the Ctrl key was held during the dragging of the selection, Gnumeric will automatically
fill the cells C2 to C10 with the series 14,15,16,...,22.

More complex series and sequences of data can be entered with a similar mechanism.

To do an autofill:

1. Enter a value into the first cell you wish to autofill. For example, the cell C2 could have the number "24"
entered.
2. Enter a second value into the second cell you wish to autofill. This must be adjacent to the first cell. This
sets the increment to use when autofilling the rest of your cells. For example, the cell D2 could have the
number "28" entered.
3. Select both the cells just entered. At the bottom-right of the selection should be a small box. Your mouse
cursor will change to a cross-hair when placed over the box. Press and hold on the box. Drag in the
direction, either vertical or horizontal, you wish to increment and release when all the cells are filled. For
example, selecting cells C2 and D2, then dragging the bottom right of the selection to cell I2 will fill the
cells with the sequence from 24 to 48 with each increment being 4.

An alternative to the last step involves using the menus. Once the first two values have been input, the whole
range to be filled can be selected using the mouse and then the Autofill selection can be made from the Edit
and Fill. This will automatically complete the series in the selected region.

Gnumeric is able to increment several types of data beyond simple integers. The procedure is the same as
described above but involves different starting values. Gnumeric can increment:

Integers
1, 2, 3, etc.

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Natural Numbers
1.03, 2.05, 3.07, etc.

Weekday Names
Monday, Tuesday, etc.

Weekday Abbreviations
Mon, Tues, etc.

Month Names
January, February, etc.

Month Abbreviations
Jan, Feb, etc.

Strings with Numbers

Item1, Item2, etc

Dates
11/14/2001, 11/15/2001, etc.
Gnumeric supports incrementing the date by month, date, or year.
Note that, While Gnumeric will increment days of the month, if you do 11/14/2001 and
12/14/2001, it will recognize it as the same day of the month and increment the month so the
next value would be to 1/14/2002 instead of the day difference.

Gnumeric can be explicitly told the cells to autofill as in the examples above, but it can also guess the number of
cells to fill based on the length of an adjacent column or row. For example, if the cells B2 to B10 have
information and cell C2 has the integer value "1", then selecting cell C2 and double clicking on the bottom
rightmost box of the selection rectangle will fill the value "1" from cell C3 to cell C10.

5.4.3. Automatically Correcting Simple Mistakes

The entry of large amounts of data into a spreadsheet is tedious work which is prone to repeated mistakes.
Gnumeric provides a tool to automatically correct commonly made simple mistakes. The corrections are
configured and activated using the `AutoCorrect' dialog, available via Auto Correct in the Tools menu.

Figure 5-4 The Auto Correct dialog.

5.4.3.1. Capitalize the Names of Days

5.4.3.2. Correct TWo INitial CApitals
5.4.3.3. Capitalize the First Letter of Sentences

5.4.3.1. Capitalize the Names of Days

If this correction rule is activated, the first letter of a name of a day is capitalized automatically. For example, if
you type `monday', it is automatically replaced by `Monday'.

5.4.3.2. Correct TWo INitial CApitals

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A common mistake is to hold down the shift key a little bit too long while typing initial letters. When it happens,
you will get two initial capitals instead of one. If this correction rule is activated, the second letter of words
beginning with two capital letters is automatically lowercased. For example, if you type `TOtal' into a cell it is
replaced by `Total'. Note that if the word contains two capital letters only, it is not replaced.

It is possible to specify exceptions to this tool. For example, you do not want the tool to replace the word
`PVbonds' when it is typed. To specify exceptions, type `PVbonds' into the ``Do not correct'' entry, and press
``Add'' button. Now the word should be included in the list of exceptions. To remove a word from the list, select
the word and press the ``Remove'' button.

5.4.3.3. Capitalize the First Letter of Sentences

If this correction rule is activated, the first letter of a sentence typed into a cell is capitalized, if it is a lowercase
letter in the first place. Only text that ends to a dot is considered a sentence.

It is possible to specify exceptions to this tool. For example, you do not want the tool to capitalize letters after
acronym `i.g.'. To specify exceptions, type `i.g.' into the ``Do not capitalize after'' entry, and press ``Add''
button. Now the word should be included in the list of exceptions. To remove a word from the list, select the
word and press the ``Remove'' button.

5.4.4. Using a Format Template

This section has not yet been written.

5.4.5. Generating Random Number Sequences

Figure 5-5 Random Number Generation Tool Dialog

Use the random number generation tool to generate random numbers. This tool can generate random numbers
from various probability distributions.

Specify the random distribution by selecting one of the items from the random distribution list. The following
random distributions are supported: Discrete, Normal, Poisson, Exponential, Binomial, Negative Binomial,
Bernoulli, and Uniform.

Specify the parameters of the selected distribution:

Discrete Random Distribution

Specify the value and probability input range in the “Value and Probability Input Range:” entry
box. The value and probability input range is a table consisting of two columns and any number
of rows. The first column specifies the discrete random values and the second column the
probabilities for them. The discrete random values do not have to be numbers, for example,
strings will do as well. The sum of the probabilities in the second column should be one. For
example, if you have the values A, B, C, and D in A1:A4 and values 0.1, 0.4, 0.2, and 0.3 in B1:B4,
you would specify the value and probability input range to be A1:B4.

If the probabilities do not add to 1, they will be automatically scaled.

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Normal Random Distribution

Specify the mean and the standard deviation. The default values are 0 for the mean and 1 for
the standard deviation.

Poisson Random Distribution

Specify the lambda in the “Lambda” entry. Lambda is the average number of events in a unit
time interval.

Exponential Random Distribution

Specify b in the “b Value” entry.

Binomial Random Distribution

Specify the probability of success (p) in the “p Value” entry and the number of trials (n) in the
“Number of Trials” entry. The Binomial distribution is a discrete distribution in which the
experiment consists of n identical trials. Each trial is independent of other the trials and has two
possible outcomes, a success or a failure. The probability of success p is constant from one trial
to another. The mean of a random variable that has a Binomial distribution is E(X) = np, and
the variance is var(X) = np(1-p).

Negative Binomial Distribution

Specify the probability of success p in the “p Value” entry and the number of failures r in the
“Number of Failures” entry. Negative Binomial distribution is a discrete distribution in which
the experiment consists of a sequence of independent trials. Each trial has two possible
outcomes, a success or a failure. The probability of success p is constant from one trial to
another. The experiment continues until r failures are observed, where r is fixed in advance.
The mean of a random variable that has a Negative Binomial distribution is E(X) = r(1-p)/p,
and the variance is var(X) = r(1-p)/p^2.

Bernoulli Random Distribution

Specify the probability of success (p) in the “p Value” entry. p is a probability value between 0
and 1. The Bernoulli distribution has two random values 0 and 1, and p is the probability to
observe value 1. The mean of a random variable that has a Bernoulli distribution is E(X) =
1(p) + 0(1-p) = p, and the variance is var(X) = p(1-p).

Uniform Random Distribution

Specify the range of the continuous random variable with the “Between:” and “And:” entries.
The default values for these entries are 0 and 1.

Specify the number of variables in the “ Number of Variables:” entry on the `Options' Page. This determines
the number of columns of random values to be produced.

Specify the number of random numbers for each variable in the “Size of Sample: ” entry on the same page. This
determines the number of rows of random values to be produced.

Figure 5-6 Some Example Data for the Random Number Generation Tool

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Example 5-15 Using the Random Number Generation Tool

Figure 5-6 shows some example data and Figure 5-7 the corresponding output.

Figure 5-7 Random Number Generation Tool Output

5.5. Obtaining Data from External Sources

Data are commonly obtained from external sources such as from other files, either in a spreadsheet format or in
delimited text format, from other applications using the mouse to copy and paste data or from external
applications such as databases or internet data streams.

5.5.1. Obtaining Data from External Files

5.5.2. Obtaining Data by Cut and Paste
5.5.3. Getting Data from a Database
5.5.4. Getting Data from an Internet Data Stream

5.5.1. Obtaining Data from External Files

Data which already exist in an external file can be imported into a workbook first by opening the file into a
separate instance of Gnumeric and then by copying the relevant data into the desired worksheet.

Data contained in external files in the formats of several other spreadsheet applications can be opened by
Gnumeric. Gnumeric can open files in Applix (TM) format, GNU Oleo format, Lotus 123 (TM) format, Microsoft
Excel (TM) format, Multiplan (TM) format, OpenOffice Calc or StarOffice Calc (TM) format, Plan Perfect (TM)
format, Quattro Pro (TM) format, sc and XSpread format or in the Xbase format.

Data contained in external text files which are formatted in well defined ways can also be opened by Gnumeric.
Gnumeric can open files formatted in Data Interchange Format, formatted as HTML tables, or formatted in text
formats such as comma separated values or tab delimited records. The opening of text format files is
configurable by the user so that text files which contain data formatted in a wide variety of schemes can be
imported correctly into Gnumeric. Obtaining data from these files is explained in detail in the section titled
Section 14.3 ― Opening Files.

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Data which are opened into a separate instance of Gnumeric can be copied and pasted into the current
worksheet with the copy and paste commands as explained in Section 5.7.2 ― Cut, Copy and Paste.

5.5.2. Obtaining Data by Cut and Paste

Data can be obtained from other Gnumeric workbooks or other applications using the mouse to copy data and
paste them into a worksheet. This is explained below in the section titled Section 5.7.4 ― Cut and Paste
Between Gnumeric and Other Applications.

5.5.3. Getting Data from a Database

This has not yet been written.

5.5.4. Getting Data from an Internet Data Stream

Gnumeric has been connected to external data sources such as stock quotation service data streams using an
experimental plugin. This requires the ability to write programming code. Information on extending Gnumeric
by developing plugins can be found in the section called Section 18.4 ― Writing New Plugins and the actual
computer source code can be found in the directory gnumeric/plugins/sample_datasource/ of either a
distribution of Gnumeric or in a code checkout from the revision control repository.

5.6. Selecting Cells and Cell Ranges

By selecting multiple cells at once, common operations can be performed on all the cells which have been
selected. These operations include data entry, copying the cells, and multiple other operations .

Some operations cannot be done on selections of arbitrary shape. For instance, Gnumeric could not
correctly reshape a worksheet following the deletion of a discontinuous group of cells therefore
such an operation is not allowed. If users attempt an operation which cannot be performed, a
warning dialog will appear.

5.6.1. Simple Selections

5.6.2. Selecting Multiple Cells
5.6.3. Advanced methods of Selection

5.6.1. Simple Selections

The simplest selection involves a single cell. In most cases, simply clicking with the left hand mouse button while
the mouse cursor is over a cell will cause that cell to become selected.

The selected cell is indicated by a dark double line with a small square in the bottom right corner. The selected
cell is the one that is currently in focus and will take any input for the keyboard.

Figure 5-8 A selected cell.

To make a cell become the selected cell, simply move the white-cross cursor over the cell and press the left
mouse button. There is one exception: When on a cell that contains a hyperlink, the mouse cursor changes from
the white cross to a hand and clicking the left mouse button activates the link. In that case the cell can be
selected by clicking the middle mouse button.

Figure 5-9 Selecting a cell with the mouse cursor.

5.6.2. Selecting Multiple Cells

Several cells can be selected at once. When multiple cells are selected, the selected cells are indicated with a
light, "baby" blue colour. When a single block of cells is selected, a double black line will surround the selection,
and all cells except the first one to be selected will be shown in light blue.

Figure 5-10 A multi-cell selection

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5.6.2.1. Continuous selections

5.6.2.2. Discontinuous selections

5.6.2.1. Continuous selections

To make a continuous selection of cells, move the white cross mouse cursor pointer to the cell at one corner of
the block of continuous cells, click and hold the primary mouse pointer on that cell, drag the pointer to the
opposite corner of the block of cells and then release the mouse button. The block of cells will now be selected.

The arrow keys can also be used to select a continuous block of cells. To add cells in this manner, first select the
cell in one corner of the cell block with the primary mouse button, then hold the Shift key and use the arrow
keys to expand the selection block.

Figure 5-11 Multiple cells being selected with the cursor.

5.6.2.2. Discontinuous selections

A discontinuous group of cells can also be selected, by selecting cells or block of cells while holding down the
Ctrl key. To select a discontinuous group of cells, first select a cell or a continuous group of cells as explained
above, then click and hold down the Ctrl while selecting more cells. All of the cells which are selected while the
Ctrl key is held down will be added to the selection. All selected cells will be displayed with a light blue colour.
Cells can be added individually or as continuous blocks. This selection process is additive with each selected cell
added only once so selecting cells twice or more simply adds those cells once to the selection.

Figure 5-12 A discontinuous selection of cells.

5.6.3. Advanced methods of Selection

There are several ways to make selections using the keyboard keys directly. These may be quicker than using the
mouse pointer. As explained above, the simplest of these uses the Shift and arrow keys to make a new
selection.

To select an entire row of cells, press the combination of Shift+space keys. This is equivalent to pressing the
row label button on the left side of the sheet.

Figure 5-13 An entire row being selected.

To select an entire column of cells, press the combination of Ctrl+Space keys. This is equivalent to pressing the
column label button on the top of the sheet.

Figure 5-14 An entire column being selected.

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To select the entire sheet, press the combination of Ctrl+A keys. This is equivalent to pressing the button in the
top left corner of the sheet.

Figure 5-15 The entire worksheet being selected.

The following list summaries keyboard shortcuts which can be used to select large cell blocks.

Shift+Arrow : Define selection with cursor keys.

Ctrl+Arrow : Jump to the end of the current region.
Alt+Space : Select current row.
Ctrl+Space : Select current column.
Ctrl+A : Select the entire sheet.
Ctrl+/ : Select the array formula around the current edit position.

5.7. Moving and Copying Data

Data which have been entered once into a spreadsheet can be moved to new locations and possibly duplicated.
The simplest way to do this involves dragging the selection box. A more advanced way involves a formal cut or
copy operation and then a paste operation in the new location. The latter approach allows the data to be
modified as they are pasted which can be extremely important.

NOTE
Currently Gnumeric only supports copying, cutting and pasting of simple selections or continuous
selections as described in Section 5.6 ― Selecting Cells and Cell Ranges. You cannot copy, cut or
paste discontinuous selections.

It is frequently necessary to copy the results of complex calculations into a new location. This is
done by selecting the data and using the As Value command from the Paste Special... dialog. This is
explained in Section 5.7.3 ― Paste Special below.

5.7.1. Simple Copy and Move

5.7.2. Cut, Copy and Paste
5.7.3. Paste Special
5.7.4. Cut and Paste Between Gnumeric and Other Applications

5.7.1. Simple Copy and Move

The easiest way to move or copy a cell or a group of cells is by selecting the cell or cells to be moved or copied,
then using the mouse to drag the selection box to a new location.

1. Select a cell to move by clicking in it. You can also select a range of cells as described in Section 5.6 ―
Selecting Cells and Cell Ranges.
2. Click left mouse button on the border of the selection (anywhere except the autofill square in the bottom
right corner). Use left mouse button to move cells or Ctrl+left mouse button to copy cells.
3. Drag the selection to the new location.

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4. Release the mouse button.

The selected cells will be copied or moved to the new location. This will move both cells' content and
formatting. When copying, relative cell references in all formulas will change as described in Section 5.2.4.3 ―
Cell Referencing; when moving, relative cell references will remain unchanged.

5.7.2. Cut, Copy and Paste

Another, more flexible, way to copy or move a selection is to use cut, copy, and paste operations. These
operations allow the user to copy or move selected cells to the clipboard buffer and then paste the contents of
the clipboard buffer to a different location or a different workbook.

5.7.2.1. Cutting a Selection to the Clipboard

5.7.2.2. Copying a Selection to the Clipboard
5.7.2.3. Pasting the Clipboard

5.7.2.1. Cutting a Selection to the Clipboard

To cut a cell or a selection to the clipboard, you should select a cell or range of cells as described in Section 5.6
― Selecting Cells and Cell Ranges and then use one of the following methods:

Use keyboard shortcut Ctrl+X.

Choose Cut from the Edit menu.

Click on Cut button in the toolbar.

Right-click on the selection and choose Cut from the context menu.

The selection will be copied to the clipboard buffer. To remind you of this, the border of the selection will be
shown as "marching ants". The selection will be moved to a new location as soon as you choose Paste command
as described below.

NOTE
Please note that the selection will remain in its current location until you paste it. If you want to
delete a selection without pasting it to a new location, use Delete command instead.

5.7.2.2. Copying a Selection to the Clipboard

To copy a cell or a selection to the clipboard, you should select a cell or range of cells as described in Section 5.6
― Selecting Cells and Cell Ranges and then use one of the following methods:

Use keyboard shortcut Ctrl+C.

Choose Copy from the Edit menu.

Click on Copy button in the toolbar.

Right-click on the selection and choose Copy from the context menu.

The selection will be copied to the clipboard buffer. To remind you of this, the selection will outlined by
"marching ants" border. The selection will be copied to a new location as soon as you choose Paste command as
described below.

5.7.2.3. Pasting the Clipboard

To paste the contents of the clipboard (i.e., previously cut or copied selection) to a new location, just click on a
cell and use one of the following methods:

Use keyboard shortcut Ctrl+V.

Choose Paste from the Edit menu.

Click on Paste button in the toolbar.

Right-click on the cell and choose Paste from the context menu.

The contents of the clipboard will be pasted in the spreadsheet so that the selected cell becomes the top left
corner of the selection. This will also copy the formatting of the original selection.

If you are pasting a selection which was copied to the clipboard buffer, all relative cell references in all formulas
will change as described in Section 5.2.4.3 ― Cell Referencing. The selection remains in the clipboard buffer so
that it can be pasted again. The original selection will remain outlined with "marching ants" border.

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If you are pasting a selection which was cut to the clipboard buffer, all cell references in all formulas will remain
unchanged. The original selection will be removed from the workbook and the clipboard buffer will be cleared.

5.7.3. Paste Special

All of the methods described above to move or copy data create identical copies of the original cells in the new
location. This means that both the contents and the formatting of the original selection are copied to the new
location and also means that any data present in the new location are deleted. It is frequently important either
to alter the data before it is pasted or to merge the data in the new location with the data being pasted. The
Paste Special... command enables this.

The Paste Special... command can act exactly like the Paste command or may selectively paste the cell
contents, the cell formats, the calculated values of the original cells rather than their contents. described in the
previous section copies both contents and formatting of the original selection. If you need more options, use
Paste Special... command.

The Paste Special... command can be accessed, after a selection has been cut or copied as explained above, in
one of two ways. First, the location where the pasting should happen must be selected. The easiest way to do
this is to select the single cell which will be at the top left hand corner of the region of pasted cells.
Alternatively, the exact region into which the cells will be copied can be selected. After the selection is made,
the Paste Special... command can be chosen from the Edit menu or the context menu obtained by clicking with
the right mouse button in the cell area of the spreadsheet.

The Paste Special... menu item opens a dialog with three categories. By default, Paste Special... acts as if it
were the Paste menu item.

The first set of choices allow the user to control the data pasted.The user can choose to limit the pasting to only
the cell contents (no cell formatting is copied) or the opposite only cell formats copied (no contents).
Furthermore, the user can insert the selection while transforming all the contents into values only. Formulas
will be replaced by their values.

A second set of choices allows the user to perform simple mathematical operations during the paste. These
operations use the current contents of the cells in the paste range and the contents of the clipboard. For
example, if you are pasting a cell containing number 5 to a cell that currently contains number 10 and choose
option Divide, the result will be 10/5=2. Choosing option None will just replace the previous contents of the
cells by the contents of the clipboard buffer (this is the default behavior).

The final choices contains the following options:

Transpose. This option will transpose the selection, i.e. interchange the rows and columns. Thus, a range
with k rows and n columns will become a range with n rows and k columns, so that the firs row becomes
the first column, and so on.
Skip Blanks. This option prevents Gnumeric from taking any action for the cells in the selection that are
blank. For such cells, the existing contents of the cells in the paste range will be kept.

5.7.4. Cut and Paste Between Gnumeric and Other Applications

Cut and paste commands described above allow copying and moving selections from one location in a
spreadsheet to another, or between different spreadsheets. However, you can also use cut and paste to
exchange information between Gnumeric and other applications, using so-called X clipboard which is shared by
all graphical applications.

Whenever you cut or copy a selection in Gnumeric, it is placed both in Gnumeric clipboard and in X clipboard. In X
clipboard, it is placed as text, with formulas replaced by their values and contents of different cells separated by
spaces.

To paste the selection from X clipboard to an application, click with middle mouse button (if you have two
button mouse, you can emulate the middle mouse button by pressing left and right buttons simultaneously).
Most applications also allow pasting from X clipboard by using keyboard shortcut (usually Ctrl+V) or by
choosing Edit ▸ Paste.

To paste a selection from another application to Gnumeric, place this selection in the X clipboard. Usually it is
done by just selecting it with the mouse; some applications also allow you to use keyboard shortcut Ctrl+C, or
choose Edit ▸ Copy. After this, you can paste it in Gnumeric by using Paste command described above. This
command will automatically paste the contents of X clipboard if Gnumeric's own clipboard is empty.

Pasting X clipboard in Gnumeric will automatically launch the Text Import druid which will assist you in
importing the plain text contents of X clipboard into the spreadsheet. The Text Import druid is described in
Section 14.4 ― Importing Text Files.

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5.8. Deleting Data

This section needs to be written.

5.9. Inserting New Data Cells

This section needs to be written.

5.10. Formatting Cells

This section describes how to format the appearance of data in a cell. The section Section 5.11 ― Conditional
Formatting of Cells describes a more advanced method of formatting where the depends on various conditions
involving the current cell value and/or the values in other cells.

Cell formats allow you to only change the way cell data appears in the spreadsheet. It is important to keep in
mind that it only alters the way the data is presented, and does not change the value of the data.

The formatting options allows for monetary units, scientific options, dates, times, fractions,and more. Positive
and negative values can have different colors and formats for aiding in keeping track of values. There are also a
large variety of date and time formats for virtually any time and date format one can think of. Formatting also
allows you to set font, background color, and borders for selected cells.

Finally, advanced formatting options allow you to lock some of the cells so that their values cannot be changed,
or restrict the range of values that can be entered in the selected cells.

To change the formatting of a cell or a selection, you can either use the Format Cells dialog which holds all of
the formatting options or use specific formatting elements available as buttons on the Format Toolbar.

This dialog, shown in Figure 5-16, gives you access to all formatting options.

Figure 5-16 Format Cells Dialog

To launch this dialog, select the cell or range of cells you want to format (see Section 5.6 ― Selecting Cells and
Cell Ranges for details on selecting cells) and then use one of the following methods:

Use keyboard shortcut Ctrl+1 (this is number one, not letter l).
Choose Format ▸ Cells... in the menubar.
Click with the right mouse button on the cell grid area and choose Format Cells... from the context menu.

The Format Cells dialog contains tabs Number, Alignment, Font, Border, Background, Protection, and
Validation. These tabs are described in detail in the subsequent sections.

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To set one of formatting options, select the corresponding tab, choose the options you need, and click OK. This
will apply the options you selected (in all tabs) and close Format Cells dialog. You can also click on Apply to
apply the and keep the dialog open, or on Close to close the dialog without applying changes.

Some of the most commonly used formatting options, such as font, background, and alignment, can also be
accessed by using the buttons in the Format Toolbar. This toolbar is described in detail in Section 4.4.3 ― The
Format Toolbar,

5.10.1. Number Formatting Tab

5.10.2. Alignment, Font, Border, and Background Tabs
5.10.3. Protection and Validation Tabs

5.10.1. Number Formatting Tab

This tab allows you to select the format for the cell's contents. You can select one of the many preset
formatting styles which should be more than adequate for the vast majority of cases. If none of these meet the
needs of the user, it is possible to create your own formats.

To use one of the preset formats, select the format category (such as Number or Date) by clicking on the
corresponding radiobutton in the left side of the dialog. The right side of the dialog will show you how the
selected cell would look with this format and give more options for the selected format.

The following is a list of all available format categories:

General
A Swiss army knife of a format. It will attempt to display a value it the 'best' way possible. The
choice of format depends on the size of the cell and Gnumeric guess of what 'type' of value is
being displayed (number, date, time ...).

Number
Displays numbers with 0-30 digits after the decimal place. Negatives can be displayed normally,
within parentheses, or in red color. Optionally a delimiter can be added every third order of
magnitude (thousand, million, ...). Both the decimal point and the thousands separator have
internationalization support.

Currency
Similar to Number, with the addition of a currency symbol. Currently known symbols include $,
¥, £, ¤ and the three letter abbreviations of all major currencies. By default, Gnumeric will use
currency symbol and placement (before or after the number) appropriate for your locale.

Accounting
A specialization of Currency which pays more attention to the alignment of negative numbers.
It ensures that a small amount of space is prepended to positive numbers so that they align
with negatives.

Date
This category contains various formats for presenting dates. By default, Gnumeric will use date
format appropriate for your locale (country and language setting). You can also choose one of
many possible date formats shown in the list in the right side of the dialog. The following is an
explanation of codes used in these formats:

d: day of month (one or two digits). Example: 9.

dd: day of month (two digits). Example: 09.
ddd: day of week. Example: Wed.
m: month (number, one or two digits). Example: 3.
mm: month (number, two digits). Example: 03.
mmm: month (abbreviated name). Example: Mar.
mmmm: month (full name). Example: March.
mmmmm: month (first letter). Example: M.
yyyy: year (four digits). Example: 1967.
yy: last two digits of year. Example: 67.

Some date formats also include time using the codes explained below. Examples of date
formatting are shown in Table 5-2.

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Time
This category contains various formats for presenting time of day. You can choose one of many
possible time formats shown in the list in the right side of the dialog. The following is an
explanation of codes used in these formats:

h: hours.
mm: minutes.
ss: seconds.

Sometimes it is necessary to display more than 24 hours, or more that 60 minutes/seconds

without the values incrementing the display unit of the next larger measure (e.g., 25 hours
instead of 1 day + 1 hour). To achieve this, use codes '[h]', '[mm]', and '[ss]'. Examples of time
formatting are shown in Table 5-3.

Percentage
Multiplies a value by 100 and appends a percent. Can be used with 0-30 digits after the decimal
place.

Fractions
Approximate the value with a rational number with either a specific denominator or with a
maximum number of digits in the denominator.

Scientific
Formats the value using scientific notation, e.g. 5.334 E 6 for 5,334,000. Allows up to 30
digits after the decimal place. No provision for controlling the exponent are provided at this
time.

Text
Treats numeric values as text. This will show a number with as much precision as available and
will lose knowledge of whether it represented a date, or time.

TIP
If your workbook contains serial numbers, ID numbers or other similar entries,
choose Text format for them. If you choose General or Number format, Gnumeric
will remove leading zeros, so that 01124 will be shown as 1124.

Custom
This category allows you to define your own format. This is only recommended for advanced
users as it requires understanding of the codes internally used by Gnumeric for describing
formats. To make it easier, this category provides a list of codes for all predefined formats so
you can create our own format by modifying one of them rather than starting from scratch.

Table 5-2 Examples of Date Formats

Format Sample
General 36068.755
m/d/yy d/m/yy 9/30/98 30/9/98
m/d/yyyy d/m/yyyy 9/30/1998 30/9/1998
d-mmm-yy mmm-d-yy 30-Sep-98 Sep-30-98
d-mmm-yyyy mmm-d-yyyy 30-Sep-1998 Sep-30-1998
d-mmm mmm-d 30-Sep Sep-30
d-mm mm-d 30-09 09-30
mmm/d d/mmm Sep/30 30/Sep
mm/d d/mm 09/30 30/09
mm/dd/yy dd/mm/yy 09/30/98 30/09/98
mm/dd/yyyy dd/mm/yyyy 09/30/1998 30/09/1998
mmm/dd/yy dd/mmm/yy Sep/30/98 30/Sep/98
mmm/dd/yyyy dd/mmm/yyyy Sep/30/1998 30/Sep/1998
mmm/ddd/yy ddd/mmm/yy Sep/Wed/98 Wed/Sep/98
mmm/ddd/yyyyddd/mmm/yyyySep/Wed/1998 Wed/Sep/1998
mm/ddd/yy ddd/mm/yy 09/Wed/98 Wed/09/98
mm/ddd/yyyy ddd/mm/yyyy 09/Wed/1998 Wed/09/1998

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Format Sample
mmm-yy Sep-98
mmm-yyyy Sep-1998
mmmm-yy September-98
mmmm-yyyy September-1998
d/m/yy h:mm m/d/yy h:mm 9/30/98 18:07 30/9/98 187:07
d/m/yyyy h:mm m/d/yyyy h:mm 9/30/1998 18:0730/9/1998 187:07
yyyy/mm/d 1998/09/30
yyyy/mmm/d 1998/Sep/30
yyyy/mm/dd 1998/09/30
yyyy/mmm/dd 1998/Sep/30
yyyy-mm-d 1998-09-30
yyyy-mmm-d 1998-Sep-3
yyyy-mm-dd 1998-09-30
yyyy-mmm-d 1998-Sep-30
yy 98
yyyy 1998

Table 5-3 Examples of Time Formats

Format Sample
General 36068.755
h:mm AM/PM 6:07 PM
h:mm:ss AM/PM6:07:12 PM
h:mm 18:07
h:mm:ss 18:07:12
m/d/yy h:mm 9/30/98 18:07
d/m/yy h:mm 30/9/98 18:07
mm:ss 07:12
[h]:mm:ss 865650:07:12
[h]:mm 865650:07
[mm]:ss 51939007:12
[ss] 3116340432

5.10.2. Alignment, Font, Border, and Background Tabs

5.10.2.1. Alignment Tab

5.10.2.2. Font Tab
5.10.2.3. Border Tab
5.10.2.4. Background Tab

5.10.2.1. Alignment Tab

This tab allows you to set horizontal and vertical alignment and justification options.

Figure 5-17 Alignment Tab

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Horizontal justification options.

General
The standard default justification. Use right justification for numbers and formulas, and left
justification for text strings.

Left
Left justify all cell contents.

Center
Center all cell contents.

Right
Right justify all cell contents.

Fill
Fill the cell with the contents. This will repeat the cell's contents as necessary to fill the width of
the cell.

Justify
For text, wrap long lines of text and left justify. For other formats, same as Left.

Center across selection

Centers the cell's contents so the middle of each line is aligned with the middle of other lines.
This only works with multiple cells.

Left and Right justification options also allow you to specify indent from left (respectively, right) side of the
cell. Indent is measured in multiples of the current font size: for font size 10, indent 4 means 40 pts.

Vertical Justification Options

Top
Align the top of the cells contents with the top of the cell.

Center
Center the cells contents vertically. Equally space between the top and bottom.

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Bottom
Align the contents of the cell with the bottom of the cell.

Justify
For text, wrap long lines and spread lines of text evenly to fill the cell. For other formats (or if
the text contains no long lines), same as Bottom justification.

5.10.2.2. Font Tab

This tab allows you to change the font used for cells content.

Figure 5-18 The Font Tab

To change cells font, select font family (such as Times, Helvetica, etc), style (Normal, Bold, ...) and size in
points. You can also select font color and special effects such as underlining or strikethrough.

Gnumeric allows you to use any of the fonts known to GNOME printing system, gnome-print. The same fonts are
used for screen display and for printing, assuring that the printed document will look identical to the one you
see on screen. Advanced users can refer to documentation for gnome-print package to find out more about
adding fonts and font management in GNOME.

TIP
A quicker way to change the selected cells' font is to use Format Toolbar.

5.10.2.3. Border Tab

This tab allows you to choose the border for the selected cells. You can select one of many border styles (none,
single line, double line,...) and colors. You can also have different borders on different sides of the cell.

Figure 5-19 Border Tab

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To choose a border for a cell or a selection, select border style and color in the right side of the tab and click on
the buttons corresponding to the sides of the cells in the left side of the tab. In addition to the buttons for left,
right, top, and bottom sides, you also have buttons for drawing diagonal and reverse diagonal of the cell.
(Strictly speaking, these cannot be called borders, but it is natural to put them in this tab.) The lowest row of
buttons contains buttons None and Outline. Clicking on None removes all borders from the cell; clicking on
Outline puts border on all sides of the cell or selection.

Please note that for a selection of cells, the buttons will put borders on one of the sides of selection, not of
individual cells. For example, clicking on Bottom button will put the border along the bottom of the selection,
so only the cells in the bottom row will be affected. In addition for selections you have three more buttons in
the bottom row: Inside vertical, Inside, and Inside horizontal. Inside vertical puts borders on all inside vertical
borders in the selection; Inside horizontal puts borders on all inside horizontal borders in the selection, and
Inside puts borders on all inside borders in the selection, both vertical and horizontal.

To remove an existing border from one of the sides of a cell or selection, click on the corresponding button
again.

5.10.2.4. Background Tab

This tab allows you to change the background of selected cells. You can choose solid color or patterned
background. A preview of the selected background will be shown in the right part of the tab.

Figure 5-20 Background Tab

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To select a solid color background, select the color from Background Color drop-down box. You can use of the
standard colors or define your own color by clicking on Custom Color button.

To select a patterned background, choose the background color in Background Color section. After this, choose
the pattern color and type in Pattern section. Please note that the pattern type buttons use black pattern on
white background, regardless of the colors you have chosen.

To remove pattern, choose Solid pattern type (top left button, looking like a white square).

5.10.3. Protection and Validation Tabs

These two tabs are used to control user's access to cells and restrict values of data allowed in a cell. Unlike other
formatting options, these two tabs have no effect on a cells appearance. These options are mostly used for
writing templates and forms to be filled by others.

5.10.3.1. Protection Tab

5.10.3.2. Validation Tab

5.10.3.1. Protection Tab

Figure 5-21 Protection Tab

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This tab allows you to see and change cell protection in imported Excel workbooks. Cell protection has no effect
in Gnumeric: you can edit cells whether or not they are marked as protected. However, Gnumeric keeps the
protection setting of imported Excel workbooks. If you later save your workbook in Excel format, Gnumeric will
save the protection information too. For more information about cell protection in Excel, please refer to Excel
documentation.

5.10.3.2. Validation Tab

This tab allows you to set restrictions on allowed values of data in the cells. If you (or someone else) attempts to
enter a data that does not meet the set criteria, a warning (or an error message, depending on the options set
in this tab) will be shown.

Figure 5-22 Validation Tab

This tab consists of two part. The first part, Criteria is used to set the criteria for the cell values. The second
part, Error Alert, is used to choose the action when data entered does not meet the criteria.

To set the criteria for cell values, follow these steps:

1. Choose the type of data contained in the cells, using the Allow drop-down list.

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2. Choose a condition that must be satisfied by the cells value, using Condition drop-down list. In these
conditions, val stands for the cells value (for text, val stands for the length of text string) and min, max,
and bound are constants that you need to specify.
3. Enter the values of constants used in condition. For example, if you chose condition min<=val<=max ,
you need to enter values of constants min and max.

After specifying the criteria, you need to specify how Gnumeric should respond to incorrect cell value. You can
choose one of four possible actions from Action drop-down list:

None
Accept invalid value without any warning. Equivalent to having no validation.

Stop
Do not accept the invalid value. Show the user an error message which you need to specify (see
below).

Warning
Show the user a warning dialog, giving him a choice whether to accept or reject the invalid
value. You need to specify the message to use in the warning dialog (see below).

Information
Accept invalid values but show the user a warning dialog. You need to specify the message to
use in the warning dialog (see below).

If you choose one of the options Stop, Warning, or Information, you must enter the message that will be show
to the user in the error or warning dialog. Otherwise, the dialog will be empty so it will be completely useless.
You need to enter the title (which will be used as the window title for the dialog window) and the message
itself. For example, the values shown in Section 5.10.3.2 ― Validation Tab will produce the dialog shown in
Figure 5-23.

Figure 5-23 Warning dialog in response to invalid input

5.11. Conditional Formatting of Cells

This section needs to be written.

5.12. Filtering Data

With data filters you can select a subset of rows in the worksheet that meet the given criteria. You can, for
example, copy rows of a table containing sales of departments whose profit has been exceptionally high into a
new sheet simply using a filter.

5.12.1. Auto Filters

5.12.2. Advanced Filter

5.12.1. Auto Filters

This section has not yet been written.

Alt+Down Open the AutoFilter in the current cell.

Down and Up Changes the selected item in an AutoFilter
Home Select the first item [All] in an AutoFilter

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End Select the last item in an AutoFilter
Enter or Alt+Up Apply the current entry in an AutoFilter list, and close the combo-box.

5.12.2. Advanced Filter

To use advanced filter, you should have a few blank rows available in your worksheet to be used as a criteria
range. These rows should not overlap with the rows in the table to be filtered.

Now copy all the column labels from the table you want to filter into the first blank row in the criteria range.
Below the criteria labels, you can now type the conditions you want to match for the particular label. For
example, under a label `Profit' you could type `>=1000'. The tool selects only rows that match all the criteria.

Figure 5-24 Worksheet containing the table to be filtered and a simple criteria

It is possible to have many conditions for a single label. For example, you can select the departments whose
profit is either very high or very low. To do this, type, for example, `<=0' below the `>=40000' condition.

Figure 5-25 Criteria for selecting rows whose `Profit' column is between 0 and 40000.

To start the tool, select ``Advanced Filter'' from the ``Data'' menu. It brings you the advanced filter dialog. In
the dialog, select the action you want to take.

Figure 5-26 The Advanced Filter dialog.

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``Filter in-place'' writes the new table in-place. Note that you will lose all the rows in the table that will not
match the criteria. ``Copy to a new location'' copies the selected rows into the same sheet but into the specified
cell range. Type the cell range into the ``Copy to'' entry if you want this action to happen. The other options let
you to copy the selected rows into a new sheet or a new workbook.

You should then specify the cell range containing the table to be filtered in the ``List range'' entry. The cell
range containing the criteria is specified in the ``Criteria range'' entry. If the original table contains duplicate
rows, you may also want to specify the ``Unique records only''. If it is checked on, the filter removes all
duplicates.

To start the tool, you can then click the ``OK'' button and you will get the new table.

5.13. Modifying Data

This section has not yet been written...

5.13.1. Searching for Data

5.13.2. Searching and Replacing Data
5.13.3. Sorting Data
5.13.4. Shuffling Data

5.13.1. Searching for Data

This section has not yet been written...

5.13.2. Searching and Replacing Data

This section has not yet been written...

5.13.3. Sorting Data

This section has not yet been written...

5.13.4. Shuffling Data

With data shuffling tool you can shuffle data in a given cell range. The tool can be started by selecting ``Shuffle''
menu item in ``Data'' menu. In order to use the tool give the input range in which the data to be shuffled is
stored. The tool is able to shuffle the contents of the whole cell range, or, also shuffle data according to rows or
columns. The shuffling method is selected under the ``Input Range'' entry. For example, if your data is grouped
by rows then select ``Shuffle Method'' ``Rows''.

The default output method is to shuffle in-place. The shuffled data can also be written into a new sheet, new
workbook, or into an existing sheet by giving the output range. If you select the ``Autofit Columns'' option, the
width of each output column is automatically fixed according to the size of data in it.

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5.14. Generating Data

This section has not yet been written...

...

5.14.1. Creating a Tabulation of Dependencies

5.14.2. Creating Multiple Repeats of Standard Data
5.14.3. Consolidating a Result from Several Source Regions

5.14.1. Creating a Tabulation of Dependencies

This section has not yet been written...

5.14.2. Creating Multiple Repeats of Standard Data

This section has not yet been written...

5.14.3. Consolidating a Result from Several Source Regions

This section has not yet been written...

5.15. Comments in Cells

Each cell in a worksheet can have an associated comment. Comments are not ordinarily visible. Cells having
associated comments are marked with a red triangle in the top right corner of the cell. If you move the mouse
cursor over the red triangle, the cursor changes to the left-pointing arrow. If the cursor remains over the
triangle long enough, a pop-up window appears, displaying the author's name and the text of the comment.
The pop-up window is removed when the mouse cursor is moved off the red triangle.

To add a comment to a cell, first select the cell. Next choose Comment... from the Section 4.2.6 ― Insert Menu
to open the New Cell Comment dialog. If the cell already has an associated comment, Gnumeric instead opens
the Edit Cell Comment dialog, which is shown below. The only difference is that the Edit Cell Comment dialog
is initialized with the existing comment and it includes a line identifying the author of the existing comment.

Figure 5-27 The Insert Comment dialog.

To change the appearance of the comment text, select the text to be formatted, then click on one of the
character attribute selectors above the comment text box. You can select italics, strike-through, character
weight, and underlining. The italics and strike-through selectors toggle the character attributes, based on the
first character of the selected text. For example, if the first character is italic, clicking on the italics selector
removes the italic attribute from all characters of the selected text.

The arrows next to the weight and underlining selectors open menus from which you can select a weight or
underline style. Selecting a weight or underline style applies it to the selected text and makes it the meaning of
the associated selector. For example, if you select Light from the weight menu, the selected text is made light.
If you subsequently click on the weight selector, the text selected at that time is also made light. The weights
may not all be visibly different, depending on the font in use.

"Wrap in properties window" controls word wrap in the comment editing box just above it. By default, lines are
broken at spaces between words to prevent a line from exceeding the width of the text box. Click on the check-
box to toggle word wrap. Line breaks occur in the comment pop-up only where you place them explicitly by
pressing Enter. Turning off word wrap lets you see how the comment will be displayed in the pop-up.

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5.16. Hyperlinks

Each cell can have an associated hyperlink. A hyperlink permits the user of a spreadsheet to go directly to a
particular cell or group of cells, to access another file on the local computer or on the web, or to send an email
message to an address built into the link.

To add a hyperlink to one or more cells, first select the cells. Next choose Hyperlink... from the Section 4.2.6 ―
Insert Menu to open the HyperLink dialog.

Figure 5-28 The HyperLink dialog.

If the selection includes a hyperlink, the dialog is initialized from the existing link. If there is more than one
hyperlink in the selection, the cell in the first row that has a hyperlink, and the first such column of that row, is
used to initialize the dialog.

When you click on OK, the information in the dialog is attached to each cell in the selection, replacing any
previously defined links. For any empty cells in the selection, the text of the link is set as the contents of the
cell. For all cells in the selection, the cell format is modified to give the contents a distinctive color, and the text
is underlined.

If the link location text box is empty when you click on OK, no hyperlink is created. Instead, if any cells in the
selection have existing hyperlinks, those hyperlinks are removed. The distinctive format applied to links is not
removed. For that reason it might be preferable to choose Clear ▶ Formats & Hyperlinks from the Section 4.2.4
― Edit Menu to remove existing hyperlinks.

Gnumeric supports four types of hyperlink. The first element of the HyperLink dialog, the Type menu, selects
the type of hyperlink to be created. The HyperLink dialog varies slightly, depending on the selected hyperlink
type:

Internal Link: The second element of the dialog is a text box labeled "Target Range". You can enter a single
range, with or without a worksheet name. To select the range from the worksheet, click on the button at
the end of the "Target Range" line. This collapses the dialog to a single line and makes it possible to
interact with the cell grid. Select the desired sheet tab, if necessary, then select the desired cells. When the
selection is complete, click on the button at the end of the Target Range input box to open the full
HyperLink dialog again.

When an internal link is activated by clicking on the cell, the range of cells given by the link address
becomes the current selection. The cell closest to A1 in the new selection becomes the active cell.
External Link: The second element of the dialog is a text box labeled "File". Enter the path to a file. You can
also enter a Universal Resource Locator (URL) here; the URL is accessed as described for Web Link below.

When an external link is activated by clicking on the cell, Gnumeric launches an application to present the
file, based on its apparent type. For example, "mypic.jpg" would be opened in an image viewer, while
"myinfo.html" would be opened in a web browser.
Email Link: The dialog provides text boxes where you can enter the destination address and subject line for
an e-mail message.

When an email link is activated by clicking on the cell, Gnumeric launches an e-mail client to send a
message. The message is initialized with the destination address and subject specified in the dialog.
Web Link: Enter a Universal Resource Locator (URL) in the Web Address text box.

When the link is activated by clicking on the cell, Gnumeric launches an application to display the
information at the specified URL, based on its apparent type. For a web address beginning with "http://" or
"https://" the application is the default web browser.

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When you move the mouse pointer to a hyperlink in the cell grid, a tool tip appears. The default tip shows the
link address and instructions for activating the link or selecting the cell. To define a tip specific to the link, select
the radio button next to "Tip", then enter the tip text in the text box. If the link-specific tip is selected and left
blank, no tip is displayed when the mouse pointer is on the link.

5.17. Defining Names

Names are labels with a meaning defined in the spreadsheet or by Gnumeric. Names can be defined for a whole
workbook or for just a single worksheet. A name can refer to a numeric value, a string, a range of cells, or a
formula. A name can be used wherever its meaning could otherwise be used.

A name is a sequence of letters, digits, and underscore characters, beginning with a letter or underscore. A
name cannot look like a cell identifier. For example, "D7" is not a permitted name, while "D_7" and "_D7" are
permitted.

To define a name or modify the definition of an existing name:

If you wish to define or modify a name for use within a single worksheet and it is not the current
worksheet, click on the appropriate worksheet tab at the bottom of the Gnumeric window.
Open the Define Names dialog by choosing Modify ▶ Names from the Section 4.2.4 ― Edit Menu.
Use the dialog to modify the defined names as desired. When your changes are complete, click on Close to
close the dialog.

Figure 5-29 The Define Names dialog

The Define Names dialog lists the names defined in the workbook, organized into two or more groups
corresponding to the workbook, the active sheet, and the inactive sheets, if any. When the dialog is opened,
only the names defined for the workbook and the active sheet are visible; the definitions for any inactive sheets
are collapsed into a single line for each, identified by the sheet name. The definitions for the workbook or a
sheet can be exposed or hidden by clicking on the arrow at the left end of the workbook or sheet line.

The second column of the Define Names dialog can show one of three icons. To define a new name, click on the
plus sign in the row for the workbook or the active worksheet. Names defined under a worksheet name are
visible only on that worksheet. Names defined for the workbook are visible to any worksheet that does not have
its own definition of the name. Names are created as "<new-name>", which must be changed before the
definition can be used. Click on the new line to select it, then click on the name field and type the new name,
followed by the Enter key. When you press Enter, the name is fixed. Only its value can then be changed.

If the second column shows a minus sign, the line is for a user-defined name. Click on the minus sign to delete
the definition of the name. If the second column shows a padlock icon, the definition is created automatically
and cannot be modified from this dialog.

For user-defined names, the third column of the Define Names dialog contains a downward- or upward-
pointing arrow. Click on the arrow to move the definition down to the worksheet or up to the workbook. This
operation is not permitted if the moved definition would replace a name already defined for the destination. To
do such a replacement, first delete the name in the destination, then move the definition.

The last column of the dialog shows the value defined for the name. When a new name is created, this field is
initialized with an absolute reference to the currently selected cells. To modify a definition, click on the value
field and edit it as desired, then press the Enter key. To define a string value, enclose it in quotation marks, for
example, 'string one' or "string two". To specify a range of cells, use absolute references. Relative references
change in meaning depending on the cell where they are used, which is unlikely to produce your intended
result. You can define a name as a cell or range of cells by clearing its existing definition, if any, and then
selecting the desired cell or cells on the cell grid. You can switch worksheets prior to selecting cells. The dialog

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continues to modify names defined for the workbook or the worksheet that was displayed when the dialog was
opened. A reference created by selection in the Define Names dialog includes the worksheet name and uses
absolute cell coordinates. That is, a selection would look like "Sheet1!$A$1:$B$24".

Below the display of defined names is a filter box. If the workbook or sheet contains many defined names, you
can see a subset of the names by typing a partial name in the filter box and pressing Enter. All names that do
not contain the entered string are omitted from the display. Differences of case are ignored. For example, if
“real” were entered in the filter box, names such as "Real_Value" and "Surreal" would be displayed. When you
press Enter in the filter box, contexts that contain no matching names are automatically collapsed. You may
later need to manually expand the workbook line, for example, if the filter string is changed. If the line for the
workbook or a worksheet begins with a right-pointing arrow, it contains names that pass the filter. Clicking on
the arrow will change it to a downward-pointing arrow and make the names visible. To see all the defined
names, clear the filter by clicking on the button at the right end of the filter box.

In addition to the names defined by the user, Gnumeric has some pre-defined names for useful elements:

Sheet_Title: The name of the current sheet.

Print_Area: The range of cells set as the sheet's print area; undefined if print area is not set.

6. Advanced Analysis
This chapter explains many of the advanced analytic tools available in Gnumeric including linear algebra
calculations, the goal seek tool, simulation analysis, and scenarios.

6.1. Advanced Analysis in Gnumeric

6.2. Analysis using Complex Numbers
6.3. Goal Seek Tool
6.4. Simulation Analysis
6.5. Analysis using scenarios

6.1. Advanced Analysis in Gnumeric

There are several kinds of analysis which can be performed using the Gnumeric spreadsheet. These include
statistical analysis and linear programming methods. These are described in this chapter.

6.2. Analysis using Complex Numbers

Complex numbers can be used in Gnumeric but, because they are not fundamental types, all the analysis must
be done with functions.

6.3. Goal Seek Tool

Use Goal Seek Tool to search for a value of a single model variable that yields a given desired value of another
single variable. For example, you can use the Goal Seek to find the break-even value for sales (the break-even is
the amount of sales whose marginal revenue just covers the fixed costs and the profit is thus zero).

6.3.1. Using the Tool

6.3.2. Results
6.3.3. Desired Value in a Given Range

6.3.1. Using the Tool

First, select the ``Goal Seek...'' tool item from ``Tools'' menu. Specify the output variable cell (``Set Cell'') by
typing the cell reference into the entry or by clicking the worksheet cell. If you are searching for the break-even
point, for example, you should specify the cell reference of the profit calculation here.

Specify the desired result for the output variable cell into the ``To Value'' cell. In the search for the break-even,
specify this to be zero.

Specify the input variable cell (``By changing cell'') by typing the cell reference into the entry or by clicking the
worksheet cell. In the search for the break-even, specify the cell reference of the sales here. When you have
done this, you may want to press the ``Apply'' button to start the tool.

6.3.2. Results

Gnumeric will systematically iterate the model by changing the input value to achieve the desired result, if
possible. If goal seek was successful the tool displays the message ``Goal Seeking with cell __ found a solution''.

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It is possible that Gnumeric does not find a solution that generates the desired result. There may not be such a
solution for the model, or, it may be too difficult to find. For example, the mathematical function behind the
calculation may have many non-continuous points.

6.3.3. Desired Value in a Given Range

If Gnumeric did not find a solution that generates the desired result, you may want to try to specify a range
(minimum and maximum) in which the value of the output variable should be. To do this, specify the
``Minimum'' and ``Maximum'' entries.

6.4. Simulation Analysis

6.4.1. Introduction to simulation analysis

6.4.2. Setting up the simulation model
6.4.3. Running the simulation
6.4.4. Simulation output
6.4.5. Using SIMTABLE
6.4.6. Determining the number of iterations

6.4.1. Introduction to simulation analysis

A simulation is the imitation of the operation of a real-world process or system. The behavior of a system is
studied by generating an artificial history of the system through the use of random numbers. These numbers
are used in the context of a simulation model, which is the mathematical, logical and symbolic representation of
the relationships between the objects of interest of the system. After the model has been validated, the
effects of changes in the environment on the system, or the effects of changes in the system on system
performance can be predicted using the simulation model. 2

Gnumeric includes a facility for performing Monte Carlo Simulation. Monte Carlo simulation involves the
sampling of random numbers to solve a problem where the passage of time plays no substantive role. 3 In
other words, each sample is not effected by prior samples. This is in contrast to discrete event simulation or
continuous simulation where the results from earlier in the simulation can effect successive samples within a
simulation experiment. The Monte Carlo simulation will be enabled through the use of the Random Number
functions as described in ??? and the results presented along with statistics for use in analysis. 4

6.4.2. Setting up the simulation model

The remainder of this chapter will illustrate use of the simulation tool using an example from Banks et. al. 5 A
classic inventory problem is the newsvendor problem. A newsvendor buys papers for 33 cents each and sells for
50 cents. Newspapers not sold are sold as scrap (recycled) for 5 cents. Newspapers are purchased by the paper
seller in bundles of 10. Demand for newspapers can be categorized as “good,” “fair,” or “poor” with probability
0.35, 0.45 and 0.20 respectively, with each day's demand being independent of prior days. The problem for the
newsvendor is to determine the optimal number of papers to purchase when the day's demand is not yet
known.

The daily profit equation for the newsvendor is:

Profit = [(Sale revenue) - (Cost) - (Scrap value)]

To set up the model, this example will use two tabs in Gnumeric, a tab labeled 'Profit' to calculate profit, and a
tab labeled 'Demand Tables' to store the various tables needed to calculate the demand for any given sampling.

For the Profit tab, set up the profit tab as in Figure 6-1.

At the top of the Profit' tab, the Profit table will be entered . There are three variables: Sale revenue, Cost and
Scrap value, and they take the per unit coefficients of 0.5, 0.33 and 0.05 respectively. Enter the coefficients in
cells B13 through D13. In cells B12 through D12, enter the equations for sale revenue, cost and Scrap value
that are in the list below. In cell E12, enter the equation for Profit

Next, we add the values for the decision variable, which is the amount purchased, and the amount sold.

B12: =B13*min(B16,B20)
C12: =C13*B16
D12: =D13*max(0,B16-B20)
E12: =B12-C12+D12
B13: 0.5
C13: 0.33
D13: 0.05

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B16: 50

Figure 6-1 Profit table for newsvendor example

Using SIMTABLE for parameter values.

Sometimes, there is a need to try a number of different values for a single parameter. In Section
6.4.5 ― Using SIMTABLE the SIMTABLE function will be used to automate the use of a set of values
for a parameter such as purchase quantity. For now, set the purchase quantity to 50 in cell C16.

Next, create the demand tables from which the demand will be generated. In the tab 'Demand Tables' enter
the values of the probability in cells B4 through B6 (B4: 0.35; B5: 0.45; B6: 0.2). In cells C4, C5 and C6 enter the
cumulative probability values (C4: 0.35; C5: 0.8; C6: 1) as shown in Figure 6-2.

B4: 0.35
B5: 0.45
B6: 0.2
C4: 0.35
C5: 0.8
C6: 1.0

Figure 6-2 Probability distribution for type of newsday

The next table is the daily demand for newspapers based on the type of news day. The table Distribution of
Newspapers Demanded is in cells A11 through D18 of the Demand Tables worksheet as shown in Table 6-1 and
contains the daily demand distribution values. The cumulative distribution tables in cells A21 through G29,
shown in Table 6-2 are derived values from the Distribution of Newspapers Demanded using values in the top
Distribution of Newspapers demanded table.

Table 6-1 Daily newspaper demand distribution table in Demand Tables worksheet

A B C D
11DemandGoodFair Poor
1240 0.03 0.1 0.44
1350 0.05 0.180.22
1460 0.15 0.4 0.16
1570 0.2 0.2 0.16
1680 0.35 0.080.06
1790 0.15 0.040
18100 0.07 0 0

Table 6-2 Cumulative demand distribution table in Demand Tables worksheet

A B C D E F G
21 Cumulative Distribution Values

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22DemandGood Fair PoorGood Fair Poor
2340 0.03 0.1 0.44 0 0 0
2450 0.08 0.280.66 0.03 0.1 0.44
2560 0.23 0.680.82 0.08 0.280.66
2670 0.43 0.880.94 0.23 0.680.82
2780 0.78 0.961 0.43 0.880.94
2890 0.93 1 0.78 0.961
29100 1 0.93 1

When these values are entered, the final results will look like Figure 6-3.

Figure 6-3 Completed probability distribution tables in Demand Tables worksheet

Finally, back in the Profit tab, the demand data will be filled in through the use of references to the Demand
Tables tab as shown in Figure 6-4.

In the following cells, enter the equations below in the 'Profit' tab:

B17: =rand()
C17: =if(B17<'Demand Tables'!C4,"Good",if(C19<'Demand Tables'!C5,"Fair","Poor"))
B18: =rand()
B20: =lookup($C17,$B23:$D23,$B24:$D24)
B21: =E12
B24: =lookup(Profit!$B18,'Demand Tables'!E23:E29,'Demand Tables'!$A23:$A29)
C24: =lookup(Profit!$B18,'Demand Tables'!F23:F29,'Demand Tables'!$A23:$A29)
D24: =lookup(Profit!$B18,'Demand Tables'!G23:G29,'Demand Tables'!$A23:$A29)

Figure 6-4 Profit table for newsvendor example

When done, the Profit spreadsheet will be setup with a profit equation, decision variables, and random events
as shown in Figure 6-4. The rand() functions in cells C17 and C18 return a random value between 0 and 1,
which are used by the lookup() functions in cells B20, B24, C24 and D24 to calculate a randomly determined
daily demand. Next, this sheet will be used for analysis through the use of simulation.

6.4.3. Running the simulation

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To run the simulation, from the Gnumeric toolbar, select Tools → Simulation. In the Risk Simulation dialog box
that appears, the first tab is the Variables tab. There are two entries in the Variables tab: Input variables and
Output variables (Figure 6-5).

Figure 6-5 Variables tab in simulation dialog box

Input variables are the cells which hold the functions based on random numbers of the type described in
Section A.14. In this case, they are the cells B17 and B18 in the Profit worksheet, which hold the rand()
function. Later, when the quantity purchased is a parameter set by the SIMTABLE function, cell B16 which
holds the purchase quantity will be added to the range of input variables.

Output variables are the results of interest, or the dependent variable. In this case, the dependent variables are
the demand and the profit, which are in cells B20 and B21.

The next tab is the Options tab . There are four settings in the options as shown in Figure 6-6.

Figure 6-6 Options tab in Simulation dialog box for newsvendor simulation example

The second pair of options are the number of iterations and the Max time. In a simulation, each iteration is the
equivalent of a sample. A sample from a random distribution is taken for each of the input values (as specified
in the Variables tab) and the resulting output value(s). The more iterations, the better the estimate of the
output value. However, this also takes more time to run. A Max time value is specified in seconds where the
simulation will end without output if an individual simulation takes longer than the Max time allotted. If this
occurs (see Figure 6-7), the options are to either increase the Max time value, or decrease the number of

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iterations. A more drastic option is to change the model so that fewer calculations or samples of random
numbers need to be made.

Figure 6-7 Maximum time for simulation exceeded message box

The next tab is the Summary. There are two boxes in this tab, the Simulation Summary and the Summary of
results (see Figure 6-8). In simulation summary, there is a description of the simulation parameters.

Due to the random nature of the simulation, the output may vary between simulation runs).

Figure 6-8 Summary tab for simulation tool

Simulations: Number of rounds as determined in the Simulation Options box.

Iterations: Number of iterations in a single simulation round.
# input variables: Number of random numbers sampled for each iteration.
# output variables: Number of outputs recorded for simulation
Runtime: Runtime of simulations in seconds.
Run on: Date and time simulation was run.

In the summary of results window, there are summary statistics for each round of the simulation. If multiple
rounds were done, the results of each round can be browsed by using the 'Prev. Sim.' and 'Next Sim.' buttons
below the Summary of results box. For each output and input variable, the summary shows the Min, Average
and the Max value across the iterations for that round of the simulation. Note that for the input variables, this
shows the random number that is the average, max and min. If the statistics on intermediate values, such as a
cost distribution, was desired, these intermediate values should be added to the list of output variables.

The last tab is labeled 'Output'. This tab identifies the location where the output table will be generated. There
are two sets of options, first the Output Placement then Output Formatting as shown in Figure 6-9.

Figure 6-9 Output options tab for simulation

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The default output placement is 'New sheet'. This will create a new sheet in the Gnumeric workbook labeled
'Simulation Report (1)', where '1' can be replaced with another number if a tab labeled 'Simulation Report (1)'
already exists. The option 'New workbook' creates a Gnumeric workbook named 'Book2.gnumeric' with a tab
labeled 'Simulation Report.'

The third option is to embed the output table into an existing worksheet. This is done by specifying the 'Output
range'. Note that the output range must be large enough to include the entire table, including heading
information. For a single round this requires 11 rows and 16 columns. For example, the range Profit!A24:P35
would contain the statistics for one round with the three input variables and two output variables. As input and
output variables change, or the number of rounds of the simulation change, the number of rows required will
change.

For output formatting, their are four options.

'Autofit columns' automatically makes each column long enough to include the largest entry in that
column. Note that column 'A' in the resulting spreadsheet used to save run information such as date and
time and is kept narrow.
'Clear output range' is in effect if the Output Placement option chosen is Output range. It clears the
selected cells in the spreadsheet before putting the output table in its place.
'Retain output range formatting' retains formatting for cells such as number formatting.
'Retain output range comments' retains comments that have been placed in output cells. This is most
useful when the input and output variables remained the same.

6.4.4. Simulation output

The simulation output provides statistics on the output and input variables for each round. The statistics are
calculated over the iterations in a single round of the simulation. These statistics for each variable are:

Variable type and name - input variables are labeled as '(Input)'.

Min – Minimum value of variable among iterations of round.
Mean – Arithmetic mean of variable among iterations of round.
Max – Maximum value of variable among all iterations of round.
Median – Median of variable among iterations of round.
Mode – Mode value among iterations of round. For the input variable, this will be “#N/A”.
Std. Dev. - Standard deviation of the variable.
Variance – Second moment of variable.
Skewness - Third moment of variable.
Kurtosis – Fourth moment of variable.
Range – Difference between min and max of variable among iterations of the round.
Count – Number of iterations in round.
Confidence (95%) - 95% confidence interval of value, centered on mean.
Lower Limit (95%) - Lower limit of 95% confidence interval of the value, centered on the mean.
Upper Limit (95%) - Upper limit of 95% confidence interval of the value, centered on the mean.

Figure 6-10 Simulation output example

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The output will include a heading, then a table for each round of the simulation. Judicious choice of output
variables will also include any intermediate values of interest in the simulation in this table. Each row of the
output table has statistics of the values of a variable over the iterations of the simulation as shown in Figure 6-
10.

The output will be of the input variables and the output variables that were variables tab of the Simulation
window . For the input variables, the output will be the statistics of the random variable used in modeling the
input variables. For the output variables, the statistics will be of the output variable. These statistics, in
particular the standard deviation and confidence interval, should be examined to ensure the simulation was at a
precision adequate for the purpose. Some notes on how to use these statistics for refining the simulation
design can be found in Section 6.4.6 ― Determining the number of iterations.

6.4.5. Using SIMTABLE

The SIMTABLE function is intended to change a variable in the simulation so that each round of the simulation
can be used to evaluate a different scenario. This automates the use of simulation for what-if questions or to
create a set of possible outcomes to a situation.

In this example, we will use the SIMTABLE function to find the optimal quantity of newspapers to buy. For the
purchase quantity in our spreadsheet, we will replace '50' with the following formula in Profit!B16:

Profit!B16 = SIMTABLE(50,60,70,80,90)

Each entry in the list of the SIMTABLE arguments is a value that will be used for the purchased quantity. Each
entry corresponds to one round of simulation, as used in Figure 6-6. In this example there are 5 entries to the
SIMTABLE list, so '5' will be entered into the 'Last Round #' option in the Options tab of the Simulation dialog.

Figure 6-11 Simulation output example using SIMTABLE and several rounds

When this simulation is run with 5 rounds, the summary of results will have one entry for each round, with each
round using a different entry from the SIMTABLE function for the purchase quantity. The results for the various
rounds can be previewed using the 'Prev. Sim.' and 'Next Sim.' buttons. The output also has one table for each
round of the simulation.

As seen in Figure 6-11, each value in the original SIMTABLE statement corresponds to a simulation round, with
the Purchase Quantity taking on the value from the SIMTABLE list. The analyst can then record the Profit

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statistics (mean, variance, skewness, kurtosis, 95% confidence intervals) and determine if the simulation results
are of sufficient resolution for the analysts purposes.

The use of SIMTABLE to change parameters within the simulation provides a convenient method to do what-if
analysis, and analyze the results as a whole.

6.4.6. Determining the number of iterations

In simulation, one major question is how many iterations are needed to reach a chosen level of precision in the
results. Simulation as a tool provides an approximation of the actual relationship between the input and output
variables. The precision of the approximation is based on the number of iterations of the simulation done.
More iterations in the sample lead to greater precision. But the relationship between iterations and precision
depends on the relationship between the variables in the precision. In addition, the analyst must decide which
output variable is the variable of interest, and what degree of precision is required. The next step is to
determine a sufficiently large number of iterations R be used to satisfy:

Where Θ-hat is the estimate of the mean, Θ is the actual mean, ε is the specified error, and (1-α) is the
probability that the estimate is within ε of the actual value (i.e. the (1-α) confidence interval). Common values of
(1-α) are 95% and 99%. The Simulation Report from Gnumeric includes values for the 95% confidence interval
as shown in Figure 6-10.

The general procedure is as follows:6

1. Run simulation for a sample of R0 iterations. The default value in Gnumeric is 1000, set in the options tab
of the Simulation menu, Figure 6-6.
2. Take the sample variance S02 from the simulation output spreadsheet and determine the sample standard
deviation S0 (see Figure 6-10).
3. Using zα/2 as the z-value of the (1-(α/2)) percentile of the standard normal distribution, set the initial
estimate of the number of iterations required as the smallest integer R such that

Iterations required for simulation

. Note that if R0 is small, it would be more appropriate to use the student's t-distribution of tα/2, R0
instead of zα/2 .

In this example, to estimate the profit to within ε=0.05 , first run the simulation with 1000 iterations and a
purchase quantity of 50 results in the following

MeanVarianceConfidence (95%)
Demand QUANTITY59.19152.4 0.64
Profit QUANTITY 7.85 2.51 0.08

Taking the variance of the table, and setting ε=0.05 and α=0.05 , lookup zα/2 from a standard normal table.
zα/2=1.96 so we have

Therefore, the minimum number of iterations is 3857. The simulation can then be re-run with 3857 iterations to
create a 95% c.i for profit where ε <=0.05 In this example with 3857 iterations, we get the following Simulation
Report table:

MeanVarianceConfidence (95%)
Demand QUANTITY59.11163.9 0.34
Profit QUANTITY 7.72 2.88 0.04

As expected, the 95% Confidence interval for Profit is less than 0.05. For the newsvendor example, the next
step would be to look at the confidence intervals of the profit for all values of purchase quantity, and verify that
this confidence interval is adequate for the decision to be made.

6.5. Analysis using scenarios

6.5.1. Adding new scenarios

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6.5.2. Viewing and managing scenarios

6.5.1. Adding new scenarios

6.5.2. Viewing and managing scenarios

7. The Solver
This chapter explains the linear programming solver available from within Gnumeric.

7.1. Solver

7.1. Solver

With Gnumeric Solver you can solve linear programs.

7.1.1. Introduction to Linear Programming

7.1.2. Spreadsheet Modeling
7.1.3. Using Solver
7.1.4. Integer Programming

7.1.1. Introduction to Linear Programming

A linear program (LP) is a problem that can be expressed as linear functions. As you probably already know, a
linear function is the one whose graph is always a straight line. Thus each variable of it appears in a separate
term with its coefficient. There must be no products or quotients of these variables. In addition, the exponent
of each term must be one. No logarithmic, exponential, trigonometric terms are allowed. Especially note that
functions like ABS, IF, MAX, and MIN are not linear. Here are a few examples of linear functions:

3x + y - 5z
-3.23x + 0.33y
-0.3x + 4y - 2z + 1.2m

The linear problem has a so called objective function which is to be minimized or maximized and constraints.
The objective function is the one whose value we would like to optimize. Typically, this function could
determine the profit generated by the expected sales of the given model (maximization problem), or, the cost
of the production in the given environment (minimization problem). Anyway, on purely mathematical point of
view, we could examine the following objective function:

Maximize 2x + 3y - z

In linear programming the variables of this functions are not allowed to take any values (otherwise the
maximum of any objective function would be infinity). The problem also has constraints. The constraints are a
set of linear functions and a set of their right hand side values (RHS). For example, for the previously defined
objective function we have the following constraints:

x + y <= 5 (#1)
3x - y + z <= 9 (#2)
x + y >= 1 (#3)
x + y + z = 4 (#4)
x, y, z >= 0 (non-negativity assumption)

This constraint set consists of three inequality constraints (#1-#3) and one equality constraint (#4). Their RHS
values are 5, 9, 1, and 4. In addition, we also have the non-negativity assumption. That is, all the variables (x, y,
and z) have to take only positive numbers. The idea is to find the optimal values for the variables (x, y, and z) but
also to satisfy all the given constraints.

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7.1.2. Spreadsheet Modeling

To solve optimization problems with Gnumeric you have to type in the problem into a sheet. A recommended
way to start with is to allocate a separate column in the spreadsheet for each decision variable (in the previous
example the x, y, and z) and a separate row for each constraint (the constraints #1-#4). The coefficients of these
variables should be placed into the cells corresponding to the allocated row and the column. It is also
recommended that you label the rows and the columns to make the sheet much more readable. The sheet for
our maximization problem would look like this:

Figure 7-1 Linear programming example

As you can see, we have put the model variables into cells B3:D3. They are currently all zeros. The cell E4
contains the objective function definition. The easiest way to define it is to use SUMPRODUCT build-in function.
Thus in our model, we have the formula `=SUMPRODUCT(B3:D3,B4:D4)' in E3.

The constraints are defined in rows seven to ten. Since the coefficients of these functions are in columns B, C
and D we will get the total sum of each of the constraint using the formula `SUMPRODUCT(B$3:D$3,Bn:Dn)'
where n is the row number of the constraint. For example, in E7 we have `=SUMPRODUCT(B$3:D$3,B7:D7)', in
E8 `=SUMPRODUCT(B$3:D$3,B8:D8)' and so on. The right hand side (RHS) values of the constraints are typed
into cells G7:G10.

7.1.3. Using Solver

7.1.3.1. Solver Parameters

7.1.3.2. Solver Constraints
7.1.3.3. Solver Reporting
7.1.3.4. Optimization

7.1.3.1. Solver Parameters

Now it is time to select `Solver...' from the `Tools' menu. After you have done it, the following dialog will appear:

Figure 7-2 The empty Solver dialog.

Since we have the objective function in E3 type this into the `Set Target Cell:' entry. We are about to maximize
this function, thus the radio button `Max' should be pressed on. By default, the problem is assumed to be

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maximization problem. The input variables (x, y, and z) were in cells B3:D3 so type the cell range into the `By
Changing Cells:' entry.

The model to be optimized is a linear model. Thus, we should check that the check button `Linear (LP/MILP)' is
pressed on the page `Model'. Also make sure that the assume non-negative button is on, otherwise, the input
variables can also take negative values. There is also a check button `Assume Integer (Discrete)' which adds an
integer constraint for all the input variables. The integer optimization is described, however, later.

A few additional options can be set too. If you want to limit the number of iterations the optimization algorithm
is allowed to take you can set the maximum number in the `Max iterations' entry box on page `Options'.
Similarly, you can limit the maximum time the optimization is allowed to take in the `Max time' entry box. If
either one of these settings is exceeded during the optimization, the optimization is interrupted and an error
dialog is displayed.

Some models can be better solved if the model is scaled into another form before the actual optimization.
Gnumeric solver supports automatic scaling which can be checked on by using the check button on the bottom
of the dialog. Note that the automatic scaling does not change the model since before checking out the results
the model is scaled back to its original form.

7.1.3.2. Solver Constraints

Now we can add the constraints. Select the `Constraints' page from the top of the dialog and the following
page should appear.

Figure 7-3 Add constraint dialog.

In this page, you can see all constraints that have been defined in the `Subject to the Constraints:' window. Since
none has been defined, this window should be empty. Now type in the constraints (#1-#4) one by one.

When adding constraints, the three entry boxes in the bottom of the dialog are used. Put a cell name of the
total left hand side (LHS) cell into the `Left Hand Side:' entry box. In our example, this would be E7 for the
constraint #1, E8 for constraint #2, and so on. The combo entry in the middle defines the type of the constraint.
It can be `≤', `=', `≥' ,`Int' or `Bool'. We will explain the `Int' and `Bool' constraints later. In this example, you
should select `≤' for constraints #1-#2, `≥' for #3, and `=' for constraint #4. The last entry on the right takes the
right hand side values of the constraints. For constraints #1-#4 they should be G7 (5), G8 (9), G9 (1), and G10 (4)
in this order.

After typing a constraint press Add button, and you will be able to define the next one. When you have typed in
all the constraints, the Solver dialog should look like this:

Figure 7-4 The solver dialog

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The order of the constraints does not matter. If you want to change or delete a constraint click it and then press
`Change' or `Delete' button.

Note that you can also type ranges into the LHS and RHS entries. For example, you could have typed D7:D8 and
G7:G8 instead of the two separate constraints.

If the constraints have now been typed in correctly, we should check what reports we want to produce.

7.1.3.3. Solver Reporting

Select the `Reports' page from the top of the dialog and you will see a checkbox named `Program'. This report
gives the model in its mathematical form. Program report is useful for checking out the correctness of the
model. It can also be useful for educational purposes.

7.1.3.4. Optimization

After you have specified the parameters, the constraints and the reporting options it is time to press the Solve
button. If everything went ok, you will see a dialog saying: `Solver found an optimal solution. All constraints and
optimality conditions are satisfied.'. This means that the solver found an optimal solution and the optimal values
are now stored into the input variables. For all models, this, however, does not happen.

If a feasible solution cannot be found, the solver reports that `A feasible solution could not be found. All
specified constraints cannot be met simultaneously.'.

If the model is unbounded, the solver reports that `The Target Cell value specified does not converge! The
program is unbounded.'.

If the maximum number of iterations specified in the options was exceeded, the solver reports that `The
maximum number of iterations exceeded. The optimal value could not be found.'.

If the maximum time specified in the options was exceeded, the solver reports that `The maximum time
exceeded. The optimal value could not be found in given time.'.

7.1.4. Integer Programming

You can use the Solver tool also for integer programming (IP) and more generally mixed integer programming.
In integer programming some of the decision variables are required to take on integer values. To do so, just add
a constraint whose type is `Int'.

8. Statistical Analysis

This chapter explains the various statistical analysis tools available within Gnumeric including tools to create
descriptive statistics, as well as parametric and non-parametric hypotheses tests.

Gnumeric includes various tools for statistical data analysis and data sampling. To use these tools select them
from the Statistics menu and its submenus. The tools are described below. In this description as well as in the
Statistics menu these tools are classified into six categories.

Figure 8-1 Statistical Analysis Tools

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8.1. Overview
8.2. Descriptive Statistics
8.3. Sampling Tool
8.4. Dependent Observations
8.5. One Sample Tests
8.6. Two Sample Tests
8.7. Multiple Sample Tests

8.1. Overview

All tools have the same output options (see Figure 8-2). The results can be printed into a new sheet, into a new
workbook, or into a given output range on a sheet of the current workbook. To select the output method select
one of the radio buttons inside the Output frame. If you have chosen “Output Range” you must also enter a
single range in the entry field.

Select the Autofit Columns option to automatically adjust the widths of the columns in the output range.

You will normally want to select the Clear Output Range option, since otherwise some of the cells with existing
content will remain in the output range.

The Retain Output Range Formatting and Retain Output Range Comments options are useful if you have
already preformatted the output range.

All analysis tools also provide a choice whether they will enter formulæ or just values in the cells. By default
Gnumeric will usually enter formulæ. These formulæ will automatically reevaluate when the data change. For
some tools, the formulæ also permit modification of certain parameters.

If the chosen output range is too small, some of the results will be lost.

The old data in the output range is deleted and cannot be recovered.

Figure 8-2 Common output options of the data analysis tools

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To enter a range into an entry field, you can either type the range specification into the text field, or click in the
text field and then select the range on the sheet (see Figure 8-3).

Figure 8-3 Specifying Ranges

Some entry fields accept lists of ranges. To enter these lists, select one range, type a comma, and then select
the next range. At any time, you may switch to another sheet of the workbook.

8.2. Descriptive Statistics

8.2.1. Correlation Tool

8.2.2. Covariance Tool
8.2.3. Descriptive Statistics Tool
8.2.4. Frequency Tables
8.2.5. Rank and Percentile Tool

8.2.1. Correlation Tool

Figure 8-4 Correlation Tool Dialog

The correlation tool calculates the pairwise Pearson correlation coefficients of the given variables. Use this tool
to calculate any number of correlation coefficients at the same time. The variables for which the correlations

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are calculated are specified by the “Input Range:” entry. The input range can consist of either a single range or a
comma separated list of ranges. The given range or ranges can be grouped by columns, by rows, or by areas.

If the first row or column of the given ranges, or the first field of each area contains labels, the “Labels” option
should be selected.

Figure 8-5 Some Example Data

Example 8-1 Using the Correlation Tool

For example, you want to calculate the correlation between three variables, one each in columns A, B, and C.
Both variables have 10 values in rows 2 to 11 with labels in row 1 (see Figure 8-5).

1. Enter A1:B11 in the “Input Range:” entry by typing this directly into the entry or clicking in the entry field
and then selecting that range on the sheet. In the latter case the entry will also contain the sheet name.
2. Select the “Columns” radio button next to “Grouped By:”, since each variable is in its own column.
3. Select the “Labels” option since the first row contains labels. (see Figure 8-6).
4. Specify the output options as described above.
5. Press the OK button.

The calculated correlations are given in a table with each column and row labeled with the names of the
variables. If the names are not given in the input range, Gnumeric generates them. In our example, the
correlation between the variables in column A and B, can be found in the second column and third row of the
results table (see Figure 8-7).

Figure 8-6 Completed Correlation Dialog

Figure 8-7 Correlation Tool Output

8.2.2. Covariance Tool

Figure 8-8 Covariance Tool Dialog

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The covariance tool calculates the pairwise covariance coefficients of the given variables. Use this tool to
calculate any number of covariance coefficients at the same time. The variables for which the covariances are
calculated are specified by the “Input Range:” entry. The input range can consist of either a single range or a
comma separated list of ranges. The given range or ranges can be grouped by columns, by rows, or by areas.

If the first row or column of the given ranges, or the first field of each area contains labels, the “Labels” option
should be selected.

Figure 8-9 Some Example Data

Example 8-2 Using The Covariance Tool

For example, you want to calculate the covariance between three variables, one each in columns A, B, and C.
Both variables have 10 values in rows 2 to 11 with labels in row 1 (see Figure 8-9).

1. Enter A1:B11 in the “Input Range:” entry by typing this directly into the entry or clicking in the entry field
and then selecting that range on the sheet. In the latter case the entry will also contain the sheet name.
2. Select the “Columns” radio button next to “Grouped By:”, since each variable is in its own column.
3. Select the “Labels” option since the first row contains labels.
4. Specify the output options as described above.
5. Press the OK button.

The calculated covariances are given in a table with each column and row labeled with the names of the
variables. If the names are not given in the input range, Gnumeric generates them. In our example, the
covariance between the variables in column A and B, can be found in the second column and third row of the
results table (see Figure 8-10).

Figure 8-10 Covariance Tool Output

8.2.3. Descriptive Statistics Tool

Figure 8-11 Descriptive Statistics Tool Dialog

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The descriptive statistics tool calculates various statistics for the given variables and a confidence interval for
the population mean. The variables are specified via the “Input Range:” entry. The given range or list of ranges
can be grouped into variables by columns, rows, or areas.

This tool can produce four different kinds of statistical data.

If the “Summary Statistics” option is selected, this tool calculates the mean, standard error, median, mode,
standard deviation, sample variance, kurtosis, skewness, range, minimum, maximum, sum, and count for
each variable.
If the “Confidence Interval for the Mean” option is selected, the tool calculates confidence intervals for
the population mean of each variable. Specify the confidence level in the entry box. The default confidence
level is 95%.

The interval given will usually be wider than the interval obtained using the CONFIDENCE
function. The CONFIDENCE function assumes that the population standard deviation is known.
This tool estimates the population standard deviation using the sample standard deviation.

If the “Kth Largest:” option is selected, the tool finds the kth largest value of each of the variables. Specify
k in the entry box next to the option. The default is 1.

If the “Kth Smallest:” option is selected, the tool finds the kth smallest value of each of the variables.
Specify k in the entry box next to the option. The default is 1.

If the first entry for each variable contains the label, select the “Labels” option.

Figure 8-12 Some Example Data

Example 8-3 Using the Descriptive Statistics Tool

Figure 8-12 shows some example data, Figure 8-13 the selected options, and Figure 8-14 the corresponding
output.

Figure 8-13 The Options Page For Descriptive Statistics

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Figure 8-14 Descriptive Statistics Tool Output

8.2.4. Frequency Tables

Gnumeric provides two types of frequencies tables:

The frequency table tools is primarily useful for non-numeric data (data of nominal and ordinal level of
measurement). It allows to determine frequencies for given values.
The histogram tool is useful for numeric data that is supposed to be classified into a certain number of
intervals. These intervals can be either specified or calculated.

8.2.4.1. Frequency Tables Tool

8.2.4.2. Histogram Tool

8.2.4.1. Frequency Tables Tool

8.2.4.1.1. Introduction
8.2.4.1.2. The “Input” Tab
8.2.4.1.3. The “Categories” Tab
8.2.4.1.4. The “Graphs & Options” Tab
8.2.4.1.5. Frequency Tool Results

8.2.4.1.1. Introduction

The frequency tool can be used to create frequency tables for non-numerical data. It presents this table
numerically as well as graphically.

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If your data are numeric and you want to accumulate whole intervals of values into frequency
counts then this tool is not appropriate. In that case you may want to use the histogram table tool
described in section Section 8.2.4.2 ― Histogram Tool.

Figure 8-15 Frequency Tool Dialog

As shown in Figure 8-15, the frequency table dialog has four tabs. We will introduce them in sequence.

8.2.4.1.2. The “Input” Tab

The “Input” tab shown in Figure 8-15 contains the field specifying the data to be used for the histogram.

The “Input Range” entry contains a single range or a list of ranges, that can be grouped into variables by rows,
columns, or areas.

If the first row or column of the given input ranges, or the first field of each area contains labels, the “Labels”
option should be selected. If the input is grouped by areas and the top left cell contains a label, the other cells
in the first row are being ignored.

8.2.4.1.3. The “Categories” Tab

The “Categories” tab permits the specification of a range that contains the possible values that are supposed to
be counted in the input range.

The “Automatic categories” option is disabled since it is not yet implemented.

Figure 8-16 Frequency Tool Dialog Categories Tab

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8.2.4.1.4. The “Graphs & Options” Tab

The “Graphs & Options” tab allows various options to be set. In the top half of the tab you can choose whether
you would like a graph to be created. If you choose to have a graph created you can specify whether you would
like to see a bar chart or a column chart.

In the bottom part of the tab you can select the “percentages” option. This option replaces the frequency
counts with percentages.

If the categories range contains repeated values, then the percentages may add up to more than
100%. If the categories range does not contain all values that occur in the input range, the
percentages may sum to less than 100%.

The “Use exact comparisons” checkbox determines how category values and input range values are compared.
If it is checked then the function EXACT is used for the comparison. If it isn't checked then simple equality is
used. In this latter case, empty cells and cells containing the numerical value 0 are considered equal. As a
consequence you usually want that checkbox to be selected.

Figure 8-17 Frequency Tool Dialog Graphs & Options Tab

8.2.4.1.5. Frequency Tool Results

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Figure 8-18 Frequency Tool Results

8.2.4.2. Histogram Tool

8.2.4.2.1. Introduction
8.2.4.2.2. The “Input” Tab
8.2.4.2.3. The “Cutoffs” Tab
8.2.4.2.4. The “Bins” Tab
8.2.4.2.5. The “Graphs & Options” Tab
8.2.4.2.6. The “Output” Tab
8.2.4.2.7. A Histogram Example

8.2.4.2.1. Introduction

The histogram tool can be used to create histograms or frequency tables for numerical data. Using this tool you
can define intervals, or “bins”. The tool determines how many data points belong to each bin and presents this
number numerically as well as graphically.

If your data are non-numeric this tool is not appropriate. In that case you may want to use the
frequency table tool described in section Section 8.2.4.1 ― Frequency Tables Tool.

Figure 8-19 Histogram Tool Dialog

As shown in Figure 8-19, the histogram dialog has five tabs. We will introduce them in sequence.

8.2.4.2.2. The “Input” Tab

The “Input” tab shown in Figure 8-19 contains the field specifying the data to be used for the histogram.

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The “Input Range” entry contains a single range or a list of ranges, that can be grouped into variables by rows,
columns, or areas.

If the first row or column of the given input ranges, or the first field of each area contains labels, the “Labels”
option should be selected. If the input is grouped by areas and the top left cell contains a label, the other cells
in the first row are being ignored.

8.2.4.2.3. The “Cutoffs” Tab

Figure 8-20 Histogram Tool Dialog “Cutoffs” Tab

The cutoffs for the histogram can either be predetermined by data contained in your workbook or calculated by
the histogram tool. These cutoffs determine bins as defined by the selection on the “Bins” tab.

Select the “Predetermined Cutoffs” option to specify data on your worksheet in the “Cutoff Range:” entry.
The values in this range will be used as cutoffs c1, c2, and so on to cn.

Select the “Calculated Cutoffs” option to have the cutoffs determined by the tool. Enter the desired number
of cutoffs in the “Number of Cutoffs” entry. It is strongly recommended (but optional) that you specify the
minimum and maximum cutoffs in the “Minimum cutoff” and “Maximum cutoff” entries. If the minimum or
maximum cutoff is not specified, the tool will use the minimum and/or maximum of the current data.

8.2.4.2.4. The “Bins” Tab

Figure 8-21 Histogram Tool Dialog “Bins Tab”

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The bins tab is used to determine how the cutoffs c1, c2, and so on to cn are translated into bins. Specifically, it
has to be determined whether first and/or last bins reaching from −∞ to c1 and from cn to ∞ are added and
whether data points that much cutoffs exactly are included in the bin to the right or the left.

For example the option “[∙,∙),[∙,∙),⋯, [∙,∙),[∙,∞) ” indicates that the first bin starts at the first cutoff while the
last bin ends at ∞. Moreover, each cutoff value belongs to the bin on its right.

8.2.4.2.5. The “Graphs & Options” Tab

Figure 8-22 Histogram Tool Dialog “Graphs & Options Tab”

The options in the graphs and options tab specify any graph to be created and modify the appearance of the
histogram:

The “No chart” option causes the chart to be omitted.

The “Bar chart” option causes a bar chart to be added to the histogram. For each bin, the bar chart shows a
horizontal bar indicating the frequency.

The “Column chart” option causes a column chart to be added to the histogram. For each bin, the column
chart shows a vertical bar indicating the frequency.

The “Histogram chart” option causes a histogram chart to be added to the histogram. For each bin, the
histogram chart shows a vertical bar indicating the density (that is the frequency divided by the width of
the bin).

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The “Percentages” option causes the frequencies to be expressed as percentages.
The “Cumulative answers” option causes a cumulative frequency table (either with counts or with
pecentages) to be created.
The “Count numbers only” option determines whether only numbers are counted. If also non-numbers are
counted they are first converted into numbers, usually into 0.

8.2.4.2.6. The “Output” Tab

The Output tab contains the standard output options and fields described in Section 8.1 ― Overview.

8.2.4.2.7. A Histogram Example

Figure 8-23 Some Example Data

Example 8-4 Using the Histogram Tool

For example, you want to calculate a histogram for the number of successes in several sequences of trials. The
numbers of successes are recorded in column A and the cutoffs of interest in column C (see Figure 8-23).

1. Enter A1:A31 in the “Input Range:” entry of the “Input” tab by typing this directly into the entry or clicking
in the entry field and then selecting that range on the sheet. In the latter case the entry may also contain
the sheet name.
2. Since you only have one variable select the “Areas” or “Columns” radio button next to “Grouped By:”.
3. Select the “Labels” option since the first cell of the Input Range contains a label.
4. Enter C2:C5 in the “Cutoff Range:” entry of the “Cutoffs” tab. The “Predetermined Cutoffs” option will
now also be selected (see Figure 8-24).
5. In the “Bins” tab select the second option since we want to add two bins reaching to ∓∞ and we want to
count each cutoff value in the bin to its right (see Figure 8-25).
6. Select the “Percentage” option of the “Graphs &Options” tab to have the frequencies expressed as
percentages.
7. Select the “Column Chart” option of the “Graphs &Options” tab to have a column chart added to the
histogram (see Figure 8-26).
8. In the “Output” tab, specify the output options as described in Section 8.1 ― Overview.
9. Press the OK button.

The results are shown in Figure 8-27. Note that the graph will by default appear on top of the histogram table. It
usually needs to be moved in to proper position. That has already been done here.

Figure 8-24 Histogram Tool: Specifying Cutoffs

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Figure 8-25 Histogram Tool: Specifying Bins

Figure 8-26 Histogram Tool: Specifying Options

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Figure 8-27 Histogram Tool Output

8.2.5. Rank and Percentile Tool

Figure 8-28 Rank and Percentile Tool Dialog

Use this tool to rank given data and to calculate the percentiles of each data point.

Specify the datasets to use in the “Input Range:” entry. The given range can be grouped into datasets by
columns, by rows, or by areas.

For each dataset, the tool creates three columns in the output table:

1. The first column gives the indices of the ordered data from largest to smallest data value.
2. The second column gives data values corresponding to the indices in the first column.

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3. The third column indicates the percentile of the data value in the second column.

If you have labels in the first cell of each data set, select the “Labels” option.

Figure 8-29 Some Example Data for the Rank and Percentile Tool

Example 8-5 Using the Rank and Percentile Tool

Figure 8-29 shows some example data and Figure 8-30 the corresponding output.

Figure 8-30 Rank and Percentile Tool Output

In the case of ties, the rank calculated by this tool differs from the value of the RANK function for
the same data. This tool calculates the rank as it is normally used in Statistics: If two values are tied,
the assigned rank is the average rank for those entries. For example in Figure 8-29 the two values 10
are the second and third largest values. Since they are equal each receives the rank of 2.5, the
average of 2 and 3. The rank function on the other hand assigns the rank as it is normally used to
determine placements. The two values 10 would therefore each receive a rank of 2.

8.3. Sampling Tool

Figure 8-31 Sampling Tool Dialog

Use the sampling tool to take a sample of a data set. This tool can take both a random sample of a given size or
a periodic sample:

random sample
A random sample is a subset of the population such that every subset of that size has the same
chance of being picked.

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periodic sample
In a periodic sample every kth element in the population is selected.

To use this tool, first specify the data set or data sets by setting the “Input Range:” entry. The range or ranges
given can be grouped into datasets by rows, by columns, or by areas.

If the first entry in each data set contains a variable, select the “Labels” option.

Select the sampling method which can be either periodic or random.

random sample
Specify the size of the random sample in the “Size of Sample:” entry.

periodic sample
Specify the period in the “Period:” entry.

Specify the number of samples you would like to obtain in the “ Number of Samples:” entry.

Since the period uniquely determines a periodic sample, if you specify that you would like 2 samples
you will be given the identical sample twice.

If the dataset for a periodic sample is a two dimensional range, Gnumeric will enumerate the data
points by row first.

Figure 8-32 Some Example Data for the Sampling Tool

Example 8-6 Using the Sampling Tool

Figure 8-32 shows some example data and Figure 8-33 the corresponding output.

Figure 8-33 Sampling Tool Output

8.4. Dependent Observations

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8.4.1. Forecast Tools

8.4.2. Fourier Analysis Tool
8.4.3. Kaplan Meier Estimates Tool
8.4.4. Principal Component Analysis
8.4.5. Regression Tool

8.4.1. Forecast Tools

8.4.1.1. Exponential Smoothing Tool

8.4.1.2. Moving Average Tool

8.4.1.1. Exponential Smoothing Tool

Figure 8-34 Exponential Smoothing Tool Dialog

The Exponential Smoothing tool performs the exponential smoothing for the given set or sets of values. It
provides the choice of 5 different exponential smoothing methods:

Simple exponential smoothing according to (Hunter, 1968).

Simple exponential smoothing according to (Roberts, 1959).
Holt's trend corrected exponential smoothing (occasionally also referred to as double exponential
smoothing)
Additive Holt-Winters exponential smoothing
Multiplicative Holt-Winters exponential smoothing (occasionally also referred to as triple exponential
smoothing)

Since the kind of options available depend on the type of exponential smoothing desired, you can choose the
type on the “Input ” page.

8.4.1.1.1. Common Options of the Exponential Smoothing Tool

8.4.1.1.2. Exponential Smoothing According to Hunter
8.4.1.1.3. Exponential Smoothing According to Roberts
8.4.1.1.4. Holt's Trend Corrected Exponential Smoothing
8.4.1.1.5. Additive Holt-Winters Method
8.4.1.1.6. Multiplicative Holt-Winters Method

8.4.1.1.1. Common Options of the Exponential Smoothing Tool

Specify the cells containing the datasets in the “Input Range” entry. The entered range or ranges are grouped
into datasets either by rows or by columns.

If you have labels in the first cell of each data set, select the “Labels” option.

If you select the “Include chart” option, Gnumeric will also create a chart showing both the data and
corresponding smoothed values.

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8.4.1.1.2. Exponential Smoothing According to Hunter

Each value in the smoothed set is predicted based on the forecast for the prior period. The formula is given in
Figure 8-35. α is the value given as “Damping factor”. yt is the tth value in the original data set and lt the
corresponding smoothed value.

Figure 8-35 Exponential Smoothing Formula According To Hunter

For example, a value for α between 0.2 and 0.3 represents 20 to 30 percent error adjustment in the prior
forecast.

If you choose to have the tool enter formulæ rather than values into the output region, then you
can modify the damping factor α even after you executed the tool.

To have the standard errors output as well, check the “Standard error” check box. The formula used is given in
Figure 8-36. The denominator can be adjusted by selecting the appropriate radio button. Since there are t−1
terms in the sum of the denominator, selecting “n−1” means that the denominator will be t−2.

Figure 8-36 The Standard Error Formula For Exponential Smoothing According To Hunter

If you check the “Include chart” check box, a line graph showing the observations yt and the predicted values
lt will also be created.

Example 8-7 Using the Exponential Smoothing Tool

Figure 8-37 shows some example data, Figure 8-38 the selected options and Figure 8-39 the corresponding
output.

Figure 8-37 Some Example Data for the Exponential Smoothing Tool

Figure 8-38 The Options for the Exponential Smoothing Tool

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Figure 8-39 Exponential Smoothing Tool Output (Hunter)

8.4.1.1.3. Exponential Smoothing According to Roberts

The simple exponential smoothing method according to Roberts is used for forecasting a time series without a
trend or seasonal pattern, but for which the level is nevertheless slowly changing over time. The predicted
values are calculated according to the formula given in Figure 8-40. α is the value given as “Damping factor”. yt
is the tth value in the original data set and lt the predicted value. l0 is the predicted value at time 0 and must
be estimated. This tool uses the average value of the first 5 observations as estimate.

If you choose to have the tool enter formulæ rather than values into the output region, then you
can modify the damping factor α and the estimated value at time 0 after executing the tool.

Figure 8-40 Exponential Smoothing Formula According To Roberts

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To have the standard errors output as well, check the “Standard error” check box. The formula used is given in
Figure 8-41. The denominator can be adjusted by selecting the appropriate radio button.

Figure 8-41 The Standard Error Formula For Exponential Smoothing According To Roberts

If you check the “Include chart” check box, a line graph showing the observations yt and the predicted values
lt will also be created.

Example 8-8 Using the Exponential Smoothing Tool

Figure 8-42 shows example output for the exponential smoothing tool using the formula according to Roberts.
Cell A4 contains the estimated level at time 0. If you requested to have formulæ rather than values entered into
the sheet, then changing the estimate in A4 and/or the value for α in A2 will result in an immediate change to
the predicted values.

Figure 8-42 Exponential Smoothing Tool Output (Roberts)

8.4.1.1.4. Holt's Trend Corrected Exponential Smoothing

Holt's trend corrected exponential smoothing is appropriate when both the level and the growth rate of a time
series are changing. (If the time series has a fixed growth rate and therefore exhibits a linear trend, a linear
regression model is more appropriate.)

yt is the true value at time t, lt is the estimated level at time t and bt is the estimated growth rate at time t.
We use the two smoothing equations given in Figure 8-43 to update our estimates. α is the value given as
“Damping factor” and γ is the value given as “Growth damping factor”.

This tool obtains initial (time 0) estimates for the level and growth rate by performing a linear regression using
the first 5 data values.

Figure 8-43 Formulae Of Holt's Trend Corrected Exponential Smoothing

If you choose to have the tool enter formulæ rather than values into the output region, then you
can modify the damping factors α and γ as well as the estimated level and growth rate at time 0

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after executing the tool.

To have the standard errors output as well, check the “Standard error” check box. The formula used is given in
Figure 8-44. The denominator can be adjusted by selecting the appropriate radio button.

Figure 8-44 The Standard Error Formula For Holt's Trend Corrected Exponential Smoothing

If you check the “Include chart” check box, a line graph showing the observations yt and the estimated level
values lt will also be created.

Example 8-9 Using the Exponential Smoothing Tool

Figure 8-45 shows example output for Holt's trend corrected exponential smoothing. Cell A4 contains the
estimated level at time 0 and B4 the estimated growth rate at time 0. If you requested to have formulæ rather
than values entered into the sheet, then changing the estimates in A4, B4, the values for α in A2 and/or for γ in
B2 will result in an immediate change to the predicted values.

Figure 8-45 Exponential Smoothing Tool Output (Holt's)

8.4.1.1.5. Additive Holt-Winters Method

The additive Holt-Winters method of exponential smoothing is appropriate when a time series with a linear
trend has an additive seasonal pattern for which the level, the growth rate and the seasonal pattern may be
changing. An additive seasonal pattern is a pattern in which the seasonal variation can be explained by the
addition of a seasonal constant (although we allow for this constant to change slowly.)

yt is the true value at time t, lt is the estimated level at time t, bt is the estimated growth rate at time t and
st is the estimated seasonal adjustment for time t. We use the three smoothing equations given in Figure 8-46
to update our estimates. α is the value given as “Damping factor”, γ is the value given as “Growth damping
factor” and δ is the value given as “Seasonal damping factor”. L is the value given as “Seasonal period”. If your
data consist of monthly values, then L should be 12, if it consist of quarterly values then L should be 4.

This tool obtains initial (time 0) estimates for the level and growth rate by performing a linear regression using
all data values. It obtains estimates for the seasonal adjustments by averaging the appropriate seasonal
differences from values predicted by linear regression alone.

Figure 8-46 Exponential Smoothing Formulae Of The Additive Holt-Winters Method

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If you choose to have the tool enter formulæ rather than values into the output region, then you
can modify the damping factors α, γ and δ as well as all estimates after executing the tool.

To have the standard errors output as well, check the “Standard error” check box. The formula used is given in
Figure 8-47. The denominator can be adjusted by selecting the appropriate radio button.

Figure 8-47 The Standard Error Formula Of The Additive Holt-Winters Method

If you check the “Include chart” check box, a line graph showing the observations yt and the estimated level
values lt will also be created.

Example 8-10 Using the Exponential Smoothing Tool

Figure 8-48 shows the options' tab of the exponential smoothing tool for the additive Holt-Winters method.
The data is expected to have a seasonal period of 4 (this would for example happen if we have a data value for
each quarter of a year). Figure 8-49 shows the corresponding example output for the additive Holt-Winters
method. Cell C7 contains the estimated level at time 0, D7 the estimated growth rate at time 0, and E4 to E7 the
initial seasonal adjustments for each of the 4 seasons preceding our data time period. If you requested to have
formulæ rather than values entered into the sheet, then changing any of these estimates, the values for α in A2,
for γ in B2 and/or for δ in C2 will result in an immediate change to the estimated values.

Figure 8-48 Exponential Smoothing Tool Options (Additive Holt-Winters)

Figure 8-49 Exponential Smoothing Tool Output (Additive Holt-Winters)

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8.4.1.1.6. Multiplicative Holt-Winters Method

The multiplicative Holt-Winters method of exponential smoothing is appropriate when a time series with a
linear trend has a multiplicative seasonal pattern for which the level, the growth rate and the seasonal pattern
may be changing. A multiplicative seasonal pattern is a pattern in which the seasonal variation can be explained
by the multiplication of a seasonal constant (although we allow for this constant to change slowly.)

yt is the true value at time t, lt is the estimated level at time t, bt is the estimated growth rate at time t and
st is the estimated seasonal adjustment for time t. We use the three smoothing equations given in Figure 8-50
to update our estimates. α is the value given as “Damping factor”, γ is the value given as “Growth damping
factor” and δ is the value given as “Seasonal damping factor”. L is the value given as “Seasonal period”. If your
data consist of monthly values, then L should be 12, if it consist of quarterly values then L should be 4.

This tool obtains initial (time 0) estimates for the level and growth rate by performing a linear regression using
the data values of the first 4 seasonal periods. It obtains estimates for the seasonal adjustments by averaging
the appropriate seasonal differences from values predicted by linear regression alone during the first 4
seasonal periods.

Figure 8-50 Exponential Smoothing Formulae Of The Multiplicative Holt-Winters Method

If you choose to have the tool enter formulæ rather than values into the output region, then you
can modify the damping factors α, γ and δ as well as all estimates after executing the tool.

To have the standard errors output as well, check the “Standard error” check box. The formula used is given in
Figure 8-51. The denominator can be adjusted by selecting the appropriate radio button.

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Figure 8-51 The Standard Error Formula Of The Multiplicative Holt-Winters Method

If you check the “Include chart” check box, a line graph showing the observations yt and the estimated level
values lt will also be created.

Example 8-11 Using the Exponential Smoothing Tool

Figure 8-52 shows the example output for the multiplicative Holt-Winters method, assuming 4 seasons. Cell C7
contains the estimated level at time 0, D7 the estimated growth rate at time 0, and E4 to E7 the initial seasonal
adjustments for each of the 4 seasons preceding our data time period. If you requested to have formulæ rather
than values entered into the sheet, then changing any of these estimates, the values for α in A2, for γ in B2
and/or for δ in C2 will result in an immediate change to the estimated values.

Figure 8-52 Exponential Smoothing Tool Output (Multiplicative Holt-Winters)

8.4.1.2. Moving Average Tool

Figure 8-53 Moving Average Tool Dialog

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Use the moving average tool to calculate moving averages of one or more data sets. A moving average provides
useful trend information of the data that is lost in a simple average. In addition, moving averages can be used to
eliminate random variance. For example, use this tool to create a smoother curve of a stock prize.

Specify the cells containing the datasets in the “Input Range” entry. The entered range or ranges are grouped
into datasets either by rows or by columns.

If you have labels in the first cell of each data set, select the “Labels” option.

Choose the type of moving average you would like to calculate. The tool can determine 4 types of moving
averages:

1. Simple moving average

2. Cumulative moving average
3. Weighted moving average
4. Spencer's 15 point moving average

Figure 8-54 Moving Average Tool Dialog: The “Options” Tab

Specify the “Interval” for the moving average. The interval i is the number of consecutive values to be included
in each moving average. This options is only available for the simple and weighted moving averages.

Check the “Standard errors” checkbox if you would also like the standard error to be calculated. Since there is
no general agreement on the denominator for the standard error you can choose the appropriate radio button.

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In the case of the simple moving average, you can also choose between a prior moving average and a central
moving average, or you may even specify any other desired offset.

1. “Prior moving average”: Each average takes into account the current observation and the most recent
prior observations for a total of i observations.
2. “Central moving average” with i being odd: Each average takes into account the current observation and
the same number of most recent prior observations and closest future observations for a total of i
observations.
3. “Central moving average” with i being even: This is calculated according to the formula given in Figure 8-
55. at is the moving average at time t and yt is the observation at time t.
4. “Other offset”: If the offset is 0, this is just the prior moving average. Otherwise the offset indicates the
number of closest future observations to include in the average. Correspondingly, the number of most
recent past observations is decreased.

Figure 8-55 Formula For The Central Moving Average With Even Interval

The results are given in one column for each dataset (with a second column added if you have chosen standard
errors to be calculated). Each row represents the moving average of the corresponding row or column in the
input range. Depending on the type of average and the offset, the moving average cannot be calculated for the
first rows in the input range.

8.4.1.2.1. Simple Moving Average

8.4.1.2.2. Cumulative Moving Average
8.4.1.2.3. Weighted Moving Average
8.4.1.2.4. Spencer's 15 Point Moving Average
8.4.1.2.5. A Moving Average Example

8.4.1.2.1. Simple Moving Average

A simple moving average is the unweighted average of a collection of observations. Exactly which observations
are included depends on whether a prior or central moving average is calculated.

8.4.1.2.2. Cumulative Moving Average

A cumulative moving average is a prior moving average in which the current and all prior observations are
included.

8.4.1.2.3. Weighted Moving Average

A weighted moving average with an interval i is a prior moving average calculated according to formula Figure
8-55. at is the moving average at time t and yt is the observation at time t.

Figure 8-56 Formula For The Weighted Moving Average With Interval i

8.4.1.2.4. Spencer's 15 Point Moving Average

Spencer's 15 point moving average is a central moving average calculated according to formula Figure 8-57. at
is the moving average at time t and yt is the observation at time t.

Figure 8-57 Formula For Spencer's 15 Point Moving Average

8.4.1.2.5. A Moving Average Example

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Figure 8-58 Some Example Data for the Moving Average Tool

Example 8-12 Using the Moving Average Tool

Figure 8-58 shows some example data, Figure 8-59 shows the option settings, and Figure 8-60 the
corresponding output.

Figure 8-59 Moving Averages Tool Options

Figure 8-60 Moving Averages Tool Output

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8.4.2. Fourier Analysis Tool

Figure 8-61 Fourier Analysis Tool Dialog

The Fourier Analysis tool normally performs a Fast Fourier Transform to obtain the discrete fourier transform Fs
of the given sequence ft of real numbers according to the formula given in Figure 8-62.

Select the “Inverse” option to calculate the inverse discrete fourier transform ft of the given sequence Fs of
real numbers

If the number of terms in the given sequence is not a power of 2 (i.e. 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, etc.),
this tool will append zeros to reach such a power of 2!

Specify the cells containing the datasets in the “Input Range” entry. The entered range or ranges are grouped
into sequences either by rows or by columns.

If you have labels in the first cell of each data set, select the “Labels” option.

Figure 8-62 Fourier Analysis Formulae

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Before using the numbers obtained by this tool, ensure that these are in fact the correct formulae
for your discipline. In the physical sciences this fourier transform tends to be called the inverse
fourier transform and vice versa. Moreover, frequently the scaling factor varies.

For example Mathematica uses the terms fourier transform and inverse fourier transform with the
reversed meaning than Gnumeric and it uses a scaling factor of 1/SQRT(N) rather than 1/N.

8.4.3. Kaplan Meier Estimates Tool

8.4.3.1. The “Input” Tab

8.4.3.2. The “Groups” Tab
8.4.3.3. The “Options” Tab
8.4.3.4. The “Output” Tab
8.4.3.5. A Kaplan-Meier Example

8.4.3.1. The “Input” Tab

The “Input” tab shown in Figure 8-63 contains the fields specifying the data to be used for the Kaplan Meier
Estimates. The time column contains the times or dates at which the subjects died or were censored. If any of
the subjects were censored, the Permit censorship checkbox is checked and the Censor column contained the
censorship marks. Censorship marks are typically 0s or 1s. The range of censor marks or labels can be set using
the remaining two spinboxes.

Figure 8-63 Kaplan-Meier Tool Dialog

8.4.3.2. The “Groups” Tab

If the subjects belong to several groups and the groups are supposed to be analyzed separately, the groups tab
can be used.

Figure 8-64 Kaplan-Meier Tool Dialog Groups Tab

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The groups tab can be enabled via the Define multiple groups checkbox. The groups column entry contains the
address of the column specifying the group membership. Groups can then be defined or deleted via the Add
and Remove buttons.

8.4.3.3. The “Options” Tab

The options tab of the Kaplan-Meier tools dialog is used to set various options of the Kaplan-Meier tool.

Figure 8-65 Kaplan-Meier Tool Dialog Options Tab

8.4.3.4. The “Output” Tab

The Output tab contains the standard output options and fields described in Section 8.1 ― Overview.

8.4.3.5. A Kaplan-Meier Example

Figure 8-66 Kaplan-Meier Tool Example Input

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Example 8-13 Using the Kaplan-Meier Tool

Suppose you want to calculate Kaplan-Meier Estimates for the as given in Figure 8-66. Each row contains the
data for one subject. Column A contains the survival time, i.e. the time until death or censure. Column B
contains the group number, we are considering two groups of subjects. Column C indicates whether the subject
died (0) or was censured (1).

We complete the fields of the Input tab as shown in Figure 8-66. The time column is A2:A21 and the censure
column is C2:C21.

Since we have two groups of subjects, on the Groups tab we check the Define multiple groups check box and
set up two groups with identifiers 1 and 2 in column B2:B21:

Figure 8-67 Kaplan-Meier Tool Example Group Tab

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On the Options tab all checkboxes are pre-checked and we leave them that way to obtain a maximum amount
of information.

On the output tab we choose where we would like the output to be placed. For the purposes of this example
we retain the New Sheet target. After clicking OK we get the output shown in Figure 8-68. Note that the graph
initially always appears on top of the numerical result and was moved for the screen shot.

B1:F17 shows the results of the first group, G1 to K17 the results of the second group. The graph shows the
Kaplan-Meier survival curves for both groups.

M4:N7 shows the result of the Mantel-Haenszel Log-Rank Test. In this case the p-value is larger than 0.3 and we
would fail to reject the Null hypothesis. There is no evidence that the survival times differ.

Figure 8-68 Kaplan-Meier Tool Example Output

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8.4.4. Principal Component Analysis

Figure 8-69 Principal Component Analysis Tool Dialog

Principal Component Analysis Tool performs a principal component analysis (PCA). PCA is a useful statistical
technique with application in fields such as face recognition and image compression. It is a common technique
for finding patterns in data of high dimension.

Specify the cells containing the datasets in the “Input Range” entry. The entered range or ranges are grouped
into the factors either by rows or by columns.

If you have labels in the first cell of each factor, select the “Labels” option.

Figure 8-70 Principal Component Analysis Example Data

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Example 8-14 Using the Principal Component Analysis Tool

Suppose you want to perform a principal component analysis on the data given in Figure 8-70 having the two
dimensions (factors) x and y.

1. Enter Sheet1!$A$1:$B$11 (or just A1:B11) in the “Input Range:” entry by typing this directly into the entry
or clicking in the entry field and then selecting the range on the sheet.
2. Select the “Labels” option since the first row contains labels. (see Figure 8-69).
3. Specify the output options as described above.
4. Press the OK button.

The output of this principal component analysis is shown in Figure 8-75. The output shows the covariance
matrix, the eigenvalues and corresponding eigenvectors. The principal component is the constructed factor
with the highest percent of trace, ξ1.

Figure 8-71 Principal Component Analysis Tool Output

8.4.5. Regression Tool

Figure 8-72 Regression Tool Dialog

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The regression tool performs a multiple regression analysis.

Enter a range or list of ranges containing the independent variables into the “X Variables:” entry.

Enter a single range containing the dependent variable into the “Y Variable:” entry.

If the ranges for the independent and dependent variables also contains labels in the first field of each row,
column or area, select the “ Labels” option.

Specify the confidence level in the “Confidence Level:” entry. The default is 95%.

To force the regression line or plane to pass through the origin, select the “Force Intercept To Be Zero” option.

Specify the output options as described above. If the output is directed into a specific output range, that range
should contain at least seven columns and 17 rows more than there are independent variables.

Figure 8-73 Regression Example Data

Example 8-15 Using the Regression Tool

Suppose you want to perform a regression analysis on the data given in Figure 8-73 using v and y as
independent variables and u as dependent variable.

1. Enter B1:C11 in the “X Variables:” entry by typing this directly into the entry or clicking in the entry field
and then selecting the range on the sheet.
2. Enter A1:A11 in the “Y Variable:” entry.
3. Select the “Labels” option since the first row contains labels. (see Figure 8-74).
4. Specify the output options as described above.
5. Press the OK button.

The output of this regression analysis is shown in Figure 8-75.

Figure 8-74 Completed Regression Dialog

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Figure 8-75 Regression Tool Output

8.5. One Sample Tests

8.5.1. Normality Tests

8.5.2. One Median

8.5.1. Normality Tests

The normality test tool provides for four tests of normality.

1. Anderson Darling Test

2. Cramér-von Mises Test
3. Lilliefors (Kolmogorov-Smirnov) Test
4. Shapiro-Francia Test

Figure 8-76 Normality Test Dialog

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The data range is specified via the “Input Range:” entry (see Figure 8-76). The given range or list of ranges can
be grouped into separate data sets by columns, rows, or areas. The tool performs a separate test for each data
set.

Figure 8-77 Test Tab of the Normality Test Dialog

On the test tab one specifies which of the four tests to perform, the significance level for the test and whether
to include a normal probability plot of the data (see Figure 8-77).

Figure 8-78 Normality Test Example Data

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Example 8-16 Using the Normality Test Tool

Suppose you want to perform a Lilliefors (Kolmogorov-Smirnov) Test for Normality on the data given in Figure
8-78.

1. Enter A1:A50 (or Sheet1!$A$1:$A$50) in the “Input Range:” entry by typing this directly into the entry or
clicking in the entry field and then selecting the range on the sheet.
2. Select the “Labels” option since the first row contains a label (see Figure 8-79).
3. On the test tab of the dialog (see Figure 8-80) select the Lilliefors (Kolmogorov-Smirnov) Test.
4. Specify an appropriate significance level Alpha, say 0.05.
5. Select the “Create Normal Probability Plot” option to include a normal probability plot in the output.
6. Specify the output options as described above.
7. Press the OK button.

The output of this normality test is shown in Figure 8-81. Note that the graph appears initially on top of the
output data and needs to be moved to make the data visible.

Figure 8-79 Completed Input Tab of the Normality Test Dialog

Figure 8-80 Completed Test Tab of the Normality Test Dialog

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Figure 8-81 Normality Test Output

8.5.2. One Median

The One Median test tool provides two non-parametric tests that test the null hypothesis that the sample
comes from a population with a given median:

1. Sign Test
2. Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test

Selecting the appropriate submenu item opens the dialog with the respective test preselected.

8.5.2.1. Sign Test

8.5.2.2. Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test

8.5.2.1. Sign Test

This section describes the one sample sign test to test the null hypothesis that the sample comes
from a population with the given median. The tool to perform a sign test to test the null hypothesis
that two paired samples come from populations with the same median is in section Section 8.6.2.1
― Sign Test.

Figure 8-82 One-Median Test Dialog

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The Sign Test tool performs a one-sample sign test whether the sample comes from a population with a given
median.

The sample data range is specified via the “Input Range:” entry (see Figure 8-82). The given range or list of
ranges can be grouped into separate data sets by columns, rows, or areas. The tool performs a separate test for
each data set.

On the “Test”tab of the dialog (see Figure 8-83) the predicted median as well as the significance level are
specified.

Figure 8-83 The Test Tab of the One-Median Test Dialog

Example 8-17 Using the Sign Test Tool

Suppose you want to perform a Sign Test on the data given in Figure 8-82 to determine whether the sample
comes from a population of mean 3.

1. Enter A1:A19 (or Sheet1!$A$1:$A$19) in the “Input Range:” entry by typing this directly into the entry or
clicking in the entry field and then selecting the range on the sheet.
2. Select the “Labels” option since the first row contains a label. (see Figure 8-82).
3. On the “Test” tab of the dialog (see Figure 8-83) select the Sign Test.
4. Specify an appropriate significance level Alpha, say 0.05.
5. Select thepecify the median of the null hypothesis (3) in the “Predicted Median” entry.
6. Specify the output options as described above.
7. Press the OK button.

The output of this sign test is shown in Figure 8-84.

Figure 8-84 Output of a Sign Test

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8.5.2.2. Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test

This section describes the one sample Wilcoxon signed rank test to test the null hypothesis that the
sample comes from a population with the given median. The tool to perform a Wilcoxon signed rank
test to test the null hypothesis that two paired samples come from populations with the same
median is in section Section 8.6.2.2 ― Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test.

The Wilcoxon Signed Rank TTest tool performs a one-sample sign test whether the sample comes from a
population with a given median.

The sample data range is specified via the “Input Range:” entry (see Figure 8-82). The given range or list of
ranges can be grouped into separate data sets by columns, rows, or areas. The tool performs a separate test for
each data set.

On the “Test”tab of the dialog (see Figure 8-83) the predicted median as well as the significance level are
specified.

The p-values given by this tool are determined using a normal approximation. This approximation is
only valid if the sample size is at least 12.

Example 8-18 Using the Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test Tool

Suppose you want to perform a Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test on the data given in Figure 8-82 to determine
whether the sample comes from a population of mean 3.

1. Enter A1:A19 (or Sheet1!$A$1:$A$19) in the “Input Range:” entry by typing this directly into the entry or
clicking in the entry field and then selecting the range on the sheet.
2. Select the “Labels” option since the first row contains a label. (see Figure 8-82).
3. On the “Test” tab of the dialog (see Figure 8-83) select the Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test.
4. Specify an appropriate significance level Alpha, say 0.05.
5. Select thepecify the median of the null hypothesis (3) in the “Predicted Median” entry.
6. Specify the output options as described above.
7. Press the OK button.

The output of this sign test is shown in Figure 8-85.

Figure 8-85 Output of a Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test

8.6. Two Sample Tests

8.6.1. Comparing Means of Two Populations

8.6.2. Comparing Medians of Two Populations
8.6.3. F-Test: Two-Sample for Variances Tool

8.6.1. Comparing Means of Two Populations

Gnumeric provides four similar tools to test whether the difference of two population means is equal to a
hypothesized value. These four tools use the same dialog (see Figure 8-86).

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Figure 8-86 t- and z-Test Tool Dialog

Depending on the options settings, the appropriate test will be performed. The entries in the “Input”, “Test”,
and “Output” frames are independent from the specific test.

Enter the first variable in the “Variable 1 Range” entry and the second variable in the “Variable 2 Range” entry.

Enter the hypothesized difference between the population means in the “Hypothesized Mean Difference”
entry, which has a default of 0. Enter the significance level in the “Alpha” entry, which has a default of 5 %.

Specify the output options as described above. If the output is printed into a range, it should have at least three
columns and ten rows.

There are up to three possible options that can be selected:

“Paired” versus “Unpaired”

If the variables are dependent (or paired) select the “Paired” option.

“Known” versus “Unknown”

For unpaired or independent variables, the population variances may be known or unknown. In
the latter case they will be estimated using the sample variances. Select the “Known” option if
you in fact know the population variances prior to collecting the sample.

“Equal” versus “Unequal”

For paired variables with unknown population variances, we may either assume that the
population variances are equal or not. If the population variances are assumed to be equal,
Gnumeric will estimate the common variance by pooling the sample variances. Select the
“Equal” option to assume that the population variances are equal.

8.6.1.1. t-Test: Paired Two Sample for Means Tool

8.6.1.2. t-Test: Two-Sample Assuming Equal Variances Tool
8.6.1.3. t-Test: Two-Sample Assuming Unequal Variances Tool
8.6.1.4. z-Test: Two Samples for Means Tool

8.6.1.1. t-Test: Paired Two Sample for Means Tool

Figure 8-87 t-Test (Paired) Tool Dialog Options

For paired variables, when you click on “OK”, Gnumeric will test whether the mean of the difference between
the paired variables is equal to the given hypothesized mean difference.

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Example 8-19 Using the t-Test (Paired) Tool
See Figure 8-88 for an example of a completed dialog and Figure 8-89 for the corresponding output.

Figure 8-88 t-Test (Paired) Example Data

Figure 8-89 Output from the t-Test (Paired) Tool

8.6.1.2. t-Test: Two-Sample Assuming Equal Variances Tool

Figure 8-90 t-Test (Equal Variances) Tool Dialog Options

For unpaired variables with unknown but assumed equal population variances, when you click on “OK”,
Gnumeric will test whether the mean of the difference between the paired variables is equal to the given
hypothesized mean difference.

Example 8-20 Using the t-Test (Unknown but Equal Variances) Tool
See Figure 8-91 for an example of a completed dialog and Figure 8-92 for the corresponding output.

Figure 8-91 t-Test (Unknown but Equal Variances) Example Data

Figure 8-92 Output from the t-Test (Unknown but Equal Variances) Tool

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8.6.1.3. t-Test: Two-Sample Assuming Unequal Variances Tool

Figure 8-93 t-Test (Unknown and Unequal Variances) Tool Dialog Options

For unpaired variables with unknown and assumed unequal population variances, when you click on “OK”,
Gnumeric will test whether the mean of the difference between the paired variables is equal to the given
hypothesized mean difference.

Example 8-21 Using the t-Test (Unknown and Unequal Variances) Tool
See Figure 8-94 for an example of a completed dialog and Figure 8-95 for the corresponding output.

Figure 8-94 t-Test (Unknown and Unequal Variances) Example Data

Figure 8-95 Output from the t-Test (Unknown and Unequal Variances) Tool

8.6.1.4. z-Test: Two Samples for Means Tool

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Figure 8-96 z-Test Tool Dialog Options

For unpaired variables with known population variances, enter those variances in the “Variable 1 Pop.
Variance” and “Variable 2 Pop. Variance” entries. When you click on “OK”, Gnumeric will test whether the mean
of the difference between the paired variables is equal to the given hypothesized mean difference.

Example 8-22 Using the z-Test Tool

See Figure 8-97 for an example of a completed dialog and Figure 8-98 for the corresponding output.

Figure 8-97 z-Test Example Data

Figure 8-98 Output from the z-Test Tool

8.6.2. Comparing Medians of Two Populations

Gnumeric provides three non-parametric tests to test the null hypothesis that the two samples come from
populations with the same median. Two tests, performed through the same tool, apply in the case of paired
samples:

Sign Test
Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test

One test applies in the case of unpaired samples:

Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney Test

8.6.2.1. Sign Test

8.6.2.2. Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test
8.6.2.3. Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney Test

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8.6.2.1. Sign Test

This section describes the two sample (paired) sign test to test the null hypothesis that the two
samples come from populations with the same median. The tool to perform a sign test to test the
null hypothesis that the single sample comes from a population with a given median is in section
Section 8.5.2.1 ― Sign Test.

This section needs to be written.

8.6.2.2. Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test

This section describes the two sample (paired) Wilcoxon signed rank test to test the null hypothesis
that the two samples come from populations with the same median. The tool to perform a
Wilcoxon signed rank test to test the null hypothesis that the single sample comes from a
population with a given median is in section Section 8.5.2.2 ― Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test.

This section needs to be written.

8.6.2.3. Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney Test

This section needs to be written.

8.6.3. F-Test: Two-Sample for Variances Tool

Figure 8-99 F-Test Tool Dialog

Use the F-Test tool to test whether two population variances are different against the null hypothesis that they
are not.

Specify the variables in the “Variable 1 Range:” and “Variable 2 Range:” entries. The “Alpha:” entry contains
the significance level which is by default 5%.

If the first field of each range contains labels, select the “Labels” option. The names of the variables will be
included in the output table.

The results are given in a table. This table contains the mean, variance, count of observations and the degree of
freedom for both variables. The output table also includes the F-value, the one-tailed probability for the F-
value, and the F Critical value for one-tailed test and the corresponding values for a two tailed test. The one-
tailed probability for the F-value (“P(F≤f) one-tail” row) is the probability of making a Type I error in the one-
tailed test. Similarly, the two-tailed probability for the F-value (“P two-tail” row) is the probability of making a
Type I error in the two-tailed test. Since in the two-tailed F-Test both critical values are positive, the “F Critical
two-tail” row contains two numbers.

If the output is directed into a specific output range, that range should contain at least three columns and eight
rows.

Figure 8-100 Some Example Data

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Example 8-23 Using the F-Test Tool

Figure 8-100 shows some example data and Figure 8-101 the corresponding output.

Figure 8-101 F-Test Tool Output

8.7. Multiple Sample Tests

8.7.1. Analysis of Variance

8.7.2. Tests for a Contingency Table

8.7.1. Analysis of Variance

8.7.1.1. ANOVA: Single Factor Tool

8.7.1.2. ANOVA: Two-Factor Tool

8.7.1.1. ANOVA: Single Factor Tool

Use this tool to perform a single factor analysis of the variances of given variables. The variables are specified by
the “Input Range:” entry. The given range can be grouped into the variables either by columns, by rows or by
areas. The “Alpha:” entry specifies the significance level which is by default 5%.

If the first row or first column of the given range, or the first field of each area contains labels, select the
“Labels ” option. The names of the variables will be included in the output table.

The results of this analysis of variance are presented in a standard ANOVA table. The “F critical” value is the
largest value of F that is statistically significant using the given significance level (“Alpha”).

This tool also calculates the count, sum, average, and the variance of each variable.

Figure 8-102 1-factor ANOVA Dialog and Example Data

Example 8-24 Using the single factor ANOVA

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See Figure 8-102 for an example of a completed dialog and Figure 8-103 for the corresponding output.

Figure 8-103 Output From a 1-factor ANOVA

8.7.1.2. ANOVA: Two-Factor Tool

Gnumeric can perform two factor fixed effects ANOVAs with and without replication. The same dialog is used
and the appropriate tool is selected depending on whether the number of rows per sample is 1 or larger than 1.

8.7.1.2.1. ANOVA: Two-Factor Without Replication Tool

8.7.1.2.2. ANOVA: Two-Factor With Replication Tool

8.7.1.2.1. ANOVA: Two-Factor Without Replication Tool

If the number of rows per sample is given as 1, Gnumeric performs a two factor fixed effects ANOVA without
replication. Each column of the input range is interpreted as a level of the first factor while each row is
interpreted as a level of the second factor.

The first row and column of the range may contain labels for these levels. In this case the “Labels” option
should be selected.

The “Alpha:” entry specifies the significance level which is by default 5%.

Example 8-25 Using the 2-factor ANOVA Without Replication Tool

See Figure 8-104 for an example of a completed dialog and Figure 8-105 for the corresponding output.

Figure 8-104 2-factor ANOVA Without Replication Dialog

Figure 8-105 Output From a 2-factor ANOVA Without Replication

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8.7.1.2.2. ANOVA: Two-Factor With Replication Tool

If the number of rows per sample is larger than 1, Gnumeric performs a two factor fixed effects ANOVA with
replication. Each column of the input range is interpreted as a level of the first factor while groups of rows (the
number of rows in each group given by the “number of rows per sample” value) are interpreted as levels of the
second factor.

The first row and column of the range may contain labels for these levels. In this case the “Labels” option
should be selected.

The “Alpha:” entry specifies the significance level which is by default 5%.

See Figure 8-106 for an example of a completed dialog and Figure 8-107 for the corresponding output.

Figure 8-106 2-factor ANOVA With Replication Dialog

Figure 8-107 Output From a 2-factor ANOVA With Replication

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Gnumeric will estimate missing values for each level combination as the mean of the existing values in that
combination. The degrees of freedom are adjusted appropriately.

8.7.2. Tests for a Contingency Table

8.7.2.1. Test of Homogeneity

8.7.2.2. Test of Independence

8.7.2.1. Test of Homogeneity

8.7.2.2. Test of Independence

9. Graphics: Images, Widgets, and Drawings

This chapter explains how to add graphical elements to a Gnumeric worksheet, including images from external
files, graphical user interface widgets which interact with worksheet data, and simple drawing elements.

9.1. Overview
9.2. Images
9.3. GUI Widgets
9.4. Drawing Elements

9.1. Overview

Gnumeric provides several types of graphical elements which can be added to a worksheet. The creation,
manipulation and deletion of these elements all occur in similar ways. When these elements are part of a
worksheet, they all "float" above the cell grid, possibly hiding data in the cells underneath.

Gnumeric currently displays four different types of graphical elements: data graphs, images, widgets, and
drawings. Data graphs allow users to present worksheet data visually in charts containing several kinds of plots
including pie plots, bar and column plots, and scatterplots. Images in many standard computer formats can be
added to a worksheet. Graphical user interface widgets can also be added to a worksheet and connected to the
values contained in worksheet cells. Drawings allow users to add simple graphical elements on top of a
worksheet including lines, arrows and simple polygons.

Figure 9-1 The four types of graphical elements.

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The four types of graphical elements which can be added to a worksheet: a data graph with a column plot,
an image showing a map of France, a scrollbar which can be used to alter the value in cell "I6", and a red
arrow drawing element.

The various graphical elements which can be added to a Gnumeric worksheet all behave in similar ways. The
graphical elements all "float" above the cells in the cell grid and may obscure the contents of the cells behind,
without affecting the contents of these hidden cells. All graphical elements are added in essentially the same
way by selecting the element to add and then using the mouse, either with a simple click to place the element
with a default size or with a click and drag to select the area of the worksheet to be covered by the element.
These objects are moved or re-sized by clicking on the object with the primary mouse button and using the
object body, border and "handles" (the small circles which appear at the corners and in the middle of each side)
to manipulate the object. All of these objects will present a context menu through which to change the
properties of the object, to save the object as an image, to change the stacking order (which graphical elements
are in front of others), or to delete the object. Each of these operations will be summarized below and then
explained in greater detail in the sections which follow.

9.1.1. Adding Graphical Elements

9.1.2. Selecting Graphical Elements
9.1.3. Moving and Resizing Graphical Elements
9.1.4. Invoking the Context Menu for Graphical Elements
9.1.5. Modifying Graphical Elements
9.1.6. Saving Graphical Elements as Images
9.1.7. Restacking Graphical Elements
9.1.8. Deleting Graphical Elements

9.1.1. Adding Graphical Elements

All graphical elements are added in similar ways which differ only in the original selection and configuration of
the element. Data graphs are added using the Graph Guru, which is invoked either through the Insert menu or
with the toolbar button, to define the properties of the graph. Images are added using the Insert menu Image...
menu entry, selecting the name of the file with the appropriate image and clicking on the Open button.
Widgets and drawing elements are added by selecting the appropriate button on the object toolbar.

After any of these steps, the mouse cursor will change into a thin cross-hair cursor, , when the mouse pointer
is placed over the cell grid area.

The graphical element can be placed in the workbook by moving the cursor onto the worksheet and clicking
once with the primary mouse button. The graphical element will appear at its default size with the top right
hand corner defined by the position of the mouse cursor.

Alternatively, the graphical element can both be placed on the worksheet and have its size determined which is
done by click-dragging with the mouse. When the cursor has changed to the thin cross-hair, the graphical
element can be inserted by moving the pointer over the worksheet to determine one of the corners of the
resulting element, clicking and holding the primary mouse button, dragging the pointer to the opposite corner,
and releasing the mouse button. The graphical element will then appear between the place where the primary
mouse button was pressed and the place the button was released.

9.1.2. Selecting Graphical Elements

Selecting the graphical element requires placing the mouse pointer over the element and then clicking the
primary mouse button. Gnumeric indicates the element is selected by drawing eight 'grab handles' around the
element; these are small circles at the four corners and in the middle of the four edges of a rectangle
surrounding the graphical element.

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Figure 9-2 A graphical element which has been selected.

The graphical column plot has been selected as evidenced by the eight small circular 'grab handles' at the
corners and in the middle of each edge.

The mouse pointer will also change shape when placed over a selected element or over the element's 'grab
handles'. When the pointer is placed over a selected element, the mouse pointer will change to the 'move'
shape, ; when the pointer is placed over the element's 'grab handles' it will change to one of the resizing
mouse pointer shapes, which are presented in Section 4.8 ― The Mouse Pointers used by Gnumeric.

Some elements, such as the widget scrollbars, may be difficult to select because they interact
themselves with the primary mouse button. An alternative selection process, which involves first
invoking the context menu and then dismissing it, can be used for these elements and will work
with any graphical element. When the mouse pointer is anywhere over the graphical element,
clicking with one of the secondary mouse buttons will cause the element to be selected and a
context menu to appear. If the primary mouse button is then pressed while the pointer is anywhere
over the desktop other than over the menu, the context menu will be dismissed but the element
will stay selected.

9.1.3. Moving and Resizing Graphical Elements

Graphical elements can be moved from their original location on the worksheet or can be changed in size or
shape. All of these operations first require selecting the graphical element with the primary mouse button and
then using this mouse button and the mouse pointer to manipulate the element.

9.1.3.1. Moving elements with the mouse

9.1.3.2. Moving elements with the arrow keys
9.1.3.3. Resizing and reshaping elements

9.1.3.1. Moving elements with the mouse

Moving the graphical element can be performed by first selecting the graphical element, then placing the
mouse pointer over the element which will change it to the 'move' mouse shape, , clicking and holding the
primary mouse button and moving the mouse pointer to a new location. As the mouse is moved with the
primary mouse button held down, the graphical element will move along with the mouse cursor. When the
mouse button is released, the object will stay in its new location.

9.1.3.2. Moving elements with the arrow keys

Once they are selected, graphical elements can be moved with the arrow keys on the keyboard. The movement
can be made in smaller increments if the Ctrl key is held simultaneously.

9.1.3.3. Resizing and reshaping elements

Changing the size or shape of the graphical element can be performed by selecting the graphical element,
placing the mouse pointer over one of the 'grab handles' at the corners or edges of the rectangular box around
the element, which will cause the mouse pointer to change shape to one of the resize pointers, clicking and
holding with the primary mouse button, dragging the corner or edge to a new position, and releasing the
mouse button. If one of the corner 'grab handles' is used, the graphical element can be altered into any new

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rectangular shape and size. If one of the edge handles is used, the element can only be reshaped perpendicular
to the chosen edge.

9.1.4. Invoking the Context Menu for Graphical Elements

Many operations on graphical elements, including changing their internal properties, saving elements as
images, modifying the stacking order of the elements, and deleting the elements, are performed through the
context menu. The context menu appears when the mouse pointer is placed over the graphical element and
one of the secondary mouse buttons is clicked. When the mouse pointer moves over a graphical element, it will
change from the usual wide cross cursor to a right pointing arrow cursor. Clicking with the primary mouse
button will select the graphical element but clicking with one of the other mouse buttons will open the context
menu. The specific button that will trigger this menu depends on the specific hardware and configuration of the
computer. By default it is usually the rightmost mouse button.

Figure 9-3 The context menu for graphical elements.

The context menu for graph elements is the most complete. It includes an entry to modify the internal
properties of the graph, an entry to save the graph as an image, four entries to reorder the stacking of the
graph in front or behind other graphs and one entry to delete the graph.

The context menu for graphical elements contains a sub-menu labelled Order which allows the user to change
the presentation order for overlapping graphical objects.

Figure 9-4 The order submenu of graphical element context menus.

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The order submenu of the context menu for graph elements allows the user to change the stacking order
for the various graphs on the worksheet. This will affect which objects are visible in front of other objects
when several objects overlap.

9.1.5. Modifying Graphical Elements

Many of the graphical elements have internal properties which can be changed. This includes the contents of a
particular graph, the association of a widget and the contents of a spreadsheet cell, or the characteristics of a
drawing element. These properties can be altered using the Properties... menu item in the context menu which
appears when the mouse pointer is placed over the graphical element and one of the secondary mouse buttons
is clicked. After the context menu appears, clicking on this menu item will open up a dialog allowing the user to
alter the properties of the element. Since these properties are specific to each element, these dialogs will be
discussed in each of the sections below.

9.1.6. Saving Graphical Elements as Images

Some of the graphical elements, the data graphs and the image elements, provide an item in the context menu
which allows the element to be saved to a file containing only an image of that element. Graphical plots can be
saved in Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG), Portable Network Graphics (PNG) or JPEG formats. Images can be saved
to their original format, or to PNG and JPEG formats.

Elements which can be saved as images can be output to a file using an entry in the element's context menu.
First the context menu must be invoked by placing the mouse pointer over the graphical element and clicking
with one of the secondary mouse buttons. Next the Save as Image or the Save as menu items must be selected
by placing the mouse pointer over that item and clicking with the primary mouse pointer. This will open up the
Save As dialog which will allow the user to name the file which will be created, select where the file will be
created, select the file type to use for the image and then generate the file.

9.1.7. Restacking Graphical Elements

Graphical elements can overlap when they are placed over the cell grid area. Conceptually, each graphical
element occupies one layer in a stack of all the elements. By default, elements which have been created more
recently will overlap in front of elements which were created earlier.

Figure 9-5 Stacked graphical elements.

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The order of each element in the stack can be changed using the four menu items in the context menu. The Top
will bring the selected element in front of all the other objects. The Up menu item will bring the selected
element forward one layer. Conversely, the Down menu item will move the selected element one layer towards
the back, and the Bottom menu item will palace the selected element at the very back of the stack of elements.
Jointly, these menu items allow the user to specify exactly which order in which the graphical elements should
appear.

The stacking of graphical elements in Gnumeric is currently not working correctly. Widget elements
are always placed above the other elements and do not honor the same ordering scheme as the rest
of the elements. A large amount of work will be required to fix this and a decision has been made to
ignore this problem until the developers have the time to fix this problem correctly.

9.1.8. Deleting Graphical Elements

All of the graphical elements in Gnumeric can be deleted using the context menu. Deleting a graphical element
will never alter the data contents of the cells in the workbooks.

Deleting a graphical element requires using the context menu. First the mouse pointer must be placed over the
graphical element. Next, the context menu must be invoked by clicking with one of the secondary mouse
buttons. Finally, the Delete menu item must be selected by placing the mouse pointer over this menu item and
clicking with the primary mouse button. When this menu item is selected, the graphical element will disappear
from the worksheet and will not be saved as part of the spreadsheet file the next time the file is saved.

9.2. Images

Images can be added, as floating graphical elements, to Gnumeric worksheets. These images will be saved as
part of the file and therefore can be sent to others embedded within the spreadsheet file.

Images in several file formats can be added, but the specific list depends on the particular installation of the
underlying software library, gdk-pixbuf. By default, the ANI, BMP, GIF, ICO, JPEG, PCX, PNG,
PNM/PBM/PGM/PPM family, Sun raster (RAS), Targa (TGA), TIFF, WBMP, XBM, XPM image formats are
supported, but extensions to the library can also support other formats such as the WMF Windows Metafile and
SVG Scalable Vector Graphics formats.

A complete listing of the file formats supported by the local version of gdk-pixbuf can be
generated with the

gdk-pixbuf-query-loaders

command-line application, if this is installed on the system.

9.2.1. Inserting Images

9.2.2. Saving Images to New Files
9.2.3. Deleting Images

9.2.1. Inserting Images

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Inserting an image is performed like inserting any other graphical element using the menu entry to start the
process, then selecting the file, and finally using the mouse to place the image above the worksheet.

Procedure to insert an image into a worksheet.

1. Select the "Image" menu item in the "Insert" menu
Inserting an image starts by selecting, in the Insert menu, the Image menu item using the mouse cursor
and the primary mouse button. This will open a dialog in which the user can select the file which contains
the desired image.
2. Select the file containing the image
In the dialog which appears the user must select the file which contains the desired image. The dialog will
be specific to the particular operating system platform but should provide a way to navigate the filesystem
to pick the folder that contains the file and have a way to select the file or type its name. When these
choices have been made, the dialog can be dismissed by double clicking on the file or by clicking on the
Open button. This will dismiss the dialog and expose the worksheet, with the mouse pointer now
converted to a thin cross-hair.
3. Place the image on the worksheet with the mouse pointer
The image, which will float like other graphical elements above the worksheet, must be placed on the
worksheet. The image can be placed with its default size by moving the thin cross-hair pointer above the
worksheet and clicking with the primary mouse button. Alternatively, the image can be placed and sized by
selecting two of the resulting corners. This is done by moving the thin cross-hair pointer over the
worksheet, determining one corner by clicking and holding the primary mouse button, dragging the
pointer to the opposite corner, and releasing the mouse button. The image will then appear between the
place where the primary mouse button was pressed and the place the button was released.

9.2.2. Saving Images to New Files

Images in a Gnumeric worksheet can be saved to a new, separate file. The image can be saved either in its
original format or in PNG or JPEG formats. The ability to save images to a new file is especially useful when a
spreadsheet file has been transferred to a computer that does not have a copy of the original image.

Images above a worksheet can be saved by accessing the context menu, selecting the many entry and
navigating the file saving dialog which appears.

Procedure to save a worksheet image.

1. Open the context menu
The context menu is opened by placing the mouse cursor over the image and clicking one of the secondary
mouse buttons.
2. Select the "Save As" menu item
Once the context menu appears, the mouse cursor can be moved over the menu. As the cursor passes over
each menu item, that item will be highlighted. When the Save As menu item is highlighted, clicking with
the primary mouse button will select that entry, causing the context menu to disappear and the Save As
dialog to appear.
3. Select the file name and location
The Save As dialog which opens will depend on the platform that the user is using but should be standard
for that platform. The dialog should allow a user to define a name for the file, to select the folder
(directory) in which a file will be saved, and to select the format for the saved file. When all these
selections have been made, the Save can be pressed which will dismiss the dialog and save the file.

9.2.3. Deleting Images

An image element, floating above a worksheet, can be deleted from the worksheet and from the Gnumeric file
using the context menu. The procedure for deleting all graphical elements is the same; this procedure is
explained in Section 9.1.8 ― Deleting Graphical Elements.

9.3. GUI Widgets

A Gnumeric worksheet can graphical user interface (GUI) elements, commonly called 'widgets', which can be tied
to the data contents of worksheet cells. For example, users can add a slider widget which, when the position of
the slider moves, alters the numeric value in a worksheet cell.

Widgets are currently experimental!

The current implementation of these widgets is incomplete. Some of the obvious configuration
settings for these widgets do not exist and much of the functionality that these widgets should

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exhibit has not been implemented. Future versions of Gnumeric will complete these widgets and
make them functional.

Widgets do not currently stack properly on the worksheet

Widgets currently stay above all the other graphical elements because they use a different system
to calculate their positions than the other graphical elements do. This will also be fixed in future
updates.

Each of these elements can be added by selecting the appropriate icon on the object toolbar and using the thin
cross-hair mouse pointer to place the element on the worksheet by clicking or by click-dragging with the
primary mouse button. This process is explained in greater detail in Section 9.1.1 ― Adding Graphical Elements.

Each of these elements can be configured using the context menu and its Properties menu item, as explained
in Section 9.1.5 ― Modifying Graphical Elements.

Each of these elements can be moved and resized on the worksheet, as explained in Section 9.1.3 ― Moving
and Resizing Graphical Elements.

The stacking order, from the front to the back, which determines which widgets obscure each other, can be
changed using the entries in the context menu, as explained in Section 9.1.7 ― Restacking Graphical Elements.
However, as explained in the note above, the widgets do not currently stack under the other graphical
elements.

Each of these elements can be deleted using the context menu and its Delete menu item, as explained in
Section 9.1.8 ― Deleting Graphical Elements.

9.3.1. Labels.
9.3.2. Frames.
9.3.3. Checkboxes.
9.3.4. Scrollbars.
9.3.5. Spinbuttons.
9.3.6. Sliders.
9.3.7. Lists.
9.3.8. Combination Boxes.

9.3.1. Labels.

Labels are intended to be small text elements which can be added to the worksheet. Since it is currently not
possible to edit the text field, these widgets are not currently usable. The properties of the border and
background of the widget can be changed but, because the word "Label" is always present, the rectangle
drawing element, presented in Section 9.4.3 ― Drawing Rectangles. will be more useful.

Figure 9-6 A label widget.

9.3.1.1. Configuring the properties of the label

9.3.1.1. Configuring the properties of the label

The properties of the label can be altered with the Properties menu item in the context menu which appears
when the mouse cursor is placed over the label and one of the secondary mouse buttons is pressed.

The label outline color and width, as well as the background, "fill", color can be changed.

Figure 9-7 The configuration dialog for label properties.

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The color of the label outline can be altered by moving the mouse pointer over the button with the icon of a
small, black, downward pointing arrow and then clicking with the primary mouse button. This will open up a
panel with a number of standard colors presented as small squares. Any of these colors can be selected by
moving the mouse pointer over the desired color and pressing once with the primary mouse button.
Alternatively, a custom color can be chosen by clicking on the button at the bottom of the panel. This will open
up the color chooser dialog. In this dialog colors can be defined using the numeric boxes or can be selected
using the color triangle. The color can be selected by Clicking on the outer circle while the darkness or lightness
can be selected by clicking inside the triangle. Once the desired color has been configured, this color can be
used for the label outline by clicking on the OK button.

The border width can be changed either by typing a new number into the text box or by using the up and down
arrows to increment or decrement the width number.

The color of the background fill can be changed in the same way as the color of the outline border, which was
explained above.

9.3.2. Frames.

Frames are intended to be transparent boxes with a title that can be placed around part of the worksheet to
highlight that area. Because the format of the border of these widgets cannot be altered, they are less visible
than they could be. A similar frame, without the title, can be made with the rectangle drawing element, which is
presented in Section 9.4.3 ― Drawing Rectangles..

Figure 9-8 A frame widget.

9.3.2.1. Configuring the properties of the checkbox

9.3.2.1. Configuring the properties of the checkbox

The properties of the frame can be altered with the Properties menu item in the context menu which appears
when the mouse cursor is placed over the frame and one of the secondary mouse buttons is pressed.

Currently, only the word that appears in the frame can be altered.

Figure 9-9 The configuration dialog for frame properties.

The word displayed in the frame can be altered by typing new text in the textbox next to the word "Label".

9.3.3. Checkboxes.

Checkboxes are widgets which allow a user to visually see the state of an entity, whether it is checked or not,
and tie this state to the truth value of a Boolean cell, "TRUE" if the checkbox is checked and "FALSE" the
checkbox is not. The check box can be used to alter the value of a cell, which will alter any other cells whose
values are computed based on the dependent cell. This provides a simple way to alter a whole series of
computations.

Figure 9-10 A checkbox widget.

9.3.3.1. Configuring the properties of the checkbox

9.3.3.1. Configuring the properties of the checkbox

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The properties of the checkbox can be altered with the Properties menu item in the context menu which
appears when the mouse cursor is placed over the checkbox and one of the secondary mouse buttons is
pressed.

Checkboxes have two properties which can be configured: the worksheet cell whose value will be altered by
clicking in the checkbox and the text displayed on the checkbox.

Figure 9-11 The configuration dialog for checkbox properties.

The "Link to:" field allows the user to select a cell that will be changed in response to changes in the state of the
widget. A user can type the name of a cell in the text box or may click in the text box to activate it and then click
on the worksheet to select the desired cell and Gnumeric will automatically add a reference to the cell.

The "Label" field accepts a text value which will appear next to the checkbox. This text can indicate what the
checkbox field alters, for instance in Figure 9-10 the checkbox could be used to alter a series of calculations,
between including interest or excluding it, from the computation.

9.3.4. Scrollbars.

Scrollbars are widgets that allow the changing of a numeric value by click-dragging with the mouse.

Figure 9-12 A scrollbar widget.

The scrollbar widget can be used in three ways: by dragging the 'thumb', by clicking on the arrows, or by clicking
in the 'channel'. The 'thumb' is the small rectangular element between the two arrow buttons. The 'thumb' can
be dragged by placing the mouse pointer over the thumb, clicking and holding with the primary mouse button
and then dragging the mouse pointer up or down. Clicking on the arrow buttons will scroll the thumb in the
direction of the arrow. The 'channel' is the area between the arrows that is not the 'thumb'. A mouse click with
the primary mouse button when the mouse pointer is over the 'channel' will cause the scrollbar to move a
'page'. The motion of the 'thumb' will cause a numeric value to change based on the configuration of the
widget, as is explained below.

9.3.4.1. Configuring the properties of the scrollbar

9.3.4.1. Configuring the properties of the scrollbar

The properties of the scrollbar can be altered with the Properties menu item in the context menu which
appears when the mouse cursor is placed over the scrollbar and one of the secondary mouse buttons is pressed.

Scrollbars have five properties which can be configured: the worksheet cell whose value will be altered by
movement of the scrollbar 'thumb', the minimum value when the thumb is at the top of its channel, the
maximum value reached when the thumb is at the bottom of its channel, the smallest increment of change
which is the change caused by clicking on the arrows, and the page increment which is the change which occurs
when the channel is clicked.

Figure 9-13 The configuration dialog for scrollbar properties.

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The "Link to:" field allows the user to select a cell that will be changed in response to changes in the state of the
widget. A user can type the name of a cell in the text box or may click in the text box to activate it and then click
on the worksheet to select the desired cell and Gnumeric will automatically add a reference to the cell.

The other properties can be changed either by typing a new number into the text box or by using the up and
down arrows to increment or decrement the width number.

9.3.5. Spinbuttons.

Spinbuttons, like sliders, are widgets that allow a user to change the numeric value in the cell by interacting
with a widget. The value of spinbuttons can be changed either by typing a new number into the text box or by
clicking on the arrow buttons. If the buttons are clicked and held, the numeric value will spin, incrementing or
decrementing depending on the arrow being held.

Figure 9-14 A spinbutton widget.

9.3.5.1. Configuring the properties of the spinbutton

9.3.5.1. Configuring the properties of the spinbutton

The properties of the spinbutton can be altered with the Properties menu item in the context menu which
appears when the mouse cursor is placed over the spinbutton and one of the secondary mouse buttons is
pressed.

Spinbuttons have five properties which can be configured: the worksheet cell whose value will be altered by the
spinbutton, the minimum value when the thumb is at the top of its channel, the maximum value reached when
the thumb is at the bottom of its channel, the smallest increment of change which is the change caused by
clicking on the arrows, and the page increment which is the change which occurs when the channel is clicked.

Figure 9-15 The configuration dialog for spinbutton properties.

The "Link to:" field allows the user to select a cell that will be changed in response to changes in the state of the
widget. A user can type the name of a cell in the text box or may click in the text box to activate it and then click
on the worksheet to select the desired cell and Gnumeric will automatically add a reference to the cell.

The other properties can be changed either by typing a new number into the text box or by using the up and
down arrows to increment or decrement the width number.

9.3.6. Sliders.

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Sliders, like scrollbars and spinbuttons, allow a cell value to be changed based on user interaction with a widget
on the screen.

Figure 9-16 A slider widget.

The slider widget can be used in two ways: by dragging the 'thumb' or by clicking in the 'channel'. The 'thumb' is
the small rectangular element between the two arrow buttons. The 'thumb' can be dragged by placing the
mouse pointer over the thumb, clicking and holding with the primary mouse button and then dragging the
mouse pointer up or down. The 'channel' is the area between the arrows that is not the 'thumb'. A mouse click
with the primary mouse button when the mouse pointer is over the 'channel' will cause the scrollbar to move a
'page'. The motion of the 'thumb' will cause a numeric value to change based on the configuration of the
widget, as is explained below.

9.3.6.1. Configuring the properties of the slider

9.3.6.1. Configuring the properties of the slider

The properties of the slider can be altered with the Properties menu item in the context menu which appears
when the mouse cursor is placed over the slider and one of the secondary mouse buttons is pressed.

Sliders have five properties which can be configured: the worksheet cell whose value will be altered by
movement of the scrollbar 'thumb', the minimum value when the thumb is at the top of its channel, the
maximum value reached when the thumb is at the bottom of its channel, the smallest increment of change, and
the page increment which is the change which occurs when the channel is clicked.

Figure 9-17 The configuration dialog for slider properties.

The "Link to:" field allows the user to select a cell that will be changed in response to changes in the state of the
widget. A user can type the name of a cell in the text box or may click in the text box to activate it and then click
on the worksheet to select the desired cell and Gnumeric will automatically add a reference to the cell.

The other properties can be changed either by typing a new number into the text box or by using the up and
down arrows to increment or decrement the width number.

9.3.7. Lists.

List widget elements are currently unusable because they cannot be configured.

Figure 9-18 A list widget.

9.3.8. Combination Boxes.

Combination box widgets are currently unusable because they cannot be configured.

Figure 9-19 A combination box widget.

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9.4. Drawing Elements

A Gnumeric worksheet can contain graphical elements which are simple drawing shapes.

This implementation of the drawing objects is temporary and will eventually be replaced by a more
complete implementation including more types of drawing objects and based on scalable vector
graphics (SVG) format graphical elements.

Each of these elements can be added by selecting the appropriate icon on the object toolbar and using the thin
cross-hair mouse pointer to place the element on the worksheet by clicking or by click-dragging with the
primary mouse button. This process is explained in greater detail in Section 9.1.1 ― Adding Graphical Elements.

Each of these elements can be configured using the context menu and its Properties menu item, as explained
in Section 9.1.5 ― Modifying Graphical Elements.

Each of these elements can be moved and resized on the worksheet, as explained in Section 9.1.3 ― Moving
and Resizing Graphical Elements.

The stacking order, from the front to the back, which determines which widgets obscure each other, can be
changed using the entries in the context menu, as explained in Section 9.1.7 ― Restacking Graphical Elements.
However, as explained in the note above, the widgets do not currently stack under the other graphical
elements.

Each of these elements can be deleted using the context menu and its Delete menu item, as explained in
Section 9.1.8 ― Deleting Graphical Elements.

9.4.1. Drawing Lines.

9.4.2. Drawing Arrows.
9.4.3. Drawing Rectangles.
9.4.4. Drawing Ovals.

9.4.1. Drawing Lines.

Lines are simple drawing elements which can be added to a worksheet. Figure 9-20 shows a wide orange line
element placed above the worksheet grid.

Figure 9-20 A line drawing element.

9.4.1.1. Configuring the properties of the line

9.4.1.1. Configuring the properties of the line

The properties of the line can be altered with the Properties menu item in the context menu which appears
when the mouse cursor is placed over the line and one of the secondary mouse buttons is pressed.

Lines have two properties, the color used for the line and the width of the line.

Figure 9-21 The configuration dialog for line properties.

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The color of the line can be altered by moving the mouse pointer over the button with the icon of a small, black,
downward pointing arrow and then clicking with the primary mouse button. This will open up a panel with a
number of standard colors presented as small squares. Any of these colors can be selected by moving the
mouse pointer over the desired color and pressing once with the primary mouse button. Alternatively, a custom
color can be chosen by clicking on the button at the bottom of the panel. This will open up the color chooser
dialog. In this dialog colors can be defined using the numeric boxes or can be selected using the color triangle.
The color can be selected by Clicking on the outer circle while the darkness or lightness can be selected by
clicking inside the triangle. Once the desired color has been configured, this color can be used for the label
outline by clicking on the OK button.

The line width can be changed either by typing a new number into the text box or by using the up and down
arrows to increment or decrement the width number.

9.4.2. Drawing Arrows.

Arrows are elements that can be used to point to values in a worksheet. Figure 9-22 shows a purple arrow
floating over a worksheet

Figure 9-22 An arrow drawing element.

9.4.2.1. Configuring the properties of the arrow

9.4.2.1. Configuring the properties of the arrow

The properties of the arrow can be altered with the Properties menu item in the context menu which appears
when the mouse cursor is placed over the arrow and one of the secondary mouse buttons is pressed.

Arrows have five properties, the arrow color, the width of the line stem of the arrow, and tree dimensions for
the arrow point which will be explained below.

Figure 9-23 The configuration dialog for arrow properties.

The dimensions of related to the arrow are presented in Figure 9-24.

Figure 9-24 The dimensions of the arrow point.

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The 'Arrow Tip' is the distance from the point of the arrow to the base of the arrowhead where the shaft begins.
The 'Arrow Length' is the distance from the arrow point to either of the outer side points of the arrow head,
projected along the shaft of the arrow. The 'Arrow Width' is the distance between the two outer side points of
the arrow head.

9.4.3. Drawing Rectangles.

Rectangles are areal drawing elements. Figure 9-25 shows a yellow rectangle with a blue border.

Rectangles have three properties which can be configured, the color and width of the border and the color of
the interior of the rectangle.

Figure 9-25 A rectangle drawing element.

9.4.3.1. Configuring the properties of the rectangle

9.4.3.1. Configuring the properties of the rectangle

The properties of the rectangle can be altered with the Properties menu item in the context menu which
appears when the mouse cursor is placed over the rectangle and one of the secondary mouse buttons is
pressed.

Figure 9-26 The configuration dialog for rectangle properties.

The color of the outline border can be configured by selecting a new color from the color picker as was
explained in Section 9.4.1 ― Drawing Lines. for the line drawing element. The width of the border can be
configured by typing a new dimension in the text box or by clicking on the increment arrows, up to increase the
width and down to decrease the width. The color of the interior of the rectangle, the 'fill' color, can be
configured in the same way as the color of the outline border.

9.4.4. Drawing Ovals.

Ovals are areal drawing elements. Figure 9-27 shows a red oval with a transparent background, which is a useful
way to circle important ranges in a workbook.

Ovals, like rectangles, can be configured in the color and width of the outline border, and the color of the fill.

Figure 9-27 An oval drawing element.

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9.4.4.1. Configuring the properties of the oval

9.4.4.1. Configuring the properties of the oval

The properties of the oval can be altered with the Properties menu item in the context menu which appears
when the mouse cursor is placed over the oval and one of the secondary mouse buttons is pressed.

Figure 9-28 The configuration dialog for oval properties.

The configuration of these properties is the same as the configuration of the rectangle properties explained
above.

10. Graphs

Gnumeric includes a powerful mechanism to create graphical charts which present visually the data contained in
a worksheet.

The first section of this chapter starts with an overview of graph creation, discusses terminology, and presents
graph components and their organization. The next section explains the "Chart Guru" which is the tool used to
configure graphs. The subsequent section presents the different types of plots which can be included in a graph
and the final section explains how data can be pre-selected to speed up the process of graph creation.

Charts are exceedingly effective communication devices. Unfortunately, this means that one cannot
determine, simply based on the data to be plotted, what type of plot will be the most effective.
Instead users must familiarize themselves with the various types of plots which are available and
decide for themselves which plot type is the most effective to communicate an idea. Section 10.1 ―
Overview of Graphs contains a detailed explanation of the plot types available in Gnumeric.

This chapter explains how to add graphs to plot worksheet data.

10.1. Overview of Graphs

10.2. The Graph Guru
10.3. Plot Types
10.4. Configuring Graph Element Properties
10.5. Pre-Selecting Data

10.1. Overview of Graphs

This overview will start with a brief summary of the process involved in creating a graph, then will discuss the
terminology used in this document, will present the components of a graph, and present the hierarchy of the
components used in to configure the graphs.

10.1.1. The Graph Creation Process

10.1.2. On Terminology
10.1.3. The Components of Graphs
10.1.4. The Graph Component Hierarchy

10.1.1. The Graph Creation Process

The process of graph creation involves several steps each of which requires the user to understand clearly what
they intend to do. This outline is presented to help users understand the subsequent discussion in this
document.

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Outline of the procedure to create a graph.
1. Data entry.
Before a graph can be created, the data must be entered into a workbook.
2. (Optional) Data pre-selection.
As explained in Section 10.5 ― Pre-Selecting Data, it is possible to pre-select the data and have Gnumeric
correctly assign the cell contents into series names, category labels and data values. This process can only
be understood once the rest of the graph creation process has been mastered so the discussion of pre-
selecting data is left until the end of this section.
3. Opening the graph guru

The Graph Guru can be opened in two ways. It can be opened by clicking on the Graph Guru button, ,

which is on the standard toolbar immediately to the left of the zoom box. Alternatively the Graph Guru can
be opened by using, in the Insert menu, the Chart menu item.
4. Configuring the graph
The Graph Guru provides the user with a large number of options to configure the graph, its charts and the
plots. The first panel provides a way to select the plot type, sub-type and, for some types, a style. The
second panel allows the user to configure each element of the graph. When the configuration is complete,
the guru is dismissed by clicking the OK button. This step will be explained in detail in Section 10.2.2 ―
Navigating the graph guru, below.
5. Inserting the graph
Finally, the graph is inserted into the worksheet like any other graphical element, as was explained in
Section 9.1.1 ― Adding Graphical Elements.

10.1.2. On Terminology

The terminology used for describing the components of data graphs is confusing because graphs
use many components and the words are applied arbitrarily to each component. For example, the
words "graph", "chart", and "plot" could be used interchangeably but in Gnumeric these words are
used as explained below.

The term 'graph' will be used, in this documentation, to refer to the entire graphical element placed
on the worksheet. A graph has an outline and a background, may have one or more titles, and will
have at least one 'chart'.

The term 'chart' will be used to denote an intermediate level element which has an outline and a
background, may have one or more titles, may have a legend and will have at least one 'plot'. To
support the plot, the chart may have a 'grid' area behind the plotted data, and have one or more
axes.

Each 'plot' will be defined to be of a particular type when it is created. Plots will have one or more
'series' of data values which will define the magnitude of the values of to be plotted and may define
a number of other related values including errors in the x and y directions.

This terminology can be used to describe in detail the components of a graph in Gnumeric. Figure 10-1 presents
the components of a graph.

10.1.3. The Components of Graphs

Figure 10-1 The components of Gnumeric graphs

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This screenshot presents several of the major components of Gnumeric graphs. These components will be
presented next in their containment hierarchy. The hierarchy is used in the Graph Guru to organize the
components so a user can change all the preferences.

10.1.4. The Graph Component Hierarchy

The components that make up a graph in Gnumeric are arranged in a hierarchy with all the configurable options
of the graph assigned as properties to one of the components in the hierarchy.

Figure 10-2 The hierarchy of components and their properties

The hierarchy of graph component elements and the associated properties. In this case, the element 'X-
Axis2' is selected.

In Gnumeric, Graphs are the top level element containing all the other components. Graphs have two properties
related to the style of the background rectangular panel, its fill and its outline. Graphs can hold one or more
titles and one or more charts.

Titles have the same properties related to their background rectangular panel, the fill and outline, have
properties related to the text, the font type, style, and size, and have the text data that will be the title itself.

Charts have the same properties related to the background rectangular panel and can contain a number of
other components including their own titles, a legend, plot accessories and plots.

Legends have the same properties related to their background rectangular panel and also have the properties
related to the font in which the name of each series will be added to the legend, the font type, style, and size.

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Certain plot types require accessory components such as the elements related to the creation of a Cartesian
coordinate system. Charts which include one or more plots of this kind will have a Grid and may have X
(horizontal) and Y (vertical) axes.

Grids are the background of Cartesian plots and have the properties determining the fill of this area and the line
pattern displayed behind the plotted series.

Axes have properties related to the outer bounds of the axis, the style of the line drawn for the axis, the font
style of the markers along the axis, detail properties of the tics and other markers on the axis, and the number
format of the axis markers.

Axis labels share the same properties related to the style of their background rectangular panel, including the
fill and outline properties, have properties related to the style of the font used for the text, including the font
type, style and size, and the data contents of the text used to label the axis.

The properties of each type of plot, and of the data series they contain, vary depending on the actual type of
the plot. For instance, the values of a data series which are plotted as a pie plot will not have any associated
error values, whereas values plotted as columns could be associated to Y-error values and values plotted as an
XY scatterplot could be associated with error values in both the X and the Y direction. Obviously, these different
plot types will require different options. The options associated with each specific plot type will be discussed
below, in Section 10.4 ― Configuring Graph Element Properties.

10.2. The Graph Guru

All graphs in Gnumeric are created using the Graph Guru which is a complex dialog that allows for detailed
customization of each graph.

10.2.1. The components of the Graph Guru

10.2.2. Navigating the graph guru

10.2.1. The components of the Graph Guru

The Graph Guru consists of two panels which appear sequentially. The first panel allows the user to select the
type of the plot, and possibly a sub-type and a style. The second panel provides a way to configure the style
formats of each component of the final graph. Figure 10-3 shows the different areas of the two panels of the
Graph Guru.

Figure 10-3 The two panels of the Graph Guru

The different parts of each panel of the Graph Guru have been shaded with boxes of different colors and
labeled with a letter in Figure 10-3. The purpose of each of these sections will be explained below:

The components of the two panels

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A - The Plot Type Selection Area

This area lists the different types of plots which can be contained within the graph. The desired
plot type can be selected simply by placing the mouse cursor over the desired type and clicking
with the primary mouse button. The blue highlight indicates the currently selected type.

B - The Preview Area.

This area shows a preview of the currently selected plot type/sub type combination using the
default settings for this type of plot.

C - The Plot Subtype Area.

This area presents a number of icons which change depending on the plot type that has been
selected. Certain icons represent plot sub-types, for example, distinguishing plots with columns
that are side by side from plots with stacked columns. Other icons represent different plot
styles, for example distinguishing line plots in which each data point is labeled with a graphical
symbol from line plots where data points do not have any symbol. The highlight box around one
icon indicates which icon is currently chosen.
Hovering the mouse pointer over one of these icons causes a description of the plot type to be
shown next to the icon.

D - The First Panel Navigation Buttons

These buttons enable the user to navigate through the Graph Guru.

The Help Button

The Help button should cause this section of the manual to open.

The Cancel Button

The Cancel button will dismiss the Graph Guru and return the user to the
Gnumeric worksheet.

The Forward Button

The Forward button will dismiss the first panel of the Graph Guru and open up
the second panel.

The Insert Button

The Insert button will dismiss the Graph Guru and allow users to insert the
graph, as it is currently defined, into the worksheet. The resulting graph may
not include any plots or data but it can be modified subsequently using the
context menu's Properties menu entry.

E - The hierarchy tree of graph components

This area allows the user to navigate the hierarchy of graph components. The components are
arranged in a tree with nodes indicated by arrowheads. Components can be selected by clicking
on the component name with the mouse pointer and nodes can be expanded or collapsed by
clicking on the arrowheads. The selection of different components in this area will cause
different property options to be displayed in area J since each component in the hierarchy has
its own specific properties.
Immediately below the hierarchy are buttons that allow a user to modify the hierarchy of
components by adding components with the Add button or by removing components with the
Delete button. The Order allows the user to change the stacking order of charts, moving them
up or down, or of data series, moving them toward the front or back.

F - The preview area

This area shows a preview of the graph as it will look if the user clicks on the Insert or Apply at
the bottom of the panel, in area H.

G - The component properties selection area.

This area allows the user to change the graph by modifying the properties of the component
that is selected (highlighted in blue) in area E. For components which have multiple properties

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these may be grouped into related sets and placed on different tabs. By clicking on the tabs at
the upper left, a user can access the properties in each set.

H - The second panel navigation buttons

If the guru is opened to create a new graph the buttons in this are act in the same way as the
buttons in the first panel, in area D except that the Forward is now a Back and takes the user
back to the first panel.
If the guru is opened to modify an existing graph the following buttons are shown (as in the
screenshot Figure 10-3).

The Help Button

The Help button should cause this section of the manual to open.

The Cancel Button

The Cancel button will dismiss the Graph Guru and return the user to the
Gnumeric worksheet, leaving the graph unchanged.

The Apply Button

The Apply button will dismiss the Graph Guru and apply the changes to the
current graph.

K - The panel rearrangement handles

These triple dots in various places of the two panels of the graph guru indicate that the mouse
can be used to change the size of the different areas. These handles can be used by placing the
mouse pointer above a handle, clicking and holding with the primary mouse button, then
dragging the handle to a new position, and then releasing the mouse button.

10.2.2. Navigating the graph guru

Graphs in Gnumeric are created using the Graph Guru. The process involved in using this 'guru' essentially
follows the alphabetical labels presented in Figure 10-3.

The Graph Creation Process

1. Data Pre-selection
Advanced users generally start by pre-selecting at least some of the data they will use in their plots.
However, this step requires a complete understanding graphs and this step is not described here. Section
10.5 ― Pre-Selecting Data will explain data preselection once the rest of the graphing process has been
explained.
2. Launching the Graph Guru
The Graph guru can be started in two ways. One way to start the Graph Guru is to click, with the primary
mouse button, on the toolbar graph button, . Another way is to select, from the Insert menu, the

Chart... menu item. Both approaches will launch the Graph Guru.
3. Selecting the plot type, sub-type, and style.
The Graph guru opens to the first of two panels. The areas of this panel are shown in the left hand side of
Figure 10-3. This panel enables the user to select the type of the first plot in the chart, and its sub-type and
style. To make a graph with multiple plots, a user should start by selecting the first plot; subsequent plots
can be added later.

1. Picking the plot type

The first area, area A, provides a list of the plot types. The user can pick one of the types by placing
the mouse pointer on top of that appropriate entry in the list and clicking the primary mouse button.
The blue highlight indicates which plot type has been chosen. The characteristics of the different plot
types are explained extensively in Section 10.3 ― Plot Types.
2. Picking the plot sub-type and style
The second area of the first panel of the Graph Guru, labeled B in Figure 10-3, presents one or more
icons. The icons presented in this area will change depending on what plot type is highlighted in area
A. The icons provide a way to select a sub-type of plot, for example, the icons for the column plot type
provide the choice between plotting columns of each data series side-by-side or plotting these
columns stacked upon each other. These icons may also provide a way to quickly select different styles

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for the plot type, for example the icons for the line type provide a choice between plotting a simple
line or placing markers at the points along the line. The sub-type cannot be changed in the next panel
of the Graph Guru without deleting the plot and creating a new one. However, the style choices can
be altered in the next panel. The meaning of each of these icons is explained in Section 10.3 ― Plot
Types below grouped by plot type. If data has been pre-selected, clicking on the Show Sample will
present a preview of the plot type in area B.
3. Moving to the next panel
Once a plot type has been chosen in area A and an icon selected in area B, the first panel has been
completed. Clicking on the Forward button will dismiss the first panel of the Graph Guru and bring up
the second panel.
4. Configuring the plot
The second panel of the Graph Guru enables users to configure the plot. This includes determining the
values which will actually be plotted, adding titles to various components, labels to the data series, names
to data categories, and changing the appearance of the different components.

The simplest way both to learn the hierarchy of components in Gnumeric graphs and to understand the
properties which can be changed for each component is to work sequentially through all of the
components while both noting the components which can be added, listed in the drop down menu when
the Add button is pressed, and observing the properties of the component which can be altered, shown in
the lower part of the panel, the area labeled J in Figure 10-3. Each component in the hierarchy can be
selected in turn using the complete tree of all the components presented in the top leftmost area, labeled
F. Components can be selected by placing the mouse pointer over their name in this tree and then clicking
with the primary mouse button. The currently selected component is indicated by the blue highlight on
that line. Changing the selected component will also change the properties listed in area J. Tree nodes,
indicated by arrowheads in front of the name of a component, can be expanded or collapsed with
alternative mouse clicks.

The second panel of the Graph Guru only allows two types of actions to be performed: the hierarchy of
component elements can be modified or the properties of an element can be altered.

Changing the component elements

The component elements of the graph can be changed using the buttons in area G.
Elements can be added, deleted or re-ordered.

Adding component elements

An element can be added by selecting the parent element in the hierarchy
presented in area F and then clicking and holding the Add button. This
action will reveal a drop down list including all the possible elements that
can be added. By moving the mouse pointer onto the drop down list and
releasing the mouse button while the pointer is over an element, that
element will be added. To add a plot to a chart, it is necessary to navigate
into the sub-menu to select the plot type and then into that sub-menu to
select a plot sub-type or style in a process that mimics the process of
selecting a plot discussed above.

Deleting component elements

An element can be deleted by selecting the element in the hierarchy
presented in area F, and then clicking the Delete button below the
hierarchy.

Re-ordering component elements

The order of some of the elements can be interchanged using the Order
button below the element hierarchy. For example, if an element has two
titles, the order of the titles could be swapped. Similarly the vertical order
of charts can be interchanged. The effect on plots and series is different.
For those elements, the order button changes the stacking order in the
front to back dimension. For example, if a chart has a bar plot and a line
plot, the order button will change which of the two plots is visible in front
of the other.

Configuring the properties of the Element

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The bottom area of the second panel, area J in Figure 10-3, allows the user to configure
the properties of each element in the hierarchy. When there are many properties, they will
be grouped into similar sets and placed on different tabs. The detailed explanation of how
to configure each property of each element will be explained in Section 10.4 ―
Configuring Graph Element Properties below.

Once the plot is sufficiently configured, it can be placed on the worksheet to assess its appearance. The
user can return to this panel of the Graph Guru using the context menu on the graph. The Graph Guru is
dismissed by clicking on the OK button.
5. Place the graph
After exiting the Graph Guru, the user must place the graph on a worksheet. Immediately after exiting the
Graph Guru, the mouse pointer will have changed to the thin cross-hair cursor. The user can place the
graph by moving the pointer over the worksheet and clicking once with the primary mouse button.
Alternatively, the user can place and size the graph by determining two of the corners of the graph. This is
done by moving the pointer onto the worksheet to the first corner, clicking and holding the primary mouse
button, dragging the mouse pointer to the opposite corner and releasing the mouse button.
6. Modifying an existing graph
A graph which has already been created can be modified by clicking on the graph with one of the
secondary mouse buttons in order to invoke the context menu and then selecting the Properties menu
entry. This will cause the second panel of the Graph Guru to appear which will enable the user to make any
desired modifications. The use of the context menu was discussed in Section 9.1.4 ― Invoking the Context
Menu for Graphical Elements.
7. Deleting a graph
A graph which has been made can be deleted by invoking the context menu and selecting the Delete menu
item.

10.3. Plot Types

Gnumeric graphs can include any of the plot types presented below. The section for each type explains the
overall concept of the plot, gives an example, explains the data required for the plot type, and explains the
icons in the Graph Guru which allow setting the plot sub-type and style.

10.3.1. Area Plots

10.3.2. Bar Plots
10.3.3. Bubble Plots
10.3.4. Colored XY Plots
10.3.5. Column Plots
10.3.6. Contour Plots
10.3.7. DropBar Plots
10.3.8. Line Plots
10.3.9. Min-Max Plots
10.3.10. Pie Plots
10.3.11. Polar Plots
10.3.12. Radar Plots
10.3.13. Ring Plots
10.3.14. Statistics Plots
10.3.15. Surface Plots
10.3.16. XY Scatterplots

10.3.1. Area Plots

Area plots present the numeric values of categorical data with the data values of each series connected by a line
and the area below the line shaded. This type is directly analogous to the line plot type. Sequential data values
are considered to belong to different categories and are plotted along the horizontal axis at equally spaced
intervals. The data values from different series are assigned to these categories based on the position of the
value in the series, for example, the second data value taken from each series all share one category. The data
values are plotted along the vertical (Y) axis according to their numeric value and the particular sub-type chosen
for the area plot.

Area plot sub-types provide three options for relating the values from different data series. The first sub-type
plots each series independently with the data value determining the vertical distance between each point and
the horizontal axis. The second sub-type plots the series stacked on each other in a cumulative fashion with the
data value of each series determining the vertical distance from the point to the sum of the values in all the
previous series. For example, if the first series starts with values {3.9, 4.2, ...}, the second series with
values {1.2, 3.5, ...}, and the third series with values {3.1, 1.9, ...}, then the point value for the

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second element of the third series will be plotted at 9.6 (since 9.6=4.2+3.5+1.9) along the vertical axis. The
third sub-type plots each series based on the proportional contribution of the value to the total of all values in
that category. Using the example above, the three values would be plotted at 0.4375, 0.8020, and 1 because
the intervals between zero and each of these numbers is 0.4375=4.2/(4.2+3.5+1.9) for the first,
0.3645...=3.5/(4.2+3.5+1.9) for the second, and 0.1979...=1.9/(4.2+3.5+1.9) for the third,
although, by default, these numbers are presented as percentages on the vertical (Y) axis.

Area plots do not have any pre-defined styles.

Figure 10-4 An example of area plots

This screenshot shows a table of data and three area plots. The data consist of three series organized by
row and starting with the words "Widgets", "Gadgets", and "Lumpets". Each of these series has values in
five categories. The three graphs illustrate the three sub-types of area plots, with the series plotted
independently in the left plot, stacked in the middle plot, and proportionately stacked in the right plot.

Each series in area plots can include three main elements and two error elements, although only the value
element is necessary. The series can have a 'Name' element, which is a single text entry used to identify the
series, must have a 'Values' element, which is a sequence of numeric values, and may have a 'Label' element,
which is a sequence of text entries used to identify the categories. All of these elements can be defined as
references to a region of the worksheet, as literally defined entries, or as formula expressions which result in
the correct type. The 'Label' element is shared by all of the series. The legend added to an area plot identifies
the different series, by default using the entries of the 'Name' element of each series. The two error elements
include a list for errors in the positive direction and one for errors in the negative direction.

Table 10-1 The data in each area plot series

Element Type Example

Name A single textual element labeling the data series. These will be used in the {"Widgets"}
legend which may be displayed with the area plot.
Value A series of numeric values. {1293, 2502, 3297,
1100, 2487}
Label A series of textual elements labeling each value. Generally, this series will have {"North", "South",
as many entries as there were in the "Value" series. These entries are shared by "Central", "East",
all the series in the area plot. "West"}
Error (+) A list of numeric values with as many elements as there were in the 'Value' list. {0.10, 0.12, 0.09,
These values can be in the same units as the numeric values in the 'Value' list, 0.11, 0.09}
can be proportions or can be proportions multiplied by one hundred.
Error (-) A list of numeric values with as many elements as there were in the 'Value' list. {0.08, 0.11, 0.10,
These values can be in the same units as the numeric values in the 'Value' list, 0.09, 0.11}
can be proportions or can be proportions multiplied by one hundred.

Area plots provide three icons to choose one of the three area plot sub-types.

Area plot sub-type and style options.

The icon for an area plot of the sub-type with independent, overlapping areas.

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The icon for an area plot of the sub-type with stacked areas.

The icon for an area plot of the sub-type with stacked, proportionate areas.

10.3.2. Bar Plots

Bar plots present the numeric values of categorical data with the data values of each series represented as a
horizontal bar. Sequential data values are considered to belong to different categories and are plotted along
the vertical axis at equally spaced intervals. The data values from different series are assigned to these
categories based on the position of the value in the series, for example, the second data value taken from each
series all share one category. The data values are plotted along the horizontal (X) axis as bars of different
lengths and positions depending on the numeric content of the data value and the particular sub-type chosen
for the bar plot.

Bar plot sub-types provide three options for relating the values from different data series. The first sub-type
plots each series independently in adjacent bars, each of which is tied to the vertical axis and has its length
determined by the numeric content of the data value. The second sub-type plots each series as a horizontally
stacked set of bars with the horizontal length of each element determined by the numeric content of the data
value and the position of the bar determined by the position of the element in the data series. For example, if
the first series starts with values {3.9, 4.2, ...}, the second series with values {1.2, 3.5, ...}, and
the third series with values {3.1, 1.9, ...}, then the third bar will be plotted ranging from 7.7 to 9.6, since
7.7=4.2+3.5 and 9.6=4.2+3.5+1.9. The third sub-type plots each series as a horizontally stacked set of
bars scaled to the total all the numeric values in that category. Using the example above, the three bars would
range from 0 to 0.4375, from 0.4375 to 0.8020, and from 0.8020 to 1 respectively because the intervals are the
proportional contribution of each data value to the total, i.e. 0.4375=4.2/(4.2+3.5+1.9) for the first,
0.3645...=3.5/(4.2+3.5+1.9) for the second, and 0.1979...=1.9/(4.2+3.5+1.9) for the third. By
default, these numbers are presented as percentages on the horizontal (X) axis.

Bar plots do not have any pre-defined styles.

Figure 10-5 An example of bar plots

This screenshot shows a table of data and three bar plots. The data consist of three series organized by
row and starting with the words "Widgets", "Gadgets", and "Lumpets". Each of these series has values in
five categories. The three graphs illustrate the three sub-types of bar plots, with the series plotted
independently in the left plot, stacked in the middle plot, and proportionately stacked in the right plot.

Each series in bar plots can include three main elements and two error elements, although only the value
element is necessary. The series can have a 'Name' element, which is a single text entry used to identify the
series, must have a 'Values' element, which is a sequence of numeric values, and may have a 'Label' element,
which is a sequence of text entries used to identify the categories. All of these elements can be defined as

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references to a region of the worksheet, as literally defined entries, or as formula expressions which result in
the correct type. The 'Label' element is shared by all of the series. The legend added to a bar plot identifies the
different series, by default using the entries of the 'Name' element of each series. The two error elements
include a list for errors in the positive direction and one for errors in the negative direction.

Table 10-2 The data in each bar plot series

Element Type Example

Name A single textual element labeling the data series. These will be used in the {"Widgets"}
legend which may be displayed with the bar plot.
Value A series of numeric values. {1293, 2502, 3297,
1100, 2487}
Label A series of textual elements labeling each value. Generally, this series will have {"North", "South",
as many entries as there were in the "Value" series. These entries are shared by "Central", "East",
all the series in the bar plot. "West"}
Error (+) A list of numeric values with as many elements as there were in the 'Value' list. {0.10, 0.12, 0.09,
These values can be in the same units as the numeric values in the 'Value' list, 0.11, 0.09}
can be proportions or can be proportions multiplied by one hundred.
Error (-) A list of numeric values with as many elements as there were in the 'Value' list. {0.08, 0.11, 0.10,
These values can be in the same units as the numeric values in the 'Value' list, 0.09, 0.11}
can be proportions or can be proportions multiplied by one hundred.

Bar plots provide three icons to choose one of the three bar plot sub-types.

Bar plot sub-type and style options.

The icon for a bar plot of the sub-type with independent, adjacent bars.

The icon for a bar plot of the sub-type with horizontally stacked bars.

The icon for a bar plot of the sub-type with horizontally stacked, proportionately scaled bars.

10.3.3. Bubble Plots

The data values from three series of equal length are plotted on the Cartesian (X-Y) plane, the value from the
first series determining the position of the plotted symbol center along the X axis, the value from the second
series determining the position of the plotted symbol center along the Y axis, and the value of the third series
determining the radius of the circle plotted. Each triplet of series can be plotted with different symbols but the
data values of any series can be shared.

Figure 10-6 An example of a bubble plot

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This screenshot shows a worksheet with a table of data with two series, each with three lists of numeric
values. The screenshot also shows a bubble plot made from these two series.

Each series in a bubble plot can include four main components and four optional error components. The series
may have a name, a single text value which will identify the series in the graph guru and in any legend attached
to the chart. The series must have two lists of quantitative values, a list of X values and a list of Y values, which
must have an equal number of elements. The series must also have a list, with the same number of elements,
whose values will determine the size of the circles drawn at each point. The series may have lists of error
components for the X values or the Y values and for positive or negative errors.

Table 10-3 The data in each bubble series

Element Type Example

Name A single textual element labeling the data series. {"Series1"}
X A list of numeric values, which will place the values along the horizontal axis. {14.5, 2.8, 11.8,
5.7, 8.2}
Y A second list of numeric values, which will place the values along the vertical axis. {154, 29, 63, 90,
107}
Bubble A series of numeric values, which will determine the size of each circle drawn at the {45, 54, 34, 23,
points. 37}
X Error A list of numeric values with as many elements as there were in the 'X' list. These {0.10, 0.12,
(+) values can be in the same units as the numeric values in the 'X' list, can be proportions 0.09, 0.11, 0.09}
or can be proportions multiplied by one hundred.
X Error A list of numeric values with as many elements as there were in the 'X' list. These {0.08, 0.11,
(-) values can be in the same units as the numeric values in the 'Value' list, can be 0.10, 0.09, 0.11}
proportions or can be proportions multiplied by one hundred.
Y Error A list of numeric values with as many elements as there were in the 'Y' list, and {0.09, 0.11,
(+) therefore in the 'X' list. These values can be in the same units as the numeric values in 0.10, 0.12, 0.09}
the 'Y' list, can be proportions or can be proportions multiplied by one hundred.
Y Error A list of numeric values with as many elements as there were in the 'Y' list, and {0.10, 0.09,
(-) therefore in the 'X' list. These values can be in the same units as the numeric values in 0.08, 0.11, 0.11}
the 'Y' list, can be proportions or can be proportions multiplied by one hundred.

Bubble plots have a single icon for the plot style.

The icon for bubble plots

The icon for a bubble plot.

10.3.4. Colored XY Plots

Work in Progress

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10.3.5. Column Plots

Column plots present the numeric values of categorical data with the data values of each series represented as
a vertical column. Sequential data values are considered to belong to different categories and are plotted along
the horizontal axis at equally spaced intervals. The data values from different series are assigned to these
categories based on the position of the value in the series, for example, the second data value taken from each
series all share one category. The data values are plotted along the vertical (Y) axis as columns of different
heights and positions depending on the numeric content of the data value and the particular sub-type chosen
for the column plot.

Column plot sub-types provide three options for relating the values from different data series. The first sub-
type plots each series independently in adjacent bars, each of which is tied to the horizontal axis and has its
height determined by the numeric content of the data value. The second sub-type plots each series as a
vertically stacked set of columns with the vertical height of each element determined by the numeric content of
the data value and the position of the column determined by the position of the element in the data series. For
example, if the first series starts with values {3.9, 4.2, ...}, the second series with values {1.2, 3.5,
...}, and the third series with values {3.1, 1.9, ...}, then the third column will be plotted ranging from
7.7 to 9.6, since 7.7=4.2+3.5 and 9.6=4.2+3.5+1.9. The third sub-type plots each series as a vertically
stacked set of columns scaled to the total all the numeric values in that category. Using the example above, the
three columns would range from 0 to 0.4375, from 0.4375 to 0.8020, and from 0.8020 to 1 respectively because
the intervals are the proportional contribution of each data value to the total, i.e.
0.4375=4.2/(4.2+3.5+1.9) for the first, 0.3645...=3.5/(4.2+3.5+1.9) for the second, and
0.1979...=1.9/(4.2+3.5+1.9) for the third. By default, these numbers are presented as percentages on
the vertical (Y) axis.

Column plots do not have any pre-defined styles.

Figure 10-7 An example of column plots

This screenshot shows a table of data and three column plots. The data consist of three series organized by
row and starting with the words "Widgets", "Gadgets", and "Lumpets". Each of these series has values in
five categories. The three graphs illustrate the three sub-types of column plots, with the series plotted
independently in the left plot, stacked in the middle plot, and proportionately stacked in the right plot.

Each series in column plots can include three main elements and two error elements, although only the value
element is necessary. The series can have a 'Name' element, which is a single text entry used to identify the
series, must have a 'Values' element, which is a sequence of numeric values, and may have a 'Label' element,
which is a sequence of text entries used to identify the categories. All of these elements can be defined as
references to a region of the worksheet, as literally defined entries, or as formula expressions which result in
the correct type. The 'Label' element is shared by all of the series. The legend added to a column plot identifies
the different series, by default using the entries of the 'Name' element of each series. The two error elements
include a list for errors in the positive direction and one for errors in the negative direction.

Table 10-4 The data in each column plot series

Element Type Example

Name A single textual element labeling the data series. These will be used in the {"Widgets"}
legend which may be displayed with the column plot.
Value A series of numeric values. {1293, 2502, 3297,
,1100, 2487}
Label A series of textual elements labeling each value. Generally, this series will have {"North", "South",
as many entries as there were in the "Value" series. These entries are shared by "Central", "East",
all the series in the column plot. "West"}

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Element Type Example
Error (+) A list of numeric values with as many elements as there were in the 'Value' list. {0.10, 0.12, 0.09,
These values can be in the same units as the numeric values in the 'Value' list, 0.11, 0.09}
can be proportions or can be proportions multiplied by one hundred.
Error (-) A list of numeric values with as many elements as there were in the 'Value' list. {0.08, 0.11, 0.10,
These values can be in the same units as the numeric values in the 'Value' list, 0.09, 0.11}
can be proportions or can be proportions multiplied by one hundred.

Column plots provide three icons to choose between three plot sub-types.

Column plot sub-type and style options.

The icon for pie plot of style with joint slices.

The icon for pie plot of style with joint slices.

The icon for pie plot of style with joint slices.

10.3.6. Contour Plots

Work in Progress

10.3.7. DropBar Plots

Work in Progress

10.3.8. Line Plots

Line plots present the numeric values of categorical data with the data values of each series connected by a
line. Sequential data values are considered to belong to different categories and are plotted along the
horizontal (X) axis at equally spaced intervals. The data values from different series are assigned to these
categories based on the position of the value in the series, for example, the second data value taken from each
series all share one category. The data values are plotted along the vertical (Y) axis according to their numeric
value and the particular sub-type chosen for the line plot.

Line plot sub-types provide three options for relating the values from different data series. The first sub-type
plots each series independently with the data value determining the vertical distance between each point and
the horizontal axis. The second sub-type plots the series stacked on each other in a cumulative fashion with the
data value of each series determining the vertical distance from the point to the sum of the values in all the
previous series. For example, if the first series starts with values {3.9, 4.2, ...}, the second series with
values {1.2, 3.5, ...}, and the third series with values {3.1, 1.9, ...}, then the point value for the
second element of the third series will be plotted at 9.6 (9.6=4.2+3.5+1.9) along the vertical axis. The third
sub-type plots each series based on the proportional contribution of the value to the total of all values in that
category. Using the example above, the three values would be plotted at 0.4375, 0.8020, and 1 because the
intervals between zero and each of these numbers is 0.4375=4.2/(4.2+3.5+1.9) for the first,
0.3645...=3.5/(4.2+3.5+1.9) for the second, and 0.1979...=1.9/(4.2+3.5+1.9) for the third,
although, by default, these numbers are presented as percentages on the vertical (Y) axis.

Two styles are available by default for line plots. In the first no markers are placed on the value of the point
whereas in the second a point marker is added wherever the points are plotted.

Figure 10-8 An example of line plots

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This screenshot shows a table of data and three line plots. The data consist of three series organized by
row and starting with the words "Widgets", "Gadgets", and "Lumpets". Each of these series has values in
five categories. The three graphs illustrate the three sub-types of line plots, with the series plotted
independently in the left plot, stacked in the middle plot, and proportionately stacked in the right plot.

Each series in line plots can include three main elements and two error elements, although only the value
element is necessary. The series can have a 'Name' element, which is a single text entry used to identify the
series, must have a 'Values' element, which is a sequence of numeric values, and may have a 'Label' element,
which is a sequence of text entries used to identify the categories. All of these elements can be defined as
references to a region of the worksheet, as literally defined entries, or as formula expressions which result in
the correct type. The 'Label' element is shared by all of the series. The legend added to a line plot identifies the
different series, by default using the entries of the 'Name' element of each series. The two error elements
include a list for errors in the positive direction and one for errors in the negative direction.

Table 10-5 The data in each line plot series

Element Type Example

Name A single textual entry labeling the data series. These will be used in the legend {"Widgets"}
which may be displayed with the line plot.
Value A list of numeric values. {1293, 2502, 3297,
1100, 2487}
Label A list of textual entries labeling each value. Generally, this series will have as {"North", "South",
many entries as there were in the 'Value' series. These entries are shared by all "Central", "East",
the series in the line plot. "West"}
Error (+) A list of numeric values with as many elements as there were in the 'Value' list. {0.10, 0.12, 0.09,
These values can be in the same units as the numeric values in the 'Value' list, 0.11, 0.09}
can be proportions or can be proportions multiplied by one hundred.
Error (-) A list of numeric values with as many elements as there were in the 'Value' list. {0.08, 0.11, 0.10,
These values can be in the same units as the numeric values in the 'Value' list, 0.09, 0.11}
can be proportions or can be proportions multiplied by one hundred.

Line plots provide six icons to choose between three plot sub-types each with two different styles.

Line plot sub-type and style options.

The icon for a line plot of the sub-type with independent, overlapping lines and of the style
without point markers.

The icon for a line plot of the sub-type with stacked lines and of the style without point
markers.

The icon for a line plot of the sub-type with stacked proportion lines and of the style without
point markers.

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The icon for a line plot of the sub-type with overlapping lines and of the style with point
markers.

The icon for a line plot of the sub-type with stacked lines and of the style with point markers.

The icon for a line plot of the sub-type with stacked proportion lines and of the style without
point markers.

10.3.9. Min-Max Plots

Work in Progress

10.3.10. Pie Plots

Pie plots present the numeric values from a single series of categorical data as slices of a circular area, the
angular arc of each slice determined by the proportional magnitude of each value compared to the overall sum
of all the values. For example, if the series had values { 1.12, 4.48, 3.36, 1.68, 0.56}, the contribution of each slice
to the total would be {0.10, 0.40, 0.330, 0.15, 0.0 5}, since 0.10= 1.12/(1.12+4.48+3.36+1.68+0.56),
and the angular arcs of the wedges would be {36, 144, 108, 54, 18} degrees, since 36=0.10*360.

Pie plots do not have any sub-types.

Pie plot styles provide two choices for the rendering of the pie chart, either with all slices linked into one overall
circle, or with gaps between the slices. The size of the gap is a property of the pie plot which can be changed.

Figure 10-9 An example of a pie plot

This screenshot shows a table of data and a pie plot. The data consist of a single data series organized in a
row and starting with the word "Widgets". The series has values in five categories. The legend includes the
names of the different data categories.

Each pie plot contains a single series which can include three elements although only the value element is
necessary. The series can have a 'Name' element, which is a single text entry used to identify the series, must
have a 'Values' element, which is a sequence of numeric values, and may have a 'Label' element, which is a
sequence of text entries used to identify the categories. All of these elements can be defined as references to a
region of the worksheet, as literally defined entries, or as formula expressions which result in the correct type.
The legend added to a pie plot identifies the different categories using the entries in the 'Label' element.

Table 10-6 The data in each pie plot series

Element Type Example

Name A single textual entry labeling the data series. {"Widgets"}
Value A list of numeric values. {1293, 2502, 3297,
1100, 2487}
Label A list of textual entries labeling the category of each value. Generally, this series {"North", "South",
will have as many entries as there were in the 'Value' list. These will be used in "Central", "East",

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Element Type Example
the legend which may be displayed with the pie plot. "West"}

Pie plots do not have any sub-types but provide two icons to distinguish the style of the plot allowing a choice
between pie plots which comprise a single circular area or plots with distinct pie slices separated by small gaps.

Line plot sub-type and style options.

The icon for a pie plot of the style with joint slices.

The icon for a pie plot of the style with separated slices.

10.3.11. Polar Plots

Work in Progress

10.3.12. Radar Plots

Radar plots present the numeric values of categorical data as a set of points plotted along a set of axes
radiating from a central point, with as many axes as there are values in the series and with the points connected
by a line, possibly with the interior of the shape filled in. Sequential data values are considered to belong to
different categories and are plotted on separate axes which are not necessarily orthogonal and radiate from a
central point. Sequential points are connected by a line with the final point connected back to the first to form a
closed polygon. The data values from different series are assigned to categories based on the position of the
value in the series, for example, the second data value taken from each series all share one category and will
therefore all be plotted on the same axis. The data values are plotted along the axis of each class according to
their numeric value.

Radar plots do not have any sub-types.

Radar plot styles provide three choices for the rendering of the chart. The first style presents the radar chart as
only a polygon of lines. The second style also includes a marker where the data values are plotted on each axis.
The third style plots the radar chart as a filled polygon.

Figure 10-10 An example of radar plots

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This screenshot shows a table of data and three radar plots. The data consist of three series organized by
row and starting with the words "Widgets", "Gadgets", and "Lumpets". Each of these series has values in
five categories. The three graphs illustrate the three sub-types of radar plots, with the top left plot
including lines only, the top right plot including both lines and markers on the points, and the bottom
middle plot using filled polygons.

Each series in radar plots can include three main elements and two error elements, although only the value
element is necessary. The series can have a 'Name' element, which is a single text entry used to identify the
series, must have a 'Values' element, which is a sequence of numeric values, and may have a 'Label' element,
which is a sequence of text entries used to identify the categories. All of these elements can be defined as
references to a region of the worksheet, as literally defined entries, or as formula expressions which result in
the correct type. The 'Label' element is shared by all of the series. The legend added to a radar plot identifies
the different series, by default using the entries of the 'Name' element of each series. The two error elements
include a list for errors in the positive direction and one for errors in the negative direction.

Table 10-7 The data in each radar plot series

Element Type Example

Name A single textual element labeling the data series. {"Widgets"}
Value A series of numeric values. {1293, 2502, 3297,
1100, 2487}
Label A series of textual elements labeling each value. Generally, this series will have {"North", "South",
as many entries as there were in the 'Value' series. "Central", "East",
"West"}
Error (+) A list of numeric values with as many elements as there were in the 'Value' list. {0.10, 0.12, 0.09,
These values can be in the same units as the numeric values in the 'Value' list, 0.11, 0.09}
can be proportions or can be proportions multiplied by one hundred.
Error (-) A list of numeric values with as many elements as there were in the 'Value' list. {0.08, 0.11, 0.10,
These values can be in the same units as the numeric values in the 'Value' list, 0.09, 0.11}
can be proportions or can be proportions multiplied by one hundred.

Radar plots provide three icons distinguishing the three different styles.

Radar plot sub-type and style options.

The icon for a radar plot with the style displaying simple lines only.

The icon for a radar plot with the style displaying both lines and point markers on the data
values.

The icon for a radar plot with the style displaying a filled area.

10.3.13. Ring Plots

Ring plots present the numeric values of categorical data as segments of circular rings. Sequential data values
are considered to belong to different categories and are plotted with distinct patterns. The data values from
different series are assigned to these categories based on the position of the value in the series, for example,
the second data value taken from each series all share one category. The data values are used to determine the
size of the arc based on the proportionate size of the data value to the sum of all data values in the series. For
example, if the series had values { 1.12, 4.48, 3.36, 1.68, 0.56}, the contribution of each ring section to the total
would be {0.10, 0.40, 0.330, 0.15, 0.0 5}, since 0.10= 1.12/(1.12+4.48+3.36+1.68+0.56), and the
angular arcs of the sections would be {36, 144, 108, 54, 18} degrees, since 36=0.10*360.

Ring plots do not have any sub-types.

Ring plot styles provide two choices. Ring plots can be plotted with all segments linked into a single overall ring,
with different series plotted immediately adjacent to one another in sequentially larger rings. Alternatively, the
segments of the outermost ring can be split and float a certain distance away from the next ring.

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Figure 10-11 An example of ring plots

This screenshot shows a table of data and two ring plots. The data consist of a single data series organized
in a row and starting with the word "Widgets". The data consist of three series organized by row and
starting with the words "Widgets", "Gadgets", and "Lumpets". Each of these series has values in five
categories. The two graphs illustrate the two sub-types of ring plots, the left most plot without any gaps
and the right most plot having the outer plot with gaps.

Each series in ring plots can include three main elements and two error elements, although only the value
element is necessary. The series can have a 'Name' element, which is a single text entry used to identify the
series, must have a 'Values' element, which is a sequence of numeric values, and may have a 'Label' element,
which is a sequence of text entries used to identify the categories. All of these elements can be defined as
references to a region of the worksheet, as literally defined entries, or as formula expressions which result in
the correct type. The 'Label' element is shared by all of the series. The legend added to a ring plot identifies the
different series, by default using the entries of the 'Name' element of each series. The two error elements
include a list for errors in the positive direction and one for errors in the negative direction.

Table 10-8 The data in each ring plot series

Element Type Example

Name A single textual element labeling the data series. {"Widgets"}
Value A series of numeric values. {1293, 2502, 3297,
1100, 2487}
Label A series of textual elements labeling each value. Generally, this series will have {"North", "South",
as many entries as there were in the "Value" series. "Central", "East",
"West"}
Error (+) A list of numeric values with as many elements as there were in the 'Value' list. {0.10, 0.12, 0.09,
These values can be in the same units as the numeric values in the 'Value' list, 0.11, 0.09}
can be proportions or can be proportions multiplied by one hundred.
Error (-) A list of numeric values with as many elements as there were in the 'Value' list. {0.08, 0.11, 0.10,
These values can be in the same units as the numeric values in the 'Value' list, 0.09, 0.11}
can be proportions or can be proportions multiplied by one hundred.

Ring plots provide two icons distinguishing the two different styles.

Ring plot sub-type and style options.

The icon for a ring plot with the style of displaying series in contiguous rings.

The icon for a ring plot with the style of displaying the outermost series separated from the
rest.

10.3.14. Statistics Plots

Work in Progress

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10.3.15. Surface Plots

Surface plots are used to plot (x,y ,z) points in three-dimensional space as a surface where z is interpreted as
the height above the xy-plane. A Gnumeric chart of course shows the projection of this surface in 3-space onto
a 2-dimensional sheet.

Surface plot sub-types provide for 2 distinct ways of providing the data for a surface plot.

The first subtype uses an n by 1 or 1 by n range for the x-values, a second 1 by m or m by 1 range for the y-values
and an m by n range for the z values. The plotted points are constructed from these three ranges in such a way
that the z value in the ith column and jth row is combined with the ith x value and the jth y value. This
subtype then uses an m by n grid for the surface.

Figure 10-12 An example of a surface plot with rectangular data area

The second subtype uses a direct listing of the n points. The x values are specified with an n by 1 range, so are
the y and z values. The ith z value is then combined with the ith x and ith y value to obtain the points to be
plotted.It is not necessary to provide the same number of y coordinates for each x coordinate or vice versa.
Gnumeric will interpolate missing values. For this purpose one needs to specify the number of (equidistant)
rows and columns to be used for the surface grid. This grid need not align with the provided coordinates.

Figure 10-13 An example of a surface plot with x,y, and z series

Surface plots do not have any pre-defined styles.

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Table 10-9 The data in each surface plot series with rectangular data area

Element Type Example

Name A single textual element labeling the data series. These will be used in the legend which {"Widgets"}
may be displayed with the surface plot.
X An optional series of numeric values to be used for the x coordinates of the grid. This {1,3,5,6,8,9}
defaults to {1,2,…,n}.
Y An optional series of numeric values to be used for the y coordinates of the grid. This {1,1.5,2,2.5}
defaults to {1,2,…,n}.
Z A rectangular range of numbers where the number in jth row and ith column is the A2:J15
height of the (i,j) grid point.

Table 10-10 The data in each surface plot series with xyz series.

Element Type Example

Name A single textual element labeling the data series. These will be used in the legend which {"Widgets"}
may be displayed with the surface plot.
X A series of numeric values to be used for the x coordinates of the grid. {1,1.5,2,2.5}
Y A series of numeric values to be used for the y coordinates of the grid. {1,1.5,2,2.5}
Z A series of numeric values to be used for the z coordinates of the grid. {1,1.5,2,2.5}

Surface plots provide two icons to choose one of the two surface plot sub-types.

Surface plot sub-type and style options.

The icon for an area plot of the sub-type with rectangular data area.

The icon for an area plot of the sub-type with xyz series.

10.3.16. XY Scatterplots

The data values of two series of equal length are plotted on the Cartesian (X-Y) plane, the value from the first
series determining the position of the plotted symbol along the X axis, and the value from the second series
determining the position of the plotted symbol along the Y axis. Data can be plotted as points only, with each
pair of data series having different symbols, or, alternatively, sequential data pairs can be connected by a line,
or, finally, both symbols and a connecting line can be used.

Figure 10-14 An example of an XY scatterplot

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This screenshot shows a data table with two different series highlighted which are usable in a scatterplot.
Each series is comprised of two lists of numeric values. The screenshot also shows the scatterplot made
from these two data series.

Each series in a scatterplot can include three core components and four optional error components. The series
may have a name, a single text value which will identify the series in the Graph Guru and in any legend attached
to the chart. The series must have two lists of quantitative values, a list of X values and a list of Y values, which
must have an equal number of elements. The series may also contain lists of error values for each of the X and Y
lists with a positive and a negative component for each.

Table 10-11 The data in each XY scatterplot series

Element Type Example

Name A single textual element labeling the data series. {"Series1"}
X A list of numeric values, which will place the values along the horizontal axis. {14.5, 2.8, 11.8,
5.7, 8.2}
Y A second list of numeric values, which will place the values along the vertical axis. {154, 29, 63, 90,
107}
X Error A list of numeric values with as many elements as there were in the 'X' list. These {0.10, 0.12,
(+) values can be in the same units as the numeric values in the 'X' list, can be proportions 0.09, 0.11, 0.09}
or can be proportions multiplied by one hundred.
X Error A list of numeric values with as many elements as there were in the 'X' list. These {0.08, 0.11,
(-) values can be in the same units as the numeric values in the 'Value' list, can be 0.10, 0.09, 0.11}
proportions or can be proportions multiplied by one hundred.
Y Error A list of numeric values with as many elements as there were in the 'Y' list, and {0.09, 0.11,
(+) therefore in the 'X' list. These values can be in the same units as the numeric values in 0.10, 0.12, 0.09}
the 'Y' list, can be proportions or can be proportions multiplied by one hundred.
Y Error A list of numeric values with as many elements as there were in the 'Y' list, and {0.10, 0.09,
(-) therefore in the 'X' list. These values can be in the same units as the numeric values in 0.08, 0.11, 0.11}
the 'Y' list, can be proportions or can be proportions multiplied by one hundred.

XY scatterplots provide three icons to select between different style options. The plots can be rendered with
markers at each point, with markers at each point and a line joining adjacent values in the data lists, or with a
line but no markers.

XY scatterplot style options.

The icon for scatterplot of style with only a marker at each point.

The icon for scatterplot of style with a marker at each point and a line between adjacent points
in the value lists.

The icon for scatterplot of style with only a line between adjacent points in the value lists.

10.4. Configuring Graph Element Properties

Graphs in Gnumeric can be configured extensively using the Graph Guru. In this way, the user can determine the
data used in the plots, the names and labels associated with the data, the numerical values of the axes and the
stylistic presentation of all the graphical elements.

Graphs are configured element by element, first by selecting the element name in the top left area of the
second panel of the Graph Guru, shown as area F in Figure 10-3, and, second, by altering the properties in the
bottom area of the second panel of the Graph Guru, shown as area J. These changes will be applied to the
graph only when the OK button is pressed.

A number of properties of the graph are configured using the Gnumeric entry box shown in Figure
10-15.

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Figure 10-15 The data entry box widget

The data entry box widget allows users to enter data as defined values (e.g. "A name", 123, or
{12,32,14}), as references (e.g. 'Sheet1!A2:B4'), or as expressions (e.g. sin({11,16}) ).

Information can be inserted to the data entry box, first, by selecting the box with a mouse click and,
then, either typing data on a keyboard or using the mouse to select a region of the worksheet.

10.4.1. Background Panels: Graphs & Charts

10.4.2. Titles and Axis Labels
10.4.3. Chart Legends
10.4.4. Axes
10.4.5. Plots
10.4.6. Data Series

10.4.1. Background Panels: Graphs & Charts

Several elements of the graph function as background panels for the other elements. These panels can be
configured to display a visible background consisting of a solid color, a pattern, a gradient, or an image.
Alternatively, the panel can be made transparent to show the underlying panel, if any. Where there are only
transparent panels, the worksheet itself will be visible behind the graph.

Figure 10-16 The background panel configuration.

This screenshot depicts the two elements of background panels which can be configured, the background
fill and the outline.

The background panel Fill refers to the area which is behind the entire component. The Outline refers to a solid
box which will be drawn around the edge of the component.

The Outline can be configured by selecting a color using the color picker widget and by choosing a size using
the spin button box. A size of '-1' indicates that no line will be drawn, whereas sizes zero and above indicate the
size of the line that will be drawn.

The Fill can be configured to be a pattern, which includes a solid color, a gradient or an image.

Figure 10-17 The pattern background panel fill configuration.

This screenshot depicts the configuration properties for the pattern background panel fill.

The fill using a pattern enables the panel background to consist either of a solid color, or of a solid color overlain
by a pattern. The top drop down button, labeled Pattern, allows the user to select the pattern overlay from a
number of different standard patterns. The pattern in the top left corner is an empty pattern which allows the
background color indicated in the third drop down button to fill the panel. The middle drop down button,
labeled Foreground, allows the user to select the color of the overlay in the pattern. The bottom drop down
button, labeled Background, allows the user to select the color of the underlay. If the pattern is empty, the
color of the Background will be the color of the entire panel.

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If all of these buttons appear black, change the color of the Background to white to see the pattern
and foreground color.

Figure 10-18 The gradient background panel fill configuration.

This screenshot depicts the configuration properties for the gradient background panel fill.

The background panel can be filled with a gradient transitioning either between two colors or between a color
and a tone, either white or black. The top drop down button, labeled Direction, gives the user a number of
choices for the direction in which the gradient will operate. The drop down button named Type allows the user
to pick between gradients which transition between two colors, the 2 Colors option, and gradients that
transition from a color to pure white or pure black, the Brightness option. The drop down buttons for the Start
and End colors allow the user to pick the colors in the gradient. For the brightness gradients, a slider allows the
user to select the transition direction. Moving the slider toward Brighter will fade the color to white whereas
moving the slider toward Darker will fade the color toward black.

If all of these buttons appear black, change the color of the Start button to white to see the
gradient.

Figure 10-19 The image background panel fill configuration.

This screenshot depicts the configuration properties for the image background panel fill.

The image background fill type allows the user to select an image to fill the background of the panel. The image
can be in any file format supported by the gdk-pixbuf library as explained in Section 9.2 ― Images. The image
can be fit in one of two ways. The image fit can be stretched so the image fills the whole panel area or the
image fit can be wallpapered where the image is repeated in a tile pattern to fill up the whole background. The
button labeled Select allows the user to call the file selector and choose the file which contains the desired
image. On the GNOME desktop, the file chooser has a preview area to see the image before adding it. The size
of the image, in pixels, is displayed in the configuration dialog as '# x #' where the number symbol indicates the
number of pixels, and the number of pixels in each row comes before the number in each column.

10.4.2. Titles and Axis Labels

Both Title and Axis Labels can be configured using three tabs. The first tab allows the user to configure the
background panel of the title or axis label. The second tab allows the user to select the font that will be used to
display the words in the title or axis label. The third tab allows the user to input the actual words which will be
used in the graph.

Figure 10-20 The font selection for Titles and Axis Labels.

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This screenshot depicts the font configuration panel for titles and axis labels in the Graph Guru.

The Style tab allows the user to configure the background panel in the same way this was configured for
graphs, charts and grids, as was explained above in Section 10.4.1 ― Background Panels: Graphs & Charts.

The Font tab is shown in Figure 10-20 and consists of three column lists. The first column list allows the user to
select the font name by scrolling the list and then clicking on the desired name. The currently selected font
name is highlighted in light blue. The second column list allows the user to select the font style including italic
and bold styles. The third column list allows the user to select a size for the font. The preview area contains a
few characters to illustrate the appearance of the currently selected combination.

The Data tab displays a single entry box in which the user can place the words which will appear in the title or in
the label. The user can simply type the text, can add a reference to a section of the worksheet or can add an
expression which results in a text value.

10.4.3. Chart Legends

Chart legends provide a graphical explanation of the data plotted with the names and style of the different
series, or categories, plotted in each chart. Legends are configured through two tabs, labeled Style and Font.
The Style tab allows for the configuration of the background pane in a manner analogous to the graph, chart
and grid background panes, explained in Section 10.4.1 ― Background Panels: Graphs & Charts. The Font tab
allows the configuration of the font that will appear in the legend. This configuration is identical to the
configuration of the title and axis label fonts presented in Section 10.4.2 ― Titles and Axis Labels.

10.4.4. Axes

Axes are used in several different kinds of plots to provide quantitative indexes for the scale of each plot
direction. Gnumeric uses four different kinds of axes. Category axes do not provide a quantitative scale but
merely distinguish each different category by providing space for the values of the category along the axis.
Continuous axes provide a quantitative measure of each value based on the projection of that value onto the
axis. Radial axes are used in radar plots and are continuous axes which radiate from a central point. Circular
axes have not yet been implemented.

Line, column and area charts use a category axis to separate the categories along the horizontal direction and a
continuous axis to distinguish values in the vertical direction. Bar charts reverse these two axes. XY scatter plots
and bubble plots use two continuous axes, one in the horizontal direction, the X-axis, and one in the vertical
direction, the Y-axis. Radar plots use three or more continuous axes radiating from a central point. Pie and Ring
plots do not use any axes.

10.4.4.1. Category Axes

10.4.4.2. Continuous Axes: Linear, Radial & Circular
10.4.4.3. Grids

10.4.4.1. Category Axes

Category axes distinguish the different categories of each value in a category series such as the series in line,
bar, column and area plots.

Figure 10-21 Category axis bounds configuration.

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The Bounds tab allows the user to override the automatic configuration of axis tick marks and labels. Each of
the three choices can be over-ridden by deselecting the check box on the left. The check boxes can be
deselected by placing the mouse pointer over the check box and clicking with the primary mouse button. When
a check box is unselected, the entry box will become active allowing the user to input a different value than the
default. The first check box controls the number of tick marks, allowing tick marks to appear after the integer
number of categories shown. The second check box controls the number of labels displayed, allowing a regular
number of category labels to be skipped. The third check box controls the placement of the orthogonal axis
relative to the category axis.

Figure 10-22 Category axis line style configuration.

The Style tab allows the user to configure the line style of the axis, including the color and thickness of the line.
The drop down button labeled Color can be clicked to expose the color picker panel which allows the user to
select a new color either simply by clicking on an icon or by using the color picker wheel. The size spin button
allows a user to change the thickness of the axis by typing a new number in the text box or by clicking on the
arrows. A value of '-1' in this box will cause the axis not to be drawn.

The Font tab allows the user to configure the font used to label the separate categories. The font configuration
is performed in the same way as the font configuration for titles and axis labels which was explained in Section
10.4.2 ― Titles and Axis Labels.

Figure 10-23 The category axis details configuration.

The Details tab allows a user to configure other aspects of the axis.

The Position of the axis is placed in the Low position by default. This can be altered by pressing the radio
button in front of the High label which will move the internal button and will alter the position of the axis,
moving it either to the top of the graph for horizontal axes, or to the right of the graph for vertical axes.

The Mapping of the axis can be changed simply by clicking on the check box. This will cause a check mark to
appear in the box and will invert the axis so that the order of the categories will become reversed.

The Major ticks displayed on the axis can be altered. The labels shown in the plot can be hidden by unchecking
the check box in front of the 'Show Labels' text by placing the mouse cursor over the box and clicking with the
primary mouse button. The ticks on the axis can be hidden or can be displayed on the outside of the graph, or
on the inside of the graph, or on both sides depending on which of the two boxes are checked.

The Minor ticks do not currently have any effect for category axes.

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10.4.4.2. Continuous Axes: Linear, Radial & Circular

Continuous axes are configured in much the same way as category axes except for some minor differences.

Figure 10-24 Continuous axis bounds configuration.

The Bounds tab allow users to configure the limits and intervals of a continuous axis. The meaning of the values
for Major Ticks and Minor Ticks depends on the type of continuous axes:

Continuous Axes with Linear Scale

The Major Ticks value gives the distance between major ticks and the Minor Ticks value the
distance between minor ticks.

Continuous Axes with Logarithmic Scale

The Major Ticks value gives the number of decades (powers of 10) between major ticks. The
Minor Ticks value gives the number of minor ticks between major ticks.

If the Major Ticks value is N, then the Minor Ticks value can be 0, N−1, or 9N−1.

The Style tab changes the linear style of the axis in the same way as it acted on category axes. The explanation
given in Section 10.4.4.1 ― Category Axes apply equally well to continuous axes.

The Font tab also allows users to configure the font used in the numeric markers along the axis. Selecting the
font for a continuous axis works in the same way as for a category axis as was explained in Section 10.4.4.1 ―
Category Axes.

The Details tab has two small differences compared to category axes. The mapping of the axis can be altered
from a linear scale to a logarithmic scale by clicking on the drop down box and dragging to the entry labeled
Log. The minor ticks, whose size was configured in the Bounds tab, are displayed for continuous axes unlike for
categorical axes.

Figure 10-25 Continuous axis format configuration.

The Format tab allow users to configure the numeric type of the elements on a continuous axis. This
configuration parallels the configuration of the numeric type of a worksheet cell as explained in Section 5.10.1

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― Number Formatting Tab.

10.4.4.3. Grids

Users can add both major and minor grids to an axis. Grids are lines that are perpendicular to the axis at fixed
intervals. An example of major (in blue) and minor (in green) grids attached to a vertical axis are shown in Figure
10-26.

Figure 10-26 Major and Minor Grids.

To add either a major or minor grid to an axis, the user selects the appropriate axis in the hierarchy tree of graph
components, clicks the Add button below the hierarchy, and selects either MajorGrid or MinorGrid.

When a grid has been added to an axis, it can be selected in the hierarchy tree of graph components and
customized in its configuration tab. One can specify the style, color, and thickness (size) of the grid lines as well
as specify a fill to be applied to the space between every second pair of consecutive grid lines.

10.4.5. Plots

Certain of the properties of plots are assigned directly to the plot element and are configured when the plot
element itself is selected.

Line plots, Area plots, and XY scatter plots do not have any plot level properties which can be configured.

10.4.5.1. Bubble plots

10.4.5.2. Pie plots
10.4.5.3. Bar and Column plots
10.4.5.4. Radar plots
10.4.5.5. Ring plots

10.4.5.1. Bubble plots

The bubbles in bubble plots are used to represent a third data component with the size of the bubble
representing the value of the third component.

Figure 10-27 The configurable properties of a bubble plot.

The first choice in the bubble plot properties allows the user to represent the bubble value based on the area or
the diameter of the bubble. The representation of a bubble using the surface is similar to using a log scale since
the area is a squared quantity.

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The Show negative values property, if the check box is checked, will cause negatives values to be shown with
the size of the bubble based on the absolute value of the value and the style of the bubble having a white fill.

The Vary colors by bubble, if the check box is checked, will cause each value in a series to be displayed with a
different fill color instead of coloring all the values in a single series with the same color.

The bubbles in a series are scaled relative to each other with the maximum value having a default, fixed size and
the other values being scaled to this maximum bubble. Using this spin button, the default size of the maximum
bubble can be altered.

10.4.5.2. Pie plots

Pie plots represent the data values as slices of a circular area, with the central angle of each slice, or wedge,
proportional to the size of the value compared to the sum of all the values in the series.

Figure 10-28 The configurable properties of a pie plot.

The slices by default are plotted clockwise starting from the vertical which is considered 0 degrees. The first
option allows the user to set a different starting point for the pie series by changing the value in the spin box.
The value will increase to 360 degrees and then reset to zero.

Pie plots can be displayed with the slices separated from each other which in certain situations may improve the
visual clarity of a pie plot. The second spin button allows the slices to be separated.

The colors of each slice, by default, are all different to allow the easy visual distinction between each slice. Since
pie plots only allow a single series to be plotted, there is no need to use color to associate the values from
different series. By unchecking this box, all of the slices in a pie chart can be made to follow the color scheme
defined in the plot series Style tab. However, if this box is unchecked, the outlines of the slices must be styled
with a different color for the slices to be distinguishable.

10.4.5.3. Bar and Column plots

Bar and column plots can be displayed with different sized gaps between categories and different overlaps
between the values of different series in each category.

Figure 10-29 The configurable properties of bar and column plots.

The Gap describes the separation between the values plotted in each category. By default, the gap between
categories is one and half times the width of a bar or a column. This spin button can be used to decrease the
gap to zero, so there is no gap between categories, or increase the gap to 500% so the gap is five times the size
of a bar or a column.

The Overlap describes the separation between values of the different series in each category. By default these
values will be plotted immediately adjacent to each other. This spin button can be lowered to minus 100%
which leaves a gap the size of a bar or column between the values of each series. Alternatively, the values can
be made to overlap up to 100%, a complete overlap. When values completely overlap, the latter series are
plotted on top of the first series and a value may be completely obscured. In this case it may be possible to use
partially transparent colors for the different series to allow both values to be visible.

10.4.5.4. Radar plots

Radar plots have as many axes as there are categories in each series.

Figure 10-30 The configurable properties of a radar plot.

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By default the axis for the first category is vertical leaving the center point in the upward direction. The first
spin box in the radar plot properties allows a user to change this orientation. The spin button can increase from
zero degrees to 359 degrees when it will reset to 0.

The Vary colors by slice property is probably a mistake which should not be part of radar plot
properties.

10.4.5.5. Ring plots

Ring plots are similar to pie plots but may have an empty center and can be made with multiple series.

Figure 10-31 The configurable properties of a ring plot.

Like pie plots, ring plots assign values to the slices of a circular area by representing the magnitude of the value
by the central angle of the slice, although for ring plots the center of the circular area is empty. Like pie plots,
the first slice is plotted starting clockwise from the vertical and this first option can change the beginning point
of the first slice's angle.

The slices of a ring plot can also be separated. The Slice Separation option allows a user to determine the
proportional size of the gap between slices.

The Center size option determines the size of the hole in the middle of the rings as a fraction of the total
radius. The center size can be altered in 5 percent increments.

The Vary colors by slice check box allows the user to assign colors either by slices, which is the default, or by
series. To use color to distinguish series rather than categories, this button should not be checked.

10.4.6. Data Series

Each plot will have one or more 'series' which organize the data values. Each series element has a number of
properties. The element will have a Style tab with which the style of the line and point markers, or the area and
outline can be set. Each series element will have a Data tab in which the name of the series, the values used for
the series and any labels associated with these values can be entered. The data values will generally be entered
as references to cells on a worksheet which will allow the plots to be automatically altered when the values in
the worksheet change. The series may also have one or more Error tabs in which error values can be associated
to the data value of each element in the series.

10.4.6.1. Series line style

10.4.6.2. Series filled style
10.4.6.3. Series data: single values
10.4.6.4. Series data: X and Y values
10.4.6.5. Series data: bubble values
10.4.6.6. Series error values

10.4.6.1. Series line style

Series in line plots, in some radar plots and in scatter plots will have a style tab in which the graphical style of
the lines and point markers can be established.

Figure 10-32 The configurable properties of a line style.

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The properties of a single value data series include an optional name, a required list of values and an
optional list of labels. The name, in this case, is a reference to cell D7 in the first worksheet. The values are
the contents of the cells in the range E7:I7. The labels are the contents of the cells in the range E6:I6. Note
that there are as many cells in the labels range as in the values range.

The Line properties include the line color and size. The color can be altered in the standard way using the drop
down color chooser. The width of the line can be changed with the spin box. A line size of '-1' means that the
line will not be plotted.

The Marker properties determine the style of the graphical symbol which will be plotted for each data value.
The first drop down box allows the user to choose between a number of different symbols. The blank symbol
indicates that no symbol will be plotted where the data value would be. Each shape will have a fill color, and an
outline with both a color and a size. The colors can be changed by clicking on the drop down box and picking
one of the given colors or using the color picker to select a new color. The size of the outline can be altered by
clicking in the text area and editing the value or by using the spin arrows to increase or decrease the size.

10.4.6.2. Series filled style

Series in bubble plots, area plots, bar plots, column plots, filled radar plots, and ring plots will have a Style with
fill and outline properties. These properties are the same as those presented for background panels in Section
10.4.1 ― Background Panels: Graphs & Charts and are changed in the same way.

Figure 10-33 The configurable properties of a filled style.

The Fill properties will determine the character of the inside of the area. The fill type can be none, pattern,
gradient, or image, in the same way as the fill of background panels. If images are used for the background, the
whole image will be shown and it will be scaled to the size of the area.

The Outline properties will determine the size of the linear element that surrounds the area. The color and size
of this outline element can be altered.

10.4.6.3. Series data: single values

The Data tab allows the user to configure the data contents of the series. Some of these data contents are
optional, as is indicated by the parentheses around the label. At the minimum one set of numerical quantities
will be required.

The entry boxes in the Data tab can be filled in several ways. The data can be a static value or array such as a
sting literal, "SeriesName", or a group of values, {12.05, 73.02, 128.89}. Note that the separator
between elements in the array will depend on the locale since the glyph between whole numbers and decimal
fractions differs around the world. Alternatively, the value of an entry box can be the reference to a cell or to a
range. This reference can either be typed into the entry box or can be entered by clicking in the entry box text
area and then selecting the range on the worksheet. Finally, the value in the entry box can be an expression,
such as sin({120, 982, 140}).

Single series involve the simplest data. They may have an overall name, must have a list of values, and may have
a list of names, with as many names as there are numbers in the values list, which will act as category names. For
plot types with more than one single list series, the label names will be shared between all the series.

Figure 10-34 The configurable properties of single value data series.

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The Name property is a single string which will give a tag to the series itself. A name is not required. This name
will be used in the Graph Guru to name the series and may be used in a chart legend to describe the series.

The Values property must contain a list of numeric quantities. A list of values is required. The values can be
described either directly as a static array, described through a reference to a cell range with numeric values, or
described through an expression which results in the list of quantities.

The Labels property describes the names of the categories. This property is not required. must be a list of text
elements, with as many elements as there are quantities in the list of values. These elements will provide the
elements in the legend for pie and ring plots. For line, area, bar and column plots, the labels will provide the
category names for the axis with categories.

The Show in Legend property determines if this series will be shown in the legend if a legend is added to the
chart. It is sometimes useful to exclude certain series from the legend. If the box is checked, the series will be
included in any legend displayed in the chart; if the box is not checked, the series will not be displayed in the
legend. The box can be unchecked by placing the mouse pointer over the box and clicking with the primary
mouse button.

10.4.6.4. Series data: X and Y values

Series with dual data values allow plots to be constructed in which one value is plotted against the other. XY
scatter plots require this type of data.

Figure 10-35 The configurable properties of dual value data series.

Dual data series require two sets of values, an X list and a Y list.

The Name property is a single text element that will name the series in the graph guru and in any legend in the
chart.

The X property is a list of quantitative values that will provide the horizontal positioning of each element. This
list is required.

The Y property is a list of quantitative values that will provide the vertical positioning of each element. This list
is required and must have the same number of elements as the list of X values.

10.4.6.5. Series data: bubble values

Bubble series are simple extensions of the XY series to include a third data value, often called W, which will
determine the size of the bubble.

Figure 10-36 The configurable properties of bubble data series.

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The Name property is a single text element that will name the series in the graph guru and in any legend in the
chart.

The X property is a list of quantitative values that will provide the horizontal positioning of each element. This
list is required.

The Y property is a list of quantitative values that will provide the vertical positioning of each element. This list
is required and must have the same number of elements as the list of X values.

The Bubble property is a list of quantitative values that will provide the size of the bubbles associated to each
element. This list is required and must have the same number of elements as the lists of X and of Y values.

10.4.6.6. Series error values

Several plot types allow the plotting of error values using whisker plots. The series in these plot types will have
extra tabs allowing the whisker positions to be listed. Line, bar, column and area plots allow an error plot to
bracket the plotted quantitative value in the direction of the quantitative axis. XY scatter plots and bubble plots
allow whiskers in both directions.

Figure 10-37 The configurable properties of data series error values.

The Error Category includes several different categories which can be selected by clicking on the drop down
box and dragging the mouse pointer onto the appropriate entry. If the error category is set to "none", no error
bars will be plotted. If the category is set to "absolute" the values in the error lists will be considered to be in
the same units as the axis. If the category is set to "relative", the values in the error list are assumed to be a
fraction of the total of each value. If the category is set to "percent", the values in the error list are assumed to
be 1/100 th of the fraction of the total of each value. Note that if the cells in the worksheet are already set to
the percent format, they should be incorporated as "relative" errors.

The Style properties alter the appearance of the error whiskers. The Display property can be used to prevent
the display of any whiskers, to allow only upper or lower whiskers, or to display both. The Width property alters
the width of the outer marker of the whisker. The Line width property alters the size of the whiskers. The color
box selects the color of the line used to draw the whiskers.

The Values properties describe the lists of quantitative values which will be used for the whiskers. These lists
are required if an error is to be displayed and the lists must have as many elements as were in the list of data
"Values". The positive (+) list quantifies either only the upper error values if the lower values are not displayed
or the negative list is defined. The positive list can also be used for both error values if the errors are
symmetrical. The negative (-) list quantifies the lower whisker.

10.5. Pre-Selecting Data

This section is not yet written.

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11. Using Worksheets

This chapter explains the use and manipulation of worksheets in Gnumeric. The chapter explains how to move
around a worksheet, how to alter the appearance and display organization of the worksheet contents, how to
manipulate entire worksheets and how to protect worksheet contents.

11.1. Worksheet Overview

11.2. Worksheet Navigation
11.3. Worksheet Display
11.4. General Settings
11.5. Print Settings
11.6. Managing Worksheets

11.1. Worksheet Overview

Worksheets contain the elements, such as the cell grid area, which provide the principal work entities for
Gnumeric users. The worksheet grid area allows users to enter data, develop analyses of these data, and display
both data and results. Worksheets also contain graphical elements such as graphs and widgets. Worksheets are
grouped into a workbook which is stored in a Gnumeric file. The manipulation of workbooks is explained in
Section 12.1 ― Overview while the material below explains the manipulation of worksheets.

Worksheets contain both working elements and metadata elements. The working elements include the data
contents of cells in the grid area, cell comments, cell formatting, and sheet objects, such as graphical plots. The
metadata include the worksheet name and worksheet settings controlling the visual appearance of the
worksheet or the display of the worksheet.

This section explains the main ways to manipulate Gnumeric worksheets. Section 11.2 ― Worksheet Navigation
explains how to navigate the worksheet to change the area which is displayed and change the currently
selected area. Section 11.3 ― Worksheet Display presents several alternative settings which alter the display of
cell contents, of the grid area, of the worksheet as a whole or of Gnumeric itself. Section 11.4 ― General
Settings explains how to alter settings which affect all the contents of the worksheet such as the status of the
content protection mechanism. Section 11.5 ― Print Settings gives a brief explanation of the print settings
which apply specifically to each worksheet; a more complete explanation of the print settings is given in
Chapter 15 ― Printing. Finally, Section 11.6 ― Managing Worksheets explains how the entire collection of
worksheets can be manipulated so as to add, duplicate, delete or re-order the worksheets within a workbook.

11.2. Worksheet Navigation

Gnumeric worksheets can be conceived of as a single, continuous, two-dimensional grid of cells. However,
Gnumeric cannot display the entire grid at once but only shows a portion of the worksheet. Since only a portion
of the worksheet can be seen at any particular time, Gnumeric provides users with several ways to change the
portion of the worksheet that is displayed. Section 11.2.2 ― Moving the Selection explains the various ways
that the display window can be moved to a different section of the worksheet grid, while Section 11.3 ―
Worksheet Display , further below, explains more powerful methods to re-organize the display of the cell grid
area.

11.2.1. Moving Around a Worksheet

11.2.2. Moving the Selection

11.2.1. Moving Around a Worksheet

11.2.2. Moving the Selection

11.3. Worksheet Display

The display of each worksheet can be controlled by several settings and configurations. The worksheet,
conceptually, consists of a single continuous two dimensional grid of cells arranged in rows by columns, and
Gnumeric, by default, displays a small portion of the worksheet area as a continuous region.

A worksheet is created with the number of rows and columns specified by the preference setting that can be
adjusted on the Windows tab of the Preference Dialog (see Section 13.2.7 ― Windows Preferences).

The maximum number of rows in a sheet is 16,777,216 and the maximum number of columns is
16384. The dimensions of a sheet can only be set to powers of 2.

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The size of an existing sheet can be increased through the Resize Sheet dialog accessible through the sheet tab
context menu (see Section 4.3.3 ― Context Menu for Worksheet Tabs) or the Sheet submenu of the Edit menu
(see Section 4.2.4 ― Edit Menu).

11.3.1. Worksheet Appearance

11.3.2. Workbook Appearance
11.3.3. Grouping Rows and Columns
11.3.4. Display Panes

11.3.1. Worksheet Appearance

A number of aspects of how a worksheet is displayed in the cell grid can be modified. To adjust the display of
formulas or results, A1 or R1C1 notation for cell references, how cells with a value of zero are displayed, the
presence or absence of grid lines or row or column headers, or whether columns are ordered left to right or
right to left, see the description of the Format ▶ Sheet submenu.

11.3.2. Workbook Appearance

This section has not yet been written.

11.3.2.1. Zoom: Changing the Scale of a Sheet

11.3.2.2. Full Screen Mode
11.3.2.3. Displaying Workbook Tabs
11.3.2.4. Displaying Grid Area Scrollbars

11.3.2.1. Zoom: Changing the Scale of a Sheet

This section has not yet been written.

11.3.2.2. Full Screen Mode

This section has not yet been written.

11.3.2.3. Displaying Workbook Tabs

This section has not yet been written.

11.3.2.4. Displaying Grid Area Scrollbars

This section has not yet been written.

11.3.3. Grouping Rows and Columns

11.3.4. Display Panes

11.4. General Settings

11.4.1. Content Protection

11.4.1. Content Protection

11.5. Print Settings

11.6. Managing Worksheets

This section discusses functions that manipulate worksheets as a whole, rather than their contents.

11.6.1. Worksheets and the Menubar

11.6.2. Worksheet Tab Context Menu
11.6.3. Manage Sheets dialog
11.6.4. Adding a Blank Worksheet
11.6.5. Copying or Pasting a Worksheet

11.6.1. Worksheets and the Menubar

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Gnumeric provides a number of options for manipulating worksheets as a whole, rather than the contents of
the worksheets. These operations are documented in the later section Section 11.6.2 ― Worksheet Tab Context
Menu. In addition to the worksheet tab context menu and the Sheet submenu of the Edit menu, some of these
operations are also available from other menus:

The Insert function is also available as Sheet on the Insert menu.

The Rename and Manage Sheets dialogs are also available on the Format ▶ Sheet submenu.

In addition to worksheet manipulation, Gnumeric provides the ability to control various aspects of how or
whether a worksheet is displayed in the cell grid. Several such controls are included in the Section 11.6.3 ―
Manage Sheets dialog, described in a later section. Other worksheet display controls are located in the
Format ▶ Sheet submenu, which are described there.

11.6.2. Worksheet Tab Context Menu

Except for the addition of the two Select submenus, which appear only on the context menu, this is the same as
the Edit ▶ Sheet submenu. The Manage sheets... dialog is discussed in Section 11.6.3 ― Manage Sheets dialog,
which follows the description of the context menu.

Figure 11-1 The Context Menu for Worksheet Tabs

Insert — Select this menu item to insert a new, empty worksheet ahead of the current worksheet. The new
worksheet is the same size as the current one.
Append — Select this menu item to add a new, empty worksheet at the end of the existing worksheets.
The new worksheet has the default size, which can be set in the Gnumeric Preferences dialog in the
“Windows” tab.
Duplicate — Select this menu item to add a copy of the selected worksheet immediately after the selected
worksheet.
Remove — Select this menu item to delete the selected worksheet.
Rename — Select this menu item to access the Rename Sheet dialog, which lets you change the name of a
single worksheet. To rename more than one worksheet, the Manage Sheets dialog may be more
convenient.
Resize... — Select this menu item to access the Resize Sheet dialog. Use the sliders to adjust the size of
the sheet, then click OK. Worksheet dimensions are restricted to powers of two. By default the Resize
Sheet dialog changes the sizes of all worksheets in the current workbook. To change the size of a single
worksheet, clear the check mark next to Apply change to all sheets before clicking OK.
Select and Select (sorted) — Select one of these menu items to access a menu of worksheet names. Click
on one of the names to select that worksheet. The displayed tabs are adjusted so that the selected
worksheet's tab is visible, and the selected worksheet is displayed in the cell grid.

11.6.3. Manage Sheets dialog

The Manage Sheets dialog can be accessed from the worksheet tab context menu, from the Edit ▶ Sheet
submenu, or from the Format ▶ Sheet submenu.

Figure 11-2 Manage Sheets dialog

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The worksheets contained in the current workbook are listed in the upper left portion of the dialog. When
Show advanced sheet properties is enabled, the Dir, Rows, and Cols fields are included. A worksheet can be
selected by clicking anywhere in its line, although clicking one of the icons will toggle its associated property
along with selecting the worksheet. Multiple selection, using the Shift and Ctrl keys, can be used to operate on
more than one worksheet at a time. The current worksheet shown in the cell grid tracks the selected worksheet
in this dialog. That is, selecting a single worksheet from the list also causes that worksheet to be displayed in
the cell grid. When more than one worksheet is selected in the list, the first one in the list is set as the current
worksheet in the cell grid. Some operations are not available when more than one worksheet is selected. The
buttons for those operations are dimmed when they are unavailable.

The Lock column of the list shows an icon to indicate whether the worksheet is locked, , or unlocked, .
Click on the displayed icon to toggle the sheet's lock status. Locking a worksheet prevents accidental
modification of the data on that worksheet.

The Viz column of the list shows an icon, , if the worksheet is currently visible. The Viz column is blank if
the worksheet is not visible. Click in this column to toggle the worksheet's visibility. When the visibility attribute
is turned off, the worksheet does not get a tab at the bottom of the Gnumeric window. Its data is preserved,
and references to cells on the non-visible sheet continue to access the expected values. Note that a non-visible
worksheet cannot be selected from the list, although the active fields in the list continue to function. To apply
functions that require selecting the worksheet, such as Insert or Remove, first click in the Viz column to make it
visible.

The Dir column of the list shows a right-pointing or left-pointing arrow, depending on whether the sheet is
currently set to be displayed left-to-right or right-to-left. Click on the arrow to toggle a worksheet's display
direction.

The Rows and Cols columns show the current size of each worksheet. Worksheet size cannot be adjusted here.

To change the name of a worksheet, click in its New Name field until the contents of the field, if any, are
highlighted, then type the desired new name and press Enter. If the new name duplicates a name already in use,
a warning is displayed. You can change the new name or you can assign a new name to the other worksheet
with that name. Name changes are not applied immediately. Instead, Gnumeric waits until you click on the
Apply Name Changes button and makes all the name changes at once. When you apply the name changes,
Gnumeric automatically updates all cell references that include worksheet names to use the new names.

The worksheets can be re-ordered in the workbook by pressing the left mouse button in a worksheet's line and
dragging it up or down in the list of worksheets. You can also select a single worksheet and then click on the Up
or Down button to move it up or down in the list. Alternatively, you can sort the worksheets into ascending or
descending order by name by clicking on the Ascending or Descending button.

You can add an empty worksheet by clicking on Insert, to add the worksheet ahead of the selected worksheet,
or on Append, to add the worksheet after the last sheet in the list. Insert creates a new worksheet the same
size as the currently selected worksheet, while Append creates a new worksheet of the default size.

Click on Remove to delete the currently selected worksheet or worksheets.

Click on Duplicate to add an exact copy of the selected worksheet to the list immediately following the
selected sheet. The name of the new worksheet is the same as the name of the duplicated worksheet, but with
“(n)” appended, where n is the smallest integer greater than 1 that produces a unique worksheet name. If the

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worksheet name already ends in “(n)”, nothing is appended. Instead, the value of n is increased to the smallest
value that produces a unique worksheet name.

To change the background color of the tabs for the selected worksheets, click on the background color fill
button, to set the background color to the color shown below the bucket icon, or click on the

downward-pointing arrow to access the color selection dialog.

Similarly, to change the color of the text in the tabs of the selected worksheets, click on the text color button,
to set the text color to the color shown below the character icon, or click on the downward-pointing

arrow to access the color selection dialog.

11.6.4. Adding a Blank Worksheet

A new, empty worksheet can be added to a workbook by insertion ahead of the worksheet currently displayed
in the cell grid or by appending one after the last worksheet.

A new worksheet can be inserted ahead of the current worksheet by selecting Sheet from the Insert menu or
Insert from the worksheet tab context menu or by using the Insert function of the Manage Sheets dialog
described above. The new worksheet will be the same size as the one currently displayed.

A new worksheet can be added to the end of the list by selecting Append from the worksheet tab context
menu or by using the Append function of the Manage Sheets dialog described above. The new worksheet will
be the default size.

11.6.5. Copying or Pasting a Worksheet

Gnumeric does not directly support copying and pasting of worksheets, however copying blocks of cells
provides a very similar function. For example, to replace the contents of worksheet Sheet3 with the contents of
Sheet1, begin by selecting the worksheet tab for Sheet1. Select all the cells in Sheet1 by clicking on the blank
rectangle at the top of the row headers, to the left of the column headers, or by selecting Select ▶ All from the
Edit menu. Next use Edit ▶ Copy or Edit ▶ Cut to copy the worksheet contents to the clipboard, depending on
whether you want to copy or move the information. Select the worksheet tab for Sheet3 and select cell A1 or
the entire worksheet, then use Paste or Paste Special from the Edit menu to copy the contents of Sheet1 into
Sheet3.

Use of Paste Link in the Paste Special dialog should be avoided when operating on whole
worksheets, as it creates links to every selected cell in the first worksheet, 16,777,216 cells in a
worksheet of the default size, and has no option to skip empty cells in the first worksheet.

A similar operation can be performed using the Manage Sheets dialog. Duplicate the worksheet to be copied,
then move the copy to precede or follow the worksheet it is to replace. Delete the second worksheet and
rename the copy. This operation is similar to the copy and paste technique described above, but this method
also copies metadata, such as the display appearance controlled by the Format ▶ Sheet submenu.

12. Workbook Settings

This chapter explains the contents of a Gnumeric workbook which are not part of the worksheets. This includes
several settings which apply to the workbook and are saved in the Gnumeric file. Settings which apply to the
Gnumeric program itself are called `preferences' and are explained in Chapter 13 ― Configuring Gnumeric.

12.1. Overview
12.2. Document Summary
12.3. Document Settings
12.4. Document Named Elements

12.1. Overview

The contents of a Gnumeric file describe all of the elements which can be changed by the user. This sections
examines all of the workbook contents which are not part of the worksheets.

This chapter has not yet been written.

12.2. Document Summary

A small amount of metadata is associated with each document. These metadata describe the author of the
document and other related information.

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12.3. Document Settings

12.3.1. Document Printing Settings

12.3.2. Document Autosave Settings
12.3.3. Document Autocorrection Settings
12.3.4. Document View Settings
12.3.5. Document Protection Settings
12.3.6. Document Validation Settings
12.3.7. Document Recalculation Lag Settings

12.3.1. Document Printing Settings

12.3.2. Document Autosave Settings

The AutoSave tool can save your workbook automatically at specific intervals. You can specify how often you
want your work to be saved by entering a number in the ``Minutes'' box. If you check the ``Prompt before
saving'' button on, Gnumeric asks a confirmation before each automatic save.

Figure 12-1 The Auto Save Tool dialog

12.3.3. Document Autocorrection Settings

12.3.4. Document View Settings

12.3.5. Document Protection Settings

12.3.6. Document Validation Settings

12.3.7. Document Recalculation Lag Settings

12.4. Document Named Elements

13. Configuring Gnumeric

This chapter explains how to change the default behaviour of Gnumeric including the startup behaviour and
default locale (language and number display).

13.1. Overview
13.2. General Preferences
13.3. Toolbars
13.4. Plugins
13.5. Languages and Locales

13.1. Overview

Several preferences which relate to Gnumeric as a whole can be configured and will affect the appearance and
behaviour of the program every time it is run. These preferences can be set by the user.

Gnumeric provides a main preference configuration panel which allows users to configure fundamental
properties of the program including the font used within the spreadsheet, the type of file generated when a
workbook is saved, default settings for the tools and the 'undo' mechanism, as well as several fundamental
properties of the program, such as the pixel pitch of the display, which require advanced knowledge to
understand. Section 13.2 ― General Preferences explains how to alter these preferences.

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The toolbars can also be configured by being hidden from view. This allows Gnumeric to be fit into a smaller
space. Section 13.3 ― Toolbars explains how to hide or show each toolbar.

Much of the functionality of Gnumeric is provided through the plugin mechanism. Individual plugins can be
disabled to save memory space or when the plugin computer code is being altered. Section 13.4 ― Plugins
explains how to disable and re-enable Gnumeric plugins.

Gnumeric is designed to be used around the globe and therefore allows the use to determine the language for
the menus and to determine location specific information such as the character used to separate whole
numbers from fractional units. These language and locale settings are explained in Section 13.5 ― Languages
and Locales.

13.2. General Preferences

Gnumeric provides several general preferences which can be set by the user using the Preferences Dialog.

The Preferences Dialog has several pages. Each page addresses a certain aspects of using Gnumeric. The pages
are selected by clicking on one of the options in the top left column. These act like a tab interface in changing
the rest of the dialog options.

Tooltips appear under the mouse pointer

When the mouse pointer is placed over an entry field or a checkbox, after a certain delay, a
temporary tooltip may appear. The tooltip is a small window with information about each option.
The tooltip disappears once the mouse pointer is moved to a new area of the screen.

Some preferences require advanced understanding.

Certain of the options, such as the options for changing the number of pixels per length (the 'pixel
pitch') on the screen, are generally set correctly automatically. These options are fundamental and
should only be changed by users who understand the option.

13.2.1. Using the Preferences Dialog

13.2.2. Font Preferences
13.2.3. Copy and Paste Preferences
13.2.4. File Preferences
13.2.5. Tools Preferences
13.2.6. Undo History Preferences
13.2.7. Windows Preferences

13.2.1. Using the Preferences Dialog

The preference dialog can be started by selecting the Edit and then the Preferences... menu item.

The dialog is used by selecting one of the categories in the top left column of options and then changing the
settings for that option. The categories are presented as a list; each can be selected in turn by placing the
mouse pointer over the desired element and clicking with the primary mouse button.

Certain elements, such as the Font preference, have a small triangle in front of their name. Clicking on this
triangle will open a sub-element line which allows the sub-element to be selected and have its options altered.

13.2.2. Font Preferences

The font preferences allow the user to change the font which is used by default in the Gnumeric grid cells and
to set the font used for headers and footers when printing.

The Font selection sets the default font name, size and style to be used in the cells on every sheet.

Figure 13-1 Display Font

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The Headers/Footers selection sets the font name, size and style which will be used, by default, in the headers
and footers added to each page of printed output. These selections can be over-ridden in the print preferences
dialog as explained in Chapter 15 ― Printing. The content of the headers and footers is determined via the
Page Setup dialog, detailed in Section 15.2 ― Page Setup..

Figure 13-2 Header & Footer Font

13.2.3. Copy and Paste Preferences

The Copy and Paste element allows the user to determine how copied items are integrated into the clipboard
mechanism.

Figure 13-3 Copy and Paste

13.2.4. File Preferences

The Files element provides settings related to the handling of files.

Figure 13-4 Files

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The number of recently used files

If you are usually using one of a small number of documents, you should set the Length of File
History to be slightly larger than the number of these documents.

13.2.5. Tools Preferences

The Tools element allows to determine the settings for the recently used function list, for autocompletion of
data entry in cells and for range selections.

Figure 13-5 Tools

The Sorting element allows to determine the default settings for the Sort Dialog.

Figure 13-6 Sorting

13.2.6. Undo History Preferences

The Undo element permits to customize the undo feature. You would normally like the number of undo items
to be in the 10 to 25 range and the maximal undo size to be 10000 to 100000, unless you only have little
memory available.

Figure 13-7 Undo

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13.2.7. Windows Preferences

The windows preferences include options to set the default appearance of the whole window displaying the
Gnumeric interface as well as

The Windows element includes a variety of options that did not fit within any of the other tabs.

Figure 13-8 Windows

The Screen elements allows the user to set the pixel pitch (number of pixels per length) for the screen. This is a
fundamental property of the display which should be set correctly by default.

Figure 13-9 Screen

The pixel pitch is fundamental

These options affect the display of Gnumeric and should only be changed after serious
consideration. By default these options should be correct and should only be altered for non-
standard screens and when the appearance of Gnumeric and its contents are clearly incorrect.

13.3. Toolbars

The three Gnumeric toolbars can either be hidden from view or shown above or below the cell grid area. The
three different toolbars are explained in Section 4.4 ― Toolbars.

Toolbars can be hidden or shown by clicking with the primary mouse button on the View menu, the dragging
the pointer down to the Toolbars to open its submenu and then moving the pointer into the sub-menu listing
the three toolbars. By default each toolbar appears with a small check mark in front of its name indicating that

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it is visible. Clicking on any of the toolbars will alter its setting, making the toolbar visible if it is hidden or hiding
the toolbar if it is visible.

13.4. Plugins

Gnumeric allows users to configure the plugins which are currently in use. The Plugin Manager provides all the
configuration options in one location.

The Plugin Manager can be started by clicking on the Tools menu and selecting the Plugins... menu item.

The Plugin Manager is a tabbed dialog with three tabs. The first tab, labeled Plugin List, provides a list of all
the currently visible plugins, the second tab, labeled Plugin Details provides details on the plugin selected in
the first tab. The third tab, labeled Directories lists the directories which are currently searched to discover new
plugins.

The first tab provides a list of plugins, an explanation of each and a method to activate or de-activate the plugin.
The list includes all of the plugins which have been found by Gnumeric in the directories listed in the third tab.
An explanation can be obtained for each plugin by selecting the plugin from the list by placing the mouse
pointer over the plugin name and clicking with the primary mouse button. The explanation will then appear in
the bottom text area. The active column provides check boxes in front of each listed plugin. If the box contains
a check mark, the plugin has been activated and its functionality should be available.

13.5. Languages and Locales

Gnumeric can be run in many languages with settings for number formats, currencies and dates appropriate to
each particular area. Unfortunately, this aspect of the program is exceedingly complex and requires the proper
participation of the underlying operating system. This dependency makes it impossible for this manual to
provide a complete explanation. The operating system should include a complete discussion of locales and
location settings.

By default, Gnumeric finds the configuration currently used by the user and sets the language and locale
settings appropriately.

It is also possible to run Gnumeric using the language and locale settings for a different place. This should be
possible simply by redefining the LC_ALL environmental variable. For example, using the bash shell it should be
possible, within a terminal, type:

LC_ALL=fr_FR gnumeric &

to make gnumeric open with its menus displayed in French and using the french convention for numbers and
currency.

14. Working with Files

This chapter explains how to use files in Gnumeric. The chapter provides an extensive description of the file
formats used by Gnumeric. The chapter also explains how to open files, import data from text files, save files,
export data to text files, send data to others via electronic mail, and convert files from one format to another.

14.1. Files in Gnumeric

14.2. File Formats
14.3. Opening Files
14.4. Importing Text Files
14.5. Saving Files
14.6. Exporting Text Files
14.7. Sending Files
14.8. Converting Files

14.1. Files in Gnumeric

Gnumeric stores its information by creating files and re-opening these files during a future session. Saving
information to files also allows a user to send the information to others.

The default file format for Gnumeric is based on the eXtensible Markup Language (XML). By default, files are
saved as text files, consisting of XML, which are then compressed using the library of the gzip program. The
extension for Gnumeric files is .gnumeric on platforms which support file extensions of any size, .gnum for
systems which restrict extensions to four letters, or .gnm for systems which restrict extensions to three letters.

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Gnumeric can also open or save files in a number of other file formats. The project prides itself for the work
reverse engineering and supporting the file formats used by Microsoft Excel. Gnumeric can use the Excel file
format as if it were the native file format, meaning that Gnumeric can store and retrieve essentially every aspect
of a worksheet using the Excel format. Similarly, Gnumeric supports the OASIS Open Document Format for
Office Applications (ODF 1.2) file format (ISO/IEC 26300:2006/Amd 1:2012) as well as the ECMA 376 2nd Edition
file format (ISO/IEC 29500:2008) as if they were the native format.

Gnumeric cannot delete files from the file system. Gnumeric can open existing files and create new
files but cannot delete files once they are created. Files can be deleted using a file browser such as
Nautilus on the GNOME desktop or using the command-line program rm.

This chapter discusses working with actual files. It is also possible to import data into Gnumeric
using the clipboard by copying either text or html table information in another program and then
pasting the resulting data into a worksheet. See Section 5.7.4 ― Cut and Paste Between Gnumeric
and Other Applications for details.

Text files are often used to store data, using many different systems to structure the data such as using
commas, tabs or spaces to separate values. Gnumeric features a flexible system that enables users to define
exactly the structure of the text file to be imported or exported.

Gnumeric can be integrated with an email client to allow files to be sent directly as attachments to an electronic
mail message.

Gnumeric also features a command-line tool called ssconvert to convert files between any of the file formats
which it supports.

14.2. File Formats

Gnumeric supports numerous file formats in addition to its own XML based format. The table below lists the
formats currently supported. In the table below, the name of the format is a link which can be used to jump to
the section which discusses the format.

Table 14-1 The file formats supported by Gnumeric

Format Extension OpenSaveImportExportMIME type

Gnumeric .gnumeric YES YES application/x-gnumeric
/ .gnm /
.xml
Applix .as YES application/x-applix-spreadsheet
Comma/Tab/Semicolon .csv/.tsv YES YES text/plain
Separated Values
Data Interchange Format .dif YES YES
GNU Oleo .oleo YES application/x-oleo
HTML .html / YES YES text/html
.htm
LaTeX .tex YES text/x-tex
Linear and Integer Program none / YES application/x-mps
.mps
Lotus 1-2-3 .wk1 / YES application/vnd.lotus-1-2-3, application/x-123
.wks
Microsoft Excel Old Binary .xls / YES application/vnd.ms-excel
Format (versions 2 - 5) .xlt /
.xlw
Microsoft Excel Binary .xls / YES YES application/vnd.ms-excel
Format (Excel 95 - 2003) .xlt /
.xlw
Microsoft Excel 2003 .xlsx YES application/vnd.ms-excel
SpreadsheetML
Microsoft Office Open .xlsx YES YES application/vnd.ms-excel
SpreadsheetML
(MOOX/ECMA376/ISO29500)
OpenOffice.Org / StarOffice .sxc / YES application/vnd.sun.xml.calc
Old Format .stc
OpenDocument Format .ods / YES YES application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.spreadsheet
(OASIS ODF and ISO/IEC .odt /
26300:2006)

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Format Extension OpenSaveImportExportMIME type
.sxc /
.stc
Paradox Database .px / .db YES YES
Plan Perfect .pln YES application/x-planperfect
Psion 5 Sheet Files .psisheet YES
PostScript .ps / .eps YES application/postscript
PDF .pdf YES application/pdf
Quattro Pro .wb1 / YES application/x-quattropro, application/x-quattro-
.wb2 / pro
.wb3
SC/XSpread none / .sc YES application/x-sc
Multiplan (SYLK) .sylk / YES YES application/x-sylk
.slk
Text Formats .txt / YES YES text/plain
.text
TROFF .me YES application/x-troff
Xbase .dbf YES application/dbase, application/dbf, application/x-
dbase, application/x-dbf, application/x-xbase, zz-
application/zz-winassoc-dbf
XHTML .xhtml / YES application/xhtml+xml
.html

Files in the file formats marked as Save/Open can be opened or saved with the Open, Save, and
Save As menu items in the File menu. Files in the file formats marked as Import/Export can be
imported or exported with the items on the Import Data and Export Data submenus of the Data
menu.

14.2.1. Gnumeric XML File Format

14.2.2. Applix File Format
14.2.3. Comma/Tab/Semicolon Separated Value (CSV/TSV) File Formats
14.2.4. Data Interchange Format (DIF) File Format
14.2.5. GNU Oleo File Format
14.2.6. The HTML File Format
14.2.7. LaTeX File Format
14.2.8. Linear and Integer Program Expression (MPS) File Format
14.2.9. Lotus 1-2-3 File Format
14.2.10. Microsoft Excel Old Binary File Format
14.2.11. Microsoft Excel New Binary File Format
14.2.12. Microsoft Excel 2003 XML File Format
14.2.13. Microsoft Excel Office Open XML SpreadsheetML
14.2.14. Microsoft Excel XML
14.2.15. Multiplan SYLK File Format
14.2.16. OpenDocument Format (OASIS ODF and ISO/IEC 26300:2006)
14.2.17. OpenOffice.org Old File Format
14.2.18. Plan Perfect File Format
14.2.19. PostScript File Format
14.2.20. Portable Document Format (PDF) File Format
14.2.21. Quattro Pro File Format
14.2.22. SC/Xspread File Format
14.2.23. Text File Formats
14.2.24. TROFF File Format
14.2.25. Xbase File Format
14.2.26. XHTML File Format

14.2.1. Gnumeric XML File Format

The Gnumeric file format is based on the eXtensible Markup Language (XML) and is used as the default file
format.

Gnumeric is currently using two different systems to process XML.

The newer system is based on the SAX processing method for XML and is substantially faster than
the older method. This code is based in a plugin module. The exporter is currently used by default

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but the importer is still incomplete.

The older system is part of the core Gnumeric program and is still used to open files in the Gnumeric
format.

Name: The Gnumeric file format

Extensions: .gnumeric
Compatible Programs:Gnumeric
Open / Save: Both

Limitations
This is the default file format and therefore has the best support of all the formats available.
Every feature that can be created in the spreadsheet should be savable using this format.

Plugin
The Gnumeric file format is handled using two different code bases. The older version is part of
the application itself. The newer version is in a plugin called "EXPERIMENTAL SAX based XML"
because the parser is based on SAX.

Format Details
The Gnumeric file format stores the file contents in the eXtensible Markup Language (XML) and
compresses the file using the GNU project's gzip compression library.
The Gnumeric file format is designed to be flexible and powerful. The format is easily processed
by computers. The format can readily be improved as gnumeric develops without breaking
compatibility with older versions. The format is designed to be easily translated into text so that
it can be read by humans.
Gnumeric automatically recognizes the version of the file format of any file saved since this
format is contained in the file header. The table below is for information purposes only.

Table 14-2 Gnumeric XML format versions

XML File Format VersionGnumeric Version

1
2
3 Since 0.52
4 Since 0.57
5 Since 0.58
6 Since 0.62
7 Since 0.66
8 Since 0.71
9 Since 0.73
10 Since 1.03

An outdated PDF document discussing the Gnumeric file format which should provide a useful
starting point was developed by the JWorkbook project. The file can be downloaded from
http://www.jfree.org/jworkbook/download/gnumeric-xml.pdf.

Further Processing
Direct manipulation of Gnumeric files is possible by transforming the files to text files and then
using standard text file tools like document editors. In order to read the contents a Gnumeric
file must first be decompressed and can then be opened. In GNU systems, the Gnumeric default
file "Book1.gnumeric" can be uncompressed as follows:

zcat Book1.gnumeric > Book1.text

alternatively, the file can be renamed and then uncompressed with the following pair of
commands:

cp Book1.gnumeric Book1.text.gz
gunzip Book1.text.gz

both possibilities yield the file "Book1.text" which is an ASCII text file. This file can be opened in
any editor, like Vim or Emacs, or pager, like Less.

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XML manipulation tools can be used to transform Gnumeric files and access the data they
contain, since the file format is XML. The file can be validated by an XML Schema Definition
(XSD) . These are available via the Internet at
http://git.gnome.org/cgit/gnumeric/plain/gnumeric.xsd.
The Java™ Language can be used to create, access, or manipulate Gnumeric format files using
the JWorkbook project library. See the project's website for details.
The C# language, through the mono implementation can also be used to manipulate Gnumeric
format files.

14.2.2. Applix File Format

The Applix file format is used by the Applixware group of applications which include a spreadsheet component.
The Applixware spreadsheet is made by Vistasource and claims to be a 'real-time', event driven software system.

Gnumeric can read some files produced by the Applixware spreadsheet.

Name: The Applix File Format

Extensions: .as
Compatible Programs:The Applixware Spreadsheet
Import / Export: Import only

Limitations
Saving Applixware files has recently been disabled due to lack of developer interest. Instead of
directly saving a file in the Applix format, files can be exported to Applixware can be performed
using the Excel file format.

Plugin
Supported by the Applix plugin.

Format Details

14.2.3. Comma/Tab/Semicolon Separated Value (CSV/TSV) File Formats

The Comma Separated Value (CSV) and Tab Separated Value (TSV) file formats are a common structuring
strategy for text format files. In these files, each line in the file represents a row of data and, within each line of
the file, the different data fields are separated from one another using a separator character, often a comma,
semicolon or tab. Gnumeric handles CSV and TSV files through the text importer and exporter but these
formats are given their own definitions in this document because they are considered very common formats.

Gnumeric will automatically open CSV and TSV format files separating each row into columns based on the
presence of appropriate separator characters in the file. If the automatic import leads to any errors, these can
generally be corrected by using the "Text Import (configurable)" file format instead. Selecting that file format
will launch the Text Import druid which allows the user to import CSV and TSV format files while specifying in
greater detail the settings of the import configuration parameters. See the section on importing text files or
the section on exporting text files for an explanation of how to open or save CSV and TSV files through the Text
Import druid.

Name: Comma/Semicolon/Tab Separated Value, CSV/TSV

Extensions: .csv, .tsv, .txt
Compatible Programs:Many
Import / Export: Both

Limitations
The CSV file format is only useful for the exchange of cell data and cannot be used for sheet
objects like graphical plots. This file format cannot save the formatting of cell contents,
backgrounds or borders.

Plugin
Supported by the core Gnumeric program.

Format Details
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CSV files are simple text files where each row of the text file represents one row in the
spreadsheet and where the cells within a row are separated from each other by a comma.

Further Processing
CSV files can be processed using any tool which operates on text files. The CSV format is also
common as a format which can be opened by applications.

See the section on Text Formats

14.2.4. Data Interchange Format (DIF) File Format

The Data Interchange Format (DIF) file format is a text based format encoded in ASCII with a header, for
integrity checking, and a body. The format was originally developed by Software Arts in order to transfer data
from VisiCalc, the first spreadsheet.

Name: Data Interchange Format

Extensions: .dif
Compatible Programs:Various
Import / Export: Both

Limitations
Since the DIF format only supports a single worksheet, Gnumeric only exports the top
worksheet in the view used to save the workbook.

Plugin
Supported by the “Data Interchange Format (DIF) module” plug-in.

Format Details
The format is a text file, encoded in ASCII, with a header and body.

Further Processing
The file can be processed as a text file or imported to any program that recognizes the DIF
format.

14.2.5. GNU Oleo File Format

The GNU Oleo file format is the format used by the GNU Oleo spreadsheet, one of the early free software
spreadsheets. The GNU Oleo project has stagnated so this format is only supported to enable the import of old
files.

Name: GNU Oleo

Extensions: Unknown
Compatible Programs:GNU oleo
Import / Export: Open Only

Limitations

Plugin
Supported by the 'GNU Oleo' plugin.

Format Details

14.2.6. The HTML File Format

The Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) file format is a text file format with markup in the Hypertext Markup
Language. These files are designed to be viewed in a web browser.

Gnumeric can save the cell contents in a worksheet to a text file which consists either of entire, well formed
HTML files of version 3.2 or 4.0, or of a file fragment which contains only a <table> structure and must be

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inserted into an HTML file. Gnumeric can also open files which consist only of simple, well formed HTML <table>
structures.

Names: Hypertext Markup Language (HTML)

Extensions: .html, .htm
Compatible Programs:Any Web Browser, any text editor
Import / Export: Export only, but also can import HTML <table> structures

Limitations
Only the cell contents of a worksheet are saved with sheet object elements, such as graphical
plots, ignored.

Plugin
Supported by the 'HTML & TeX' plugin.

Further Processing
All these files can be opened by any text editor. The HTML 3.2 and 4.0 format files can be
opened by any web browser such as Mozilla.
Files which are generated as HTML fragments must be placed into an HTML file with a valid pre-
amble and closing statements.

See Also: XHTML Format

14.2.7. LaTeX File Format

The LaTeX file format is a text file format with markup in the LaTeX 2ε derivative of the TeX family of languages.

Gnumeric generates LaTeX files to allow the export of tables of numeric values for use in the LaTeX document
processing system. LaTeX is a derived format of the TeX system. The files generated by Gnumeric are designed
to be used by a LaTeX processor, such as latex or pdflatex, to generate files in viewable formats such as Device
Independent (DVI), PostScript (PS) or Portable Document Format (PDF).

The generated files can either be processed directly or can be included in other LaTeX files.

Name: LaTeX
Extensions: .tex
Compatible Programs:latex, pdflatex
Import / Export: Export only

Limitations
Gnumeric generates a LaTeX longtable structure which contains only the contents of the cells
in the worksheet displayed in the view at the time the file was created.
Font coloring is supported. Thin cell borders are translated into single lines and thick cell
borders are translated into double lines. Cell background colors are ignored.

Plugin
Supported by the 'HTML & TeX' plugin.

Format Details
The generated file includes extensive documentation in TeX comment fields, to explain how to
use and alter the file. Lines in the file which are comments begin and end with double percent
symbols (%%). Lines which are designed as user options begin with a single percent symbol (%)
which can be deleted to make the LaTeX command on that line take effect.

Further Processing
The LaTeX files generated by Gnumeric can either be processed directly by a LaTeX processor or
can be included as tables in other files. The files can be included by reference as explained
below or can be pasted into other files at the appropriate location. The file can also be altered
to change certain parameters. These alterations are explained as comments within the file itself
and are presented below.

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The file created by Gnumeric can be run directly through a LaTeX processor without any
modifications. For example, if the file were saved as Book1.tex, the following command

pdflatex Book1.tex

generates a PDF file named Book1.pdf. The file can be generated in landscape format and the
headers, footers and column widths of the file can be altered in the manner explained below.
The file can also be included within another LaTeX file to provide a single table. This requires,
first, ensuring that all the packages which will be needed are included, and second, defining a
LaTeX variable which is used as a dummy tag to exclude the preamble used to process the file
on its own. The LaTeX file generated by Gnumeric requires using the following lines in the
preamble

\usepackage{ucs}
\usepackage{utf8}{inputenc}
\usepackage{color}
\usepackage{array}
\usepackage{longtable}
\usepackage{calc}
\usepackage{multirow}
\usepackage{hhline}
\usepackage{ifthen}

to include each of these packages. Optionally, to include the table in landscape mode, the
preamble also needs the line

\usepackage{lscape}

to include the lscape package. Second, the following line

\def\inputGnumericTable{}

must be included to make the LaTeX processor ignore the preamble section of the file
generated by Gnumeric. The generated file can be included either by adding, at the appropriate
location in the other file, the line

\input{mygnumericfile.tex}

with the text mygnumericfile replaced with the appropriate file name or by pasting the
entire file generated by Gnumeric into the other file.
An option is provided in the file allows the table to be presented in landscape mode which
allows wider tables to be included. For files which are to be processed independently, the
option can be changed in the document class definition

\documentclass[12pt%
%,landscape%
]{report}

by removing the percent symbol (%) in front of ,landscape. For files to be included as tables
in other LaTeX files, the preamble must include the lscape package, as was explained above,
and the two commands

\def\gnumericTableEnd{\end{landscape}}
\begin{landscape}

must have the leading percent sign removed.

An option is provided to change the widths of the columns of the file generated by Gnumeric.
By default, the file attempts to maintain the proportions between the columns in the Gnumeric
worksheet, yet scale the resulting table for the width of the paper defined in LaTeX. To change
the column widths, look for the section in the LaTeX file with lines that look like

\def\gnumericColA{107pt*\gnumericScale}
\def\gnumericColB{89pt*\gnumericScale}
\def\gnumericColC{98pt*\gnumericScale}

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\def\gnumericColD{89pt*\gnumericScale}
\def\gnumericColE{89pt*\gnumericScale}

and that may have as many entries as there were columns in the worksheet. The TeX 'lengths'
defined for each column can be changed. For example, change the second column (Column B)
to a width of 0.75 inches, we would simply have to modify this code to:

\def\gnumericColA{107pt*\gnumericScale}
\def\gnumericColB{0.75in}
\def\gnumericColC{98pt*\gnumericScale}
\def\gnumericColD{89pt*\gnumericScale}
\def\gnumericColE{89pt*\gnumericScale}

and the resulting file would have a second column 0.75 inches wide.
An option to change the headers and footers of the table is provided as well. The file itself
contains comments on how to alter these but the choices will require seeing the
documentation of the longtable LaTeX package. See that documentation and the contents of
the file generated by Gnumeric for details.

14.2.8. Linear and Integer Program Expression (MPS) File Format

The Linear and Integer Program Expression file format is a text file format, encoded as ASCII, which uses fixed
columns. The format was developed by International Business Machines Corporation to express linear and
integer programs.

Name: Linear and Integer Program Expression (MPS)

Extensions: none / .mps
Compatible Programs:Various linear programming applications
Import / Export: Import only

Limitations

Plugin
Supported by the 'Linear and integer expression (MPS) format module' plug-in.

Format Details
The Argonne National Laboratory of the United States has a simple introduction to the MPS
format on their web site.
The MIPLIB site has more information including a file named mps_format which is a brief
introduction to the format and includes the following section:

The following template is a guide for the use of MPS format:

---------------------------------------------------------------------
Field: 1 2 3 4 5 6
Columns: 2-3 5-12 15-22 25-36 40-47 50-61

NAME problem name

ROWS

type name

COLUMNS
column row value row value
name name name
RHS
rhs row value row value
name name name
RANGES
range row value row value
name name name

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BOUNDS

type bound column value

name name
ENDATA
---------------------------------------------------------------------

and provides further explanations to the components. The file also suggests as more complete
references:

"Advanced Linear Programming," by Bruce A. Murtagh

"Computer Solutions of Linear Programs," by J.L. Nazareth

which should provide a better explanation.

14.2.9. Lotus 1-2-3 File Format

The Lotus 1-2-3 file format is the format used by the Lotus 1-2-3 spreadsheet, which is now part of the office
suite called SmartSuite.

Name: Lotus 1-2-3

Extensions: .wk1,.wks
Compatible Programs:Lotus SmartSuite
Import / Export: Import only

Limitations

Plugin
Supported by the 'Lotus 123' plugin.

Format Details

Further Processing
Many spreadsheet programs support this format.

14.2.10. Microsoft Excel Old Binary File Format

The Microsoft Excel™ Old Binary file format is a binary file format used by the Excel program in the Office suite
between versions 2 and 5. The format is a common format supported to various extents by most spreadsheets
although it is incompletely documented. The Gnumeric project has reversed engineered all of the core features
of the format.

Name: Excel
Extensions: .xls
Compatible Programs:Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Office, and many other spreadsheets
Open / Save: Both

Plugin
Supported by the 'MS Excel (tm)' plugin.

Format Details
These are binary file formats.

Further Processing
A number of other programs are able to process files in the Microsoft Excel file format.

14.2.11. Microsoft Excel New Binary File Format

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The Microsoft Excel™ New Binary file format is a binary file format used by the Excel program in the Office suite
between versions 95 and 2003. The format is a common format supported to various extents by most
spreadsheets although it is incompletely documented. The Gnumeric project has reversed engineered all of the
core features of the format.

Name: Excel
Extensions: .xls
Compatible Programs:Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Office, and many other spreadsheets
Open / Save: Both

Plugin
Supported by the 'MS Excel (tm)' plugin.

Format Details
These are binary file formats.

Further Processing
A number of other programs are able to process files in the Microsoft Excel file format.

14.2.12. Microsoft Excel 2003 XML File Format

Microsoft Excel™ 2003 shipped with a file format called SpreadsheetML. This file is XML. It is not very common,
but its core features are supported.

Name: Excel
Extensions: .xlsx
Compatible Programs:Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Office, and many other spreadsheets
Open / Save: Both

Plugin
Supported by the 'MS Excel (tm)' plugin.

Format Details
These are zip files containing SpreadsheetML files and binary files.

Further Processing
This file format is not very widespread and therefore support by 3rd-party applications is
limited.

14.2.13. Microsoft Excel Office Open XML SpreadsheetML

Microsoft Office™ 2007 shipped with a new set of file formats, namely the Microsoft Office Open XML
SpreadsheetML format. This format is a semi-open standard based around a zipped XML file. Microsoft Office
Open XML SpreadsheetML is mostly standardized in ECMA 376 and ISO 29500. This implementation is covered
under the Open Specification Promise and therefore does not infringe upon Microsoft patents.

Name: Excel
Extensions: .xls
Compatible Programs:Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Office, and many other spreadsheets
Open / Save: Both

Limitations
Most core features of the format are supported.

Plugin
Supported by the 'MS Excel (tm)' plugin.

Format Details
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These are zip files containing SpreadsheetML files and binary files.

Further Processing
A number of other programs are able to process files in the Microsoft Excel file format.

14.2.14. Microsoft Excel XML

The Microsoft Excel™ file format is a binary file format used by the Excel program in the Office suite. The format
is a common format supported to various extents by most spreadsheets although it is incompletely
documented. The Gnumeric project has reversed engineered all of the core features of the format.

Name: Excel
Extensions: .xls
Compatible Programs:Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Office, and many other spreadsheets
Open / Save: Both

Limitations
Most core features of the format are supported.

Gnumeric does not support the very old file formats used by Excel™ versions prior
to Excel™ 2.0.

Gnumeric can open files from most of the Microsoft Excel™ file formats and all of the recent file
formats. The formats supported are:

MS Excel™ 5.0/95.
MS Excel™ 97/2000/XP.
MS Excel™ 97/2000/XP & 5.0/95.

Plugin
Supported by the 'MS Excel (tm)' plugin.

Format Details
These are binary file formats.

Further Processing
A number of other programs are able to process files in the Microsoft Excel file format.

14.2.15. Multiplan SYLK File Format

The Microsoft Multiplan Symbolic Link Interchange (SYLK) file format is a column based format.

Gnumeric can read files in this format.

Name: Symbolic Link Interchange (SYLK)

Extensions: none / .slk
Compatible Programs:Multiplan
Import / Export: Import only

Limitations

Plugin
Supported by the 'Multiplan (SYLK)' plugin.

Format Details

14.2.16. OpenDocument Format (OASIS ODF and ISO/IEC 26300:2006)

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The OpenOffice.org XML file format is zip archive including several components all of which are text files, most
of these with markup in the eXtensible Markup Language (XML).

Gnumeric reads version 1.0, 1.1 and 1.2 of ODF spreadsheet files and writes version 1.2 files with or without
foreign elements. Foreign elements are an extension mechanism defined in ODF and allow features to be saved
in ODF files that are not specifically standardized by ODF. Gnumeric plans to continue to support this format in
the future.

Name: Open Document Format, ODF

Extensions: .ods
Compatible Programs:OpenOffice.org Calc, LibreOffice Calc, KSpread, StarCalc
Open / Save: Both

Limitations

Plugin
Supported by the 'Open Document Format' plugin.

Format Details
The file format is a zip archive containing several text and XML elements: a mimetype file
giving the mime type, a content.xml file with the contents of the spreadsheet cells, and
several other files with meta data, style definitions or information on the settings. The file
contents can be extracted with the unzip command line program or with any of a number of
graphical interface programs.
The Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards (OASIS) has
accepted this file format as the standard "OASIS Open Office XML Format". The published
specification for the file format is available from the OASIS Open Office XML Format Technical
Committee web page. Other information is available from the OpenOffice.org XML File Format
web page, part of the OpenOffice.org project.
Version 1.0 of ODF was adopted as an international standard by ISO/IEC as ISO/IEC 26300:2006.

Further Processing
Files in this format can be imported and modified by many different programs including the
OpenOffice.org Calc and LibreOffice Calc spreadsheets or may be modified through XML
processing.

14.2.17. OpenOffice.org Old File Format

OpenOffice.org originally shipped with a file format that has served as a basis for the new OASIS-standardized
file format. This file format is deprecated.

Gnumeric can both open and save files in this format and plans to continue to support this format in the future.

Name: OpenOffice.org/StarOffice file format

Extensions: .sxw
Compatible Programs:OpenOffice.org Calc, StarCalc
Import / Export: Both

Limitations

Plugin
Supported by the 'Open Document Format' plugin.

Further Processing
This file format is deprecated and is not widely used.

14.2.18. Plan Perfect File Format

The Plan Perfect file format is a format used by the PlanPerfect spreadsheet.

Name: Plan Perfect

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Extensions: Unknown
Compatible Programs:PlanPerfect.
Import / Export: Import only

Limitations

Plugin
Supported by the 'Plan Perfect' plug-in.

Format Details

Further Processing

14.2.19. PostScript File Format

The PostScript file format is a text format which contains the program code for a postScript interpreter.
PostScript is a page description language designed to enable the creation and transfer of printer-ready output.

Gnumeric supports the creation of PostScript files through the printing interface, not through the
file save mechanism. See Chapter 15 ― Printing, for details on how to generate a PostScript file.

Name: PostScript
Extensions: .ps
Compatible Many programs can interpret and display PostScript files including: GGV, ghostview (gv),
Programs: and ghostscript.
Import / Export: Export only

Limitations

Plugin
The creation of PostScript files is supported internally by the printing sub-system.

Format Details
The PostScript language was created by Adobe, Inc. The Adobe web site has a non-technical
introduction, as well as a technical overview and the actual specifications.

Further Processing
PostScript files can imported into other documents by several programs. For the very advanced,
PostScript files can be reprogrammed using a text editor.

14.2.20. Portable Document Format (PDF) File Format

The Portable Document Format (PDF) file format is a binary format which contains page description primitives
and combines a subset of the Postscript language with some more recent features. The Portable Document
Format is a page description language designed to enable the creation and transfer of printer-ready output.

Gnumeric supports the creation of PDF files through the printing interface, not through the file save
mechanism. See Chapter 15 ― Printing, for details on how to generate a PDF file.

Name: Portable Document Format (PDF)

Extensions: .pdf
Compatible PDF is supported by a wide variety of programs including gPDF, Xpdf, GGV, ghostview (gv),
Programs: and ghostscript,
Import / Export: Export only

Limitations

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Plugin
The creation of PDF files is supported internally by the printing sub-system.

Format Details
The Postscript language was created by Adobe, Inc. The Adobe web site has a non-technical
introduction, as well as a technical overview and the actual specifications.

Further Processing
PDF files can imported into other documents by several programs.

14.2.21. Quattro Pro File Format

The Quattro Pro file format is the format used by Corel's QuattroPro spreadsheet.

Gnumeric supports opening these files to import their data.

Name: Quattro Pro

Extensions: .wb1 / .wb2 / .wb3
Compatible Programs:Quattro Pro
Import / Export: Import only

Limitations

Plugin
Supported by the Quattro™ Pro plugin.

Format Details

14.2.22. SC/Xspread File Format

The SC/Xspread file format is the file format used by the old sc and Xspread spreadsheets.

Name: SC file format

Extensions: YES
Compatible Programs:SC, Xspread, S spreadsheets.
Import / Export: Import only

Limitations

Plugin
Supported by the 'SC/XSpread' plug-in.

Format Details

14.2.23. Text File Formats

Files in the text file format are files in which the bytes represent the text characters of a particular character set
using a specific system to relate the binary numbers in the file to the text characters of the set. Such systems
are called 'encodings' and become an issue when the file includes characters that are not in the standard ASCII
set, such as characters in languages other than English. Character encodings are explained in greater detail in
Section 14.4.1.1 ― Character Encodings.

Choosing Import Text File... menu item in the Import Data submenu of the Data menu or the Import Other
File... menu item in the Import Data submenu of the Data menu and specifying the "Text import (configurable)"
or "Text export (configurable)" file formats to open or save files will cause Gnumeric to start the Text Import or
Text Export druids. These allow the users to configure in detail the parameters with which existing files will be
read into a workbook or existing workbooks will be output to a file.

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The Text file format includes a number of different formatting strategies for text files in which data fields are
structured in a regular pattern. Most of these formats represent rows of data on different lines of the file using
different strategies to separated data values within each row. 'Fixed-width' formats place each data entry in a
separate column and therefore limit the size of the data entries. 'Separated' formats use a special character or
character sequence to separate entries. For instance, the comma separated value, the tab separated value
formats and the space separated value formats use commas, tabs, and spaces respectively to separate the data
fields.

Gnumeric can import and export files from and to a wide variety of text file formats when the text importer or
the text exporter is configured appropriately. File can be generated with many different encodings. See the
section on importing text files or the section on exporting text files for an explanation of how to import or
export these formatted text files.

Name: Text File Format

Extensions: .text / .txt / none
Compatible Programs:Many programs can read and create formatted text files
Import / Export: Both

Limitations
The exporter can only create text files using a separator character and cannot create fixed-
width structured files.

Plugin
Supported by the core Gnumeric program.

Format Details
Text file format files are simple text files containing the data for each cell of the worksheet
organized in a systematic fashion.

Further Processing
Text format files can be processed using any tool which operates on text files, and many other
applications can read or generate one or more of these formats.

14.2.24. TROFF File Format

The TROFF file format is a text file format with markup in TROFF.

The TROFF system is a documentation preparation system that can generate many different output files from
an input file with standard markup. Gnumeric produces a file that can be used as input to the TROFF system or
its GNU project replacement, GROFF .

The support for this format is mostly intended to produce simple tables into a file which can be used in the
TROFF system. Since Gnumeric supports full output to Postscript and PDF file formats, those formats should
be used to generate graphics for plots and drawing elements.

Name: TROFF
Extensions: .me
Compatible Programs:TROFF, GROFF
Import / Export: Export only

Limitations

Plugin
Supported by the 'HTML & TeX' plugin.

Format Details

Further Processing
Two examples of the TROFF system will illustrate how to use this file format. Both examples
start with a simple worksheet which consists of a simple grid of cells with cell contents, which
has been used to create a file called "myfile.me" in the TROFF file format.

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A table in PostScript file format can be created starting from the file generated by Gnumeric.
The command

groff -me -t -Tps myfile.memyfile.ps

will create a PostScript file of the corresponding table. Note, however, that Gnumeric itself can
make a Postscript file of the table directly through the printing system.
A table in PostScript file format can be created starting from the file generated by Gnumeric.
The command

groff -me -t -Tascii myfile.memyfile.ascii

creates an ascii (straight text) file. This file will look like:

Sheet 0

+----------+------------------+-------------+------------+---+
| | Operating System | | | |
+----------+------------------+-------------+------------+---+
| | DOS | Linux | SCO | |
+----------+------------------+-------------+------------+---+
| January | $1000.00 | $900.00 | $500.00 | |
+----------+------------------+-------------+------------+---+
| February | $900.00 | $2500.00 | $300.00 | |
+----------+------------------+-------------+------------+---+
| March | $800.00 | $4100.00 | $100.00 | |
+----------+------------------+-------------+------------+---+
| April | $700.00 | $5700.00 | ($100.00) | |
+----------+------------------+-------------+------------+---+
| May | $600.00 | $7300.00 | ($300.00) | |
+----------+------------------+-------------+------------+---+
| June | $500.00 | $8900.00 | ($500.00) | |
+----------+------------------+-------------+------------+---+
| July | $400.00 | $10500.00 | ($700.00) | |
+----------+------------------+-------------+------------+---+
| August | $300.00 | $12100.00 | ($900.00) | |
+----------+------------------+-------------+------------+---+
|September | $200.00 | $13700.00 | ($1100.00) | |
+----------+------------------+-------------+------------+---+
| October | $100.00 | $15300.00 | ($1300.00) | |
+----------+------------------+-------------+------------+---+
| November | $0.00 | $16900.00 | ($1500.00) | |
+----------+------------------+-------------+------------+---+
| December | ($100.00) | $18500.00 | ($1700.00) | |
+----------+------------------+-------------+------------+---+
| | | | | |
+----------+------------------+-------------+------------+---+
| Totals: | $5400.00 | $116400.00 | ($7200.00) | |
+----------+------------------+-------------+------------+---+
| | | | | |
+----------+------------------+-------------+------------+---+

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14.2.25. Xbase File Format

The Xbase file format is a file format that includes a series of files of which one is a text file containing the data
and the rest are index or other files. The data file consists of a header and then the records themselves.

Gnumeric only opens the data file.

Name: XBase data file format

Extensions: .dbf
Compatible dBase, Clipper, FoxPro, Visual dBase, Visual FoxPro, and numerous other database
Programs: applications.
Import / Export: Import only

Limitations

Plugin
Supported by the 'XBase' plugin.

Format Details
The xBase file format is a generic name for database files saved in the format used by Aston-
Tate's (then Borland's) dBase database system. The system became widely popular and has been
used extensively by other systems.
See the Xbase File Format Description by Erik Bachmann for more details on the xBase format.

14.2.26. XHTML File Format

The XHTML file format is a text file format with markup in the eXtensible Markup Language (XML) using a
definition which mimics the Hypertext Markup Language (HTML). These files are designed to be viewed in a web
browser.

Gnumeric can save the cell contents from a worksheet to a text file which consists of an XHTML file fragment
containing only a <table> structure, designed to be inserted into another XHTML file.

Name: XHTML
Extensions: .xhtml / .html
Compatible Programs:Most modern web browsers such as Mozilla and Mozilla-Firefox
Import / Export: Both

Limitations

Plugin
Supported by the 'HTML & TeX' plugin.

Format Details
The file is generated, encoded in UTF-8, in the World Wide Web consortium (W3C) XHTML 1.0
Transitional file format.

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Further Processing
These XHTML files can be opened by any text editor and can be viewed using any web browser
such as Mozilla.

See Also: HTML Format

14.3. Opening Files

Opening an existing file into a Gnumeric workbook requires working through the File Open dialog. The user
must select the file that they wish Gnumeric to open, possibly specifying a file format and character encoding.

The steps required to open a file.

1. Launch the File Open dialog.

In the File menu, select the Open menu item.

2. Open the folder containing the desired file.

Navigate the folder hierarchy by double-clicking on the folders.

3. Select the desired file within the folder.

Click on the file name in the folder content area.

4. (Optional) Specify a file format type.
5. (Optional) Specify the character encoding.
6. Click on the Open button.

The remainder of this section explains these steps in greater detail, first, by describing the components in the
File Open dialog and, then, by explaining each of the steps above in greater detail.

14.3.1. Using the File Open dialog.

14.3.2. The file formats which Gnumeric can read.

14.3.1. Using the File Open dialog.

Opening a file into a workbook is a relatively simple process. The only complications come from using the File
Open dialog to find the desired file, from changing the automatic file format type recognition system, or from
specifying a different character encoding than that chosen by Gnumeric. The first of these steps will become
intuitive once the user understands the functioning of the dialog. The latter two steps are generally
unnecessary and can be ignored by most users.

The next section explains in detail the different components of the File Open dialog and the subsequent
section describes each step in the process of opening a file.

14.3.1.1. The components of the File Open dialog

14.3.1.2. The procedure to open an existing file.
14.3.1.3. Changing the list of bookmark folders.

14.3.1.1. The components of the File Open dialog

The File Open dialog allows the user to open an existing file into a Gnumeric workbook but requires that the
user find the folder containing the file, select the file, and optionally define a file format type and a character
encoding. The dialog also allows the user to change the list of bookmark folders to quickly access different
parts of the file system.

The File Open dialog first appears as is shown in Figure 14-1 which also shows a label for each different
component of the dialog.

Figure 14-1 The File Open dialog with the component areas labeled.

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The different components of the File Open dialog, shaded with boxes of different colors and labeled with
a letter.

The purpose of each labeled component in Figure 14-1 is explained below:

The components of the dialog

A - The starting folder selection area.

This area allows the user to begin navigating the filesystem by choosing a starting folder. The
navigation system in this dialog only allows users to select sub-folders of this starting folder so
the starting folder must contain the desired file, possibly nested in one or more sub-folders.
The folders listed in this area include the standard folders provided by the system and a number
of folders added, as bookmark folders, by the user. The standard folders provided by the system
will vary for different machines and system administrators may have disabled access to certain
branches of the filesystem. By default, the standard folders provided include the user's 'Home'
folder, the user's 'Desktop' folder, a folder pointing to the root of the filesystem tree and
folders for each of the removable storage devices attached to the computer. The user's home
folder, on GNU and other UNIX like systems, this folder is usually known as ~ or
~user_account_name where the phrase user_account_name represents the account name
used by the current user. This folder is often located at /home/user_account_name/ in the
filesystem. The 'Desktop' folder is the folder which holds the files which are displayed in the
background of the user's window. The 'Filesystem' folder is the top of the filesystem tree, which
on GNU systems is also known as /. The list also presents peripheral or external devices. Below
the standard folders, area A has a separator and the bookmark folders selected by the user. In
Figure 14-1 the folder currentWork is a folder named by the user and added to the list of
bookmark folders.

Understanding the file organization system.

In order to understand how to change folders, it is first necessary to understand the
system by which documents are stored. This system is called the 'filesystem'.
All documents are stored in a folder. Folders can contain files but can also contain
other folders. Any folder therefore can contain several sub-folders, each of which
may itself contain several sub-folders; the resulting structure is called a nested
'tree' with the original folder being the 'relative root' of that tree.
In GNU and UNIX systems, all of the files are stored in folders organized in a single,
unified filesystem tree with a folder named '/' at the absolute root of the tree.
Every file is accessible from this absolute root folder and, by default, this folder is
provided as the choice named Filesystem with an icon of a disk drive in area A in
the File Open dialog.
Navigating the directory tree from the single root folder would quickly become
burdensome and the File Open dialog provides several other starting folders in

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area A. Two starting folders which are commonly provided are the 'Home' and
'Desktop' folders for the current user.
In a complex computer system, the absolute root folder may be hidden from the
user and the starting folders accessible to the user may only provide limited access
to the filesystem. Jointly, the starting folders provided should allow the users to
access all the folders in which the user has permission to store files and to the
folders which are designed to be read by the user.
Several starting folders may be provided when files can be opened from different
filesystems. This will be the case when filesystem on other machines are accessible
over a network or when Gnumeric is running on operating systems whose
filesystems are not unified, such as the proprietary operating systems sold by
Microsoft in which each disk drive has its own root named, for example, C:\ or D:\.
Additional starting folders can be added as 'bookmark folders' by the users
themselves. These bookmark folders do not provide access to a different set of
folders but merely provide efficient access to a folder and its sub-folders. These
bookmark folders are easy to change to allow a user to work efficiently. These
bookmark folders are listed, in area A, under the thin horizontal separator line. The
creation and deletion of these bookmark folders is explained below, in Section
14.3.1.3 ― Changing the list of bookmark folders. .

B - The folder hierarchy area.

This area displays the folder hierarchy starting from the starting folder selected in area A and
ending in the current folder, the folder whose contents are displayed in area C, while displaying
all the folders between the two. This area changes dynamically as the user changes to new
folders. In the case shown in Figure 14-1, the user has selected their 'Home' folder as the
starting folder in area A and has not navigated to any sub-folders.

C - The folder content area.

This area displays the contents of the currently selected folder which is the rightmost folder
shown in area B.

This list of folders and files is filtered.

Not all of the sub-folders and files present in the folder area are shown.
Firstly, hidden folders and files, those that start with a leading period, are not
displayed by default. These can be shown by placing the mouse pointer over area C,
clicking with one of the secondary mouse buttons to raise the context menu,
moving the pointer onto the Show hidden files menu entry, and clicking with the
primary mouse button. This step will ensure that all the folders are displayed.
Secondly, the filtering rule defined in area F will limit the files displayed based on
the characteristics of these files. By default, a filtering rule is applied which causes
only those files present that have an extension commonly used for spreadsheet
files. The rule can be changed to display all the files regardless of their extension,
except possibly for the hidden files.

D - The panel rearrangement handles.

These triple dots indicate that the mouse can be used to change the shape and size of the
different areas in the dialog. These handles can be used by placing the mouse pointer above a
handle, clicking and holding with the primary mouse button, then dragging the handle to a new
position, and then releasing the mouse button.

E - The bookmark folder list modification buttons.

These buttons will add or remove folders to or from the list of bookmark folders in area A. The
Add button will add the folder currently selected in area C. The Remove button will remove any
bookmark folder that is selected in area A.

F - The filter definition area.

This area contains a drop down menu with the different filters defined by the application.
Filters are rules that limit the types of files which are displayed in the folder content area, area
C.
By default, the File Open dialog starts with a filter named "Spreadsheets" which causes the
folder content list to only show files which are recognized as files that Gnumeric could open.

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The filter in area F can be changed by clicking on the area to open the drop down list and then
selecting the filter named "All files". This filter applies no rules, essentially disabling any filtering
operation, and lists all the files in the currently selected folder. Note, however, as explained in
the warning given in the section explaining area C above, that any files starting with a leading
period are not shown. To display such 'hidden' files, the user must use the context menu
available in area C.

G - The file format type selection area.

This area provides a drop down list of all the file formats provided by the Gnumeric program
itself and by all the currently active plugins.
By default, Gnumeric is configured to automatically recognize the type of each file selected by
the user. This recognition system is sophisticated and generally works. The best strategy is to
try opening the file using this automatic recognition strategy and, only if the automatic
recognition system fails, close the worksheet with the mangled file and re-try to open the file a
second time but manually selecting the file type in the second attempt.
The file formats which can be selected are those listed in Section 14.3.2 ― The file formats
which Gnumeric can read. below. Each of these formats are explained in detail in Section 14.2 ―
File Formats.

If the file format type named "Text import (configurable)" is opened, this will start
the text import procedure. Section 14.4 ― Importing Text Files explains this
procedure in complete detail.

H - The character encoding selection area.

This area provides a drop down menu which allows the user to specify the encoding which
Gnumeric must use to interpret the characters in text files. This menu is only enabled for the
two text file formats: "Comma or Tab Separated Values (CSV/TSV)" and "Text Import
(configurable)". This menu is disabled for all other file types because Gnumeric automatically
detects the encoding for those files.

A character encoding is a system to relate the binary digits contained in a computer

file to the characters of a textual script. All computer files consist only of binary
digits so some system is required to determine this relationship. Where early
computers used simple encoding systems which only supported the characters
commonly used in English, most systems are now standardizing on the UTF-8
encoding scheme which relates the binary digits in computer files to characters
defined in the Universal Character Set, a set which is still being defined but will
include all the characters in every language and many other useful symbols for
mathematics, science, music and literature. Section 14.4.1.1 ― Character Encodings
contains a brief explanation of character encoding, and discusses the encodings
available in Gnumeric.

The character encoding can be set using the drop down menu in area H. By default, the
encoding is set for the locale of the user. The locale is set by the operating system and defines
the language, time zone and other geographic related preferences of the user. The character
encoding is changed by clicking on the drop down menu button in area H, that is by placing the
mouse pointer over this menu and clicking on the primary mouse button, and then navigating
the menu to select the new encoding, that is by moving the mouse through the menus and
clicking on the name of the new encoding. Gnumeric will then use this encoding to open the
text file.

I - The button area.

The button area provides two buttons, the Cancel and the Open buttons. Clicking the Cancel
button will dismiss the dialog and return the user to the worksheet. Clicking the Open button
will cause the selected file to be opened into a worksheet, using either the automatic file
format type detection or the file format type specified if one has been selected, and using the
character encoding scheme if one has been selected.

The procedure required to open a file into a workbook using this dialog is presented next.

14.3.1.2. The procedure to open an existing file.

Opening an existing file into a workbook requires selecting the folder containing the desired file, selecting the
file within this folder, and optionally selecting the file format type and character encoding.

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The procedure to open a file.
1. Launch the File Open dialog.
The File Open dialog can be launched using three alternative approaches.

Using the Menus

Select, in the File menu, the Open menu item.

Using the Standard Toolbar

Click on the Open button:

Using a Keyboard Shortcut

Type the combination Ctrl+o, typing both keys simultaneously.

All three methods will result in the equivalent action, launching the File Open dialog to allow the user to
find the file that they wish to open.
2. Navigate the file system to open the folder with the file.
Changing folders involves selecting a starting folder in area A which contains the folder with the desired
file, and then double-clicking on the folders listed in area C until the folder containing the file has been
reached. The folder hierarchy listed in area Bcan also be used to navigate up the hierarchy if a folder was
opened by mistake. As explained below, a user can move around the hierarchy with as many folder
selections as they need to reach the folder containing the file the user desires to open.

To select a new folder, one of the starting folders which contains the desired folder must first be selected
and then the hierarchy must be navigated to find the desired folder, and this folder must be opened to
expose its contents. As explained below, a user can move around the hierarchy using as many changes as
they need to choose the folder in which to save their Gnumeric file.

1. Select a starting folder in area A.

The first step in choosing a new folder requires selecting, in area A, a starting folder which contains
the desired folder. The new starting folder is chosen by placing the mouse pointer over the folder
name and double clicking (click twice rapidly without moving the mouse) with the primary mouse
button. This will change the leftmost button in area B and change the folders and files listed in area C
to list the contents of the starting folder which was just selected.
2. Navigate the filesystem to reach the desired folder using area C.
The next step involves descending the folder tree to reach the desired folder. This requires double
clicking the sub-folder of the staring folder which contains the desired folder and continuing through
the whole hierarchy until the desired folder is reached. After each double click, the selected folder is
added as the right most button in area B and the contents of the selected folder are shown in area C.
Once the desired folder is reached, it must be opened in the same way, so that its contents are listed
in area C and the file can then be saved into this folder by clicking on the Save button.
3. Navigating back up the folder tree using area B.
If the sub-folder selected in area C does not contain the branch of the folder tree leading to the
desired folder, the buttons in area B can be used to jump further up the folder tree but only as far as
the starting folder selected in area A. Area B provides a list of buttons with the names of all the
folders between the starting folder listed in area A and the currently selected folder. By clicking on
one of these buttons, that is by placing the mouse pointer over the button and clicking with the
primary mouse button, the folder listed on the button will be opened in area C so that the selection
process can restart from this branch.

3. Select the file.

The file must be selected by placing the mouse pointer over the filename in area C and clicking with the
primary mouse button.

The file can be opened and the dialog dismissed by selecting the file with a double click of the
primary mouse button. The last two steps are optional and, if configured appropriately, the file
can be selected and opened simply by double clicking on the file name.

4. Optional: Select the file format type.

Gnumeric can automatically recognize the file format type. Alternatively, the file format can be specified
explicitly by clicking on the drop down list button in area G and scrolling down the list to the desired file
type.

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If the file format type named "Text import (configurable)" is opened, this will start the text
import procedure. Section 14.4 ― Importing Text Files explains this procedure in complete
detail.

5. Optional: Determine the file character encoding.

For text files the character encoding must be specified. By default, Gnumeric takes the character encoding
appropriate to the user's locale. This encoding scheme can be changed by clicking on the drop down menu
button in area H and navigating the menus to find the desired encoding.
6. Click the Open button.
Finally, the Open button must be pressed by placing the mouse pointer over the button and clicking with
the primary mouse button.

The file will be opened in a new window. If the selected file format was "Text import (configurable)" the Text
Import druid will be opened. This druid is explained in great detail in Section 14.4 ― Importing Text Files.

14.3.1.3. Changing the list of bookmark folders.

The list of starting folders shown in area A of Figure 14-1 may contain starting folders selected by the user.
These folders are called 'bookmark folders' and are listed in area A below a thin horizontal separator line. For
example, Figure 14-1 contains a folder named currentWork which is a bookmark folder selected by the user.

These bookmark folders can be added in two ways. A folder which is selected in area C can be added as a
bookmark by clicking on the Add button in area E.

Alternatively, the folder can be dragged from area C into area A. The folder can be dragged by placing the
mouse pointer over the folder name in area C, clicking and holding the primary mouse button, moving the
mouse pointer to area A and releasing the mouse button. As the mouse pointer is moved from area C to area A,
a small icon of the folder will move with the mouse pointer.

Any bookmark folder can also be removed from the list of starting folders presented in area A. A bookmark
folder can be removed by clicking on the folder name in area A and then clicking on the Remove in area E.

14.3.2. The file formats which Gnumeric can read.

Gnumeric can open files which have been created in several formats by other spreadsheet programs or
databases. The details of these formats are provided in Section 14.2 ― File Formats and the name of each file
type in the table below skips to the appropriate section of Section 14.2 ― File Formats. The opening of text
formatted files is described in Section 14.4 ― Importing Text Files. Gnumeric can also import text data or HTML
and XHTML tables through the clipboard mechanism, as is explained in Section 5.7.4 ― Cut and Paste Between
Gnumeric and Other Applications.

Most of these formats are provided by plugins, which are independent, configurable modules. If a
format described below does not appear in the File Open dialog, this may be because the
appropriate plugin has not been configured or started. This can be verified by examining the list of
plugins which are currently running in the Plugin Manager dialog.

The Plugin Manager dialog lists the plugins which are currently in use and provides a way to start
plugins which are currently disabled. The Plugin Manager can be started by selecting, in the Tools
menu, the Plug-ins... menu item; see Section 13.4 ― Plugins for more information.

Table 14-3 The file formats which Gnumeric can open.

Format Extension
Gnumeric .gnumeric / .gnm
Applix .as
Comma Separated Values .csv
Data Interchange Format .dif
GNU Oleo .oleo
HTML .html / .htm
Linear and Integer Program none / .mps
Lotus 1-2-3 .wk1 / .wks
Microsoft Excel Old Binary .xls
Microsoft Excel New Binary .xls
Microsoft Excel 2003 XML .xls
Microsoft Excel Office Open XML .xlsx
OpenOffice.Org / StarOffice (OASIS ODF/IS26300) .ods / .odt
OpenOffice.Org / StarOffice Old Format .sxc / .stc

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Format Extension
Plan Perfect .pln
Quattro Pro .wb1 / .wb2 / .wb3
SC/XSpread none / .sc
Multiplan (SYLK) .sylk / .slk
Tab Separated Values .tsv / .tab
Text Formats .txt / .text
Xbase .dbf

14.4. Importing Text Files

Gnumeric can import data which is organized as text fields structured in some systematic fashion either from a
file or from the clipboard. Importing structured text may require extensive intervention on the part of the user
so Gnumeric provides a Text Import druid, which is a three paneled dialog with configuration options. For text
imported from files, this druid appears after the file has been imported, using the Import Text File... menu item
in the Import Data submenu of the Data menu as described in Section 4.2.10 ― Data Menu. For text imported
from the clipboard, the druid appears when a user attempts to paste the text into a worksheet, as is explained
in Section 5.7.4 ― Cut and Paste Between Gnumeric and Other Applications.

The text import druid contains three panels but the middle panel differs depending on the structuring system
used, either with data fields separated by a special character or with data fields occurring at equally spaced
intervals in each line. The first panel allows the user to configure the character encoding, line break characters,
structuring system, and line range. The second panel allows the user to define the columns by either, for
separated data, setting the separating character and text delimiting character, or, for fixed space data, by
setting the column spacing. The third panel allows the user to select which columns to import and define their
data types.

The steps involved in the text import druid.

1. Launch the Text Import druid using, in the File, the Open and selecting the "Text import
(configurable)" file format type.
2. Define the character encoding of the text block.
3. Define the characters indicating the breaks between the lines.
4. Select the line range from the text block to be imported.
5. Go to the second panel, which will be different for data structured by separating characters
and data structured by fixed spacing.
6. (For separated data) Define the separating character.
7. (For separated data) Define the character grouping a text field.
8. (For fixed width data) Define the field widths.
9. Go to the third panel.
10. Configure the inclusion of empty outside columns.
11. Select the locale that will influence the formatting of the numerical elements in each column.
12. Select the numerical formats for the data in each columns.
13. Select the columns to be included in the imported block.
14. Click on the Finish button.

This explanation of the Text Import druid will first start with a discussion of text files including character
encodings and line break delimiters. The explanation will then cover the various strategies used to structure
numeric data in text files. Following these discussions, the components of the druid will be presented and,
finally, a detailed explanation of each step in the use of the druid will be presented.

14.4.1. The complexities of text format files

14.4.2. The Components of the Text Import Druid

14.4.1. The complexities of text format files

The use of text format files to store and transmit data for use in a spreadsheet involves three somewhat
complex decisions which determine how the file expresses and separates each data value. These complexities
must be understood for a user to be able to use the Text Import druid effectively. These complexities exist
because of the limitations of early computers and because or the historical development of computer systems
by different manufacturers and programmers, in different countries, targeting different types of users,
speaking different languages.

The first complexity involves the different systems which relate the contents of a computer file to the
characters in a written language. All text files on a computer consist of a long sequence of binary digits. Text

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files are files in which these digits are used to indicate different textual characters. Character 'encodings' are
standardized systems which relate the binary digits in a computer file to a formal system of characters which
includes both text glyphs (shapes) and formatting indicators. Each encoding defines a way to interpret the
binary digits and uses the characters from a particular character set. The alternative character encoding
strategies are explained in greater detail in Section 14.4.1.1 ― Character Encodings, below.

The second complexity involves the decision of how to separate the characters in a file into different lines. Text
files explicitly determine the end of each line of a file with a specific character or sequence of characters. The
complexity involves the particular character sequence used to determine the end of each line. Different
conventions have been used in different computer systems. The alternative line breaking strategies are
explained in greater detail in Section 14.4.1.2 ― Line break delimiters, below.

The third complexity involves the decision of how to separate the characters in each line into separate value
fields. Again, different strategies exist. These can be separated into two broad categories: strategies which use
a character or sequence of characters to separate the values, so called 'delimited' or 'separated' strategies, and
strategies which use the position of the character in the line to separate the values, so called 'fixed-width'
strategies. The alternative data structuring strategies are explained in greater detail in Section 14.4.1.3 ― Data
Structuring Strategies, below.

Fortunately, the Gnumeric Text Import druid provides users with a way to preview the information in a text file.
This enables users to change the settings which determine each of these three conventions until the text in the
preview correctly shows the contents of the data file. Therefore, while the details of these three steps are
complex, the practical impact on users is minimal. Users can simply experiment until the file appears correct
without having to understand each of these complexities in detail.

14.4.1.1. Character Encodings

14.4.1.2. Line break delimiters
14.4.1.3. Data Structuring Strategies

14.4.1.1. Character Encodings

The use of text files to store data in a structured fashion for use by spreadsheet programs, and more generally
all text files, require some scheme to relate the binary number in the computer file itself to the characters of a
written language. Such schemes are called 'encodings'.

The origin of computers led to the invention of a number of different encoding schemes. Due to the limitation
of early computer hardware, these encoding schemes all restricted themselves to character sets which
contained only the most essential characters of the English language. The desire to support characters which
were not in this basic set of characters led to the creation of new encoding schemes, many of which restricted
themselves to the characters in specific languages. One encoding scheme, called UTF-8, has now emerged as
the best encoding scheme for the future for a multitude of reasons including its ability to co-exist with current
operating systems and its ability to encode all of the characters in the largest set of characters which has been
consistently defined, the Universal Character Set. However, the existence of the diversity of encoding schemes
means that for the foreseeable future, files will be created and distributed using several different schemes. This
is especially true for files containing text in languages other than English.

This complex situation generally does not impact users. Gnumeric has been designed to deal with most of the
complexity. Many kinds of files, such as the Gnumeric file format itself, describe their encoding scheme
internally in such a way that it can be easily recognized. Gnumeric also provides an easy approach to changing
the encoding scheme in case this proves necessary.

Encoding schemes merely prove a hindrance to users when opening files. There is no danger that data be lost or
that any other serious problem arise by selecting the wrong scheme. If the wrong scheme is selected, either the
file will contain characters which are nonsensical and Gnumeric will open an error dialog asking the user to
select a different encoding scheme, or the preview area will display nonsensical characters. These nonsensical
characters may simply be characters grouped together which do not occur in any language, such as "åÕÛÛÞ", or
may be characters for which a graphical representation (a glyph) does not exist in the font being used and is
therefore displayed using a small box with four numbers inside. Each of these errors indicates that the encoding
scheme used to read the file was not the same encoding scheme as was used to create the file. The difficulty is
then to determine what encoding scheme to use. A simple process of trial and error should lead to picking the
right scheme.

A basic strategy to find the right encoding for a file being imported into Gnumeric is, first, to use the scheme
proposed by Gnumeric and, then, to hunt for the correct encoding. The default encoding scheme is the one
defined by the locale setting of the user and this is also the default scheme Gnumeric uses to create text files. If
the default encoding is incorrect, the correct encoding must be found by trial and error. One strategy to use is
to examine the major western encodings and then the major regional encodings. The major western encoding
schemes are ASCII, ISO-8859-1, and UTF-8, but ASCII is a subset of the other two so it does not need to be tried

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on its own. The major regional encodings are the IS0-8859-x schemes since these have become quite popular in
GNU operating systems. Alternatively, the various character sets used by the Microsoft operating systems can
be attempted. The encoding schemes are listed under "Western", "Unicode", and the alphabet names.

The World Wide Web has many resources dedicated to explaining encoding systems and other related
information. One of the best sites discussing UTF-8 and Unicode is the UTF-8 and Unicode FAQ for UNIX/Linux
page maintained by Markus Kuhn. The Unicode project has a web site which includes an online copy of their
standard character set. A discussion of the ISO-8859 family of encodings can be found at a page titled: "The ISO-
8859 Alphabet Soup", which may alternatively be found here. A similar discussion on Wikipedia, focusing on the
western alphabets, can be found here.

14.4.1.2. Line break delimiters

The use of text files to store data in a structured fashion for use by spreadsheet programs requires a scheme to
separate each line of the file. Structured text files rely on the files having explicitly defined rows within the file
as one component in the structuring system. Each of these rows is defined by a character sequence indicating
the end of a row.

Two characters that are part of the ASCII code, an early encoding that became a widely followed standard, were
included to help define the end of the line. These are the 'linefeed' character and the 'carriage return' character,
named after the two processes which occur when a typewriter starts a new line: first the typewriter barrel rolls -
the linefeed - then the whole carriage with the sheet of paper moves back to the starting point -the carriage
return. In the same way that different computing systems have used different encoding schemes, three
different approaches became common for defining the end of the line.

In GNU operating systems and other systems that inherit from the UNIX legacy, the end of a line was defined
simply using the 'linefeed' character. The pre-OSX Macintosh operating system chose instead to use only the
'carriage return' character. The Windows operating system uses both characters in the sequence 'carriage
return' then 'linefeed'.

A user opening a file into Gnumeric will see, in the preview area of the Text Import druid, whether or not the
line breaks have been recognized correctly and will be able to alter the recognition settings. An incompatible
setup will either yield a single unbroken line of text, lines of text with extra, empty rows between them, or lines
of text with extra symbols at the start or end of each line.

The correct line break delimiters can be established by checking or unchecking the alternatives. The preview
area will then show the result of the file interpreted with these settings.

14.4.1.3. Data Structuring Strategies

The use of text files to store data in a structured fashion for use by spreadsheet programs also requires some
scheme to separate each value within every line. Two different approaches are used to separate these values.
The first strategy, uses a particular character or character sequence to denote the start and end of each value.
Such strategies are called 'Separated Value' or 'Delimited Value' systems. The second strategy places each value
stating at a specified position in the line. Such strategies are called 'Fixed Width' strategies because they
inherently require that each value have a pre-determined size.

Separated Value structuring systems distinguish the contents of each value using pre-determined characters to
separate the values. Certain characters have become common in such schemes, for-example 'Comma Separated
Value' files use a comma character to separate values while 'Tab Separated Value' files use a tab character.
Gnumeric allows the user to define the value separator to be any one of several common characters or a specific
sequence of characters, either on their own or in combination. For example, a file could use both space
characters and tab characters to separate values. Similarly, a file could be read which used the entire word
'STOP' to separate values like the common scheme to separate sentences in a telegram.

Separate Value structuring systems often also include a method to surround a single text value which may itself
contain the character used to separate values. The quote character is often used in this role but Gnumeric
allows users to configure any character in this role. For example, a file which used the comma to separate values
could nonetheless contain a value like "Zoe, Sally, Dodji" if this value had appropriate text indicating characters
at either end.

Fixed Width structuring systems are common formats for the output of database tables since the contents of
these tables have often been defined as variables of a particular size. To import these files, users must specify
exactly the start of each column so that the importer can separate the values on each row.

14.4.2. The Components of the Text Import Druid

The Text Import druid consists of three panels with the middle panel differing according to the type of data
structuring used.

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The first panel allows users to configure the character encoding used by the file, to determine the character
sequences used to separate lines, configure the type of structuring being used and select the lines of the file to
import. The second column allows the user to define the separation strategy used for each value. For separated
value files this involves defining the separating character sequences and the text indicating character. For fixed
width files, this involves defining the width of each column. The third panel allows the user to select the
columns to be included during the import and to select the format of the values in each column.

Users navigate the Text Import druid by clicking on the Forward button on each panel after they have
configured the settings properly. The third panel contains a Finish which causes the file to be imported to a
workbook using all the settings as they are configured.

14.4.2.1. The first panel of the Text Import Druid.

14.4.2.2. The second panel of the Text Import Druid used for separated data
14.4.2.3. The second panel of the Text Import Druid used for fixed width data
14.4.2.4. The third panel of the Text Import Druid

14.4.2.1. The first panel of the Text Import Druid.

The first panel of the Text Import Druid allows users to set the file encoding, to determine the character
sequences used to separate lines, configure the type of structuring being used and select the lines of the file to
import.

Figure 14-2 The first panel of the Text Import druid with the component areas labeled with callouts.

The different components of the first panel of the Text Import druid with each component labeled with a
callout.

The purpose of each labeled component in Figure 14-2 is explained below:

The components of the first panel

1 - The file encoding selection menu.

This drop down menu provides a list of encoding schemes for the characters in the text file. By
default, Gnumeric selects the encoding scheme used by the locale of the user. See Section
14.4.1.1 ― Character Encodings for more details.

2 - The line break character selector.

These three check boxes can be selected individually or together to define the sequences which
will be interpreted as line break indicators. Generally, selecting all three boxes will produce the
correct results.
The errors produced if the wrong combination of boxes is selected will include the entire file
being placed on a single line, empty lines appearing between the lines of the file, or undefined
symbols appearing at the beginning or end of almost every line. See Section 14.4.1.2 ― Line
break delimiters for more details.

3 - The data structuring system selector.

These two push buttons allow the choice between the two different structuring schemes, data
structured by placing a separating character between the data values and data organized in

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fixed width columns. Note that this choice will determine which panel will be shown as the
second panel of the druid. See Section 14.4.1.3 ― Data Structuring Strategies for more details.

4 - The line range spinbuttons.

These two spin buttons allow the user to select the start and end rows for the data import. The
spin boxes can be used either by typing a new value in the text entry area where the numbers
are displayed, or by using the mouse button to click on the up arrow to increase the number
and the down arrow to decrease the number.
For instance, if the text file contained a large header area with meta information, this header
could be excluded from the data imported to the Gnumeric worksheet by increasing the
number of the starting, "From", line.

5 - The preview area.

This area displays a preview of the file as it will be interpreted when the settings that are
currently selected in this first panel are applied.

6 - The button area.

These four buttons allow the user to navigate the druid. The Help button should open the
Gnumeric manual to this section. The Cancel button will dismiss the dialog and return the user
to the worksheet. The Back button is disabled since this is the first panel of the druid and the
Forward button will bring up the next panel in the druid.

14.4.2.2. The second panel of the Text Import Druid used for separated data

The second panel of the Text Import Druid used for separated data allows the user to configure the character
sequences used to separate the values in each row and to configure the text delimiting characters. Gnumeric, by
default, guesses which characters are being used to separate values and pre-sets those characters. The user can,
however, reconfigure these characters.

Figure 14-3 The second panel of the Text Import druid for separated data with the component areas
labeled with callouts.

The different components of the second panel of the Text Import druid for separated data with each
component labeled with a callout.

The purpose of each labeled component in Figure 14-3 is explained below:

The components of the second panel for structured data

1 - The separator definition area.

This are allows the user to define the characters used to separate data value fields within each
row. The checkboxes can be pressed to add or remove characters from those treated as
separators. Additionally, the 'custom' type allows the user to define either other single
characters, or a particular character sequence used to separate values. The preview area in the
panel will show the file processed with the rules which have already been applied.

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Generally, this type of file structuring uses a single character to separate fields but it is possible
to use either several different characters or to use a sequence of characters. For example, it
would be possible to use the old telegraphic convention of separating phrases with the word
'STOP' by selecting the 'custom' separator type and entering the character sequence 'STOP' in
the text field.
This area also includes a checkbox enabling two separator sequences that immediately follow
one another, to be treated as a single separator. This option will only be useful where data is
imported with one or more completely empty columns and no partially filled columns. If this
option is checked and the data file has partially filled columns of data, the columns will be
jumbled during the text import operation.
See Section 14.4.1.3 ― Data Structuring Strategies for more details.

2 - The text indicating character area.

Separated value files often additionally define a character used to indicate the start and end of
a data element which should be considered a single text entry. This strategy allows the inclusion
of text entries which include the value separator.
For example, a file which is structured as a comma separated value file, could use the double
quotation mark to delimit text values and would then be able to include text values such as:
'Zoe, Mark, Sally'.

3 - The preview area.

This area displays a preview of the file as it will be interpreted when the settings that are
currently selected in the first and second panels are applied.

4 - The button area.

These four buttons allow the user to navigate the druid. The Help button should open the
Gnumeric manual to this section. The Cancel button will dismiss the dialog and return the user
to the worksheet. The Back button will take the user back to the first panel, without, however,
changing the settings in this second panel. The Forward button will bring up the next panel in
the druid.

14.4.2.3. The second panel of the Text Import Druid used for fixed width data

The second panel of the Text Import Druid used for fixed width data allows the user to define the widths of
each column to be imported. Gnumeric provides a mechanism to automatically guess the widths of the columns
and allows the user, using the mouse, to define the widths of the columns.

Figure 14-4 The second panel of the Text Import druid for fixed width data with the component areas
labeled with callouts.

The different components of the second panel of the Text Import druid for fixed width data with each
component labeled with a callout.

The purpose of each labeled component in Figure 14-4 is explained below:

The components of the second panel for fixed width data

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1 - The automatic column discovery button.

This left most button, named Auto Column Discovery, will cause Gnumeric to scan the file an
attempt to assign the columns automatically. The example presented in Figure 14-4 shows one
result after this button has been pressed: many of the columns were discovered automatically,
but the second and third columns were misidentified. Nonetheless, the automatic mechanism
provides a useful starting point. The definition of the columns can be refined using the methods
described below.

2 - The column definition clearing button.

This right most button, named Clear, will clear all the column definitions and reset the file to a
single column. This button should be used cautiously since there is no way to reverse its action
and any carefully prepared column definition layout will be irretrievably lost.

3 - The preview and column width definition area.

This area acts as both a preview area and an area where users can define the columns widths.
As a preview area, this area displays a preview of the file as it will be interpreted when the
settings that are currently selected in this first panel are applied.
This area can also be used to define column widths. When the panel first appears, a single
column will be defined. The automatic column discovery mechanism may split this single
column into many more columns. The mouse can then be used to further divide columns or to
join previously separate columns.
A new column can be defined by placing the mouse pointer where the column should start and
double-clicking with the primary mouse button. This will split the column which used to contain
this position and add a new column starting at this location.
To remove the definition of a column which already exists or to alter the ending position of a
column, the context menu must be used. The context menu appears by clicking with one of the
secondary mouse buttons. A column which has already been defined can be merged with the
column on the left or right using the Delete and Merge Left or Delete and Merge right menu
items. The size of a column can be increased by placing the mouse pointer inside the column
area or header and using the Widen or Narrow menu items, respectively. Either of these will
change the width of the column by changing the right hand end of the column.
The context menu can also be used to define new columns using the Split menu item but the
double-click approach described above should be easier.

4 - The button area.

These four buttons allow the user to navigate the druid. The Help button should open the
Gnumeric manual to this section. The Cancel button will dismiss the dialog and return the user
to the worksheet. The Back button will take the user back to the first panel, without, however,
changing the settings in this second panel. The Forward button will bring up the next panel in
the druid.

14.4.2.4. The third panel of the Text Import Druid

This panel allows users to select and format the columns to be imported to the Gnumeric workbook. The first
button allows the exclusion of empty columns on either of the outer sides of the columns with data. The second
button allows the user to define the locale used to interpret the values in the file. The remaining area allows the
user to predefine the data format to be used for all the values in each column. This area also allows the users to
select which columns in the file will be imported to the Gnumeric worksheet. Finally, this panel provides the
Finish which is used to dismiss the dialog and import the file.

Figure 14-5 The third panel of the Text Import druid with the component areas labeled with callouts.

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The different components of the third panel of the Text Import druid with each component labeled with a
callout.

The purpose of each labeled component in Figure 14-5 is explained below:

The components of the third panel

1 - The trim of empty outer columns drop down list button.

This button provides a list allowing the user to select whether to trim any outer columns which
are completely empty. The choices are to delete the columns on both sides, on neither side, or
on one side only. This will only affect columns which have been previously defined but which
contain no data values at all.

2 - Locale definition for import drop down menu button.

This button provides a list of locales which can be set. The chosen locale will affect how numeric
values are interpreted when then are imported. For instance, the locale will define the
character expected as the decimal separator which is the period character (.) in some locales,
and the comma character (,) in others. These locales generally then use the other character as
the spacer grouping the digits in thousands.

3 - The column data format selection list.

This list allows predetermining the format which Gnumeric will assign to each of the values in
the columns selected below. Cell data formats are explained in Section 5.10 ― Formatting Cells.
To use this list, first, one or more columns must be selected in the preview area below, then, a
data format in this list can be selected, and finally any details of the format can be configured.
Number formats for instance allow the user to force numbers to contain fixed number of digits
after the decimal point.

4 - The column selection, inclusion, and file preview area.

This area allows users to select columns which will be preformatted, to select which columns to
include in the import and to preview the file. Each single column can be selected by clicking with
the mouse pointer on the column header. Any single column can be excluded from the data
imported to the Gnumeric worksheet by clicking in the checkbox in the column header to
remove the check mark. The area also provides a preview of the data in the text file showing the
effect of the with the current configuration.

5 - The button area.

These four buttons allow the user to navigate the druid. The Help button should open the
Gnumeric manual to this section. The Cancel button will dismiss the dialog and return the user
to the worksheet. The Back button will take the user back to the second panel, without,
however, changing the settings in this third panel. The Finish button will dismiss the druid and
cause the file to be imported into a new worksheet using the selected configuration
parameters.

14.5. Saving Files

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There are several ways to save a Gnumeric workbook that is currently open.

Existing files can be saved directly but this process does not allow a user to change any settings to the file
creation process.

Saving files directly

If the workbook has already been saved to a file or if the workbook was opened from a file that
already existed, Gnumeric will simply overwrite the file with the newer version.

Three alternative ways to save a file directly

Using the Menus

Select, in the File menu, the Save menu item.

Using the Standard Toolbar

Click on the Save button:

Using a Keyboard Shortcut

Type the combination Ctrl+s, typing both keys simultaneously.

Each of these approaches will save the file directly, allowing no intervention on the part the user. If
the file has been newly created, Gnumeric will automatically launch the Save As... dialog asking the
user for a file name and other configuration options for the file, as is explained below.

Users wishing to save an existing file to a new file must invoke the Save As... dialog. The Save As... dialog can be
invoked at any time to save the current workbook to a new file with either a different name or a different file
format type. This dialog is automatically launched when a user attempts to use one of the methods described
above to save a workbook which does not already have an existing file.

The Save As... dialog asks the user to provide a name for the file to be created, to select a folder in which to
place the new file, and to select a file format type for the file.

The steps required to save a file to a standard location.

1. Launch the File Save dialog.

In the File menu, select the Save As menu item.

2. Name the file. Open the folder containing the desired file.

In the text entry area, enter the file name.

3. Select the desired folder in which to save the file.

Select one of the standard locations to open the file.

4. Specify a file format type.
5. Click on the Save button.

The remainder of this section explains these steps in greater detail, first, by describing the components in the
File Save dialog and, then, by explaining each of the steps above in greater detail.

14.5.1. Using the File Save dialog.

14.5.2. The file formats which Gnumeric can write.

14.5.1. Using the File Save dialog.

Saving a workbook to a file can be a simple process, depending on the folder in which the file is to be saved. If
this folder is in the predefined list of standard folders and user bookmark folders, the file can be created with
the compact File Save dialog. The components of the compact File Save dialog and the procedure to save a
workbook to a file in the predefined list of folders are explained next.

However, when the workbook is to be saved to a file created in a folder which is not in the preselected list, the
expanded File Save dialog will be required. The components of the expanded File Save dialog, the procedure
for saving files in a different folder, and an explanation of bookmark folders and their use are given further
below.

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14.5.1.1. The components of the compact File Save dialog.

14.5.1.2. The basic file saving procedure.
14.5.1.3. The extra components in the expanded File Save dialog.
14.5.1.4. Changing the currently selected folder.
14.5.1.5. Adding a folder.
14.5.1.6. Changing the list of bookmark folders.

14.5.1.1. The components of the compact File Save dialog.

The File Save dialog allows the user to save a workbook into a new file but requires that the user provide a
name for the file, select the folder in which to save the file, and select a file format type to use for this file. This
dialog also provides a way to navigate the folder hierarchy as will be explained further below.

The File Save dialog first opens in a compact layout. The different areas of the dialog in this compact layout are
shown and labeled in Figure 14-6.

Figure 14-6 The compact form of the File Save dialog.

The purpose of each labeled area will be explained below:

The components of the compact File Save dialog

A - The naming area.

This area is used to give the file its name. This is a standard text entry area allowing all the basic
editing commands. The cursor can be moved left or right using the keyboard arrow keys. The
cursor can be placed anywhere in the text by placing the mouse pointer where the cursor
should go and clicking with the primary mouse button. The mouse can also select part or all of
the text with a click and drag. The keyboard shortcuts for copying, Ctrl+c, cutting, Ctrl+x, or
pasting, Ctrl+v, all work. The dialog uses filename matching to guess file names based on the
files already in the parent folder.

B - The folder selection area.

This area provides a drop down list of previously selected folders including the standard folders
and the folders which have been bookmarked by the user. The area will be disabled if area D has
been selected to expand the dialog.
The desired folder can be selected by moving the mouse pointer over the button, clicking and
holding the primary mouse button, dragging the mouse pointer onto the name of the desired
folder and releasing the mouse button. The new folder name will appear on as the name on the
button.

C - The file format type selection area.

This area provides a drop down list of all the file formats provided by the Gnumeric program
itself and by all the currently active plugins.

If the file format type named "Text export (configurable)" is opened, this will start
the text export procedure. Section 14.6 ― Exporting Text Files explains this
procedure in complete detail.

D - The dialog expansion area.

This area will alter the dialog to expand or collapse it. When expanded the dialog provides a
way to select any folder accessible on the system, to create new folders and to add and remove
bookmark folders from the user's bookmark folder list. When the dialog is expanded, the small

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arrow will point downward, the areas showing in Figure 14-7 will appear and area B will be
disabled.

E - The button area.

This area provides two buttons, the Cancel and the Save buttons. Clicking the Cancel button
will dismiss the dialog and return the user to the worksheet. Clicking the Save button will cause
a file to be created with the currently selected name, parent folder and format. If the selected
file already exists, Gnumeric will open a confirmation dialog since the command will obliterate
the previously existing file.

The procedure to save a file using this dialog in its compact form is present next, in Section 14.5.1.2 ― The basic
file saving procedure. . The components of the dialog in its expanded layout, converted by clicking in area D
when the File Save dialog is in its compact form, will be explained further on, in Section 14.5.1.3 ― The extra
components in the expanded File Save dialog. , followed by sections explaining the use of the dialog in this
expanded layout.

14.5.1.2. The basic file saving procedure.

Saving a workbook to a new file requires providing name the file, selecting a folder in which the file will be
placed, and selecting a file format type.

The default action, if a user simply opens the File Save dialog and clicks on the Save button, is to name the file
Book1.gnumeric incrementing the number for each new file created, to save the file in the user's home
folder, and to create a file in the Gnumeric file format.

If the user provides a name for the file to be saved which is the same as the name of a file that
already exists, Gnumeric will open up a confirmation dialog asking the user if they really want to
overwrite the existing file. If the user then clicks on the Yes button, the existing file will be
destroyed and the new file created in its place.

The procedure to save a file.

1. Open the File Save dialog.
First, the dialog must be opened using either of the two following methods:

Two alternative ways to open the File Save dialog.

Using the Menus

Select, in the File menu, the Save as... menu item.

Using a Keyboard Shortcut

Type the combination Shift+Ctrl+s, typing all three keys simultaneously.

Both methods will launch the File Save dialog to allow the user to name the file, select a folder (also called
a directory) for the file and choose a file format type. This dialog will also open automatically the first time
a new workbook is saved.
2. Select a name for the file.
Next, a name must be given for the file. Gnumeric provides a default name but, when the dialog is first
opened this name is highlighted indicating that it is already selected. Therefore, a user can simply start
typing a new name and the first character entered will delete the name given by default. The file name
field is presented as area A in Figure 14-6.

If typing a name does not have any effect, the 'focus' was probably inadvertently changed from
the text entry area. Focus can be returned to the area by placing the mouse pointer over the
box and clicking the primary mouse button. All the standard keyboard editing commands work
in this text area and the mouse can be used to select text or to move the cursor location.

3. Select a folder in which to save the file.

Then, the folder in which to save the file can be chosen from the drop down list shown as area B in Figure
14-6.

Using this list requires placing the mouse pointer above the list button and clicking with the primary mouse
button to open the list. The desired folder can then be selected by moving the pointer down the list and
clicking again with the primary mouse button. The second click will close the drop down list and change the

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selected folder. Instead of the two mouse clicks, the entire operation can be replaced by a click-hold, drag
and release, where the first mouse click is replaced by the click-and-hold and the second mouse click is
replaced by the release.

This list only provides a limited number of choices including several standard folders and any bookmark
folders the user has previously added to the file selector. Other folders can be chosen, new folders can be
created, and the list of bookmark folders available can be changed, by clicking in area D to change to the
expanded dialog, as will be explained further below, in Section 14.5.1.4 ― Changing the currently selected
folder. , Section 14.5.1.5 ― Adding a folder. and Section 14.5.1.6 ― Changing the list of bookmark folders. .
4. Select a file type.
Next, the desired file type must be selected. Area C in Figure 14-6 provides a drop down list of file types.
The process for using this list is the same as was described in the previous step. The file types are listed
below in Section 14.5 ― Saving Files and explained in detail in Section 14.2 ― File Formats.

If the file format type named "Text export (configurable)" is opened, this will start the text
export procedure. Section 14.6 ― Exporting Text Files explains this procedure in complete
detail.

5. Click the Save button.

Finally, the Save button must be pressed by placing the mouse pointer over the button and clicking with
the primary mouse button.

This basic procedure does not allow a user to save the file into folder other than one already provided. An
expanded procedure is needed to explain how to save a file into other folders in the file system. The next
section explains the extra elements provided when the File Save dialog is expanded and that section is
followed by a step-by-step procedure explaining how to use this expanded dialog.

14.5.1.3. The extra components in the expanded File Save dialog.

In order to select folders other than those provided in the drop down list shown as area B in Figure 14-6, the
File Save dialog must be expanded by clicking in the area labeled D. In the expanded form, the File Save dialog
allows a user to select a new folder in which to save a file, to create new folders, and to add bookmark folders
to the list provided in the area labeled C.

This section will explain the extra components of the File Save dialog which are provided when the dialog is
expanded. Figure 14-7 shows these different areas and adds a label to each.

Figure 14-7 The expanded form of the File Save dialog.

The different parts of each panel of the File Save dialog after it has been expanded have been shaded with
boxes of different colors and labeled with a letter in Figure 14-7. Five of the labeled areas are the same as the
areas in the dialog when it is in a compact form; these areas were explained above. The remaining areas are
explained below:

The extra components in the expanded version of the File Save dialog

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F - The 'relative root' selection area.

This area allows the user to select the starting folder from which to navigate the folder
hierarchy. The navigation system only allows users to select sub-folders of the currently
selected 'relative root' folder so the root folder selected in area F must contain the desired
folder as a sub-folder.
The folders listed in this area include the standard folders provided by the system and a number
of folders added, as bookmark folders, by the user. The standard folders provided by the system
will vary for different machines and system administrators may have disabled access to certain
areas. By default, the standard folders provided include the user's 'Home' folder, the user's
'Desktop' folder, a folder pointing to the root of the filesystem tree and folders for each of the
removable storage devices attached to the computer. The user's home folder, on GNU and
other UNIX like systems, this folder is usually known as ~ or ~user_account_name where the
phrase user_account_name represents the account name used by the current user. This
folder is often located at /home/user_account_name/ in the filesystem. The 'Desktop'
folder is the folder which holds the files which are displayed in the background of the user's
window. The 'Filesystem' folder is the top of the filesystem tree, which on GNU systems is also
known as /. The list also presents peripheral or external devices. Below the standard folders,
area F has a separator and the bookmark folders selected by the user. In Figure 14-7 the folder
currentWork is a folder named by the user and added to the list of bookmark folders.

G - The folder hierarchy area.

This area displays the folder hierarchy starting from the starting folder selected in area F and
ending in the current folder, the folder whose contents are displayed in area I, while displaying
all the folders between the two. This area changes dynamically as the user changes to new
folders. In the case shown in Figure 14-7, the user has selected the 'Home' folder as the starting
folder in area F and has not navigated to any sub-folders.

H - The Folder Creation button.

This button allows the user to create a folder in the directory listed in the rightmost part of the
file component area, area G. When this button is clicked, by placing the mouse pointer over the
button and clicking with the primary mouse button, a new folder is added to the list in area I
with a temporary name of 'Type name of New Folder' pre-selected and therefore ready to
be edited into a new name.

I - The folder content area.

This area displays the contents of the currently selected folder which is the rightmost folder
shown in area G.

Not all of the sub-folders and files present in the folder area are shown.
Firstly, hidden folders and files, those that start with a leading period, are not
displayed by default. These can be shown by placing the mouse pointer over area I,
clicking with one of the secondary mouse buttons to raise the context menu,
moving the pointer onto the Show hidden files menu entry, and clicking with the
primary mouse button. This step will ensure that all the folders are displayed.
Secondly, the filtering rule defined in area L will limit the files displayed based on
the characteristics of these files. By default, a filtering rule is applied which causes
only those files present that have an extension commonly used for spreadsheet
files. The rule can be changed to display all the files regardless of their extension,
except possibly for the hidden files.

J - The panel rearrangement handles.

These triple dots indicate that the mouse can be used to change the shape and size of the
different areas in the dialog. These handles can be used by placing the mouse pointer above a
handle, clicking and holding with the primary mouse button, then dragging the handle to a new
position, and then releasing the mouse button.

K - The bookmark folder list modification buttons.

These buttons will add or remove folders to or from the list of bookmark folders in area F. The
Add button will add the folder currently selected in area G. The Remove button will remove any
bookmark folder that is selected in area F.

L - The filter definition area.

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This area contains a drop down menu with the different filters defined by the application.
Gnumeric currently defines two filters. The first filters out all files that do not have an extension
used by the spreadsheet formats supported by gnumeric. The second filter, labeled "All files",
essentially disables any filtering operation, and lists all the files in the currently selected folder,
except that files starting with a leading period are not shown.

The uses of the File Save dialog in its expanded form is explained below.

14.5.1.4. Changing the currently selected folder.

In order to save a file in a folder other than that provided by default, it is necessary to change the default folder.
The note below explains briefly the notion of folders and the procedure further down explains how to change
folders.

Understanding the file organization system.

In order to understand how to change folders, it is first necessary to understand the system by
which documents are stored. This system is called the 'filesystem'.

All documents are stored in a folder. Folders can contain files but can also contain other folders. Any
folder therefore can contain several sub-folders, each of which may itself contain several sub-
folders; the resulting structure is called a nested 'tree' with the original folder being the 'relative
root' of that tree.

In GNU and UNIX systems, all of the files are stored in folders organized in a single, unified
filesystem tree with a folder named '/' at the absolute root of the tree. Every file is accessible from
this absolute root folder and, by default, this folder is provided as the choice named Filesystem
with an icon of a disk drive in area F in the File Save dialog.

Navigating the directory tree from the single root folder would quickly become burdensome and
the File Save dialog provides several other starting points in area F. These will be called, in this
documentation, the 'relative root' folders since each of these will act as the root of the branching
structure of sub-folders the relative root folder contains. Two relative root folders which are
commonly provided are the 'Home' and 'Desktop' folders for the current user.

In a complex computer system, the absolute root folder may be hidden from the user and only
'relative roots' will be present. These should jointly provide some way to access all the areas where
the user can save files.

The 'relative roots' are also necessary when several file systems are available to the user. This will be
the case when filesystem on other machines are accessible over a network or when Gnumeric is
running on operating systems whose filesystems are not unified, such as the proprietary operating
systems sold by Microsoft in which each disk drive has its own root named, for example, C:\ or D:\.

Additional 'relative root' folders can be added as 'bookmark folders' by the users themselves. These
bookmark folders can be used to access quickly folders which are commonly used. The bookmark
folders are listed, in area F, under the thin horizontal separator line. The creation and deletion of
these bookmark folders is explained below, in Section 14.5.1.6 ― Changing the list of bookmark
folders. .

Changing folders involves selecting a 'relative root' folder, then navigating into the appropriate sub-folder.
When the Save button is pressed, the file will be saved in the folder listed as the right most button in area G of
Figure 14-7 which also means that the file will be saved alongside the folders and files listed in area I.

The procedure to change the currently selected folder.

To select a new folder, one of the 'relative root' folders which contains the desired folder must first be selected
and then the hierarchy must be navigated to find the desired folder. As explained below, a user can move
around the hierarchy using as many changes as they need to choose the folder in which to save their Gnumeric
file.
1. Select a 'relative-root' folder in area F.
The first step in choosing a new folder requires selecting, in area F, a 'relative root' folder which contains
the desired folder. The new 'relative root' folder is chosen by placing the mouse pointer over the folder
name and double clicking (click twice rapidly without moving the mouse) with the primary mouse button.
This will change the leftmost button in area G and change the folders and files listed in area I.
2. Navigate the filesystem to reach the desired folder using area I.
The next step involves descending the folder tree to reach the desired folder. This requires double clicking
the sub-folder of the 'relative root' folder which contains the desired folder and continuing through the

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whole hierarchy until the desired folder is reached. After each double click, the selected folder is added as
the right most button in area G and the contents of the selected folder are shown in area I. Once the
desired folder is reached, it must be opened in the same way, so that its contents are listed in area I and
the file can then be saved into this folder by clicking on the Save button.
3. Navigating back up the folder tree using area G.
If the sub-folder selected in area I does not contain the branch of the folder tree leading to the desired
folder, the buttons in area G can be used to jump further up the folder tree but only as far as the 'relative
root' folder selected in area F. Area G provides a list of buttons with the names of all the folders between
the 'relative root' listed in area F and the currently selected folder. By clicking on one of these buttons,
that is by placing the mouse pointer over the button and clicking with the primary mouse button, the
folder listed on the button will be opened in area I so that the selection process can restart from this
branch.

The process of exploration of the folder tree can continue as long as the user wishes. If the user desires it is also
possible to create new folders as is explained next.

14.5.1.5. Adding a folder.

Often the user wishes to save the Gnumeric workbook by creating a file in a folder which does not yet exist. A
new folder can be added to the folder tree by clicking on the Create Folder button, which is labeled as area H
of Figure 14-7. The button can be clicked by placing the mouse pointer over the button and pressing the
primary mouse button.

When the Create Folder button is pressed, a folder will be added at the top of the list in area I, with its name,
Type name of new folder already selected so that the user can simply start typing to give the folder a
desired name. Once the name has been entered on the keyboard, typing the Return key (or the Enter key,
depending on the keyboard) will change the folder name and open that folder. Area I will therefore be empty
since the newly created folder has no contents.

There is no way to delete folders once they have been created, just as there is no way for Gnumeric
to delete files it has created. Folders created by mistake must be deleted using a file browser such
as Nautilus or using command line programs such as rm.

14.5.1.6. Changing the list of bookmark folders.

The list of 'relative root' folders shown in area F of Figure 14-7 may contain 'relative root' folders selected by
the user. These folders are called 'bookmark folders' and are listed in area F below a thin horizontal separator
line. For example, Figure 14-7 contains a folder named currentWork which is a bookmark folder selected by
the user.

These bookmark folders can be added in two ways. A folder which is selected in area I can be added as a
bookmark by clicking on the Add button in area K.

Alternatively, the folder can be dragged from area I into area K. The folder can be dragged by placing the
mouse pointer over the folder name in area I, clicking and holding the primary mouse button, moving the
mouse pointer to area F and releasing the mouse button. As the mouse pointer is moved from area I to area F, a
small icon of the folder will move with the mouse pointer.

Any bookmark folder can also be removed from the 'relative root' folders presented in area F (or in the drop
down list labeled B). A bookmark folder can be removed by clicking on the folder name in area F and then
clicking on the Remove in area K.

14.5.2. The file formats which Gnumeric can write.

Gnumeric can write files in several formats used by other programs. The details of these formats are provided in
Section 14.2 ― File Formats and the name of each file type in the table below skips to the appropriate section
of Section 14.2 ― File Formats. The creation of files which consist of structured text is described in Section 14.6
― Exporting Text Files. The creation of PostScript and Portable Document Format (PDF) files is done through
the printing mechanism and is described in Chapter 15 ― Printing.Gnumeric can also export text data or HTML
and XHTML tables through the clipboard mechanism, as is explained in Section 5.7.4 ― Cut and Paste Between
Gnumeric and Other Applications.

Most of these formats are provided by plugins, which are independent, configurable modules. If a
format described below does not appear in the File Save dialog, this may be because the
appropriate plugin has not been configured or started. This can be verified by examining the list of
plugins which are currently running in the Plugin Manager dialog.

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The Plugin Manager dialog lists the plugins which are currently in use and provides a way to start
plugins which are currently disabled. The Plugin Manager can be started by selecting, in the Tools
menu, the Plug-ins... menu item; see Section 13.4 ― Plugins for more information.

Table 14-4 The file formats which Gnumeric can create.

Format Extension
Gnumeric .gnumeric / .gnm
Comma Separated Values .csv
Data Interchange Format .dif
HTML .html / .htm
LaTeX .tex
Microsoft Excel Old Binary .xls
Microsoft Excel New Binary .xls
Microsoft Excel 2003 XML .xls
Microsoft Excel Office Open XML .xlsx
OpenOffice.Org / StarOffice (OASIS ODF/IS26300) .ods / .odt
OpenOffice.Org / StarOffice Old Format .sxc / .stc
PostScript .ps / .eps
PDF .pdf
Multiplan (SYLK) .sylk / .slk
Tab Separated Values .tsv / .tab
Text Formats .txt / .text
TROFF .me
XHTML .xhtml / .html

14.6. Exporting Text Files

Gnumeric can export worksheets to structured text files. To create a text file one chooses the Export As Text
File... item in the Export Data submenu of the Data menu. In the dialog, one specifies the file name, and selects
the folder in which to save it, retaining the file format "Text export (configurable)". Upon clicking Save the Text
Export druid appears which permits the configuration of file structure characteristics.

The Text Export Druid.

The steps involved in the text export druid are:

1. Launch the Text export druid using, in the Export As Text File... item in the Export Data
submenu of the Data retaining the "Text export (configurable)" file format type.
2. Select the worksheets to include in the exported file.
3. Configure the order of the worksheets for the exported file.
4. Go to the second panel.
5. Select the line termination character.
6. Select the value separating character or character sequence
7. Select when values should be surrounded by a text indicating character.
8. Select the character or sequence to use to indicate a text field.
9. Configure the character encoding to use for the file.
10. Select how to handle unknown characters.
11. Select whether to preserve the format of the cell contents.
12. Click on the Finish button to export the file.

14.6.1. The Components of the Text Export Druid

14.6.1. The Components of the Text Export Druid

The Text Export druid consists of two panels. The first panel allows the user to select the worksheets included
in the export and their order. The second panel allows the user to configure the structuring elements, the line
delimiting characters, value separating characters, text indicating characters, and file encoding.

14.6.1.1. The first panel of the Text Export Druid.

14.6.1.2. The second panel of the Text Export Druid.

14.6.1.1. The first panel of the Text Export Druid.

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The first panel of the Text Export Druid allows users to set the file encoding, to determine the character
sequences used to separate lines, configure the type of structuring being used and select the lines of the file to
import.

Figure 14-8 The first panel of the Text Export druid with the component areas labeled with callouts.

The different components of the first panel of the Text Export druid with each component labeled with a
callout.

The purpose of each labeled component in Figure 14-8 is explained below:

The components of the first panel

1 - The worksheet selection area.

This area allows the user to select the worksheets to be included in the file. By default, only the
top most sheet will have its checkbox checked and be included in the export. The user can add
sheets by clicking in their checkboxes to set the check marks.

2 - The worksheet selection and ordering buttons.

The top two buttons allows the user quickly to select or unselect all the worksheets to be
included in the export file. The bottom two buttons allow the user to change the order of the
worksheets in the file to be exported.

3 - The button area.

These three buttons allow the user to navigate the druid. The Cancel button will dismiss the
dialog and return the user to the worksheet. The Back button is disable since this is the first
panel of the druid. The Forward button will dismiss the first panel and bring up the second
panel of the druid.

14.6.1.2. The second panel of the Text Export Druid.

The second panel of the Text Export Druid allows users to select the line termination character, configure the
value separating character, select the text indicating character and set the character encoding.

Figure 14-9 The second panel of the Text Export druid with the component areas labeled with
callouts.

The different components of the second panel of the Text Export druid with each component labeled
with a callout.

The purpose of each labeled component in Figure 14-9 is explained below:

The components of the second panel

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1 - The export characteristic menu buttons.

These drop down menus provide to set the different configuration parameters for the exported
file. The various menus are as follows.

Line Delimiting Character-

This button allows the user to activate a drop down list from which to select the character
used to indicate the end of a line and beginning of the next. The three commonly used
alternatives are provided. See Section 14.4.1.2 ― Line break delimiters for more details.
Value Separating Character-
This button allows the user to select a character to use as a value separator. The "Custom"
type will active the text entry area to allow the user to determine a particular character or
character sequence to use to delimit data values. See Section 14.4.1.3 ― Data Structuring
Strategies for more details.
Value Separating Character entry area-
This entry area allows the user to define explicitly the character or character sequence
which should be used to separate each value field on every line. This area is only active if
the "Custom" type has been selected from the list in the button above.
The Text Field Delimiter activity setting-
This button activates a list with three choices for the use of text field delimiters. Text fields
can be delimited only where needed, meaning that the quote characters will only be used
if the value contains the character used as a separator or a space. Alternatively the text
field separators can be used around all values or never applied. See Section 14.4.1.3 ―
Data Structuring Strategies for more details.
The Text Field Delimiter character entry area and list-
This area can be used as a text entry area to type the character to use to delimit text fields.
Alternatively, three pre-selected characters, double quotes or single quotes, can be
selected from the drop down list which appears by clicking on the downward pointing
arrow to the right of the text field.
File encoding selection button-
This button allows the user to set the encoding scheme to use for the file. By default,
Gnumeric selects the encoding scheme used by the locale of the user. See Section 14.4.1.1
― Character Encodings for more details.
The unknown character handling setting button-
This button selects whether to escape or transliterate characters which Gnumeric does not
recognize.
The format preservation checkbox-
This checkbox sets whether to preserve the number formats for formatted values.

2 - The button area.

These three buttons allow the user to navigate the druid. The Cancel button will dismiss the
dialog and return the user to the worksheet. The Back button is disable since this is the first
panel of the druid. The Finish button will dismiss the druid and cause the file to be saved using
the selected options.

14.7. Sending Files

Gnumeric can send files directly as attachments to an electronic mail (email) message, as long as Gnumeric is run
in an environment where it can access an Email client.

14.8. Converting Files

Gnumeric can convert files automatically without needing user intervention. This allows a large number of files
to be converted using a script. Gnumeric is distributed along with a program called ssconvert which is the
program used to convert files automatically. All of the file formats supported by Gnumeric can be used except
for the PostScript and PDF file formats which operate through the printing system.

This application is used, from the command line by specifying, any desired options, an input file and an output
file. For example,

ssconvert myfile.xls myfile.gnumeric

would convert an Excel format file to a Gnumeric format file.

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The available import and export file formats which ssconvert can read can be listed using

ssconvert --list-importers

or

ssconvert --list-exporters

respectively.

Like other GNU command line applications, ssconvert includes a manual page. This page can be accessed by
typing:

man ssconvert

which will open the manual page. This page can be navigated by typing the space bar or using the Page Up and
Page Down buttons. The man program can be dismissed by typing the q key.

15. Printing

This chapter explains how to print spreadsheets, tables and plots from Gnumeric to a printer directly or into
PostScript or PDF (both are page description languages).

15.1. Printing to a Printer or a File.

15.2. Page Setup.
15.3. Print Preview

15.1. Printing to a Printer or a File.

The Print dialog includes the most important options related to printing. More detailed options related to
printing can be set in the Page Setup dialog, detailed in Section 15.2 ― Page Setup.. Press the Print to print
out the workbook. Press the Print Preview button to display the Print Preview.

The number of tabs and the content of some of the tabs of the Print dialog depends on the printer
model you use. Some of the described tabs or options may not be available with your printer,
especially when printing to a file.

15.1.1. Print General

15.1.2. Page Setup
15.1.3. Print Range
15.1.4. Print Job
15.1.5. Image Quality
15.1.6. Finishing
15.1.7. Advanced

15.1.1. Print General

Figure 15-1 Print Dialog Printer Tab

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Select the preferred printer in the upper half of the tab. Your default printer is already highlighted when you
open the Printer dialog. Optionally select the number of copies and a page range in the lower half of the
dialog. Click on Print to send the document to your printing system.

When printing to a file you may want to change the output name and folder before printing. You can choose
between saving a PostScript or a PDF file.

15.1.2. Page Setup

Figure 15-2 Print Dialog Page Setup Tab

In the Page Setup tab you can choose several options concerning the layout or the paper. Choose how many
sheets shall appear on one piece of paper, about two-sided printing, limit the printed pages by even or odd
page numbers or the scale in the layout section. Select the paper type (e.g. preprinted) and the paper source
and output tray in the paper section.

The preview in the lower part of the tab gives you a small hint of how your printed document will
look like.

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15.1.3. Print Range

Figure 15-3 Print Dialog Range Tab

The Print Range tab gives you the opportunity to limit the range of the printed workbook. You may choose
between printing the whole workbook, only the selected or not the selected area or a defined range of
worksheets.

15.1.4. Print Job

Figure 15-4 Print Dialog Job Tab

In the Job tab you may change the priority or add billing information to the print job. Also you can choose to
add a cover page in front or after the printed worksheets. Finally you can decide whether your job should be
printed right now or at a defined point in time.

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Some options may be unavailable due to user restrictions. Ask your local administrator for further
details.

15.1.5. Image Quality

Figure 15-5 Print Dialog Image Quality Tab

In the Image Quality tab you can select the resolution of the printed document depending on your printer. No
more, no less.

15.1.6. Finishing

Figure 15-6 Print Dialog Finishing Tab

The Finishing tab lets decide whether you want a blank separation sheet after every page, after the whole job
or no separation sheet at all.

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15.1.7. Advanced

Figure 15-7 Print Dialog Advanced Tab

In the Advanced tab you can change several options depending on the printer model you use.

15.2. Page Setup.

The Page Setup Dialog can be used to configure various options related to printing out a workbook. Click on
File Menu ▸ Page Setup to activate the Page Setup.

Remember that at any time you can click on the Print preview button to see what your document
looks like with your selected options. See the Section 15.3 ― Print Preview

Normally the specified settings apply only to the current sheet. Select another sheet at the bottom of the Page
Setup Dialog or select Apply to all sheets of this workbook. You can also save your adjustments by activating
the save as default settings flag.

15.2.1. Page Setup Dialog - Page

15.2.2. Page Setup Dialog - Scale
15.2.3. Page Setup Dialog - Headers and Footers
15.2.4. Page Setup Dialog - Print Area
15.2.5. Page Setup Dialog - Sheet

15.2.1. Page Setup Dialog - Page

Figure 15-8 Print Setup Page Tab

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Change the paper type by clicking the Change Paper Type button.

Figure 15-9 Print Setup Paper Type dialog

Select the preferred printer or choose Any Printer to see the formats supported by all printers. Pick a paper
size and page orientation (portrait, landscape or reverse) to suit the best layout for your document.

Specify the required margins of the page. Nothing will be printed inside these margins, not even page numbers.
The margins will be measured in the same units (millimetres, points or inches) as the paper size. Change the unit
in the paper and layout section to best fit your needs. You may also specify whether the page is centered
horizontally and/or vertically on the printable part of the page.

15.2.2. Page Setup Dialog - Scale

Figure 15-10 Print Setup Scale Tab

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Select the scale applied while printing. You can choose between no scaling, a fixed scaling or automatic
scaling to fit the workbook to a defined number of paper sheets.

15.2.3. Page Setup Dialog - Headers and Footers

Figure 15-11 Print Setup Headers and Footers Tab

Select a predefined format for either the header or the footer. You can define an header or a footer by clicking
the Configure button next to the according drop-down field.

Figure 15-12 Print Setup Headers and Footers Configure Dialog

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Headers and footers are divided into left, center and right area. Select the area you want to change. Insert a
user-defined text or just select one or several of the given options. When selecting time and/or date you may
choose the format by clicking on the arrow next to the symbol and click on the preferred option. Beside the
according page number, the number of total pages and the name of the according worksheet, you may also
insert the file name and/or path. Finally you can select a defined cell to appear in the header/footer.
Additionally there are a number of special opcodes for common options. These are:

&[TAB]
Name of the worksheet.

&[PAGE]
Page number in the printing.

&[PAGES]
Total number of pages in the printout.

&[DATE]
Current date in format dd-mmm-yyyy. The format can be changed by specifying the desired
format in the opcode: &[DATE:yyyy/mm/dd].

&[TIME]
Current time in format hh:mm. The format can be changed by specifying the desired format in
the opcode: &[TIME:hh:mm:ss].

&[FILE]
The basename of the file. For the file /home/jdoe/file.gnumeric, this opcode prints
file.gnumeric.

&[PATH]
The path of the file excluding the basename. For the file /home/jdoe/file.gnumeric, this
opcode prints /home/jdoe/.

&[CELL:$A$1]
The content of the cell $A$1 on the sheet being printed. Instead of $A$1 any other absolutely
addressed cell may be used.

&[CELL:A1]
The content of the top left cell on the current page. Instead of A1 any other relative cell
address may be used. This relative address is interpreted with respect to the top left cell on the
current page. Any repeating rows or columns are ignored.

&[CELL:rep|A1]
The content of the top left cell on the current page. Instead of A1 any other relative cell
address may be used. This relative address is interpreted with respect to the top left cell on the
current page. Repeating rows or columns are not ignored. So if the top left cell is in a repeating
row or column then the relative address is interpreted with respect to that cell.

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TIP
You can choose the font in which the header and footer is printed by selecting a default
header/footer font in the preferences (see in Section 13.2 ― General Preferences).

TIP
Double clicking on the header or footer preview will quickly allow you to customize that header or
footer.

15.2.4. Page Setup Dialog - Print Area

Figure 15-13 Print Setup Print Area Tab

You can select rows or columns to be printed on every page of the output. This is commonly used for printing
column or row names. To enable this, enter the range of cells to be repeated in Rows to repeat... or Columns to
repeat... field. Instead of entering them manually, you can also select columns or rows to be repeated using the
mouse.

WARNING
Note that the rows and columns must be entered as ranges. That is, if you want to have first row
repeated, you must enter 1:1, not just 1. Similarly, to have column A repeated, you must enter A:A.

15.2.5. Page Setup Dialog - Sheet

Figure 15-14 Print Setup Sheet Tab

Select Grid lines to print the cell grid lines with your document. Unselect the button to hide the grid lines from
your print output.

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Select Black and white to convert the colours in your document to a greyscale range.

Select Do not print with all sheets if you want to avoid printing this sheet whenever you choose to print all
sheets. If this item is checked then this sheet will only be printed as the active sheet or as part of a range of
sheets. This is useful if you have a non-hidden sheet that contains only auxillary information and should
normally not be printed.

Select Row and column headings to print the row and column headings (1,2,3,... and A,B,C,...).

Select Styles with no content to ensure cells with style changes will be printed, even if they are empty. For
example, if you have a number of cells with the background color changed but no data in them, you can select
this option to ensure they are in the printed output.

The Errors selection box allows you to choose how to print error values:

Print as displayed
Every error value is printed just as shown on the worksheet.

Print as spaces
No error values are printed.

Print as dashes
Every error value is replaced by two m-dashes (separated by a thin space): "— —".

Print as NA
Every error value is printed as an #N/A error.

Finally you can decide about the direction in which the workbook will be printed (Down, then right or Right,
then down).

15.3. Print Preview

The Print Preview Dialog is used to display what the printed output will look like. The Print Preview dialog can
be used to check whether you have the desired formatting and layout before you print out the workbook.
Evince is set up to be the default viewer.

15.3.1. Customizing the preview application

15.3.1. Customizing the preview application

You may change the default preview application by editing your presets for GTK. Open the file .gtkrc-your GTK
version and add a line in the format gtk-print-preview-command="command to your preferred
viewer" .

Please make sure you have only one line defining your preview application.

It is strongly recommended to use Evince as the default viewer. A convincing argument is that Evince
deletes the preview file after closing the viewer.

16. Getting More Help

This chapter describes other sources of help which are available to users including the Gnumeric web site, the
mailing list, and the internet relay chat (IRC) discussion channel.

16.1. Sources of Help

16.2. Web Resources
16.3. Related Manuals
16.4. The Mailing List
16.5. Internet Chat (IRC)

16.1. Sources of Help

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This manual is the most complete source of explanation for Gnumeric and attempts to describe as much of the
program as possible. However, this manual cannot answer all the possible questions readers may have: the
manual is not yet finished and there are many situations which cannot be explained through a manual. Other
sources of information which might be helpful to Gnumeric users are presented below.

Several of the sources of information below involve talking directly with the people who have
created Gnumeric. These people are volunteers who have spend several years working on the
program to make it useful. They will all be glad to help you but only if they decide they want to.
They are all busy and only volunteer on this project. You can take several steps to make these
people want to help you.

First of all, try to help yourself by reading the existing documents. If you have read the documents,
others will be much more likely to want to answer any questions that remain. Secondly, be polite by
introducing yourself, thanking developers for their hard work and asking your questions nicely.
Please be aware that the developers all respect each other and their users so therefore, while their
answers may appear brisk or discourteous, they are simply trying to be efficient and save time by
being curt. Please assume they respect you and want to help you, after all they have written a
program for you to use.

Steps for getting help.

Read the Manual:

First, please look carefully through this manual to see if you can answer your own question. This can be
hard and requires careful thinking but will teach you the most.
Read the Web Site:

Second, look at the Gnumeric web site, look on the world wide web for explanations using other
spreadsheets or look for a book on how to use another spreadsheet. Section 16.2 ― Web Resources
explains how to access and find information on the web site.
Read other Spreadsheet Tutorials:

Another useful source of help is the literature written for other spreadsheets. Gnumeric is quite similar to a
number of other spreadsheets and often books, web sites, tutorials and other documents which describe
how to use other spreadsheets can help users understand how to use Gnumeric. Section 16.3 ― Related
Manuals describes other spreadsheets for which usage manuals may provide useful information.
Send email to the Gnumeric List:

The Gnumeric project maintains an email mailing list which is a way for people to send email to all the core
developers. Section 16.4 ― The Mailing List explains how to send email to the gnumeric list and how to
read past messages including questions and answers which may be helpful.
Join the Chat Discussion:

The Gnumeric project also uses an Internet Relay Chat (IRC) channel, also known as a `discussion room', in
which developers talk to each other, and to anyone else, about the program. Section 16.5 ― Internet Chat
(IRC) explains how to join this discussion.

16.2. Web Resources

The Gnumeric project maintains a web site with explanations, links and other useful information to learn about
and use this spreadsheet.

16.2.1. The Gnumeric Web Site

16.2.1. The Gnumeric Web Site

The Gnumeric web site can be accessed by clicking on this link. Alternatively, it may be necessary to enter the
address directly into a web browser. The Gnumeric project page address is:

http://www.gnome.org/projects/gnumeric/

It may be necessary to copy the text and paste it into the address field.

16.3. Related Manuals

Gnumeric strives to mimic the behaviour of other spreadsheets so books which explain how to use these other
spreadsheets will probably be useful to help understand Gnumeric.

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The OpenOffice.org spreadsheet named Calc is another popular and highly functional spreadsheet which
provides users with the freedoms provided by Gnumeric including the freedom to access and use the source
code of the program itself. The documentation for Calc may also help explain how to use Gnumeric and can be
accessed through the OpenOffice.org web site at http://www.openoffice.org/.

The manuals for other spreadsheets, even those that restrict users freedoms in several ways, may help to
explain how to use Gnumeric. Gnumeric attempts explicitly to behave in a manner understandable to users of
the Microsoft Excel spreadsheet. Because Excel has a very large number of users, many books have been written
explaining how to use that spreadsheet. Any local bookstore should have at least a few of these books which
may help answer any questions.

16.4. The Mailing List

The Gnumeric project maintains a mailing list which is a system by which people can send one email which gets
distributed to everyone who has signed up to read these emails. Please understand that this list is used for
serious discussions about developing this spreadsheet further. Questions from users are generally answered
when posted to this list but simple questions which are answered in the manual may generate the simple
answer, "Please read the manual." Also, developers volunteer any time they take to answer your questions so
please be polite.

The best way to use this resource is first to read the archives for the past few months to see if any of the
subjects look similar to the issue which interests you. It may be that your question has just been asked by
someone else and a good answer has been posted. To access the archives, use a web browser to go to the
mailing list web page at http://www.gnome.org/ and then ...

If none of the emails recently posted to the mailing list address your issue, if you would like clarification to an
earlier answer, or if you simply want to thank the developers, you are welcome to send an email of your own to
the list. This simply requires writing an email and sending it to

[email protected]

and your posting will eventually get sent to everyone who is subscribed to the list. Please select the subject of
your email carefully to make it easy for everyone to see if they are interested in reading and possibly answering
your message. For example, the subject "I need help" may be true but is ineffective; a better subject would be
"Help needed with statistical regression". Please make it easy for others to give you help.

After you have sent your email, there may be an initial delay while the moderator of the list, a person who acts
as editor, reviews your email to see if it is relevant to the discussion. This step is required to limit the junk email
that gets sent out to everyone.

Very rarely an email might automatically be discarded if it appeared to be a mass junk mailing. If,
after a few days, your email does not appear in the archives and you don't get any response, then re-
send your email to the list omitting any signatures or other material that might appear to be
commercial solicitation. A simple, text message is the least likely to be discarded by these automatic
tools.

Once your email is sent to everyone on the list, someone may answer you. They may choose to answer you
directly, to post a response to the list, or to do both. In the hours and days after posting, you can check to see if
you received email and check the list archives, as is explained above, to see if someone answered there.

16.5. Internet Chat (IRC)

The GNOME and GIMP projects maintain a series of servers to provide a world wide network enabling an
Internet Relay Chat (IRC) system for discussion on issues related to those projects including a discussion channel
dedicated to Gnumeric. This is a system by which people can communicate directly with each other by typing
lines into an IRC client which are then broadcast to everyone listening in a particular channel. Unfortunately this
manual cannot provide a full explanation for how to obtain, install and use an IRC client. There are a number of
such programs available, many of which provide users all the freedoms which Gnumeric provides and
instructions for these can be obtained from the world wide web. More information and access to such software
can easily be obtained by running a search in any world wide web search engine for "IRC" and "client" and the
name of the operating system of the machine which will run the software.

The Gnumeric IRC discussion channel is named #gnumeric (although the number symbol, #, may not be
needed) and is hosted on the series of servers called GIMPnet. The best way to connect to GIMPnet is using the
IRC server irc.gimp.org. That hostname points to a variety of different servers in the United States. If you
live elsewhere, after you are connected you can use the chat command /links to find a server which is closer
on the internet to your location.

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If you decide to join the discussion, please be polite, post a question or comment and be prepared to wait a
little bit for someone to address you. Several of the developers are permanently connected to the channel and
check every half hour or so to see if anyone has asked a question but are working on something else in the
meantime. Your question may be answered right away but asking questions using the mailing list may prove to
be more efficient since it would not require paying attention to the IRC channel discussion, even if it ultimately
requires longer to obtain an answer.

17. Reporting a Problem

This chapter explains how to report a problem with Gnumeric so that the problem can be fixed. The same
procedure can be used to file a report requesting an enhancement or a new feature.

17.1. Overview
17.2. Defining the error
17.3. Opening an account
17.4. Filing a report

17.1. Overview

Gnumeric is a complex computer program and therefore necessarily contains some mistakes. The Gnumeric
team is keenly interested in finding these errors and correcting them. Suggestions for improvement are also
welcome and can be submitted in the same fashion as an error report.

Please, help us to fix any errors by telling us about them.

Reports of problems with Gnumeric provide the project with a way of making sure that the mistake is eventually
fixed. Often the mistake is obvious and a fix can be made immediately to be included in the very next release of
Gnumeric. Occasionally, the mistake is more complex and the problem may take a while to be resolved. In these
cases, the report provides a way to remind the developers that the problem still exists.

Mistakes in programs are often called "bugs" after one of the earliest errors in an old machine which
was actually caused by an insect entering the machine and preventing a switch from closing.

The Gnumeric project uses a world wide web system called GitLab to collect reports of program errors and then
to track these errors until they are finally fixed. The system was developed as part of the Mozilla web browser
project, which explains the origin of the strange name.

The process of submitting the report of a problem or of a suggested enhancement is quite simple and can be
completed in just a few steps. The process begins with obtaining a good understanding of the problem to be
able to provide a detailed statement explaining the problem exactly. Next, the user must open an account with
the GNOME project's GitLab system. Finally, the user must submit the statement of the problem, ideally, along
with some information about the computer setup being used by the person experiencing the problem.

The explanation given below should be sufficient to file a report. For more detailed instructions, the main page
of GNOME's GitLab can be found at https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME and instructions can be found at
https://wiki.gnome.org/Community/GettingInTouch/BugReportingGuidelines.

17.2. Defining the error

The most critical step is understanding the error as well as possible. This requires knowing clearly what was
happening before the error occurred, what specifically caused the error to occur, what the error condition is
and what happened as a consequence of the error.

The most helpful situation to enable the developers to find and correct the error is to come up with a sequence
of steps that generate the error. If the error can be repeated, it can almost always be corrected. The most
helpful error reports include a small recipe that can cause the error to occur.

17.3. Opening an account

The first time a user uses Gitlab, they must create an account. This account is needed to allow users to be
informed of the status of the bug as it is tracked by the system from submission to resolution. The only
requirement for opening a Gitlab account is the possession of a valid email address through which the user can
receive a password.

17.3.1. Creating a new account

17.3.2. Logging into the account

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17.3.1. Creating a new account

Users of Gitlab are automatically redirected to a login page, unless they have previously logged into the system
and accepted a 'cookie' with which they identify themselves. The login page has a link called "Create a new
account" which will direct users to the account creation page.

Alternatively, by clicking on this link, users can follow a shortcut directly to the account creation page.

Creating a new account is very simple. The account creation page has two fields. In the first, a valid email
account must be given. The second asks for a name by which the user wishes to be known. After a user fills out
these two fields, clicking on the button labeled "Create Account" will cause a new account to be created and an
email sent to the address given in the email field. The email will contain the password used to identify this user.

17.3.2. Logging into the account

After creating an account, users can visit the bug entry page for Gnumeric. Here users are asked to login with
their email address and password. After logging in, GitLab will present a page to add a bug report.

A user who accepts cookies from gitlab.gnome.org will only have to give a password the first
time they visit GNOME's GitLab. During all future visits, GNOME will recognize the cookie and
thereby identify the user.

17.4. Filing a report

In order to file a report of a problem with Gnumeric, a GitLab account is necessary. Please see the
previous section, Section 17.3 ― Opening an account, for an explanation of how to open an
account.

The Gnumeric bug entry page consists of several fields many of which must be filled out to provide a useful bug
report. The most important of these will be the "Bug Description" which contains both the brief "Summary"
field which acts like an email subject line and the detailed description field "Step to reproduce the bug" which
should be used to give a more complete explanation of the problem and, ideally, to describe step by step how
to reproduce the bug. The only other field which is required is the "Component" field which can be set to
"General" and left to the developers to define more specifically. The remaining fields can be helpful, since they
provide extra information which may help resolve the problem, but are not necessary. After filling out these
three fields, a user can, if they desire, simply skip to the bottom and press the Commit button.

17.4.1. Accessing the GNOME project's GitLab

17.4.2. The Bug Description
17.4.3. Product and Component
17.4.4. The Severity and Priority of the Problem
17.4.5. The Version of Gnumeric and GNOME
17.4.6. The Type of Operating System and Distribution
17.4.7. Other fields and keywords
17.4.8. Submitting the report
17.4.9. Bookmarking a template

17.4.1. Accessing the GNOME project's GitLab

There are several ways to file a bug report through GitLab.

One of the entries in the Help menu is called Report a Problem. This menu entry should cause a browser
window to launch and open GitLab to the Gnumeric page.

Alternatively, users can click on this link to access the Gnumeric page in Gitlab.

If neither of those shortcuts work, the user must use a web browser to access the following location:

https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/gnumeric/-/issues/new

The simplest way would be to use the mouse to copy the text and paste that text into the location bar of a web
browser.

The user may be asked to login, by giving their account name and their password, when they begin their
browser session with GitLab. See Section 17.3.2 ― Logging into the account for an explanation of how to login
to GitLab.

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17.4.2. The Bug Description

A useful error report will include a subject that describes the error concisely, has a brief introduction which
explains in greater detail what happened and, ideally, has a small recipe that leads to the error being repeated.

The summary field, like the subject of an email message, briefly describes the problem. For example, a useful
error report might have a summary "Gnumeric crashes when saving a file".

The field titled "Steps to reproduce the bug" should contain a slightly expanded version of the summary giving
an overview of the problem and then give a step-by-step example of how to reproduce the problem. For
example, this field could look like the following:

This report describes an error which causes Gnumeric to crash

during the use of the file save dialog.

1) Start a new Gnumeric

2) In Cell A1 type "hello"
3) From the "File" menu, select "Save As"
=> The "Save As dialog" opens up
4) In the file name box, type "my_spreadsheet.gnumeric"
5) Click on the "Save" button
=> I expected the file to be saved, and to be able to keep
working but instead Gnumeric disappeared and the file was
never saved.

thanks,
a user

17.4.3. Product and Component

The Product should be set to Gnumeric since the GNOME version of GitLab is used for all the different programs
in the project.

The Component describes the part of Gnumeric that causes the problem. This may not be obvious so, unless one
of the other entries clearly matches, the component should be set to "General". The possible components for
Gnumeric are as follows.

Table 17-1 Components of Gnumeric

Component Explanation
Analytics Problems with calculations and other mathematics.
Charting Problems with graphical plots of worksheet data.
Compilation Problems encountered during source code compilation.
Database plugin Problems when using a database from Gnumeric.
Documentation Problems with this manual, with the explanations of functions, or with any other
explanations.
General The Default. Use this when none of the other categories apply.
GUI Problems with the graphical user interface.
GUI Expression Entry Problems while entering or editing cell contents.
Widget
import/export Applix Problems opening or saving a file to the file format used by the Applix spreadsheet.
import/export HTML Problems opening or saving a file to the HTML or LaTeX file formats.
import/export MS Excel Problems opening or saving a file to any of the various file formats used by the
(tm) Microsoft Excel spreadsheet.
import/export OOo / Problems opening or saving a file to the OASIS file format used by OpenOffice.Org
OASIS Calc or Star Office Calc.
import/export Text Problems opening or saving a file to a text file format including tab, comma and space
delimited files.
Installation Problems encountered during Gnumeric installation.
Main System This component is no longer used.
Printing Problems encountered when printing a worksheet.
Sheet Objects Problems with any images, widgets, or drawing elements added to a worksheet.

17.4.4. The Severity and Priority of the Problem

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The severity level indicates the seriousness of the problem and the priority level indicates the desire of the
developers to address the bug. These fields are used mostly by the developers and should both be left as
"normal" unless the user has a good reason to change them.

There are two cases when the user should change the severity of the report. In the first case, if the user has a
problem which causes Gnumeric to crash (to suddenly disappear or stop working) or a problem in which data is
lost, the severity should be set to "critical". In the second case, if the user has a report about a desired feature,
the severity should be set to "enhancement" so the developers will know right away that the desired
functionality has not yet been added to the program.

The problem severity levels are explained below.

Table 17-2 Problem Severity

Severity Level Explanation

blocker The level used to indicate a problem which must be fixed before any next release.
critical The level used to indicate a very important problem such as a program crash or loss of data.
major The level used to indicate a severe problem but one that does not cause a crash or loss of data.
normal The level to use by default and used for the majority of reports.
minor The level used for problems which do not affect the functioning of the program.
trivial The level used to report typos, aesthetic, and other very small problems.
enhancement These are reports which are requests for future improvements of the program.

The priority level should be left at the "normal" level since this is a field used by the developers themselves.

17.4.5. The Version of Gnumeric and GNOME

The version field is used to indicate the version of Gnumeric which was used when the problem occurred. If the
problem occurs with several versions, the most recent version number should be used. The version number can
be obtained by opening the "About Gnumeric" dialog using the Help menu and the About menu item.

The "GIT" version refers to a version which the user has recently obtained from the Git revision control
repository provided by the GNOME project.

The "Other version details" text box can be used to describe any unusual characteristics of the program such as
plugins which were added or other uncommon modifications.

If Gnumeric is being used with a GNOME desktop, the version of GNOME being used can be entered in the
"Gnome Version" field.

17.4.6. The Type of Operating System and Distribution

The "Operating System" field can be used to describe the underlying operating system being used to run the
Gnumeric program. Please note, that if the program is run in an artificial environment such as a virtual machine
or a Cygwin setup, this should be indicated in the next field.

The "Distribution/Version" field should be used to add detail to the operating system described earlier.

17.4.7. Other fields and keywords

These fields are used by advanced users to better sort through all the reports. The "Keywords" field is used to
relate the reports to each other and the "CC" field is used by those who are interested to add themselves to
those who are notified when changes are made to the report.

17.4.8. Submitting the report

In order to submit the bug report into GitLab, once all of the important fields have been submitted, simply click
on the Commit button.

Once the bug is committed, a bug report number for this bug will be assigned, and email will be sent either the
project maintainer or to one of the other developers which deal specifically with that component of the
program. When others take an interest in the bug and add comments or solutions, email will be sent out to the
user to inform them of the status of the bug until it is either dismissed or resolved. Bugs can be dismissed if
they describe a behaviour that is expected or if they are not deemed important enough to fix.

A user can choose not to be notified when changes to reports are submitted. The user preference
page can be accessed here at the following URL.

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https://gitlab.gnome.org/profile/notifications

17.4.9. Bookmarking a template

A version of the bug entry page with most of the fields already filled out can be saved as a link and bookmarked
for future use. This ability is only of use for developers or for users who have found a large number of bugs in
one particular component of Gnumeric.

To use this shortcut, first open a new bug report, then fill out only the fields that will apply to all the future
bugs being reported and then click on the button labelled "Bookmark these values". GitLab will then construct a
template and will provide a link which can be saved for future use just as any other page on the web can be
saved as a bookmark. To use these values, simply clicking on the bookmark will open the Gnumeric page of
GitLab with the common fields already filled out.

18. Extending Gnumeric

This chapter explains how to go about extending Gnumeric to provide extra functionality. Because Gnumeric is
Free Software this is quite easy to do.

18.1. The Approaches to Extending Gnumeric

18.2. Defining New Functions
18.3. Programming Gnumeric using Python
18.4. Writing New Plugins

18.1. The Approaches to Extending Gnumeric

There are several ways that Gnumeric can be extended to add functionality.

18.2. Defining New Functions

18.3. Programming Gnumeric using Python

A powerful way to access and manipulate data in Gnumeric involves using the Python programming language.
As Gnumeric develops from version 1.2, the scripting methods will become increasingly powerful. Since
Gnumeric is free software, you could extend it directly using the source code and adding C language functions
to the code. Python offers a higher level abstraction through which to interact with the spreadsheet.

Python and Gnumeric can be used in several ways. This section will describe how to obtain Gnumeric, install it
and get things configured correctly for access with Python. If you already have the pieces in place, you can skip
the section Section 18.3.1 ― Installing and Building Gnumeric for Python.

This section was written by Charles Twardy. It owes a great deal to the nice guide Travis Whitton wrote:
Python/Gnumeric guide for the old API in Gnumeric 1.0. Jon Käre Hellan contributed most of the code to enable
Python in Gnumeric and wrote the file python-gnumeric.txt in the source tree. Nathan Hurst provided the
idea and support.

The Python API, that is the list of methods available in Python, is still experimental and may change!

For further information, the web page maintained by Jon Käre Hellan's has some python plugins and other
useful information. That page can be found through this link. The main Gnumeric page may also have useful
information.

If you need help online, you may want to check out:

The Gnumeric Function-Writer's Guide. Until I write one for Python, you'll have to settle for
doc/developer/writing-functions.sgml in the Gnumeric source tree.
The files that actually define the Python interface. In particular, plugins/python-loader/py-
gnumeric.c has good comments at the beginning.
The instructions on how to use GNOME Git can be found here.
The gnumeric discussion list: <[email protected]>
The IRC channel #gnumeric on the GIMPnet server. Right now, the project leader is Jody Goldberg (jody)
and the Debianizer is: J.H.M. Dassen (jhm). Jody, Jon K. Hellan, and Zbigniew Chyla appear prominently in
the Python ChangeLog.

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18.3.1. Installing and Building Gnumeric for Python

18.3.2. The Python Console
18.3.3. Using the built-in Python functions
18.3.4. Writing your own Python functions
18.3.5. Upgrading
18.3.6. Fancy tricks
18.3.7. Features wanted, and Questions

18.3.1. Installing and Building Gnumeric for Python

This section describes how to obtain the Gnumeric source code, configure it for Python and build it. This section
will eventually be removed as Python becomes supported by default.

18.3.1.1. Preliminaries
18.3.1.2. In the Beginning (Installing and Building)

18.3.1.1. Preliminaries

I'm going to define some variables here so that you can insert the appropriate command or item for your
system when they occur. I'll prefix them all with '$'.

$root: Do whatever you do to become root. The usual options are:

su - and hit Enter

sudo
fakeroot (works in some situations, but not all)

$version: Whatever your current Gnumeric version is. Some examples:

1.4.20
1.6.20
1.7.90

18.3.1.2. In the Beginning (Installing and Building)

You need to get Python and Gnumeric, and the Python plugin for Gnumeric. You can get the binaries, the
packaged source, or the developing edge sources from Git.

18.3.1.2.1. Getting the binaries (Debian)

18.3.1.2.2. Getting and building the current Debianized source
18.3.1.2.3. Getting and building the source from Git

18.3.1.2.1. Getting the binaries (Debian)

I've only tested this on sid (unstable). The version you get from stable (woody) may not act quite the same.

$root apt-get install gnumeric gnumeric-python python

18.3.1.2.2. Getting and building the current Debianized source

If you have Debian, and don't need the bleeding edge, this is by far the easiest way to get and build the source.

1. Change to a directory where you want to hang the source directory.

2. $root apt-get build-dep gnumeric
3. apt-get source gnumeric
4. cd gnumeric-$version
5. debian/rules build
6. To make the .deb packages: $root ./debian/rules binary
7. To install those .deb packages:

1. cd .. to change to that directory.

2. $root dpkg -i gnum*deb (presuming you don't have other .deb packages beginning with "gnum"
lying around here).

8. You may or may not want to remove those .deb files now: $root rm gnum*deb

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18.3.1.2.3. Getting and building the source from Git

Remember that this is the developing edge. Things may not work. Generally don't do this unless you are
subscribed to the mail list and possibly also on the IRC channel.

You will need a few things for this to work at all:

1. gnome-common
2. libgsf (see below)
3. pygtk2 (On Debian, make sure to get python-gtk2 and python-gtk2-dev)
4. gnumeric (see below, obviously)

And although the following will build in the main build space, it's probably better to build in a temporary space.
But I can't be bothered to learn how to fiddle the build pathways.

1. Change to a directory where you want to hang the source directory for Gnumeric and a few other GNOME
things.
2. Getting and building libgsf:

1. git clone git://git.gnome.org/libgsf

2. cd libgsf
3. Red Hat: ./autogen.sh
4. Debian: ./autogen.sh --prefix=/usr --with-gconf-schema-file-
dir=/etc/gconf/schemas

5. make
6. $root make install
7. If you find that this didn't work, try make clean and then repeat from the autogen step.

3. Getting and building libgal No longer necessary! (13 June 2003)

4. Getting and building goffice:

1. git clone git://git.gnome.org/goffice

2. cd goffice
3. Red Hat: ./autogen.sh
4. Debian: ./autogen.sh --prefix=/usr --with-gconf-schema-file-
dir=/etc/gconf/schemas

5. make
6. $root make install
7. If you find that this didn't work, try make clean and then repeat from the autogen step.

5. Getting and building gnumeric:

1. git clone git://git.gnome.org/gnumeric gnumeric-head

2. cd gnumeric-head
3. Red Hat: ./autogen.sh and wait while it compiles
4. Debian: ./autogen.sh --prefix=/usr --with-gconf-schema-file-
dir=/etc/gconf/schemas

5. make
6. Optional: $root make install
7. If you find that this didn't work, try make clean and then repeat from the autogen step. For
example, sometimes I've had it not create the python-loader.

OK, you should now have gnumeric! Test it! If you installed the Debianized version via apt-get, or did "make
install", it should be installed to /usr/bin (or /usr/local/bin on Red Hat?) and you can just type gnumeric.
Otherwise you will find it in gnumeric-head/src/ and you will have to run it from there.

18.3.2. The Python Console

There is an interactive Python console available from inside Gnumeric. This is a good place to explore things,
and if the console is expanded, will be a nice place for scripting. In the meantime, what I have called
"Spellbooks" below are much more useful, but are fixed plugins as of Gnumeric startup. So right now I putter in
the console as I develop plugin literal in the form of spellbooks. After 1.2.0, Gnumeric will be working on its
scripting API, so the two approaches may merge. Or not.

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18.3.2.1. Enabling the Python Console

18.3.2.2. Playing with the Python console
18.3.2.3. More fun with the Python console

18.3.2.1. Enabling the Python Console

You can run a Python interpreter from inside Gnumeric, but you have to turn it on. To do this you simply
uncomment a line in python-loader/plugins.xml. Normally, that file lives in
/usr/lib/gnumeric/$version/plugins/python-loader/, or perhaps /usr/local/lib... on Red Hat. I used to suggest
making a local but you should probably make a local copy, but that was pain for little gain. So:

1. gnumeric --version to make sure you get the right version name for the following. (You'll have to do
this for every new version of Gnumeric!)
2. cd ~/.gnumeric/ $version /plugins/
3. Edit python-loader/plugin.xml.
4. Uncomment the five lines starting with ui-console-menu service near the bottom (remove the "<!--"
and "-->" tags around the <service...> and </service> tags.
5. Save the file.
6. Start gnumeric (same version).
7. Select from the Tools the Python console.
8. Enjoy!

18.3.2.2. Playing with the Python console

At the top there is a drop-down menu Execute in. Right now your only choice will be Default. After you
evaluate functions from other plugins, those environments will become available too (JK says this is called lazy
loading). But I'll assume you are using Default. (The only real difference is that you have to import Gnumeric
first, and you can't see your plugin functions.)

(Note: older releases required you to type print dir() instead of just dir(). Fixed in cvs 16 June 2003, and
certainly in 1.1.20 and higher.

Let's start by taking a look at the environment.

>>> import 1 Gnumeric

>>> dir()
['Gnumeric', '__builtins__', '__doc__', '__name__']
>>> dir(Gnumeric)
['Boolean', 'CellPos', 'FALSE', 'GnumericError', 'GnumericErrorDIV0',
'GnumericErrorNA', 'GnumericErrorNAME', 'GnumericErrorNULL',
'GnumericErrorNUM', 'GnumericErrorRECALC', 'GnumericErrorREF',
'GnumericErrorVALUE', 'MStyle', 'Range', 'TRUE', '__doc__',
'__name__', 2 'functions', 'plugin_info', 'workbook_new', 'workbooks']

'Gnumeric' is a module that exists only within Gnumeric, and which defines the Gnumeric Python API.

Gnumeric.functions is the list of all the Gnumeric functions you would see in the function browser. You cannot
yet do dir(Gnumeric.functions) but maybe someone will bind that soon.

RangeRef is not listed. That seems to limit us, though later in the tutorial we'll see how to use regular functions
to get inside RangeRefs.

So do some exploring. First, let's poke around to figure out how to use CellPos.

# I wonder how to use CellPos (I've glanced at the source, but...)

>>> dir(Gnumeric.CellPos) # shows nothing useful

>>> Gnumeric.CellPos()
TypeError: CellPos() takes exactly 2 arguments (0 given)

>>> Gnumeric.CellPos("a1","a2")

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TypeError: an integer is required. # Right.

>>> a=Gnumeric.CellPos(1,2) # It worked!

>>> a
<CellPos object at 0x106b6eb8> # Yeah, I know...

>>> dir(a)
['get_tuple']

>>> a.get_tuple()
(1,2) # Cool. That's (col,row)

>>> str(a) # Super cool.

'B3' # JK hasn't implemented this for tuples yet

Similarly, we can explore Gnumeric.Range:

>>> r = Gnumeric.Range((1,2),(3,4))
TypeError: Range() argument 1 must be CellPos, not tuple

>>> r = Gnumeric.Range(a,a)
>>> r
<Range object at 0x1071d888>

>>> dir(r)
['get_tuple']

>>> r.get_tuple()
(3, 7, 3, 7)

If you evaluate in the context of a plugin (rather than in Default), then dir(Gnumeric.plugin_info) will
reveal some simple informational functions you can call for the local plugin(s).

Note: obviously I don't really know what I'm doing, or I wouldn't be poking around like this.

18.3.2.3. More fun with the Python console

Jon K. Hellan writes, "Here are some more things you can do from the console:"

# Get a workbook
>>> wb=Gnumeric.workbooks()[0]
>>> wb
<Workbook object at 0x862a490>
>>> dir(wb)
>>> ['gui_add', 'sheet_add', 'sheets']

# Get a sheet
>>> s=wb.sheets()[0]
>>> s
<Sheet object at 0x863e8d0>
>>> dir(s)
['cell_fetch', 'get_extent', 'get_name_unquoted', 'rename',
'style_apply_range', 'style_get', 'style_set_pos', 'style_set_range']

# Get a cell. s.cell_fetch(0,0) and s[0,0] are synonyms. First

# coordinate is columns, i.e. s[1,0] is B1.
>>> c=s[0,0]
>>> c
<Cell object at 0x863d810>
>>> dir(c)
['get_entered_text', 'get_mstyle', 'get_rendered_text', 'get_value',

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'get_value_as_string', 'set_text']

# Change the cell - it changes in the grid

>>> c.set_text('foo')

# Retrieve the cell - both ways.

>>> c.get_value()
foo
>>> s.cell_fetch(0,0).get_value()
foo

Very, very nice. Note, after setting a value, it won't show up until that cell is redrawn. That will happen
automatically with plugin functions, but in the console, you may have to click on the cell.

18.3.3. Using the built-in Python functions

To enable the Python-loader and Python plugins:

1. Select the Tools menu and the Plugins menuitem.

2. Select "Python plugin loader" and "Python functions". Restart Gnumeric.

The quickest way to test whether you now have Python functions is to type =py_capwords("fred
flintstone") in the first cell. After you hit <Enter>, you should see "Fred Flintstone".

You can also click on the functions button, and scroll down to the "Python" category. Select that. You should see
at least two functions defined: PY_CAPWORDS and PY_PRINTF. They're not very useful, but they prove you've
got the plugins. Test them either via the GUI or by typing into the cell.

I'll presume they worked.

18.3.4. Writing your own Python functions

To scribe new magic you must write your spells in places where Gnumeric will find them. That place is in folders
under: ~/.gnumeric/<version>/plugins/ Each folder under here is one "spellbook" of new plugin
functions. You may put all your spells in one spellbook, or group them neatly depending on your tastes. Each
spellbook must have two files. We'll create a spellbook called "myfuncs". A pedestrian name for pedestrian
spells. When I have more skill, perhaps I'll make some with better names. Several suggest themselves:

Transformations: of obvious value for a spreadsheet

Illusions: statistical functions, clearly
Charms: presentation graphics
Necromancy: file repair and missing values?
Divination: data mining!

18.3.4.1. Prepare the spellbook

18.3.4.2. Writing new spells
18.3.4.3. Do it yourself (mostly)
18.3.4.4. More help
18.3.4.5. Program Listings

18.3.4.1. Prepare the spellbook

In many ways it would be easier to start by copying the py_func spellbook to your local .gnumeric folder, and
just adding a function to that. But in general it will be more useful to be able to write your own separate
spellbooks, so here we go.

1. Make the folder: First we make the folders and get into the right one. As noted above, we'll call our folder
(spellbook) myfuncs.

1. If they don't already exist:

1. mkdir ~/.gnumeric
2. mkdir ~/.gnumeric/<version>

2. mkdir ~/.gnumeric/<version>/plugins/myfuncs/
3. cd ~/.gnumeric/<version>/plugins/myfuncs/

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2. Make the files: A spellbook has two files. The first is the python file with the functions. The second is the
XML file "plugin.xml". The XML file holds that master spells that tell Gnumeric what functions we've
defined, and what the name of the python file is, and one other important item. We'll create these as blank
files.

1. touch my-func.py
2. touch plugin.xml

3. Write the master spells The good news is that you only need to do this once per spellbook. After that you
just add spells to it.

Your XML file must tell Gnumeric about your plugin. Here is a simple template. (If you want to learn about
internationalization, see the example in the system's py-func spellbook.) Open up plugin.xml and insert the
following lines:

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<plugin id="Gnumeric_MyFuncPlugin">
<information>
<name>Other Python functions from HOWTO</name>
<description>A few extra python functions demonstrating the API.</description>
</information>
<loader type="Gnumeric_PythonLoader:python">
<attribute name="module_name" value="my-func"/> 3

</loader>
<services>
<service type="function_group" id="example"> 4

<category>Local Python</category>
<functions>
</functions>
</service>
</services>
</plugin>

The value of "name" determines the name of your python script (file). In this case, it must be "my-func.py"
The value of "id" here determines the name of the function dictionary in your python script. In this case, it
must be "example_functions" because here the value is "example".
4. Prepare to write the spells: Next we'll create a minimal python file. As noted above, we must name the
file my-func.py and it must have a dictionary called example_functions. So open up my-func.py and insert
the following lines.

# my-func.py
#

from Gnumeric import GnumericError, GnumericErrorVALUE

import Gnumeric
import string

example_functions = {
}

18.3.4.2. Writing new spells

To add new functions to Python, you now must do five things (three sir!):

1. Write the python function in your copy of my-func.py.

2. Insert the function info into the example_functions dictionary at the end of my_func.py
3. Insert the function name into the functions list at the end of plugin.xml.

Writing a simple script: Let's do something very simple: add two numbers together. First, edit my-func.py.

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# Add two numbers together

def func_add(num1, num2):
return num1 + num2

# Translate the func_add python function to a gnumeric function and register it

example_functions = {
'py_add': func_add
}

Then let the plugin-loader(?) know about your function. Add the following line near the end of plugin.xml
(between <functions> and </functions>).

<function name="py_add"/>

Now start Gnumeric and type py_add(2,3) into a cell. You should get "5". You can also use cell references. If
that was in cell A1, go to cell A2 and type py_add(A1,3) and you will get "8". But your function won't show up
in the GUI list yet.

Tell the GUI: To make your function show up in the GUI, you have to tell Gnumeric some things about it via a
standard header, like this:

# Add two numbers together

def func_add(num1, num2):
'@FUNCTION=PY_ADD\n'\
'@SYNTAX=py_add(num1, num2)\n'\
'@DESCRIPTION=Adds two numbers together.\n'\
'Look, the description can go onto other lines.\n\n'\
'@EXAMPLES=To add two constants, just type them in: py_add(2,3)\n'\
'To add two cells, use the cell addresses: py_add(A1,A2)\n\n'\
'@SEEALSO='

return num1 + num2

The text after '@DESCRIPTION=' is the description that shows up in the function GUI. You can make it as simple
or detailed as you want. I'm not sure how many other fields get used right now, as I haven't seen the EXAMPLES
show up anywhere.

But this still isn't quite right. Gnumeric doesn't know how many arguments the function can handle, nor of what
type. So the function GUI will prompt for the two values it knows about (as type "Any") and then keep
prompting for more. But py_add cannot accept all types, nor can it handle more than two arguments, so unless
you give it precisely 2 numbers, you will get an error when you click "OK".

Know your limits... We got away last time just because Gnumeric was forgiving. Now we need to say that we
can accept only 2 values, of type floating-point (which will also handle ints).

Where before we had: 'py_add': func_add, we should now put: 'py_add':

('ff','num1,num2',func_add) This says that Gnumeric should expect two floating-point numbers ('ff')
with names 'num1' and 'num2', and pass them to func_add.

...and surpass them Of course, there is no reason an add function shouldn't be able to handle a range. The
simplest way to do that is to accept a range, and then call Gnumeric's own SUM function on it! All of Gnumeric's
functions are available to you in the dictionary Gnumeric.functions, keyed by name. So here is how to write
py_sum.

1. First, define func_sum (in my-func.py):

def func_sum(gRange):
'@FUNCTION=PY_SUM\n'\
'@SYNTAX=PY_SUM(range)\n'\

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'@DESCRIPTION=Adds a range of numbers together.'\
'Just like built-in SUM.\n\n'\
'@EXAMPLES=To add values in A1 to A5, just type them in:\n'\
' py_sum(a1:a5)\n'\
'@SEEALSO='
try:
sum = Gnumeric.functions['sum']
val = sum(gRange)
# val = reduce(lambda a,b: a+b, vals)
except TypeError:
raise GnumericError, GnumericErrorVALUE
else:
return val

2. Then insert it into your functions dictionary. That dictionary now looks like this (with 'r' denoting a range
type):

example_functions = {
'py_add': ('ff','num1,num2',func_add),
'py_sum': ('r', 'values', func_sum)
}

3. Finally, make an entry in the XML list, so that it now looks like:

<functions>
<function name="py_add"/>
<function name="py_sum"/>
</functions>

I told you this was the easy way to do it. Obviously it's not very useful to just duplicate Gnumeric functions. But
that's as far as I've made it. From what can tell, range objects are packaged as opaque pointers of type
RangeRefObject. There seems to be no way to work with them from within Python, so we must rely on the
Gnumeric functions.

18.3.4.3. Do it yourself (mostly)

All is not lost, despite the opaque pointers. For in Gnumeric we can read about all the functions that have been
defined. Some of those take references (including RangeRefs) and return useful information. For example,
under "Lookup" we find "Column" and "Row" which return arrays of all the column (or row) indices in the range.
So we can redo the sum function.

Presume we can convert our RangeRef to a start tuple and end tuple. Then we can write sum2:

def func_sum2(gRange):
'@FUNCTION=PY_SUM2\n'\
'@SYNTAX=PY_SUM2(range)\n'\
'@DESCRIPTION=Adds a range of numbers together,'\
'without calling built-in SUM.\n\n'\
'@EXAMPLES=To add values in A1 to A5, just type them in:\n'\
' py_sum(a1:a5)\n'\
'@SEEALSO='
try:
[r_begin, r_end] = range_ref_to_tuples(gRange)
wb=Gnumeric.Workbooks()[0] # Careful! This is WRONG! It doesn't
s=wb.sheets()[0] # use the ACTUAL workbook or sheet.

val = 0
for col in range(r_begin[0], r_end[0]):
for row in range(r_begin[1], r_end[1]):
cell = s[col, row]

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val = val + cell.get_value()
# Note: this doesn't skip blank cells etc.

except TypeError:
raise GnumericError,GnumericErrorVALUE
else:
return val

That's fine as far as it goes, but we need to define the helper function "range_ref_to_tuples". Although I'm
rather ashamed to show this ugly literal, here's how I did it (someone suggest a better way, please!):

def range_ref_to_tuples(range_ref):
'''I need a function to find the bounds of a RangeRef. This one
extracts them from the Gnumeric "column" and "row" commands, and
returns them as a pair of tuples. Surely there is a better way?
For example, return a list of cells??'''

col = Gnumeric.functions['column']
row = Gnumeric.functions['row']

# "column" and "row" take references and return an array of col or row
# nums for each cell in the reference. For example, [[1, 1, 1], [2, 2, 2]]
# for columns and [[2, 3, 4], [2, 3, 4]] for rows.

try:
columns = col(range_ref)
rows = row(range_ref)

begin_col = columns[0][0] - 1
begin_row = rows[0][0] - 1

end_col = columns[-1][-1]
end_row = rows[-1][-1]

# We subtracted 1 from the begin values because in the API,

# indexing begins at 0, while "column" and "row" begin at 1.
# We did NOT subtract 1 from the end values, in order to make
# them suitable for Python's range(begin, end) paradigm.

except TypeError:
raise GnumericError,GnumericErrorVALUE
except NameError: # right name?
raise GnumericError,Gnumeric.GnumericErrorNAME
except RefError: # right name?
raise GnumericError,Gnumeric.GnumericErrorREF
except NumError: # right name?
raise GnumericError,Gnumeric.GnumericErrorNUM

return [ (begin_col, begin_row), (end_col, end_row) ]

From there, insert the function into the dictionary, and insert its name into plugin.xml. I leave these as
exercises to the reader (answers in the sample files -- no peeking!). Restart Gnumeric and you should be able to
use py_sum2!

There are a couple of glitches:

It fails the first time with "could not import gobject". Just run again, I don't know what that's about.
It will only work for Workbook 1 and Sheet 1. JK thinks that there may be no way to get the current
Workbook/Sheet in the Python API. Hrm....
As noted, it should do some simple trapping to skip blank or text-filled cells. That can be done! I just didn't.
It's late.

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18.3.4.4. More help

Relative to the source tree:

The Python interface is defined in: plugins/python-loader/py-gnumeric.c That file also has good
notes at the beginning.
There are interesting things about the way it used to be in: doc/developer/python-gnumeric.txt.

18.3.4.5. Program Listings

You can see my examples in full, with more comments:

my-func.py
plugin.xml

18.3.5. Upgrading

To upgrade, first choose any method from the installation section above. But note: when you upgrade your
Gnumeric version, it will look for your Python scripts in the corresponding version-named subdirectories. For
example, if your scripts are in "~/.gnumeric/1.1.17/plugins", but you just upgraded to 1.1.18, you may need to
rename that to "~/.gnumeric/1.1.18/plugins". If you want to keep and run several versions of Gnumeric, you'll
have to copy or symlink them.

If you want the Python console, you'll also have to re-enable it, following the directions above. If you had made
a local copy of the old one, make sure you don't copy or link that to the new directory. It won't work.

Find the new version with gnumeric --version, making sure to invoke the proper gnumeric.

18.3.6. Fancy tricks

To be written....

Swapping ranges (not a normal cell function, but I wrote one) that did this. But now I can rewrite it using
the GUI, which will make a lot more sense.
JK's python-only transpose function
A Gnumeric interface to the Snob clustering algorithm. Coming soon to a spreadsheet near you!

18.3.7. Features wanted, and Questions

Is it really impossible to determine the current workbook/sheet from Python? That's a bummer. [JK writes:
"Not yet fixed, but now fixable."]
Several previous items are no longer on this list, due to the diligence of the Gnumeric hackers.

18.4. Writing New Plugins

A. Function Reference
This appendix provides a list of all the functions which are currently defined in Gnumeric.

A.1. Bitwise Operations

A.2. Complex
A.3. Database
A.4. Date/Time
A.5. Engineering
A.6. Erlang
A.7. Finance
A.8. Gnumeric
A.9. Information
A.10. Logic
A.11. Lookup
A.12. Mathematics
A.13. Number Theory
A.14. Random Numbers
A.15. Statistics
A.16. String
A.17. Time Series Analysis

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A.1. Bitwise Operations

BITAND — bitwise and

BITLSHIFT — bit-shift to the left
BITOR — bitwise or
BITRSHIFT — bit-shift to the right
BITXOR — bitwise exclusive or

BITAND

BITAND — bitwise and

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
See also

Synopsis

BITAND(a,b)

Arguments

a: non-negative integer

b: non-negative integer

Description

BITAND returns the bitwise and of the binary representations of its arguments.

See also

BITOR, BITXOR.

BITLSHIFT

BITLSHIFT — bit-shift to the left

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
See also

Synopsis

BITLSHIFT(a,n)

Arguments

a: non-negative integer

n: integer

Description

BITLSHIFT returns the binary representations of a shifted n positions to the left.

Note

If n is negative, BITLSHIFT shifts the bits to the right by ABS(n) positions.

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See also

BITRSHIFT.

BITOR

BITOR — bitwise or

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
See also

Synopsis

BITOR(a,b)

Arguments

a: non-negative integer

b: non-negative integer

Description

BITOR returns the bitwise or of the binary representations of its arguments.

See also

BITXOR, BITAND.

BITRSHIFT

BITRSHIFT — bit-shift to the right

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
See also

Synopsis

BITRSHIFT(a,n)

Arguments

a: non-negative integer

n: integer

Description

BITRSHIFT returns the binary representations of a shifted n positions to the right.

Note

If n is negative, BITRSHIFT shifts the bits to the left by ABS(n) positions.

See also

BITLSHIFT.

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BITXOR

BITXOR — bitwise exclusive or

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
See also

Synopsis

BITXOR(a,b)

Arguments

a: non-negative integer

b: non-negative integer

Description

BITXOR returns the bitwise exclusive or of the binary representations of its arguments.

See also

BITOR, BITAND.

A.2. Complex

COMPLEX — a complex number of the form x + yi

IMABS — the absolute value of the complex number z
IMAGINARY — the imaginary part of the complex number z
IMARCCOS — the complex arccosine of the complex number
IMARCCOSH — the complex hyperbolic arccosine of the complex number z
IMARCCOT — the complex arccotangent of the complex number z
IMARCCOTH — the complex hyperbolic arccotangent of the complex number z
IMARCCSC — the complex arccosecant of the complex number z
IMARCCSCH — the complex hyperbolic arccosecant of the complex number z
IMARCSEC — the complex arcsecant of the complex number z
IMARCSECH — the complex hyperbolic arcsecant of the complex number z
IMARCSIN — the complex arcsine of the complex number z
IMARCSINH — the complex hyperbolic arcsine of the complex number z
IMARCTAN — the complex arctangent of the complex number
IMARCTANH — the complex hyperbolic arctangent of the complex number z
IMARGUMENT — the argument theta of the complex number z
IMCONJUGATE — the complex conjugate of the complex number z
IMCOS — the cosine of the complex number z
IMCOSH — the hyperbolic cosine of the complex number z
IMCOT — the cotangent of the complex number z
IMCOTH — the hyperbolic cotangent of the complex number z
IMCSC — the cosecant of the complex number z
IMCSCH — the hyperbolic cosecant of the complex number z
IMDIV — the quotient of two complex numbers z1/z2
IMEXP — the exponential of the complex number z
IMFACT — the factorial of the complex number z
IMGAMMA — the gamma function of the complex number z
IMIGAMMA — the incomplete Gamma function
IMINV — the reciprocal, or inverse, of the complex number z
IMLN — the natural logarithm of the complex number z
IMLOG10 — the base-10 logarithm of the complex number z
IMLOG2 — the base-2 logarithm of the complex number z
IMNEG — the negative of the complex number z
IMPOWER — the complex number z1 raised to the z2th power

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IMPRODUCT — the product of the given complex numbers
IMREAL — the real part of the complex number z
IMSEC — the secant of the complex number z
IMSECH — the hyperbolic secant of the complex number z
IMSIN — the sine of the complex number z
IMSINH — the hyperbolic sine of the complex number z
IMSQRT — the square root of the complex number z
IMSUB — the difference of two complex numbers
IMSUM — the sum of the given complex numbers
IMTAN — the tangent of the complex number z
IMTANH — the hyperbolic tangent of the complex number z

COMPLEX

COMPLEX — a complex number of the form x + yi

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
Microsoft Excel Compatibility

Synopsis

COMPLEX(x,y,i)

Arguments

x: real part

y: imaginary part

i: the suffix for the complex number, either "i" or "j"; defaults to "i"

Note

If i is neither "i" nor "j", COMPLEX returns #VALUE!

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

IMABS

IMABS — the absolute value of the complex number z

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

IMABS(z)

Arguments

z: a complex number

Note

If z is not a valid complex number, #VALUE! is returned.

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Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

IMAGINARY, IMREAL.

IMAGINARY

IMAGINARY — the imaginary part of the complex number z

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

IMAGINARY(z)

Arguments

z: a complex number

Note

If z is not a valid complex number, #VALUE! is returned.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

IMREAL.

IMARCCOS

IMARCCOS — the complex arccosine of the complex number

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
See also

Synopsis

IMARCCOS(z)

Arguments

z: a complex number

Description

IMARCCOS returns the complex arccosine of the complex number z. The branch cuts are on the real axis, less
than -1 and greater than 1.

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Note

If z is not a valid complex number, #VALUE! is returned.

See also

IMARCSIN, IMARCTAN.

IMARCCOSH

IMARCCOSH — the complex hyperbolic arccosine of the complex number z

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
See also

Synopsis

IMARCCOSH(z)

Arguments

z: a complex number

Description

IMARCCOSH returns the complex hyperbolic arccosine of the complex number z. The branch cut is on the real
axis, less than 1.

Note

If z is not a valid complex number, #VALUE! is returned.

See also

IMARCSINH, IMARCTANH.

IMARCCOT

IMARCCOT — the complex arccotangent of the complex number z

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
See also

Synopsis

IMARCCOT(z)

Arguments

z: a complex number

Note

If z is not a valid complex number, #VALUE! is returned.

See also

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IMARCSEC, IMARCCSC.

IMARCCOTH

IMARCCOTH — the complex hyperbolic arccotangent of the complex number z

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
See also

Synopsis

IMARCCOTH(z)

Arguments

z: a complex number

Note

If z is not a valid complex number, #VALUE! is returned.

See also

IMARCSECH, IMARCCSCH.

IMARCCSC

IMARCCSC — the complex arccosecant of the complex number z

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
See also

Synopsis

IMARCCSC(z)

Arguments

z: a complex number

Note

If z is not a valid complex number, #VALUE! is returned.

See also

IMARCSEC, IMARCCOT.

IMARCCSCH

IMARCCSCH — the complex hyperbolic arccosecant of the complex number z

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
See also

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Synopsis

IMARCCSCH(z)

Arguments

z: a complex number

Note

If z is not a valid complex number, #VALUE! is returned.

See also

IMARCSECH, IMARCCOTH.

IMARCSEC

IMARCSEC — the complex arcsecant of the complex number z

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
See also

Synopsis

IMARCSEC(z)

Arguments

z: a complex number

Note

If z is not a valid complex number, #VALUE! is returned.

See also

IMARCCSC, IMARCCOT.

IMARCSECH

IMARCSECH — the complex hyperbolic arcsecant of the complex number z

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
See also

Synopsis

IMARCSECH(z)

Arguments

z: a complex number

Note

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If z is not a valid complex number, #VALUE! is returned.

See also

IMARCCSCH, IMARCCOTH.

IMARCSIN

IMARCSIN — the complex arcsine of the complex number z

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
See also

Synopsis

IMARCSIN(z)

Arguments

z: a complex number

Description

IMARCSIN returns the complex arcsine of the complex number z. The branch cuts are on the real axis, less than
-1 and greater than 1.

Note

If z is not a valid complex number, #VALUE! is returned.

See also

IMARCCOS, IMARCTAN.

IMARCSINH

IMARCSINH — the complex hyperbolic arcsine of the complex number z

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
See also

Synopsis

IMARCSINH(z)

Arguments

z: a complex number

Description

IMARCSINH returns the complex hyperbolic arcsine of the complex number z. The branch cuts are on the
imaginary axis, below -i and above i.

Note

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If z is not a valid complex number, #VALUE! is returned.

See also

IMARCCOSH, IMARCTANH.

IMARCTAN

IMARCTAN — the complex arctangent of the complex number

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
See also

Synopsis

IMARCTAN(z)

Arguments

z: a complex number

Description

IMARCTAN returns the complex arctangent of the complex number z. The branch cuts are on the imaginary axis,
below -i and above i.

Note

If z is not a valid complex number, #VALUE! is returned.

See also

IMARCSIN, IMARCCOS.

IMARCTANH

IMARCTANH — the complex hyperbolic arctangent of the complex number z

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
See also

Synopsis

IMARCTANH(z)

Arguments

z: a complex number

Description

IMARCTANH returns the complex hyperbolic arctangent of the complex number z. The branch cuts are on the
real axis, less than -1 and greater than 1.

Note

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If z is not a valid complex number, #VALUE! is returned.

See also

IMARCSINH, IMARCCOSH.

IMARGUMENT

IMARGUMENT — the argument theta of the complex number z

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note

Synopsis

IMARGUMENT(z)

Arguments

z: a complex number

Description

The argument theta of a complex number is its angle in radians from the real axis.

Note

If z is not a valid complex number, #VALUE! is returned. If z is 0, 0 is returned. This is different from Excel which
returns an error.

IMCONJUGATE

IMCONJUGATE — the complex conjugate of the complex number z

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

IMCONJUGATE(z)

Arguments

z: a complex number

Note

If z is not a valid complex number, #VALUE! is returned.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

IMAGINARY, IMREAL.

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IMCOS

IMCOS — the cosine of the complex number z

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

IMCOS(z)

Arguments

z: a complex number

Note

If z is not a valid complex number, #VALUE! is returned.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

IMSIN, IMTAN.

IMCOSH

IMCOSH — the hyperbolic cosine of the complex number z

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
See also

Synopsis

IMCOSH(z)

Arguments

z: a complex number

Note

If z is not a valid complex number, #VALUE! is returned.

See also

IMSINH, IMTANH.

IMCOT

IMCOT — the cotangent of the complex number z

Synopsis
Arguments
Description

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Note
See also

Synopsis

IMCOT(z)

Arguments

z: a complex number

Description

IMCOT(z) = IMCOS(z)/IMSIN(z).

Note

If z is not a valid complex number, #VALUE! is returned.

See also

IMSEC, IMCSC.

IMCOTH

IMCOTH — the hyperbolic cotangent of the complex number z

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
See also

Synopsis

IMCOTH(z)

Arguments

z: a complex number

Note

If z is not a valid complex number, #VALUE! is returned.

See also

IMSECH, IMCSCH.

IMCSC

IMCSC — the cosecant of the complex number z

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
See also

Synopsis

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IMCSC(z)

Arguments

z: a complex number

Description

IMCSC(z) = 1/IMSIN(z).

Note

If z is not a valid complex number, #VALUE! is returned.

See also

IMSEC, IMCOT.

IMCSCH

IMCSCH — the hyperbolic cosecant of the complex number z

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
See also

Synopsis

IMCSCH(z)

Arguments

z: a complex number

Note

If z is not a valid complex number, #VALUE! is returned.

See also

IMSECH, IMCOTH.

IMDIV

IMDIV — the quotient of two complex numbers z1/z2

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

IMDIV(z1,z2)

Arguments

z1: a complex number

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z2: a complex number

Note

If z1 or z2 is not a valid complex number, #VALUE! is returned.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

IMPRODUCT.

IMEXP

IMEXP — the exponential of the complex number z

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

IMEXP(z)

Arguments

z: a complex number

Note

If z is not a valid complex number, #VALUE! is returned.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

IMLN.

IMFACT

IMFACT — the factorial of the complex number z

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
See also

Synopsis

IMFACT(z)

Arguments

z: a complex number

Note

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If z is not a valid complex number, #VALUE! is returned.

See also

IMGAMMA.

IMGAMMA

IMGAMMA — the gamma function of the complex number z

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
See also

Synopsis

IMGAMMA(z)

Arguments

z: a complex number

Note

If z is not a valid complex number, #VALUE! is returned.

See also

IMGAMMA.

IMIGAMMA

IMIGAMMA — the incomplete Gamma function

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
See also

Synopsis

IMIGAMMA(a,z,lower,regularize)

Arguments

a: a complex number

z: a complex number

lower: if true (the default), the lower incomplete gamma function, otherwise the upper incomplete gamma
function

regularize: if true (the default), the regularized version of the incomplete gamma function

Note

The regularized incomplete gamma function is the unregularized incomplete gamma function divided by
GAMMA(a).

See also

GAMMA, IMIGAMMA.

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IMINV

IMINV — the reciprocal, or inverse, of the complex number z

Synopsis
Arguments
Note

Synopsis

IMINV(z)

Arguments

z: a complex number

Note

If z is not a valid complex number, #VALUE! is returned.

IMLN

IMLN — the natural logarithm of the complex number z

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

IMLN(z)

Arguments

z: a complex number

Description

The result will have an imaginary part between -π and +π.

The natural logarithm is not uniquely defined on complex numbers. You may need to add or subtract an even
multiple of π to the imaginary part.

Note

If z is not a valid complex number, #VALUE! is returned.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

IMEXP, IMLOG2, IMLOG10.

IMLOG10

IMLOG10 — the base-10 logarithm of the complex number z

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Synopsis
Arguments
Note
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

IMLOG10(z)

Arguments

z: a complex number

Note

If z is not a valid complex number, #VALUE! is returned.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

IMLN, IMLOG2.

IMLOG2

IMLOG2 — the base-2 logarithm of the complex number z

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

IMLOG2(z)

Arguments

z: a complex number

Note

If z is not a valid complex number, #VALUE! is returned.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

IMLN, IMLOG10.

IMNEG

IMNEG — the negative of the complex number z

Synopsis

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Arguments
Note

Synopsis

IMNEG(z)

Arguments

z: a complex number

Note

If z is not a valid complex number, #VALUE! is returned.

IMPOWER

IMPOWER — the complex number z1 raised to the z2th power

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

IMPOWER(z1,z2)

Arguments

z1: a complex number

z2: a complex number

Note

If z1 or z2 is not a valid complex number, #VALUE! is returned.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

IMSQRT.

IMPRODUCT

IMPRODUCT — the product of the given complex numbers

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

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IMPRODUCT(z1,z2,…)

Arguments

z1: a complex number

z2: a complex number

Note

If any of z1, z2,... is not a valid complex number, #VALUE! is returned.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

IMDIV.

IMREAL

IMREAL — the real part of the complex number z

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

IMREAL(z)

Arguments

z: a complex number

Note

If z is not a valid complex number, #VALUE! is returned.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

IMAGINARY.

IMSEC

IMSEC — the secant of the complex number z

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
See also

Synopsis

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IMSEC(z)

Arguments

z: a complex number

Description

IMSEC(z) = 1/IMCOS(z).

Note

If z is not a valid complex number, #VALUE! is returned.

See also

IMCSC, IMCOT.

IMSECH

IMSECH — the hyperbolic secant of the complex number z

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
See also

Synopsis

IMSECH(z)

Arguments

z: a complex number

Note

If z is not a valid complex number, #VALUE! is returned.

See also

IMCSCH, IMCOTH.

IMSIN

IMSIN — the sine of the complex number z

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

IMSIN(z)

Arguments

z: a complex number

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Note

If z is not a valid complex number, #VALUE! is returned.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

IMCOS, IMTAN.

IMSINH

IMSINH — the hyperbolic sine of the complex number z

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
See also

Synopsis

IMSINH(z)

Arguments

z: a complex number

Note

If z is not a valid complex number, #VALUE! is returned.

See also

IMCOSH, IMTANH.

IMSQRT

IMSQRT — the square root of the complex number z

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

IMSQRT(z)

Arguments

z: a complex number

Note

If z is not a valid complex number, #VALUE! is returned.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

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See also

IMPOWER.

IMSUB

IMSUB — the difference of two complex numbers

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

IMSUB(z1,z2)

Arguments

z1: a complex number

z2: a complex number

Note

If z1 or z2 is not a valid complex number, #VALUE! is returned.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

IMSUM.

IMSUM

IMSUM — the sum of the given complex numbers

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

IMSUM(z1,z2,…)

Arguments

z1: a complex number

z2: a complex number

Note

If any of z1, z2,... is not a valid complex number, #VALUE! is returned.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

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This function is Excel compatible.

See also

IMSUB.

IMTAN

IMTAN — the tangent of the complex number z

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

IMTAN(z)

Arguments

z: a complex number

Note

If z is not a valid complex number, #VALUE! is returned.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

IMSIN, IMCOS.

IMTANH

IMTANH — the hyperbolic tangent of the complex number z

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
See also

Synopsis

IMTANH(z)

Arguments

z: a complex number

Note

If z is not a valid complex number, #VALUE! is returned.

See also

IMSINH, IMCOSH.

A.3. Database

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DAVERAGE — average of the values in field in database belonging to records that match criteria
DCOUNT — count of numbers in field in database belonging to records that match criteria
DCOUNTA — count of cells with data in field in database belonging to records that match
criteria
DGET — a value from field in database belonging to records that match criteria
DMAX — largest number in field in database belonging to a record that match criteria
DMIN — smallest number in field in database belonging to a record that match criteria
DPRODUCT — product of all values in field in database belonging to records that match criteria
DSTDEV — sample standard deviation of the values in field in database belonging to records that
match criteria
DSTDEVP — standard deviation of the population of values in field in database belonging to
records that match criteria
DSUM — sum of the values in field in database belonging to records that match criteria
DVAR — sample variance of the values in field in database belonging to records that match
criteria
DVARP — variance of the population of values in field in database belonging to records that match
criteria
GETPIVOTDATA — summary data from a pivot table

DAVERAGE

DAVERAGE — average of the values in field in database belonging to records that match criteria

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
See also

Synopsis

DAVERAGE(database,field,criteria)

Arguments

database: a range in which rows of related information are records and columns of data are fields

field: a string or integer specifying which field is to be used

criteria: a range containing conditions

Description

database is a range in which rows of related information are records and columns of data are fields. The first
row of a database contains labels for each column.

field is a string or integer specifying which field is to be used. If field is an integer n then the nth column will
be used. If field is a string, then the column with the matching label will be used.

criteria is a range containing conditions. The first row of a criteria should contain labels. Each label
specifies to which field the conditions given in that column apply. Each cell below the label specifies a condition
such as ">3" or "<9". An equality condition can be given by simply specifying a value, e. g. "3" or "Jody". For a
record to be considered it must satisfy all conditions in at least one of the rows of criteria.

See also

DCOUNT.

DCOUNT

DCOUNT — count of numbers in field in database belonging to records that match criteria

Synopsis
Arguments
Description

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See also

Synopsis

DCOUNT(database,field,criteria)

Arguments

database: a range in which rows of related information are records and columns of data are fields

field: a string or integer specifying which field is to be used

criteria: a range containing conditions

Description

database is a range in which rows of related information are records and columns of data are fields. The first
row of a database contains labels for each column.

field is a string or integer specifying which field is to be used. If field is an integer n then the nth column will
be used. If field is a string, then the column with the matching label will be used.

criteria is a range containing conditions. The first row of a criteria should contain labels. Each label
specifies to which field the conditions given in that column apply. Each cell below the label specifies a condition
such as ">3" or "<9". An equality condition can be given by simply specifying a value, e. g. "3" or "Jody". For a
record to be considered it must satisfy all conditions in at least one of the rows of criteria.

See also

DAVERAGE, DCOUNTA.

DCOUNTA

DCOUNTA — count of cells with data in field in database belonging to records that match criteria

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
See also

Synopsis

DCOUNTA(database,field,criteria)

Arguments

database: a range in which rows of related information are records and columns of data are fields

field: a string or integer specifying which field is to be used

criteria: a range containing conditions

Description

database is a range in which rows of related information are records and columns of data are fields. The first
row of a database contains labels for each column.

field is a string or integer specifying which field is to be used. If field is an integer n then the nth column will
be used. If field is a string, then the column with the matching label will be used.

criteria is a range containing conditions. The first row of a criteria should contain labels. Each label
specifies to which field the conditions given in that column apply. Each cell below the label specifies a condition
such as ">3" or "<9". An equality condition can be given by simply specifying a value, e. g. "3" or "Jody". For a
record to be considered it must satisfy all conditions in at least one of the rows of criteria.

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See also

DCOUNT.

DGET

DGET — a value from field in database belonging to records that match criteria

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
See also

Synopsis

DGET(database,field,criteria)

Arguments

database: a range in which rows of related information are records and columns of data are fields

field: a string or integer specifying which field is to be used

criteria: a range containing conditions

Description

database is a range in which rows of related information are records and columns of data are fields. The first
row of a database contains labels for each column.

field is a string or integer specifying which field is to be used. If field is an integer n then the nth column will
be used. If field is a string, then the column with the matching label will be used.

criteria is a range containing conditions. The first row of a criteria should contain labels. Each label
specifies to which field the conditions given in that column apply. Each cell below the label specifies a condition
such as ">3" or "<9". An equality condition can be given by simply specifying a value, e. g. "3" or "Jody". For a
record to be considered it must satisfy all conditions in at least one of the rows of criteria.

Note

If none of the records match the conditions, DGET returns #VALUE! If more than one record match the
conditions, DGET returns #NUM!

See also

DCOUNT.

DMAX

DMAX — largest number in field in database belonging to a record that match criteria

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
See also

Synopsis

DMAX(database,field,criteria)

Arguments

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database: a range in which rows of related information are records and columns of data are fields

field: a string or integer specifying which field is to be used

criteria: a range containing conditions

Description

database is a range in which rows of related information are records and columns of data are fields. The first
row of a database contains labels for each column.

field is a string or integer specifying which field is to be used. If field is an integer n then the nth column will
be used. If field is a string, then the column with the matching label will be used.

criteria is a range containing conditions. The first row of a criteria should contain labels. Each label
specifies to which field the conditions given in that column apply. Each cell below the label specifies a condition
such as ">3" or "<9". An equality condition can be given by simply specifying a value, e. g. "3" or "Jody". For a
record to be considered it must satisfy all conditions in at least one of the rows of criteria.

See also

DMIN.

DMIN

DMIN — smallest number in field in database belonging to a record that match criteria

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
See also

Synopsis

DMIN(database,field,criteria)

Arguments

database: a range in which rows of related information are records and columns of data are fields

field: a string or integer specifying which field is to be used

criteria: a range containing conditions

Description

database is a range in which rows of related information are records and columns of data are fields. The first
row of a database contains labels for each column.

field is a string or integer specifying which field is to be used. If field is an integer n then the nth column will
be used. If field is a string, then the column with the matching label will be used.

criteria is a range containing conditions. The first row of a criteria should contain labels. Each label
specifies to which field the conditions given in that column apply. Each cell below the label specifies a condition
such as ">3" or "<9". An equality condition can be given by simply specifying a value, e. g. "3" or "Jody". For a
record to be considered it must satisfy all conditions in at least one of the rows of criteria.

See also

DCOUNT.

DPRODUCT

DPRODUCT — product of all values in field in database belonging to records that match criteria

Synopsis
Arguments

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Description
See also

Synopsis

DPRODUCT(database,field,criteria)

Arguments

database: a range in which rows of related information are records and columns of data are fields

field: a string or integer specifying which field is to be used

criteria: a range containing conditions

Description

database is a range in which rows of related information are records and columns of data are fields. The first
row of a database contains labels for each column.

field is a string or integer specifying which field is to be used. If field is an integer n then the nth column will
be used. If field is a string, then the column with the matching label will be used.

criteria is a range containing conditions. The first row of a criteria should contain labels. Each label
specifies to which field the conditions given in that column apply. Each cell below the label specifies a condition
such as ">3" or "<9". An equality condition can be given by simply specifying a value, e. g. "3" or "Jody". For a
record to be considered it must satisfy all conditions in at least one of the rows of criteria.

See also

DSUM.

DSTDEV

DSTDEV — sample standard deviation of the values in field in database belonging to records that match
criteria

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
See also

Synopsis

DSTDEV(database,field,criteria)

Arguments

database: a range in which rows of related information are records and columns of data are fields

field: a string or integer specifying which field is to be used

criteria: a range containing conditions

Description

database is a range in which rows of related information are records and columns of data are fields. The first
row of a database contains labels for each column.

field is a string or integer specifying which field is to be used. If field is an integer n then the nth column will
be used. If field is a string, then the column with the matching label will be used.

criteria is a range containing conditions. The first row of a criteria should contain labels. Each label
specifies to which field the conditions given in that column apply. Each cell below the label specifies a condition

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such as ">3" or "<9". An equality condition can be given by simply specifying a value, e. g. "3" or "Jody". For a
record to be considered it must satisfy all conditions in at least one of the rows of criteria.

See also

DSTDEVP.

DSTDEVP

DSTDEVP — standard deviation of the population of values in field in database belonging to records that
match criteria

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
See also

Synopsis

DSTDEVP(database,field,criteria)

Arguments

database: a range in which rows of related information are records and columns of data are fields

field: a string or integer specifying which field is to be used

criteria: a range containing conditions

Description

database is a range in which rows of related information are records and columns of data are fields. The first
row of a database contains labels for each column.

field is a string or integer specifying which field is to be used. If field is an integer n then the nth column will
be used. If field is a string, then the column with the matching label will be used.

criteria is a range containing conditions. The first row of a criteria should contain labels. Each label
specifies to which field the conditions given in that column apply. Each cell below the label specifies a condition
such as ">3" or "<9". An equality condition can be given by simply specifying a value, e. g. "3" or "Jody". For a
record to be considered it must satisfy all conditions in at least one of the rows of criteria.

See also

DSTDEV.

DSUM

DSUM — sum of the values in field in database belonging to records that match criteria

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
See also

Synopsis

DSUM(database,field,criteria)

Arguments

database: a range in which rows of related information are records and columns of data are fields

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field: a string or integer specifying which field is to be used

criteria: a range containing conditions

Description

database is a range in which rows of related information are records and columns of data are fields. The first
row of a database contains labels for each column.

field is a string or integer specifying which field is to be used. If field is an integer n then the nth column will
be used. If field is a string, then the column with the matching label will be used.

criteria is a range containing conditions. The first row of a criteria should contain labels. Each label
specifies to which field the conditions given in that column apply. Each cell below the label specifies a condition
such as ">3" or "<9". An equality condition can be given by simply specifying a value, e. g. "3" or "Jody". For a
record to be considered it must satisfy all conditions in at least one of the rows of criteria.

See also

DPRODUCT.

DVAR

DVAR — sample variance of the values in field in database belonging to records that match criteria

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
See also

Synopsis

DVAR(database,field,criteria)

Arguments

database: a range in which rows of related information are records and columns of data are fields

field: a string or integer specifying which field is to be used

criteria: a range containing conditions

Description

database is a range in which rows of related information are records and columns of data are fields. The first
row of a database contains labels for each column.

field is a string or integer specifying which field is to be used. If field is an integer n then the nth column will
be used. If field is a string, then the column with the matching label will be used.

criteria is a range containing conditions. The first row of a criteria should contain labels. Each label
specifies to which field the conditions given in that column apply. Each cell below the label specifies a condition
such as ">3" or "<9". An equality condition can be given by simply specifying a value, e. g. "3" or "Jody". For a
record to be considered it must satisfy all conditions in at least one of the rows of criteria.

See also

DVARP.

DVARP

DVARP — variance of the population of values in field in database belonging to records that match
criteria

Synopsis
Arguments

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Description
See also

Synopsis

DVARP(database,field,criteria)

Arguments

database: a range in which rows of related information are records and columns of data are fields

field: a string or integer specifying which field is to be used

criteria: a range containing conditions

Description

database is a range in which rows of related information are records and columns of data are fields. The first
row of a database contains labels for each column.

field is a string or integer specifying which field is to be used. If field is an integer n then the nth column will
be used. If field is a string, then the column with the matching label will be used.

criteria is a range containing conditions. The first row of a criteria should contain labels. Each label
specifies to which field the conditions given in that column apply. Each cell below the label specifies a condition
such as ">3" or "<9". An equality condition can be given by simply specifying a value, e. g. "3" or "Jody". For a
record to be considered it must satisfy all conditions in at least one of the rows of criteria.

See also

DVAR.

GETPIVOTDATA

GETPIVOTDATA — summary data from a pivot table

Synopsis
Arguments
Note

Synopsis

GETPIVOTDATA(pivot_table,field_name)

Arguments

pivot_table: cell range containing the pivot table

field_name: name of the field for which the summary data is requested

Note

If the summary data is unavailable, GETPIVOTDATA returns #REF!

A.4. Date/Time

ASCENSIONTHURSDAY — Ascension Thursday in the Gregorian calendar according to the Roman rite of
the Christian Church
ASHWEDNESDAY — Ash Wednesday in the Gregorian calendar according to the Roman rite of the
Christian Church
DATE — create a date serial value
DATE2HDATE — Hebrew date
DATE2HDATE_HEB — Hebrew date in Hebrew

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DATE2JULIAN — Julian day number for given Gregorian date
DATE2UNIX — the Unix timestamp corresponding to a date d
DATEDIF — difference between dates
DATEVALUE — the date part of a date and time serial value
DAY — the day-of-month part of a date serial value
DAYS — difference between dates in days
DAYS360 — days between dates
EASTERSUNDAY — Easter Sunday in the Gregorian calendar according to the Roman rite of the
Christian Church
EDATE — adjust a date by a number of months
EOMONTH — end of month
GOODFRIDAY — Good Friday in the Gregorian calendar according to the Roman rite of the Christian
Church
HDATE — Hebrew date
HDATE_DAY — Hebrew day of Gregorian date
HDATE_HEB — Hebrew date in Hebrew
HDATE_JULIAN — Julian day number for given Gregorian date
HDATE_MONTH — Hebrew month of Gregorian date
HDATE_YEAR — Hebrew year of Gregorian date
HOUR — compute hour part of fractional day
ISOWEEKNUM — ISO week number
ISOYEAR — year corresponding to the ISO week number
MINUTE — compute minute part of fractional day
MONTH — the month part of a date serial value
NETWORKDAYS — number of workdays in range
NOW — the date and time serial value of the current time
ODF.TIME — create a time serial value
PENTECOSTSUNDAY — Pentecost Sunday in the Gregorian calendar according to the Roman rite of the
Christian Church
SECOND — compute seconds part of fractional day
TIME — create a time serial value
TIMEVALUE — the time part of a date and time serial value
TODAY — the date serial value of today
UNIX2DATE — date value corresponding to the Unix timestamp t
WEEKDAY — day-of-week
WEEKNUM — week number
WORKDAY — add working days
YEAR — the year part of a date serial value
YEARFRAC — fractional number of years between dates

ASCENSIONTHURSDAY

ASCENSIONTHURSDAY — Ascension Thursday in the Gregorian calendar according to the Roman rite of the
Christian Church

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
See also

Synopsis

ASCENSIONTHURSDAY(year)

Arguments

year: year between 1582 and 9956, defaults to the year of the next Ascension Thursday

Note

Two digit years are adjusted as elsewhere in Gnumeric. Dates before 1904 may also be prohibited.

See also

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EASTERSUNDAY.

ASHWEDNESDAY

ASHWEDNESDAY — Ash Wednesday in the Gregorian calendar according to the Roman rite of the Christian
Church

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
See also

Synopsis

ASHWEDNESDAY(year)

Arguments

year: year between 1582 and 9956, defaults to the year of the next Ash Wednesday

Note

Two digit years are adjusted as elsewhere in Gnumeric. Dates before 1904 may also be prohibited.

See also

EASTERSUNDAY.

DATE

DATE — create a date serial value

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

DATE(year,month,day)

Arguments

year: year of date

month: month of year

day: day of month

Description

The DATE function creates date serial values. 1-Jan-1900 is serial value 1, 2-Jan-1900 is serial value 2, and so on.
For compatibility reasons, a serial value is reserved for the non-existing date 29-Feb-1900.

Note

If month or day is less than 1 or too big, then the year and/or month will be adjusted. For spreadsheets created
with the Mac version of Excel, serial 1 is 1-Jan-1904.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

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This function is Excel compatible.

See also

TODAY, YEAR, MONTH, DAY.

DATE2HDATE

DATE2HDATE — Hebrew date

Synopsis
Arguments
See also

Synopsis

DATE2HDATE(date)

Arguments

date: Gregorian date, defaults to today

See also

HDATE, DATE2HDATE_HEB.

DATE2HDATE_HEB

DATE2HDATE_HEB — Hebrew date in Hebrew

Synopsis
Arguments
See also

Synopsis

DATE2HDATE_HEB(date)

Arguments

date: Gregorian date, defaults to today

See also

DATE2HDATE, HDATE_HEB.

DATE2JULIAN

DATE2JULIAN — Julian day number for given Gregorian date

Synopsis
Arguments
See also

Synopsis

DATE2JULIAN(date)

Arguments

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date: Gregorian date, defaults to today

See also

HDATE_JULIAN.

DATE2UNIX

DATE2UNIX — the Unix timestamp corresponding to a date d

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
See also

Synopsis

DATE2UNIX(d)

Arguments

d: date

Description

The DATE2UNIX function translates a date into a Unix timestamp. A Unix timestamp is the number of seconds
since midnight (0:00) of January 1st, 1970 GMT.

See also

UNIX2DATE, DATE.

DATEDIF

DATEDIF — difference between dates

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

DATEDIF(start_date,end_date,interval)

Arguments

start_date: starting date serial value

end_date: ending date serial value

interval: counting unit

Description

DATEDIF returns the distance from start_date to end_date according to the unit specified by interval.

Note

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If interval is "y", "m", or "d" then the distance is measured in complete years, months, or days respectively. If
interval is "ym" or "yd" then the distance is measured in complete months or days, respectively, but
excluding any difference in years. If interval is "md" then the distance is measured in complete days but
excluding any difference in months.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

DAYS360.

DATEVALUE

DATEVALUE — the date part of a date and time serial value

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

DATEVALUE(serial)

Arguments

serial: date and time serial value

Description

DATEVALUE returns the date serial value part of a date and time serial value.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

TIMEVALUE, DATE.

DAY

DAY — the day-of-month part of a date serial value

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

DAY(date)

Arguments

date: date serial value

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Description

The DAY function returns the day-of-month part of date.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

DATE, YEAR, MONTH.

DAYS

DAYS — difference between dates in days

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
OpenDocument Format (ODF) Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

DAYS(end_date,start_date)

Arguments

end_date: ending date serial value

start_date: starting date serial value

Description

DAYS returns the positive or negative number of days from start_date to end_date.

OpenDocument Format (ODF) Compatibility

This function is OpenFormula compatible.

See also

DATEDIF.

DAYS360

DAYS360 — days between dates

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

DAYS360(start_date,end_date,method)

Arguments

start_date: starting date serial value

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end_date: ending date serial value

method: counting method

Description

DAYS360 returns the number of days from start_date to end_date.

Note

If method is 0, the default, the MS Excel (tm) US method will be used. This is a somewhat complicated industry
standard method where the last day of February is considered to be the 30th day of the month, but only for
start_date. If method is 1, the European method will be used. In this case, if the day of the month is 31 it will
be considered as 30 If method is 2, a saner version of the US method is used in which both dates get the same
February treatment.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

DATEDIF.

EASTERSUNDAY

EASTERSUNDAY — Easter Sunday in the Gregorian calendar according to the Roman rite of the Christian Church

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
OpenDocument Format (ODF) Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

EASTERSUNDAY(year)

Arguments

year: year between 1582 and 9956, defaults to the year of the next Easter Sunday

Note

Two digit years are adjusted as elsewhere in Gnumeric. Dates before 1904 may also be prohibited.

OpenDocument Format (ODF) Compatibility

The 1-argument version of EASTERSUNDAY is compatible with OpenOffice for years after 1904. This function is
not specified in ODF/OpenFormula.

See also

ASHWEDNESDAY.

EDATE

EDATE — adjust a date by a number of months

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

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Synopsis

EDATE(date,months)

Arguments

date: date serial value

months: signed number of months

Description

EDATE returns date moved forward or backward the number of months specified by months.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

DATE.

EOMONTH

EOMONTH — end of month

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

EOMONTH(date,months)

Arguments

date: date serial value

months: signed number of months

Description

EOMONTH returns the date serial value of the end of the month specified by date adjusted forward or backward
the number of months specified by months.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

EDATE.

GOODFRIDAY

GOODFRIDAY — Good Friday in the Gregorian calendar according to the Roman rite of the Christian Church

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Synopsis
Arguments
Note
See also

Synopsis

GOODFRIDAY(year)

Arguments

year: year between 1582 and 9956, defaults to the year of the next Good Friday

Note

Two digit years are adjusted as elsewhere in Gnumeric. Dates before 1904 may also be prohibited.

See also

EASTERSUNDAY.

HDATE

HDATE — Hebrew date

Synopsis
Arguments
See also

Synopsis

HDATE(year,month,day)

Arguments

year: Gregorian year of date, defaults to the current year

month: Gregorian month of year, defaults to the current month

day: Gregorian day of month, defaults to the current day

See also

HDATE_HEB, DATE.

HDATE_DAY

HDATE_DAY — Hebrew day of Gregorian date

Synopsis
Arguments
See also

Synopsis

HDATE_DAY(year,month,day)

Arguments

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year: Gregorian year of date, defaults to the current year

month: Gregorian month of year, defaults to the current month

day: Gregorian day of month, defaults to the current day

See also

HDATE_JULIAN.

HDATE_HEB

HDATE_HEB — Hebrew date in Hebrew

Synopsis
Arguments
See also

Synopsis

HDATE_HEB(year,month,day)

Arguments

year: Gregorian year of date, defaults to the current year

month: Gregorian month of year, defaults to the current month

day: Gregorian day of month, defaults to the current day

See also

HDATE, DATE.

HDATE_JULIAN

HDATE_JULIAN — Julian day number for given Gregorian date

Synopsis
Arguments
See also

Synopsis

HDATE_JULIAN(year,month,day)

Arguments

year: Gregorian year of date, defaults to the current year

month: Gregorian month of year, defaults to the current month

day: Gregorian day of month, defaults to the current day

See also

HDATE.

HDATE_MONTH

HDATE_MONTH — Hebrew month of Gregorian date

Synopsis
Arguments

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See also

Synopsis

HDATE_MONTH(year,month,day)

Arguments

year: Gregorian year of date, defaults to the current year

month: Gregorian month of year, defaults to the current month

day: Gregorian day of month, defaults to the current day

See also

HDATE_JULIAN.

HDATE_YEAR

HDATE_YEAR — Hebrew year of Gregorian date

Synopsis
Arguments
See also

Synopsis

HDATE_YEAR(year,month,day)

Arguments

year: Gregorian year of date, defaults to the current year

month: Gregorian month of year, defaults to the current month

day: Gregorian day of month, defaults to the current day

See also

HDATE_JULIAN.

HOUR

HOUR — compute hour part of fractional day

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

HOUR(time)

Arguments

time: time of day as fractional day

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Description

The HOUR function computes the hour part of the fractional day given by time.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

TIME, MINUTE, SECOND.

ISOWEEKNUM

ISOWEEKNUM — ISO week number

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
See also

Synopsis

ISOWEEKNUM(date)

Arguments

date: date serial value

Description

ISOWEEKNUM calculates the week number according to the ISO 8601 standard. Weeks start on Mondays and
week 1 contains the first Thursday of the year.

Note

January 1 of a year is sometimes in week 52 or 53 of the previous year. Similarly, December 31 is sometimes in
week 1 of the following year.

See also

ISOYEAR, WEEKNUM.

ISOYEAR

ISOYEAR — year corresponding to the ISO week number

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
See also

Synopsis

ISOYEAR(date)

Arguments

date: date serial value

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Description

ISOYEAR calculates the year to go with week number according to the ISO 8601 standard.

Note

January 1 of a year is sometimes in week 52 or 53 of the previous year. Similarly, December 31 is sometimes in
week 1 of the following year.

See also

ISOWEEKNUM, YEAR.

MINUTE

MINUTE — compute minute part of fractional day

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

MINUTE(time)

Arguments

time: time of day as fractional day

Description

The MINUTE function computes the minute part of the fractional day given by time.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

TIME, HOUR, SECOND.

MONTH

MONTH — the month part of a date serial value

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

MONTH(date)

Arguments

date: date serial value

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Description

The MONTH function returns the month part of date.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

DATE, YEAR, DAY.

NETWORKDAYS

NETWORKDAYS — number of workdays in range

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
OpenDocument Format (ODF) Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

NETWORKDAYS(start_date,end_date,holidays,weekend)

Arguments

start_date: starting date serial value

end_date: ending date serial value

holidays: array of holidays

weekend: array of 0s and 1s, indicating whether a weekday (S, M, T, W, T, F, S) is on the weekend, defaults to
{1,0,0,0,0,0,1}

Description

NETWORKDAYS calculates the number of days from start_date to end_date skipping weekends and
holidays in the process.

Note

If an entry of weekend is non-zero, the corresponding weekday is not a work day.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible if the last argument is omitted.

OpenDocument Format (ODF) Compatibility

This function is OpenFormula compatible.

See also

WORKDAY.

NOW

NOW — the date and time serial value of the current time

Synopsis

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Description
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

NOW()

Description

The NOW function returns the date and time serial value of the moment it is computed. Recomputing later will
produce a different value.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

DATE.

ODF.TIME

ODF.TIME — create a time serial value

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
OpenDocument Format (ODF) Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

ODF.TIME(hour,minute,second)

Arguments

hour: hour

minute: minute

second: second

Description

The ODF.TIME function computes the time given by hour, minute, and second as a fraction of a day.

Note

While the return value is automatically formatted to look like a time between 0:00 and 24:00, the underlying
serial time value can be any number.

OpenDocument Format (ODF) Compatibility

This function is OpenFormula compatible.

See also

TIME, HOUR, MINUTE, SECOND.

PENTECOSTSUNDAY

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PENTECOSTSUNDAY — Pentecost Sunday in the Gregorian calendar according to the Roman rite of the Christian
Church

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
See also

Synopsis

PENTECOSTSUNDAY(year)

Arguments

year: year between 1582 and 9956, defaults to the year of the next Pentecost Sunday

Note

Two digit years are adjusted as elsewhere in Gnumeric. Dates before 1904 may also be prohibited.

See also

EASTERSUNDAY.

SECOND

SECOND — compute seconds part of fractional day

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

SECOND(time)

Arguments

time: time of day as fractional day

Description

The SECOND function computes the seconds part of the fractional day given by time.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

TIME, HOUR, MINUTE.

TIME

TIME — create a time serial value

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note

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Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

TIME(hour,minute,second)

Arguments

hour: hour of the day

minute: minute within the hour

second: second within the minute

Description

The TIME function computes the fractional day after midnight at the time given by hour, minute, and second.

Note

While the return value is automatically formatted to look like a time between 0:00 and 24:00, the underlying
serial time value is a number between 0 and 1. If any of hour, minute, and second is negative, #NUM! is
returned

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

ODF.TIME, HOUR, MINUTE, SECOND.

TIMEVALUE

TIMEVALUE — the time part of a date and time serial value

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

TIMEVALUE(serial)

Arguments

serial: date and time serial value

Description

TIMEVALUE returns the time-of-day part of a date and time serial value.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

DATEVALUE, TIME.

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TODAY

TODAY — the date serial value of today

Synopsis
Description
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

TODAY()

Description

The TODAY function returns the date serial value of the day it is computed. Recomputing on a later date will
produce a different value.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

DATE.

UNIX2DATE

UNIX2DATE — date value corresponding to the Unix timestamp t

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
See also

Synopsis

UNIX2DATE(t)

Arguments

t: Unix time stamp

Description

The UNIX2DATE function translates Unix timestamps into the corresponding date. A Unix timestamp is the
number of seconds since midnight (0:00) of January 1st, 1970 GMT.

See also

DATE2UNIX, DATE.

WEEKDAY

WEEKDAY — day-of-week

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
Microsoft Excel Compatibility

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See also

Synopsis

WEEKDAY(date,method)

Arguments

date: date serial value

method: numbering system, defaults to 1

Description

The WEEKDAY function returns the day-of-week of date. The value of method determines how days are
numbered; it defaults to 1.

Note

If method is 1, then Sunday is 1, Monday is 2, etc. If method is 2, then Monday is 1, Tuesday is 2, etc. If method is
3, then Monday is 0, Tuesday is 1, etc. If method is 11, then Monday is 1, Tuesday is 2, etc. If method is 12, then
Tuesday is 1, Wednesday is 2, etc. If method is 13, then Wednesday is 1, Thursday is 2, etc. If method is 14, then
Thursday is 1, Friday is 2, etc. If method is 15, then Friday is 1, Saturday is 2, etc. If method is 16, then Saturday is
1, Sunday is 2, etc. If method is 17, then Sunday is 1, Monday is 2, etc.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

DATE, ISOWEEKNUM.

WEEKNUM

WEEKNUM — week number

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
See also

Synopsis

WEEKNUM(date,method)

Arguments

date: date serial value

method: numbering system, defaults to 1

Description

WEEKNUM calculates the week number according to method which defaults to 1.

Note

If method is 1, then weeks start on Sundays and January 1 is in week 1. If method is 2, then weeks start on
Mondays and January 1 is in week 1. If method is 150, then the ISO 8601 numbering is used.

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See also

ISOWEEKNUM.

WORKDAY

WORKDAY — add working days

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
OpenDocument Format (ODF) Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

WORKDAY(date,days,holidays,weekend)

Arguments

date: date serial value

days: number of days to add

holidays: array of holidays

weekend: array of 0s and 1s, indicating whether a weekday (S, M, T, W, T, F, S) is on the weekend, defaults to
{1,0,0,0,0,0,1}

Description

WORKDAY adjusts date by days skipping over weekends and holidays in the process.

Note

days may be negative. If an entry of weekend is non-zero, the corresponding weekday is not a work day.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible if the last argument is omitted.

OpenDocument Format (ODF) Compatibility

This function is OpenFormula compatible.

See also

NETWORKDAYS.

YEAR

YEAR — the year part of a date serial value

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

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YEAR(date)

Arguments

date: date serial value

Description

The YEAR function returns the year part of date.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

DATE, MONTH, DAY.

YEARFRAC

YEARFRAC — fractional number of years between dates

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
See also

Synopsis

YEARFRAC(start_date,end_date,basis)

Arguments

start_date: starting date serial value

end_date: ending date serial value

basis: calendar basis

Description

YEARFRAC calculates the number of days from start_date to end_date according to the calendar specified
by basis, which defaults to 0, and expresses the result as a fractional number of years.

Note

If basis is 0, then the US 30/360 method is used. If basis is 1, then actual number of days is used. If basis is
2, then actual number of days is used within a month, but years are considered only 360 days. If basis is 3, then
actual number of days is used within a month, but years are always considered 365 days. If basis is 4, then the
European 30/360 method is used.

See also

DATE.

A.5. Engineering

BASE — string of digits representing the number n in base b

BESSELI — Modified Bessel function of the first kind of order α at x
BESSELJ — Bessel function of the first kind of order α at x
BESSELK — Modified Bessel function of the second kind of order α at x
BESSELY — Bessel function of the second kind of order α at x

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BIN2DEC — decimal representation of the binary number x
BIN2HEX — hexadecimal representation of the binary number x
BIN2OCT — octal representation of the binary number x
CONVERT — a converted measurement
DEC2BIN — binary representation of the decimal number x
DEC2HEX — hexadecimal representation of the decimal number x
DEC2OCT — octal representation of the decimal number x
DECIMAL — decimal representation of x
DELTA — Kronecker delta function
ERF — Gauss error function
ERFC — Complementary Gauss error function
GESTEP — step function with step at x1 evaluated at x0
HEX2BIN — binary representation of the hexadecimal number x
HEX2DEC — decimal representation of the hexadecimal number x
HEX2OCT — octal representation of the hexadecimal number x
HEXREP — hexadecimal representation of numeric value
INVSUMINV — the reciprocal of the sum of reciprocals of the arguments
OCT2BIN — binary representation of the octal number x
OCT2DEC — decimal representation of the octal number x
OCT2HEX — hexadecimal representation of the octal number x

BASE

BASE — string of digits representing the number n in base b

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
OpenDocument Format (ODF) Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

BASE(n,b,length)

Arguments

n: integer

b: base (2 ≤ b ≤ 36)

length: minimum length of the resulting string

Description

BASE converts n to its string representation in base b. Leading zeroes will be added to reach the minimum
length given by length.

OpenDocument Format (ODF) Compatibility

This function is OpenFormula compatible.

See also

DECIMAL.

BESSELI

BESSELI — Modified Bessel function of the first kind of order α at x

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
Microsoft Excel Compatibility

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See also

Synopsis

BESSELI(X,α)

Arguments

X: number

α: order (any non-negative number)

Note

If x or α are not numeric, #VALUE! is returned. If α < 0, #NUM! is returned.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible if only integer orders α are used.

See also

BESSELJ, BESSELK, BESSELY.

BESSELJ

BESSELJ — Bessel function of the first kind of order α at x

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

BESSELJ(X,α)

Arguments

X: number

α: order (any non-negative integer)

Note

If x or α are not numeric, #VALUE! is returned. If α < 0, #NUM! is returned.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible if only integer orders α are used.

See also

BESSELI, BESSELK, BESSELY.

BESSELK

BESSELK — Modified Bessel function of the second kind of order α at x

Synopsis
Arguments
Note

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Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

BESSELK(X,α)

Arguments

X: number

α: order (any non-negative number)

Note

If x or α are not numeric, #VALUE! is returned. If α < 0, #NUM! is returned.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible if only integer orders α are used.

See also

BESSELI, BESSELJ, BESSELY.

BESSELY

BESSELY — Bessel function of the second kind of order α at x

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

BESSELY(X,α)

Arguments

X: number

α: order (any non-negative integer)

Note

If x or α are not numeric, #VALUE! is returned. If α < 0, #NUM! is returned.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible if only integer orders α are used.

See also

BESSELI, BESSELJ, BESSELK.

BIN2DEC

BIN2DEC — decimal representation of the binary number x

Synopsis
Arguments

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Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

BIN2DEC(x)

Arguments

x: a binary number, either as a string or as a number involving only the digits 0 and 1

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

DEC2BIN, BIN2OCT, BIN2HEX.

BIN2HEX

BIN2HEX — hexadecimal representation of the binary number x

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

BIN2HEX(x,places)

Arguments

x: a binary number, either as a string or as a number involving only the digits 0 and 1

places: number of digits

Description

If places is given, BIN2HEX pads the result with zeros to achieve exactly places digits. If this is not possible,
BIN2HEX returns #NUM!

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

HEX2BIN, BIN2OCT, BIN2DEC.

BIN2OCT

BIN2OCT — octal representation of the binary number x

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

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Synopsis

BIN2OCT(x,places)

Arguments

x: a binary number, either as a string or as a number involving only the digits 0 and 1

places: number of digits

Description

If places is given, BIN2OCT pads the result with zeros to achieve exactly places digits. If this is not possible,
BIN2OCT returns #NUM!

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

OCT2BIN, BIN2DEC, BIN2HEX.

CONVERT

CONVERT — a converted measurement

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
OpenDocument Format (ODF) Compatibility

Synopsis

CONVERT(x,from,to)

Arguments

x: number

from: unit (string)

to: unit (string)

Description

CONVERT returns a conversion from one measurement system to another. x is a value in from units that is to be
converted into to units.

from and to can be any of the following:

Weight and mass:

'brton' Imperial ton

'cwt' U.S. (short) hundredweight

'g' Gram

'grain' Grain

'hweight' Imperial (long) hundredweight

'LTON' Imperial ton

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'sg' Slug

'shweight' U.S. (short) hundredweight

'lbm' Pound

'lcwt' Imperial (long) hundredweight

'u' U (atomic mass)

'uk_cwt' Imperial (long) hundredweight

'uk_ton' Imperial ton

'ozm' Ounce

'stone' Stone

'ton' Ton

Distance:

'm' Meter

'mi' Statute mile

'survey_mi' U.S. survey mile

'Nmi' Nautical mile

'in' Inch

'ft' Foot

'yd' Yard

'ell' English Ell

'ang' Angstrom

'ly' Light-Year

'pc' Parsec

'parsec' Parsec

'Pica' Pica Points

'Picapt' Pica Points

'picapt' Pica Points

'pica' Pica

Time:

'yr' Year

'day' Day

'hr' Hour

'mn' Minute

'sec' Second

Pressure:

'Pa' Pascal

'psi' PSI

'atm' Atmosphere

'Pa' Pascal

'mmHg' mm of Mercury

'Torr' Torr

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Force:

'N' Newton

'dyn' Dyne

'pond' Pond

'lbf' Pound force

Energy:

'J' Joule

'e' Erg

'c' Thermodynamic calorie

'cal' IT calorie

'eV' Electron volt

'HPh' Horsepower-hour

'Wh' Watt-hour

'flb' Foot-pound

'BTU' BTU

Power:

'HP' Horsepower

'PS' Pferdestärke

'W' Watt

Magnetism:

'T' Tesla

'ga' Gauss

Temperature:

'C' Degree Celsius

'F' Degree Fahrenheit

'K' Kelvin

'Rank' Degree Rankine

'Reau' Degree Réaumur

Volume (liquid measure):

'tsp' Teaspoon

'tspm' Teaspoon (modern, metric)

'tbs' Tablespoon

'oz' Fluid ounce

'cup' Cup

'pt' Pint

'us_pt' U.S. pint

'uk_pt' Imperial pint (U.K.)

'qt' Quart

'uk_qt' Imperial quart

'gal' Gallon

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'uk_gal' Imperial gallon

'GRT' Registered ton

'regton' Registered ton

'MTON' Measurement ton (freight ton)

'l' Liter

'L' Liter

'lt' Liter

'ang3' Cubic Angstrom

'ang^3' Cubic Angstrom

'barrel' U.S. oil barrel (bbl)

'bushel' U.S. bushel

'ft3' Cubic feet

'ft^3' Cubic feet

'in3' Cubic inch

'in^3' Cubic inch

'ly3' Cubic light-year

'ly^3' Cubic light-year

'm3' Cubic meter

'm^3' Cubic meter

'mi3' Cubic mile

'mi^3' Cubic mile

'yd3' Cubic yard

'yd^3' Cubic yard

'Nmi3' Cubic nautical mile

'Nmi^3' Cubic nautical mile

'Picapt3' Cubic Pica

'Picapt^3' Cubic Pica

'Pica3' Cubic Pica

'Pica^3' Cubic Pica

Area:

'uk_acre' International acre

'us_acre' U.S. survey/statute acre

'ang2' Square angstrom

'ang^2' Square angstrom

'ar' Are

'ha' Hectare

'in2' Square inches

'in^2' Square inches

'ly2' Square light-year

'ly^2' Square light-year

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'm2' Square meter

'm^2' Square meter

'Morgen' Morgen (North German Confederation)

'mi2' Square miles

'mi^2' Square miles

'Nmi2' Square nautical miles

'Nmi^2' Square nautical miles

'Picapt2' Square Pica

'Picapt^2' Square Pica

'Pica2' Square Pica

'Pica^2' Square Pica

'yd2' Square yards

'yd^2' Square yards

Bits and Bytes:

'bit' Bit

'byte' Byte

Speed:

'admkn' Admiralty knot

'kn' knot

'm/h' Meters per hour

'm/hr' Meters per hour

'm/s' Meters per second

'm/sec' Meters per second

'mph' Miles per hour

For metric units any of the following prefixes can be used:

'Y' yotta 1E+24

'Z' zetta 1E+21

'E' exa 1E+18

'P' peta 1E+15

'T' tera 1E+12

'G' giga 1E+09

'M' mega 1E+06

'k' kilo 1E+03

'h' hecto 1E+02

'e' deca (deka) 1E+01

'd' deci 1E-01

'c' centi 1E-02

'm' milli 1E-03

'u' micro 1E-06

'n' nano 1E-09

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'p' pico 1E-12

'f' femto 1E-15

'a' atto 1E-18

'z' zepto 1E-21

'y' yocto 1E-24

For bits and bytes any of the following prefixes can be also be used:

'Yi' yobi 2^80

'Zi' zebi 2^70

'Ei' exbi 2^60

'Pi' pebi 2^50

'Ti' tebi 2^40

'Gi' gibi 2^30

'Mi' mebi 2^20

'ki' kibi 2^10

Note

If from and to are different types, CONVERT returns #N/A!

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible (except "picapt").

OpenDocument Format (ODF) Compatibility

This function is OpenFormula compatible.

DEC2BIN

DEC2BIN — binary representation of the decimal number x

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
OpenDocument Format (ODF) Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

DEC2BIN(x,places)

Arguments

x: integer (− 513 < x < 512)

places: number of digits

Description

If places is given and x is non-negative, DEC2BIN pads the result with zeros to achieve exactly places digits.
If this is not possible, DEC2BIN returns #NUM!

If places is given and x is negative, places is ignored.

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Note

If x < − 512 or x > 511, DEC2BIN returns #NUM!

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

OpenDocument Format (ODF) Compatibility

This function is OpenFormula compatible.

See also

BIN2DEC, DEC2OCT, DEC2HEX.

DEC2HEX

DEC2HEX — hexadecimal representation of the decimal number x

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

DEC2HEX(x,places)

Arguments

x: integer

places: number of digits

Description

If places is given, DEC2HEX pads the result with zeros to achieve exactly places digits. If this is not possible,
DEC2HEX returns #NUM!

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

HEX2DEC, DEC2BIN, DEC2OCT.

DEC2OCT

DEC2OCT — octal representation of the decimal number x

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

DEC2OCT(x,places)

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Arguments

x: integer

places: number of digits

Description

If places is given, DEC2OCT pads the result with zeros to achieve exactly places digits. If this is not possible,
DEC2OCT returns #NUM!

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

OCT2DEC, DEC2BIN, DEC2HEX.

DECIMAL

DECIMAL — decimal representation of x

Synopsis
Arguments
OpenDocument Format (ODF) Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

DECIMAL(x,base)

Arguments

x: number in base base

base: base of x, (2 ≤ base ≤ 36)

OpenDocument Format (ODF) Compatibility

This function is OpenFormula compatible.

See also

BASE.

DELTA

DELTA — Kronecker delta function

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

DELTA(x0,x1)

Arguments

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x0: number

x1: number, defaults to 0

Description

DELTA returns 1 if x1 = x0 and 0 otherwise.

Note

If either argument is non-numeric, #VALUE! is returned.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

EXACT, GESTEP.

ERF

ERF — Gauss error function

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

ERF(lower,upper)

Arguments

lower: lower limit of the integral, defaults to 0

upper: upper limit of the integral

Description

ERF returns 2/sqrt(π)* integral from lower to upper of exp(-t*t) dt

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible if two arguments are supplied and neither is negative.

See also

ERFC.

ERFC

ERFC — Complementary Gauss error function

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
See also

Synopsis

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ERFC(x)

Arguments

x: number

Description

ERFC returns 2/sqrt(π)* integral from x to ∞ of exp(-t*t) dt

See also

ERF.

GESTEP

GESTEP — step function with step at x1 evaluated at x0

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

GESTEP(x0,x1)

Arguments

x0: number

x1: number, defaults to 0

Description

GESTEP returns 1 if x1 ≤ x0 and 0 otherwise.

Note

If either argument is non-numeric, #VALUE! is returned.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

DELTA.

HEX2BIN

HEX2BIN — binary representation of the hexadecimal number x

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

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HEX2BIN(x,places)

Arguments

x: a hexadecimal number, either as a string or as a number if no A to F are needed

places: number of digits

Description

If places is given, HEX2BIN pads the result with zeros to achieve exactly places digits. If this is not possible,
HEX2BIN returns #NUM!

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

BIN2HEX, HEX2OCT, HEX2DEC.

HEX2DEC

HEX2DEC — decimal representation of the hexadecimal number x

Synopsis
Arguments
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

HEX2DEC(x)

Arguments

x: a hexadecimal number, either as a string or as a number if no A to F are needed

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

DEC2HEX, HEX2BIN, HEX2OCT.

HEX2OCT

HEX2OCT — octal representation of the hexadecimal number x

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

HEX2OCT(x,places)

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Arguments

x: a hexadecimal number, either as a string or as a number if no A to F are needed

places: number of digits

Description

If places is given, HEX2OCT pads the result with zeros to achieve exactly places digits. If this is not possible,
HEX2OCT returns #NUM!

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

OCT2HEX, HEX2BIN, HEX2DEC.

HEXREP

HEXREP — hexadecimal representation of numeric value

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note

Synopsis

HEXREP(x)

Arguments

x: number

Description

HEXREP returns a hexadecimal string representation of x.

Note

This is a function meant for debugging. The layout of the result may change and even depend on how Gnumeric
was compiled.

INVSUMINV

INVSUMINV — the reciprocal of the sum of reciprocals of the arguments

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
See also

Synopsis

INVSUMINV(x0,x1,…)

Arguments

x0: non-negative number

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x1: non-negative number

Description

INVSUMINV sum calculates the reciprocal (the inverse) of the sum of reciprocals (inverses) of all its arguments.

Note

If any of the arguments is negative, #VALUE! is returned.

If any argument is zero, the result is zero.

See also

HARMEAN.

OCT2BIN

OCT2BIN — binary representation of the octal number x

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

OCT2BIN(x,places)

Arguments

x: a octal number, either as a string or as a number

places: number of digits

Description

If places is given, OCT2BIN pads the result with zeros to achieve exactly places digits. If this is not possible,
OCT2BIN returns #NUM!

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

BIN2OCT, OCT2DEC, OCT2HEX.

OCT2DEC

OCT2DEC — decimal representation of the octal number x

Synopsis
Arguments
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

OCT2DEC(x)

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Arguments

x: a octal number, either as a string or as a number

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

DEC2OCT, OCT2BIN, OCT2HEX.

OCT2HEX

OCT2HEX — hexadecimal representation of the octal number x

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

OCT2HEX(x,places)

Arguments

x: a octal number, either as a string or as a number

places: number of digits

Description

If places is given, OCT2HEX pads the result with zeros to achieve exactly places digits. If this is not possible,
OCT2HEX returns #NUM!

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

HEX2OCT, OCT2BIN, OCT2DEC.

A.6. Erlang

DIMCIRC — number of circuits required

OFFCAP — traffic capacity
OFFTRAF — predicted number of offered calls
PROBBLOCK — probability of blocking

DIMCIRC

DIMCIRC — number of circuits required

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
See also

Synopsis

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DIMCIRC(traffic,gos)

Arguments

traffic: number of calls

gos: grade of service

Description

DIMCIRC returns the number of circuits required given traffic calls with grade of service gos.

See also

OFFCAP, OFFTRAF, PROBBLOCK.

OFFCAP

OFFCAP — traffic capacity

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
See also

Synopsis

OFFCAP(circuits,gos)

Arguments

circuits: number of circuits

gos: grade of service

Description

OFFCAP returns the traffic capacity given circuits circuits with grade of service gos.

See also

DIMCIRC, OFFTRAF, PROBBLOCK.

OFFTRAF

OFFTRAF — predicted number of offered calls

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
See also

Synopsis

OFFTRAF(traffic,circuits)

Arguments

traffic: number of carried calls

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circuits: number of circuits

Description

OFFTRAF returns the predicted number of offered calls given traffic carried calls (taken from
measurements) on circuits circuits.

Note

traffic cannot exceed circuits.

See also

PROBBLOCK, DIMCIRC, OFFCAP.

PROBBLOCK

PROBBLOCK — probability of blocking

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
See also

Synopsis

PROBBLOCK(traffic,circuits)

Arguments

traffic: number of calls

circuits: number of circuits

Description

PROBBLOCK returns probability of blocking when traffic calls load into circuits circuits.

Note

traffic cannot exceed circuits.

See also

OFFTRAF, DIMCIRC, OFFCAP.

A.7. Finance

ACCRINT — accrued interest

ACCRINTM — accrued interest
AMORDEGRC — depreciation of an asset using French accounting conventions
AMORLINC — depreciation of an asset using French accounting conventions
COUPDAYBS — number of days from coupon period to settlement
COUPDAYS — number of days in the coupon period of the settlement date
COUPDAYSNC — number of days from the settlement date to the next coupon period
COUPNCD — the next coupon date after settlement
COUPNUM — number of coupons
COUPPCD — the last coupon date before settlement
CUM_BIV_NORM_DIST — cumulative bivariate normal distribution
CUMIPMT — cumulative interest payment
CUMPRINC — cumulative principal
DB — depreciation of an asset
DDB — depreciation of an asset

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DISC — discount rate
DOLLARDE — convert to decimal dollar amount
DOLLARFR — convert to dollar fraction
DURATION — the (Macaulay) duration of a security
EFFECT — effective interest rate
EURO — equivalent of 1 EUR
EUROCONVERT — pre-Euro amount from one currency to another
FV — future value
FVSCHEDULE — future value
G_DURATION — the duration of a investment
INTRATE — interest rate
IPMT — interest payment for period
IRR — internal rate of return
ISPMT — interest payment for period
MDURATION — the modified (Macaulay) duration of a security
MIRR — modified internal rate of return
NOMINAL — nominal interest rate
NPER — number of periods
NPV — net present value
ODDFPRICE — price of a security that has an odd first period
ODDFYIELD — yield of a security that has an odd first period
ODDLPRICE — price of a security that has an odd last period
ODDLYIELD — yield of a security that has an odd last period
OPT_2_ASSET_CORRELATION — theoretical price of options on 2 assets with correlation rho
OPT_AMER_EXCHANGE — theoretical price of an American option to exchange assets
OPT_BAW_AMER — theoretical price of an option according to the Barone Adesie & Whaley
approximation
OPT_BINOMIAL — theoretical price of either an American or European style option using a binomial
tree
OPT_BJER_STENS — theoretical price of American options according to the Bjerksund & Stensland
approximation technique
OPT_BS — price of a European option
OPT_BS_CARRYCOST — elasticity of a European option
OPT_BS_DELTA — delta of a European option
OPT_BS_GAMMA — gamma of a European option
OPT_BS_RHO — rho of a European option
OPT_BS_THETA — theta of a European option
OPT_BS_VEGA — vega of a European option
OPT_COMPLEX_CHOOSER — theoretical price of a complex chooser option
OPT_EURO_EXCHANGE — theoretical price of a European option to exchange assets
OPT_EXEC — theoretical price of executive stock options
OPT_EXTENDIBLE_WRITER — theoretical price of extendible writer options
OPT_FIXED_STRK_LKBK — theoretical price of a fixed-strike lookback option
OPT_FLOAT_STRK_LKBK — theoretical price of floating-strike lookback option
OPT_FORWARD_START — theoretical price of forward start options
OPT_FRENCH — theoretical price of a European option adjusted for trading day volatility
OPT_GARMAN_KOHLHAGEN — theoretical price of a European currency option
OPT_JUMP_DIFF — theoretical price of an option according to the Jump Diffusion process
OPT_MILTERSEN_SCHWARTZ — theoretical price of options on commodities futures according to
Miltersen & Schwartz
OPT_ON_OPTIONS — theoretical price of options on options
OPT_RGW — theoretical price of an American option according to the Roll-Geske-Whaley approximation
OPT_SIMPLE_CHOOSER — theoretical price of a simple chooser option
OPT_SPREAD_APPROX — theoretical price of a European option on the spread between two futures
contracts
OPT_TIME_SWITCH — theoretical price of time switch options
PMT — payment for annuity
PPMT — interest payment for period
PRICE — price of a security
PRICEDISC — discounted price
PRICEMAT — price at maturity
PV — present value
RATE — rate of investment
RECEIVED — amount to be received at maturity
RRI — equivalent interest rate for an investment increasing in value

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SLN — depreciation of an asset
SYD — sum-of-years depreciation
TBILLEQ — bond-equivalent yield for a treasury bill
TBILLPRICE — price of a treasury bill
TBILLYIELD — yield of a treasury bill
VDB — depreciation of an asset
XIRR — internal rate of return
XNPV — net present value
YIELD — yield of a security
YIELDDISC — yield of a discounted security
YIELDMAT — yield of a security

ACCRINT

ACCRINT — accrued interest

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
See also

Synopsis

ACCRINT(issue,first_interest,settlement,rate,par,frequency,basis,calc_method)

Arguments

issue: date of issue

first_interest: date of first interest payment

settlement: settlement date

rate: nominal annual interest rate

par: par value, defaults to $1000

frequency: number of interest payments per year

basis: calendar basis, defaults to 0

calc_method: calculation method, defaults to TRUE

Description

If first_interest < settlement and calc_method is TRUE, then ACCRINT returns the sum of the interest
accrued in all coupon periods from issue date until settlement date.

If first_interest < settlement and calc_method is FALSE, then ACCRINT returns the sum of the
interest accrued in all coupon periods from first_interest date until settlement date.

Otherwise ACCRINT returns the sum of the interest accrued in all coupon periods from issue date until
settlement date.

Note

frequency must be one of 1, 2 or 4, but the exact value does not affect the result. issue must precede both
first_interest and settlement. frequency may be 1 (annual), 2 (semi-annual), or 4 (quarterly). If basis
is 0, then the US 30/360 method is used. If basis is 1, then actual number of days is used. If basis is 2, then
actual number of days is used within a month, but years are considered only 360 days. If basis is 3, then actual
number of days is used within a month, but years are always considered 365 days. If basis is 4, then the
European 30/360 method is used.

See also

ACCRINTM.

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ACCRINTM

ACCRINTM — accrued interest

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
See also

Synopsis

ACCRINTM(issue,maturity,rate,par,basis)

Arguments

issue: date of issue

maturity: maturity date

rate: nominal annual interest rate

par: par value

basis: calendar basis

Description

ACCRINTM calculates the accrued interest from issue to maturity.

Note

par defaults to $1000. If basis is 0, then the US 30/360 method is used. If basis is 1, then actual number of
days is used. If basis is 2, then actual number of days is used within a month, but years are considered only 360
days. If basis is 3, then actual number of days is used within a month, but years are always considered 365
days. If basis is 4, then the European 30/360 method is used.

See also

ACCRINT.

AMORDEGRC

AMORDEGRC — depreciation of an asset using French accounting conventions

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
See also

Synopsis

AMORDEGRC(cost,purchase_date,first_period,salvage,period,rate,basis)

Arguments

cost: initial cost of asset

purchase_date: date of purchase

first_period: end of first period

salvage: value after depreciation

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period: subject period

rate: depreciation rate

basis: calendar basis

Description

AMORDEGRC calculates the depreciation of an asset using French accounting conventions. Assets purchased in
the middle of a period take prorated depreciation into account. This is similar to AMORLINC, except that a
depreciation coefficient is applied in the calculation depending on the life of the assets.

The depreciation coefficient used is:

1.0 for an expected lifetime less than 3 years,

1.5 for an expected lifetime of at least 3 years but less than 5 years,

2.0 for an expected lifetime of at least 5 years but at most 6 years,

2.5 for an expected lifetime of more than 6 years.

Note

Special depreciation rules are applied for the last two periods resulting in a possible total depreciation
exceeding the difference of cost - salvage. Named for AMORtissement DEGRessif Comptabilite. If basis is
0, then the US 30/360 method is used. If basis is 1, then actual number of days is used. If basis is 2, then
actual number of days is used within a month, but years are considered only 360 days. If basis is 3, then actual
number of days is used within a month, but years are always considered 365 days. If basis is 4, then the
European 30/360 method is used.

See also

AMORLINC.

AMORLINC

AMORLINC — depreciation of an asset using French accounting conventions

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
See also

Synopsis

AMORLINC(cost,purchase_date,first_period,salvage,period,rate,basis)

Arguments

cost: initial cost of asset

purchase_date: date of purchase

first_period: end of first period

salvage: value after depreciation

period: subject period

rate: depreciation rate

basis: calendar basis

Description

AMORLINC calculates the depreciation of an asset using French accounting conventions. Assets purchased in the
middle of a period take prorated depreciation into account.

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Note

Named for AMORtissement LINeaire Comptabilite. If basis is 0, then the US 30/360 method is used. If basis is
1, then actual number of days is used. If basis is 2, then actual number of days is used within a month, but
years are considered only 360 days. If basis is 3, then actual number of days is used within a month, but years
are always considered 365 days. If basis is 4, then the European 30/360 method is used.

See also

AMORDEGRC.

COUPDAYBS

COUPDAYBS — number of days from coupon period to settlement

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
See also

Synopsis

COUPDAYBS(settlement,maturity,frequency,basis,eom)

Arguments

settlement: settlement date

maturity: maturity date

frequency: number of interest payments per year

basis: calendar basis

eom: end-of-month flag

Description

COUPDAYBS calculates the number of days from the beginning of the coupon period to the settlement date.

Note

frequency may be 1 (annual), 2 (semi-annual), or 4 (quarterly). If basis is 0, then the US 30/360 method is
used. If basis is 1, then actual number of days is used. If basis is 2, then actual number of days is used within a
month, but years are considered only 360 days. If basis is 3, then actual number of days is used within a month,
but years are always considered 365 days. If basis is 4, then the European 30/360 method is used.

See also

COUPDAYS.

COUPDAYS

COUPDAYS — number of days in the coupon period of the settlement date

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
See also

Synopsis

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COUPDAYS(settlement,maturity,frequency,basis,eom)

Arguments

settlement: settlement date

maturity: maturity date

frequency: number of interest payments per year

basis: calendar basis

eom: end-of-month flag

Description

COUPDAYS calculates the number of days in the coupon period of the settlement date.

Note

frequency may be 1 (annual), 2 (semi-annual), or 4 (quarterly). If basis is 0, then the US 30/360 method is
used. If basis is 1, then actual number of days is used. If basis is 2, then actual number of days is used within a
month, but years are considered only 360 days. If basis is 3, then actual number of days is used within a month,
but years are always considered 365 days. If basis is 4, then the European 30/360 method is used.

See also

COUPDAYBS, COUPDAYSNC.

COUPDAYSNC

COUPDAYSNC — number of days from the settlement date to the next coupon period

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
See also

Synopsis

COUPDAYSNC(settlement,maturity,frequency,basis,eom)

Arguments

settlement: settlement date

maturity: maturity date

frequency: number of interest payments per year

basis: calendar basis

eom: end-of-month flag

Description

COUPDAYSNC calculates number of days from the settlement date to the next coupon period.

Note

frequency may be 1 (annual), 2 (semi-annual), or 4 (quarterly). If basis is 0, then the US 30/360 method is
used. If basis is 1, then actual number of days is used. If basis is 2, then actual number of days is used within a
month, but years are considered only 360 days. If basis is 3, then actual number of days is used within a month,
but years are always considered 365 days. If basis is 4, then the European 30/360 method is used.

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See also

COUPDAYS, COUPDAYBS.

COUPNCD

COUPNCD — the next coupon date after settlement

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
See also

Synopsis

COUPNCD(settlement,maturity,frequency,basis,eom)

Arguments

settlement: settlement date

maturity: maturity date

frequency: number of interest payments per year

basis: calendar basis

eom: end-of-month flag

Description

COUPNCD calculates the coupon date following settlement.

Note

frequency may be 1 (annual), 2 (semi-annual), or 4 (quarterly). If basis is 0, then the US 30/360 method is
used. If basis is 1, then actual number of days is used. If basis is 2, then actual number of days is used within a
month, but years are considered only 360 days. If basis is 3, then actual number of days is used within a month,
but years are always considered 365 days. If basis is 4, then the European 30/360 method is used.

See also

COUPPCD, COUPDAYS, COUPDAYBS.

COUPNUM

COUPNUM — number of coupons

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
See also

Synopsis

COUPNUM(settlement,maturity,frequency,basis,eom)

Arguments

settlement: settlement date

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maturity: maturity date

frequency: number of interest payments per year

basis: calendar basis

eom: end-of-month flag

Description

COUPNUM calculates the number of coupons to be paid between the settlement and maturity dates, rounded
up.

Note

frequency may be 1 (annual), 2 (semi-annual), or 4 (quarterly). If basis is 0, then the US 30/360 method is
used. If basis is 1, then actual number of days is used. If basis is 2, then actual number of days is used within a
month, but years are considered only 360 days. If basis is 3, then actual number of days is used within a month,
but years are always considered 365 days. If basis is 4, then the European 30/360 method is used.

See also

COUPNCD, COUPPCD.

COUPPCD

COUPPCD — the last coupon date before settlement

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
See also

Synopsis

COUPPCD(settlement,maturity,frequency,basis,eom)

Arguments

settlement: settlement date

maturity: maturity date

frequency: number of interest payments per year

basis: calendar basis

eom: end-of-month flag

Description

COUPPCD calculates the coupon date preceding settlement.

Note

frequency may be 1 (annual), 2 (semi-annual), or 4 (quarterly). If basis is 0, then the US 30/360 method is
used. If basis is 1, then actual number of days is used. If basis is 2, then actual number of days is used within a
month, but years are considered only 360 days. If basis is 3, then actual number of days is used within a month,
but years are always considered 365 days. If basis is 4, then the European 30/360 method is used.

See also

COUPNCD, COUPDAYS, COUPDAYBS.

CUM_BIV_NORM_DIST

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CUM_BIV_NORM_DIST — cumulative bivariate normal distribution

Synopsis
Arguments
Description

Synopsis

CUM_BIV_NORM_DIST(a,b,rho)

Arguments

a: limit for first random variable

b: limit for second random variable

rho: correlation of the two random variables

Description

CUM_BIV_NORM_DIST calculates the probability that two standard normal distributed random variables with
correlation rho are respectively each less than a and b.

CUMIPMT

CUMIPMT — cumulative interest payment

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
See also

Synopsis

CUMIPMT(rate,nper,pv,start_period,end_period,type)

Arguments

rate: interest rate per period

nper: number of periods

pv: present value

start_period: first period to accumulate for

end_period: last period to accumulate for

type: payment type

Description

CUMIPMT calculates the cumulative interest paid on a loan from start_period to end_period.

Note

If type is 0, the default, payment is at the end of each period. If type is 1, payment is at the beginning of each
period.

See also

IPMT.

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CUMPRINC

CUMPRINC — cumulative principal

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
See also

Synopsis

CUMPRINC(rate,nper,pv,start_period,end_period,type)

Arguments

rate: interest rate per period

nper: number of periods

pv: present value

start_period: first period to accumulate for

end_period: last period to accumulate for

type: payment type

Description

CUMPRINC calculates the cumulative principal paid on a loan from start_period to end_period.

Note

If type is 0, the default, payment is at the end of each period. If type is 1, payment is at the beginning of each
period.

See also

PPMT.

DB

DB — depreciation of an asset

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
See also

Synopsis

DB(cost,salvage,life,period,month)

Arguments

cost: initial cost of asset

salvage: value after depreciation

life: number of periods

period: subject period

month: number of months in first year of depreciation

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Description

DB calculates the depreciation of an asset for a given period using the fixed-declining balance method.

See also

DDB, SLN, SYD.

DDB

DDB — depreciation of an asset

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
See also

Synopsis

DDB(cost,salvage,life,period,factor)

Arguments

cost: initial cost of asset

salvage: value after depreciation

life: number of periods

period: subject period

factor: factor at which the balance declines

Description

DDB calculates the depreciation of an asset for a given period using the double-declining balance method.

See also

DB, SLN, SYD.

DISC

DISC — discount rate

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
See also

Synopsis

DISC(settlement,maturity,par,redemption,basis)

Arguments

settlement: settlement date

maturity: maturity date

par: price per $100 face value

redemption: amount received at maturity

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basis: calendar basis

Description

DISC calculates the discount rate for a security.

Note

redemption is the redemption value per $100 face value. If basis is 0, then the US 30/360 method is used. If
basis is 1, then actual number of days is used. If basis is 2, then actual number of days is used within a month,
but years are considered only 360 days. If basis is 3, then actual number of days is used within a month, but
years are always considered 365 days. If basis is 4, then the European 30/360 method is used.

See also

PRICEMAT.

DOLLARDE

DOLLARDE — convert to decimal dollar amount

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
See also

Synopsis

DOLLARDE(fractional_dollar,fraction)

Arguments

fractional_dollar: amount to convert

fraction: denominator

Description

DOLLARDE converts a fractional dollar amount into a decimal amount. This is the inverse of the DOLLARFR
function.

See also

DOLLARFR.

DOLLARFR

DOLLARFR — convert to dollar fraction

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
See also

Synopsis

DOLLARFR(decimal_dollar,fraction)

Arguments

decimal_dollar: amount to convert

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fraction: denominator

Description

DOLLARFR converts a decimal dollar amount into a fractional amount which is represented as the digits after
the decimal point. For example, 2/8 would be represented as .2 while 3/16 would be represented as .03. This is
the inverse of the DOLLARDE function.

See also

DOLLARDE.

DURATION

DURATION — the (Macaulay) duration of a security

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
See also

Synopsis

DURATION(settlement,maturity,coupon,yield,frequency,basis)

Arguments

settlement: settlement date

maturity: maturity date

coupon: annual coupon rate

yield: annual yield of security

frequency: number of interest payments per year

basis: calendar basis

Description

DURATION calculates the (Macaulay) duration of a security.

Note

frequency may be 1 (annual), 2 (semi-annual), or 4 (quarterly). If basis is 0, then the US 30/360 method is
used. If basis is 1, then actual number of days is used. If basis is 2, then actual number of days is used within a
month, but years are considered only 360 days. If basis is 3, then actual number of days is used within a month,
but years are always considered 365 days. If basis is 4, then the European 30/360 method is used.

See also

MDURATION, G_DURATION.

EFFECT

EFFECT — effective interest rate

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
See also

Synopsis

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EFFECT(rate,nper)

Arguments

rate: nominal annual interest rate

nper: number of periods used for compounding

Description

EFFECT calculates the effective interest rate using the formula (1+rate/nper)^nper-1.

See also

NOMINAL.

EURO

EURO — equivalent of 1 EUR

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
See also

Synopsis

EURO(currency)

Arguments

currency: three-letter currency code

Description

EURO calculates the national currency amount corresponding to 1 EUR for any of the national currencies that
were replaced by the Euro on its introduction.

Note

currency must be one of ATS (Austria), BEF (Belgium), CYP (Cyprus), DEM (Germany), EEK (Estonia), ESP
(Spain), EUR (Euro), FIM (Finland), FRF (France), GRD (Greece), IEP (Ireland), ITL (Italy), LUF (Luxembourg), MTL
(Malta), NLG (The Netherlands), PTE (Portugal), SIT (Slovenia), or SKK (Slovakia). This function is not likely to be
useful anymore.

See also

EUROCONVERT.

EUROCONVERT

EUROCONVERT — pre-Euro amount from one currency to another

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
See also

Synopsis

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EUROCONVERT(n,source,target,full_precision,triangulation_precision)

Arguments

n: amount

source: three-letter source currency code

target: three-letter target currency code

full_precision: whether to provide the full precision; defaults to false

triangulation_precision: number of digits (at least 3) to be rounded to after conversion of the source
currency to euro; defaults to no rounding

Description

EUROCONVERT converts n units of currency source to currency target. The rates used are the official ones
used on the introduction of the Euro.

Note

If full_precision is true, the result is not rounded; if it false the result is rounded to 0 or 2 decimals
depending on the target currency; defaults to false. source and target must be one of the currencies listed
for the EURO function. This function is not likely to be useful anymore.

See also

EURO.

FV

FV — future value

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
See also

Synopsis

FV(rate,nper,pmt,pv,type)

Arguments

rate: effective interest rate per period

nper: number of periods

pmt: payment at each period

pv: present value

type: payment type

Description

FV calculates the future value of pv moved nper periods into the future, assuming a periodic payment of pmt
and an interest rate of rate per period.

Note

If type is 0, the default, payment is at the end of each period. If type is 1, payment is at the beginning of each
period.

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See also

PV.

FVSCHEDULE

FVSCHEDULE — future value

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
See also

Synopsis

FVSCHEDULE(principal,schedule)

Arguments

principal: initial value

schedule: range of interest rates

Description

FVSCHEDULE calculates the future value of principal after applying a range of interest rates with
compounding.

See also

FV.

G_DURATION

G_DURATION — the duration of a investment

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
OpenDocument Format (ODF) Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

G_DURATION(rate,pv,fv)

Arguments

rate: effective annual interest rate

pv: present value

fv: future value

Description

G_DURATION calculates the number of periods needed for an investment to attain a desired value.

OpenDocument Format (ODF) Compatibility

G_DURATION is the OpenFormula function PDURATION.

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See also

FV, PV, DURATION, MDURATION.

INTRATE

INTRATE — interest rate

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
See also

Synopsis

INTRATE(settlement,maturity,investment,redemption,basis)

Arguments

settlement: settlement date

maturity: maturity date

investment: amount paid on settlement

redemption: amount received at maturity

basis: calendar basis

Description

INTRATE calculates the interest of a fully vested security.

Note

If basis is 0, then the US 30/360 method is used. If basis is 1, then actual number of days is used. If basis is
2, then actual number of days is used within a month, but years are considered only 360 days. If basis is 3, then
actual number of days is used within a month, but years are always considered 365 days. If basis is 4, then the
European 30/360 method is used.

See also

RECEIVED.

IPMT

IPMT — interest payment for period

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
See also

Synopsis

IPMT(rate,per,nper,pv,fv,type)

Arguments

rate: effective annual interest rate

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per: period number

nper: number of periods

pv: present value

fv: future value

type: payment type

Description

IPMT calculates the interest part of an annuity's payment for period number per.

Note

If type is 0, the default, payment is at the end of each period. If type is 1, payment is at the beginning of each
period.

See also

PPMT.

IRR

IRR — internal rate of return

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
See also

Synopsis

IRR(values,guess)

Arguments

values: cash flow

guess: an estimate of what the result should be

Description

IRR calculates the internal rate of return of a cash flow with periodic payments. values lists the payments
(negative values) and receipts (positive values) for each period.

Note

The optional guess is needed because there can be more than one valid result. It defaults to 10%.

See also

XIRR.

ISPMT

ISPMT — interest payment for period

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
See also

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Synopsis

ISPMT(rate,per,nper,pv)

Arguments

rate: effective annual interest rate

per: period number

nper: number of periods

pv: present value

Description

ISPMT calculates the interest payment for period number per.

See also

PV.

MDURATION

MDURATION — the modified (Macaulay) duration of a security

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
See also

Synopsis

MDURATION(settlement,maturity,coupon,yield,frequency,basis)

Arguments

settlement: settlement date

maturity: maturity date

coupon: annual coupon rate

yield: annual yield of security

frequency: number of interest payments per year

basis: calendar basis

Description

MDURATION calculates the modified (Macaulay) duration of a security.

Note

frequency may be 1 (annual), 2 (semi-annual), or 4 (quarterly). If basis is 0, then the US 30/360 method is
used. If basis is 1, then actual number of days is used. If basis is 2, then actual number of days is used within a
month, but years are considered only 360 days. If basis is 3, then actual number of days is used within a month,
but years are always considered 365 days. If basis is 4, then the European 30/360 method is used.

See also

DURATION, G_DURATION.

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MIRR

MIRR — modified internal rate of return

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
See also

Synopsis

MIRR(values,finance_rate,reinvest_rate)

Arguments

values: cash flow

finance_rate: interest rate for financing cost

reinvest_rate: interest rate for reinvestments

Description

MIRR calculates the modified internal rate of return of a periodic cash flow.

See also

IRR, XIRR.

NOMINAL

NOMINAL — nominal interest rate

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
See also

Synopsis

NOMINAL(rate,nper)

Arguments

rate: effective annual interest rate

nper: number of periods used for compounding

Description

NOMINAL calculates the nominal interest rate from the effective rate.

See also

EFFECT.

NPER

NPER — number of periods

Synopsis
Arguments

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Description
Note
See also

Synopsis

NPER(rate,pmt,pv,fv,type)

Arguments

rate: effective annual interest rate

pmt: payment at each period

pv: present value

fv: future value

type: payment type

Description

NPER calculates the number of periods of an investment based on periodic constant payments and a constant
interest rate.

Note

If type is 0, the default, payment is at the end of each period. If type is 1, payment is at the beginning of each
period.

See also

PV, FV.

NPV

NPV — net present value

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
See also

Synopsis

NPV(rate,value1,value2,…)

Arguments

rate: effective interest rate per period

value1: cash flow for period 1

value2: cash flow for period 2

Description

NPV calculates the net present value of a cash flow.

See also

PV.

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ODDFPRICE

ODDFPRICE — price of a security that has an odd first period

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
See also

Synopsis

ODDFPRICE(settlement,maturity,issue,first_interest,rate,yield,redemption,frequency,basis)

Arguments

settlement: settlement date

maturity: maturity date

issue: date of issue

first_interest: first interest date

rate: nominal annual interest rate

yield: annual yield of security

redemption: amount received at maturity

frequency: number of interest payments per year

basis: calendar basis

Description

ODDFPRICE calculates the price per $100 face value of a security that pays periodic interest, but has an odd
first period.

Note

frequency may be 1 (annual), 2 (semi-annual), or 4 (quarterly). If basis is 0, then the US 30/360 method is
used. If basis is 1, then actual number of days is used. If basis is 2, then actual number of days is used within a
month, but years are considered only 360 days. If basis is 3, then actual number of days is used within a month,
but years are always considered 365 days. If basis is 4, then the European 30/360 method is used.

See also

ODDLPRICE, ODDFYIELD.

ODDFYIELD

ODDFYIELD — yield of a security that has an odd first period

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
See also

Synopsis

ODDFYIELD(settlement,maturity,issue,first_interest,rate,price,redemption,frequency,basis)

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Arguments

settlement: settlement date

maturity: maturity date

issue: date of issue

first_interest: first interest date

rate: nominal annual interest rate

price: price of security

redemption: amount received at maturity

frequency: number of interest payments per year

basis: calendar basis

Description

ODDFYIELD calculates the yield of a security that pays periodic interest, but has an odd first period.

Note

frequency may be 1 (annual), 2 (semi-annual), or 4 (quarterly). If basis is 0, then the US 30/360 method is
used. If basis is 1, then actual number of days is used. If basis is 2, then actual number of days is used within a
month, but years are considered only 360 days. If basis is 3, then actual number of days is used within a month,
but years are always considered 365 days. If basis is 4, then the European 30/360 method is used.

See also

ODDFPRICE, ODDLYIELD.

ODDLPRICE

ODDLPRICE — price of a security that has an odd last period

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
See also

Synopsis

ODDLPRICE(settlement,maturity,last_interest,rate,yield,redemption,frequency,basis)

Arguments

settlement: settlement date

maturity: maturity date

last_interest: last interest date

rate: nominal annual interest rate

yield: annual yield of security

redemption: amount received at maturity

frequency: number of interest payments per year

basis: calendar basis

Description

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ODDLPRICE calculates the price per $100 face value of a security that pays periodic interest, but has an odd last
period.

Note

frequency may be 1 (annual), 2 (semi-annual), or 4 (quarterly). If basis is 0, then the US 30/360 method is
used. If basis is 1, then actual number of days is used. If basis is 2, then actual number of days is used within a
month, but years are considered only 360 days. If basis is 3, then actual number of days is used within a month,
but years are always considered 365 days. If basis is 4, then the European 30/360 method is used.

See also

YIELD, DURATION.

ODDLYIELD

ODDLYIELD — yield of a security that has an odd last period

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
See also

Synopsis

ODDLYIELD(settlement,maturity,last_interest,rate,price,redemption,frequency,basis)

Arguments

settlement: settlement date

maturity: maturity date

last_interest: last interest date

rate: nominal annual interest rate

price: price of security

redemption: amount received at maturity

frequency: number of interest payments per year

basis: calendar basis

Description

ODDLYIELD calculates the yield of a security that pays periodic interest, but has an odd last period.

Note

frequency may be 1 (annual), 2 (semi-annual), or 4 (quarterly). If basis is 0, then the US 30/360 method is
used. If basis is 1, then actual number of days is used. If basis is 2, then actual number of days is used within a
month, but years are considered only 360 days. If basis is 3, then actual number of days is used within a month,
but years are always considered 365 days. If basis is 4, then the European 30/360 method is used.

See also

YIELD, DURATION.

OPT_2_ASSET_CORRELATION

OPT_2_ASSET_CORRELATION — theoretical price of options on 2 assets with correlation rho

Synopsis

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Arguments
Description
See also

Synopsis

OPT_2_ASSET_CORRELATION(call_put_flag,spot1,spot2,strike1,strike2,time,cost_of_carry1,cost_of_carry2,rate,volatility1,vo

Arguments

call_put_flag: 'c' for a call and 'p' for a put

spot1: spot price of the underlying asset of the first option

spot2: spot price of the underlying asset of the second option

strike1: strike prices of the first option

strike2: strike prices of the second option

time: time to maturity in years

cost_of_carry1: net cost of holding the underlying asset of the first option (for common stocks, the risk free
rate less the dividend yield)

cost_of_carry2: net cost of holding the underlying asset of the second option (for common stocks, the risk
free rate less the dividend yield)

rate: annualized risk-free interest rate

volatility1: annualized volatility in price of the underlying asset of the first option

volatility2: annualized volatility in price of the underlying asset of the second option

rho: correlation between the two underlying assets

Description

OPT_2_ASSET_CORRELATION models the theoretical price of options on 2 assets with correlation rho. The
payoff for a call is max(spot2 - strike2,0) if spot1 > strike1 or 0 otherwise. The payoff for a put is max
(strike2 - spot2, 0) if spot1 < strike1 or 0 otherwise.

See also

OPT_BS, OPT_BS_DELTA, OPT_BS_RHO, OPT_BS_THETA, OPT_BS_GAMMA.

OPT_AMER_EXCHANGE

OPT_AMER_EXCHANGE — theoretical price of an American option to exchange assets

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
See also

Synopsis

OPT_AMER_EXCHANGE(spot1,spot2,qty1,qty2,time,rate,cost_of_carry1,cost_of_carry2,volatility1,volatility2,rho)

Arguments

spot1: spot price of asset 1

spot2: spot price of asset 2

qty1: quantity of asset 1

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qty2: quantity of asset 2

time: time to maturity in years

rate: annualized risk-free interest rate

cost_of_carry1: net cost of holding asset 1 (for common stocks, the risk free rate less the dividend yield)

cost_of_carry2: net cost of holding asset 2 (for common stocks, the risk free rate less the dividend yield)

volatility1: annualized volatility in price of asset 1

volatility2: annualized volatility in price of asset 2

rho: correlation between the prices of the two assets

Description

OPT_AMER_EXCHANGE models the theoretical price of an American option to exchange one asset with quantity
qty2 and spot price spot2 for another with quantity qty1 and spot price spot1.

See also

OPT_EURO_EXCHANGE, OPT_BS, OPT_BS_DELTA, OPT_BS_RHO, OPT_BS_THETA, OPT_BS_GAMMA.

OPT_BAW_AMER

OPT_BAW_AMER — theoretical price of an option according to the Barone Adesie & Whaley approximation

Synopsis
Arguments
See also

Synopsis

OPT_BAW_AMER(call_put_flag,spot,strike,time,rate,cost_of_carry,volatility)

Arguments

call_put_flag: 'c' for a call and 'p' for a put

spot: spot price

strike: strike price

time: time to maturity in days

rate: annualized risk-free interest rate

cost_of_carry: net cost of holding the underlying asset

volatility: annualized volatility of the asset

See also

OPT_BS, OPT_BS_DELTA, OPT_BS_RHO, OPT_BS_THETA, OPT_BS_GAMMA.

OPT_BINOMIAL

OPT_BINOMIAL — theoretical price of either an American or European style option using a binomial tree

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
See also

Synopsis

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OPT_BINOMIAL(amer_euro_flag,call_put_flag,num_time_steps,spot,strike,time,rate,volatility,cost_of_carry)

Arguments

amer_euro_flag: 'a' for an American style option or 'e' for a European style option

call_put_flag: 'c' for a call and 'p' for a put

num_time_steps: number of time steps used in the valuation

spot: spot price

strike: strike price

time: time to maturity in years

rate: annualized risk-free interest rate

volatility: annualized volatility of the asset

cost_of_carry: net cost of holding the underlying asset

Note

A larger num_time_steps yields greater accuracy but OPT_BINOMIAL is slower to calculate.

See also

OPT_BS, OPT_BS_DELTA, OPT_BS_RHO, OPT_BS_THETA, OPT_BS_GAMMA.

OPT_BJER_STENS

OPT_BJER_STENS — theoretical price of American options according to the Bjerksund & Stensland
approximation technique

Synopsis
Arguments
See also

Synopsis

OPT_BJER_STENS(call_put_flag,spot,strike,time,rate,volatility,cost_of_carry)

Arguments

call_put_flag: 'c' for a call and 'p' for a put

spot: spot price

strike: strike price

time: time to maturity in days

rate: annualized risk-free interest rate

volatility: annualized volatility of the asset

cost_of_carry: net cost of holding the underlying asset (for common stocks, the risk free rate less the
dividend yield), defaults to 0

See also

OPT_BS, OPT_BS_DELTA, OPT_BS_RHO, OPT_BS_THETA, OPT_BS_GAMMA.

OPT_BS

OPT_BS — price of a European option

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Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
See also

Synopsis

OPT_BS(call_put_flag,spot,strike,time,rate,volatility,cost_of_carry)

Arguments

call_put_flag: 'c' for a call and 'p' for a put

spot: spot price

strike: strike price

time: time to maturity in years

rate: risk-free interest rate to the exercise date in percent

volatility: annualized volatility of the asset in percent for the period through to the exercise date

cost_of_carry: net cost of holding the underlying asset (for common stocks, the risk free rate less the
dividend yield), defaults to 0

Description

OPT_BS uses the Black-Scholes model to calculate the price of a European option struck at strike on an asset
with spot price spot.

Note

The returned value will be expressed in the same units as strike and spot.

See also

OPT_BS_DELTA, OPT_BS_RHO, OPT_BS_THETA, OPT_BS_VEGA, OPT_BS_GAMMA.

OPT_BS_CARRYCOST

OPT_BS_CARRYCOST — elasticity of a European option

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
See also

Synopsis

OPT_BS_CARRYCOST(call_put_flag,spot,strike,time,rate,volatility,cost_of_carry)

Arguments

call_put_flag: 'c' for a call and 'p' for a put

spot: spot price

strike: strike price

time: time to maturity in years

rate: risk-free interest rate to the exercise date in percent

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volatility: annualized volatility of the asset in percent for the period through to the exercise date

cost_of_carry: net cost of holding the underlying asset (for common stocks, the risk free rate less the
dividend yield), defaults to 0

Description

OPT_BS_CARRYCOST uses the Black-Scholes model to calculate the 'elasticity' of a European option struck at
strike on an asset with spot price spot. The elasticity of an option is the rate of change of its price with
respect to its cost_of_carry.

Note

Elasticity is expressed as the rate of change of the option value, per 100% volatility.

See also

OPT_BS, OPT_BS_DELTA, OPT_BS_RHO, OPT_BS_THETA, OPT_BS_GAMMA.

OPT_BS_DELTA

OPT_BS_DELTA — delta of a European option

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
See also

Synopsis

OPT_BS_DELTA(call_put_flag,spot,strike,time,rate,volatility,cost_of_carry)

Arguments

call_put_flag: 'c' for a call and 'p' for a put

spot: spot price

strike: strike price

time: time to maturity in years

rate: risk-free interest rate to the exercise date in percent

volatility: annualized volatility of the asset in percent for the period through to the exercise date

cost_of_carry: net cost of holding the underlying asset (for common stocks, the risk free rate less the
dividend yield), defaults to 0

Description

OPT_BS_DELTA uses the Black-Scholes model to calculate the 'delta' of a European option struck at strike on
an asset with spot price spot.

Note

The returned value will be expressed in the same units as strike and spot.

See also

OPT_BS, OPT_BS_RHO, OPT_BS_THETA, OPT_BS_VEGA, OPT_BS_GAMMA.

OPT_BS_GAMMA

OPT_BS_GAMMA — gamma of a European option

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Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
See also

Synopsis

OPT_BS_GAMMA(spot,strike,time,rate,volatility,cost_of_carry)

Arguments

spot: spot price

strike: strike price

time: time to maturity in years

rate: risk-free interest rate to the exercise date in percent

volatility: annualized volatility of the asset in percent for the period through to the exercise date

cost_of_carry: net cost of holding the underlying asset (for common stocks, the risk free rate less the
dividend yield), defaults to 0

Description

OPT_BS_GAMMA uses the Black-Scholes model to calculate the 'gamma' of a European option struck at strike
on an asset with spot price spot. The gamma of an option is the second derivative of its price with respect to
the price of the underlying asset.

Note

Gamma is expressed as the rate of change of delta per unit change in spot. Gamma is the same for calls and
puts.

See also

OPT_BS, OPT_BS_DELTA, OPT_BS_RHO, OPT_BS_THETA, OPT_BS_VEGA.

OPT_BS_RHO

OPT_BS_RHO — rho of a European option

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
See also

Synopsis

OPT_BS_RHO(call_put_flag,spot,strike,time,rate,volatility,cost_of_carry)

Arguments

call_put_flag: 'c' for a call and 'p' for a put

spot: spot price

strike: strike price

time: time to maturity in years

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rate: risk-free interest rate to the exercise date in percent

volatility: annualized volatility of the asset in percent for the period through to the exercise date

cost_of_carry: net cost of holding the underlying asset (for common stocks, the risk free rate less the
dividend yield), defaults to 0

Description

OPT_BS_RHO uses the Black-Scholes model to calculate the 'rho' of a European option struck at strike on an
asset with spot price spot. The rho of an option is the rate of change of its price with respect to the risk free
interest rate.

Note

Rho is expressed as the rate of change of the option value, per 100% change in rate.

See also

OPT_BS, OPT_BS_DELTA, OPT_BS_THETA, OPT_BS_VEGA, OPT_BS_GAMMA.

OPT_BS_THETA

OPT_BS_THETA — theta of a European option

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
See also

Synopsis

OPT_BS_THETA(call_put_flag,spot,strike,time,rate,volatility,cost_of_carry)

Arguments

call_put_flag: 'c' for a call and 'p' for a put

spot: spot price

strike: strike price

time: time to maturity in years

rate: risk-free interest rate to the exercise date in percent

volatility: annualized volatility of the asset in percent for the period through to the exercise date

cost_of_carry: net cost of holding the underlying asset (for common stocks, the risk free rate less the
dividend yield), defaults to 0

Description

OPT_BS_THETA uses the Black-Scholes model to calculate the 'theta' of a European option struck at strike on
an asset with spot price spot. The theta of an option is the rate of change of its price with respect to time to
expiry.

Note

Theta is expressed as the negative of the rate of change of the option value, per 365.25 days.

See also

OPT_BS, OPT_BS_DELTA, OPT_BS_RHO, OPT_BS_VEGA, OPT_BS_GAMMA.

OPT_BS_VEGA

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OPT_BS_VEGA — vega of a European option

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
See also

Synopsis

OPT_BS_VEGA(spot,strike,time,rate,volatility,cost_of_carry)

Arguments

spot: spot price

strike: strike price

time: time to maturity in years

rate: risk-free interest rate to the exercise date in percent

volatility: annualized volatility of the asset in percent for the period through to the exercise date

cost_of_carry: net cost of holding the underlying asset (for common stocks, the risk free rate less the
dividend yield), defaults to 0

Description

OPT_BS_VEGA uses the Black-Scholes model to calculate the 'vega' of a European option struck at strike on
an asset with spot price spot. The vega of an option is the rate of change of its price with respect to volatility.

Note

Vega is the same for calls and puts. Vega is expressed as the rate of change of option value, per 100% volatility.

See also

OPT_BS, OPT_BS_DELTA, OPT_BS_RHO, OPT_BS_THETA, OPT_BS_GAMMA.

OPT_COMPLEX_CHOOSER

OPT_COMPLEX_CHOOSER — theoretical price of a complex chooser option

Synopsis
Arguments
See also

Synopsis

OPT_COMPLEX_CHOOSER(spot,strike_call,strike_put,time,time_call,time_put,rate,cost_of_carry,volatility)

Arguments

spot: spot price

strike_call: strike price, if exercised as a call option

strike_put: strike price, if exercised as a put option

time: time in years until the holder chooses a put or a call option

time_call: time in years to maturity of the call option if chosen

time_put: time in years to maturity of the put option if chosen

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rate: annualized risk-free interest rate

cost_of_carry: net cost of holding the underlying asset

volatility: annualized volatility of the asset in percent for the period through to the exercise date

See also

OPT_BS, OPT_BS_DELTA, OPT_BS_RHO, OPT_BS_THETA, OPT_BS_GAMMA.

OPT_EURO_EXCHANGE

OPT_EURO_EXCHANGE — theoretical price of a European option to exchange assets

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
See also

Synopsis

OPT_EURO_EXCHANGE(spot1,spot2,qty1,qty2,time,rate,cost_of_carry1,cost_of_carry2,volatility1,volatility2,rho)

Arguments

spot1: spot price of asset 1

spot2: spot price of asset 2

qty1: quantity of asset 1

qty2: quantity of asset 2

time: time to maturity in years

rate: annualized risk-free interest rate

cost_of_carry1: net cost of holding asset 1 (for common stocks, the risk free rate less the dividend yield)

cost_of_carry2: net cost of holding asset 2 (for common stocks, the risk free rate less the dividend yield)

volatility1: annualized volatility in price of asset 1

volatility2: annualized volatility in price of asset 2

rho: correlation between the prices of the two assets

Description

OPT_EURO_EXCHANGE models the theoretical price of a European option to exchange one asset with quantity
qty2 and spot price spot2 for another with quantity qty1 and spot price spot1.

See also

OPT_AMER_EXCHANGE, OPT_BS, OPT_BS_DELTA, OPT_BS_RHO, OPT_BS_THETA, OPT_BS_GAMMA.

OPT_EXEC

OPT_EXEC — theoretical price of executive stock options

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
See also

Synopsis

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OPT_EXEC(call_put_flag,spot,strike,time,rate,volatility,cost_of_carry,lambda)

Arguments

call_put_flag: 'c' for a call and 'p' for a put

spot: spot price

strike: strike price

time: time to maturity in days

rate: annualized risk-free interest rate

volatility: annualized volatility of the asset

cost_of_carry: net cost of holding the underlying asset

lambda: jump rate for executives

Note

The model assumes executives forfeit their options if they leave the company.

See also

OPT_BS, OPT_BS_DELTA, OPT_BS_RHO, OPT_BS_THETA, OPT_BS_GAMMA.

OPT_EXTENDIBLE_WRITER

OPT_EXTENDIBLE_WRITER — theoretical price of extendible writer options

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
See also

Synopsis

OPT_EXTENDIBLE_WRITER(call_put_flag,spot,strike1,strike2,time1,time2,rate,cost_of_carry,volatility)

Arguments

call_put_flag: 'c' for a call and 'p' for a put

spot: spot price

strike1: strike price at which the option is struck

strike2: strike price at which the option is re-struck if out of the money at time1

time1: initial maturity of the option in years

time2: extended maturity in years if chosen

rate: annualized risk-free interest rate

cost_of_carry: net cost of holding the underlying asset

volatility: annualized volatility of the asset

Description

OPT_EXTENDIBLE_WRITER models the theoretical price of extendible writer options. These are options that
have their maturity extended to time2 if the option is out of the money at time1.

See also

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OPT_BS, OPT_BS_DELTA, OPT_BS_RHO, OPT_BS_THETA, OPT_BS_GAMMA.

OPT_FIXED_STRK_LKBK

OPT_FIXED_STRK_LKBK — theoretical price of a fixed-strike lookback option

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
See also

Synopsis

OPT_FIXED_STRK_LKBK(call_put_flag,spot,spot_min,spot_max,strike,time,rate,cost_of_carry,volatility)

Arguments

call_put_flag: 'c' for a call and 'p' for a put

spot: spot price

spot_min: minimum spot price of the underlying asset so far observed

spot_max: maximum spot price of the underlying asset so far observed

strike: strike price

time: time to maturity in years

rate: annualized risk-free interest rate

cost_of_carry: net cost of holding the underlying asset

volatility: annualized volatility of the asset

Description

OPT_FIXED_STRK_LKBK determines the theoretical price of a fixed-strike lookback option where the holder of
the option may exercise on expiry at the most favourable price observed during the options life of the
underlying asset.

See also

OPT_BS, OPT_BS_DELTA, OPT_BS_RHO, OPT_BS_THETA, OPT_BS_GAMMA.

OPT_FLOAT_STRK_LKBK

OPT_FLOAT_STRK_LKBK — theoretical price of floating-strike lookback option

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
See also

Synopsis

OPT_FLOAT_STRK_LKBK(call_put_flag,spot,spot_min,spot_max,time,rate,cost_of_carry,volatility)

Arguments

call_put_flag: 'c' for a call and 'p' for a put

spot: spot price

spot_min: minimum spot price of the underlying asset so far observed

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spot_max: maximum spot price of the underlying asset so far observed

time: time to maturity in years

rate: annualized risk-free interest rate

cost_of_carry: net cost of holding the underlying asset

volatility: annualized volatility of the asset

Description

OPT_FLOAT_STRK_LKBK determines the theoretical price of a floating-strike lookback option where the holder
of the option may exercise on expiry at the most favourable price observed during the options life of the
underlying asset.

See also

OPT_BS, OPT_BS_DELTA, OPT_BS_RHO, OPT_BS_THETA, OPT_BS_GAMMA.

OPT_FORWARD_START

OPT_FORWARD_START — theoretical price of forward start options

Synopsis
Arguments
See also

Synopsis

OPT_FORWARD_START(call_put_flag,spot,alpha,time_start,time,rate,volatility,cost_of_carry)

Arguments

call_put_flag: 'c' for a call and 'p' for a put

spot: spot price

alpha: fraction setting the strike price at the future date time_start

time_start: time until the option starts in days

time: time to maturity in days

rate: annualized risk-free interest rate

volatility: annualized volatility of the asset

cost_of_carry: net cost of holding the underlying asset

See also

OPT_BS, OPT_BS_DELTA, OPT_BS_RHO, OPT_BS_THETA, OPT_BS_GAMMA.

OPT_FRENCH

OPT_FRENCH — theoretical price of a European option adjusted for trading day volatility

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
See also

Synopsis

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OPT_FRENCH(call_put_flag,spot,strike,time,ttime,rate,volatility,cost_of_carry)

Arguments

call_put_flag: 'c' for a call and 'p' for a put

spot: spot price

strike: strike price

time: ratio of the number of calendar days to exercise and the number of calendar days in the year

ttime: ratio of the number of trading days to exercise and the number of trading days in the year

rate: risk-free interest rate to the exercise date in percent

volatility: annualized volatility of the asset in percent for the period through to the exercise date

cost_of_carry: net cost of holding the underlying asset (for common stocks, the risk free rate less the
dividend yield), defaults to 0

Description

OPT_FRENCH values the theoretical price of a European option adjusted for trading day volatility, struck at
strike on an asset with spot price spot.

See also

OPT_BS, OPT_BS_DELTA, OPT_BS_RHO, OPT_BS_THETA, OPT_BS_GAMMA.

OPT_GARMAN_KOHLHAGEN

OPT_GARMAN_KOHLHAGEN — theoretical price of a European currency option

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
See also

Synopsis

OPT_GARMAN_KOHLHAGEN(call_put_flag,spot,strike,time,domestic_rate,foreign_rate,volatility)

Arguments

call_put_flag: 'c' for a call and 'p' for a put

spot: spot price

strike: strike price

time: number of days to exercise

domestic_rate: domestic risk-free interest rate to the exercise date in percent

foreign_rate: foreign risk-free interest rate to the exercise date in percent

volatility: annualized volatility of the asset in percent for the period through to the exercise date

Description

OPT_GARMAN_KOHLHAGEN values the theoretical price of a European currency option struck at strike on an
asset with spot price spot.

See also

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OPT_BS, OPT_BS_DELTA, OPT_BS_RHO, OPT_BS_THETA, OPT_BS_GAMMA.

OPT_JUMP_DIFF

OPT_JUMP_DIFF — theoretical price of an option according to the Jump Diffusion process

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
See also

Synopsis

OPT_JUMP_DIFF(call_put_flag,spot,strike,time,rate,volatility,lambda,gamma)

Arguments

call_put_flag: 'c' for a call and 'p' for a put

spot: spot price

strike: strike price

time: time to maturity in years

rate: the annualized rate of interest

volatility: annualized volatility of the asset in percent for the period through to the exercise date

lambda: expected number of 'jumps' per year

gamma: proportion of volatility explained by the 'jumps'

Description

OPT_JUMP_DIFF models the theoretical price of an option according to the Jump Diffusion process (Merton).

See also

OPT_BS, OPT_BS_DELTA, OPT_BS_RHO, OPT_BS_THETA, OPT_BS_GAMMA.

OPT_MILTERSEN_SCHWARTZ

OPT_MILTERSEN_SCHWARTZ — theoretical price of options on commodities futures according to Miltersen &

Schwartz

Synopsis
Arguments
See also

Synopsis

OPT_MILTERSEN_SCHWARTZ(call_put_flag,p_t,f_t,strike,t1,t2,v_s,v_e,v_f,rho_se,rho_sf,rho_ef,kappa_e,kappa_f)

Arguments

call_put_flag: 'c' for a call and 'p' for a put

p_t: zero coupon bond with expiry at option maturity

f_t: futures price

strike: strike price

t1: time to maturity of the option

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t2: time to maturity of the underlying commodity futures contract

v_s: volatility of the spot commodity price

v_e: volatility of the future convenience yield

v_f: volatility of the forward rate of interest

rho_se: correlation between the spot commodity price and the convenience yield

rho_sf: correlation between the spot commodity price and the forward interest rate

rho_ef: correlation between the forward interest rate and the convenience yield

kappa_e: speed of mean reversion of the convenience yield

kappa_f: speed of mean reversion of the forward interest rate

See also

OPT_BS, OPT_BS_DELTA, OPT_BS_RHO, OPT_BS_THETA, OPT_BS_GAMMA.

OPT_ON_OPTIONS

OPT_ON_OPTIONS — theoretical price of options on options

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
See also

Synopsis

OPT_ON_OPTIONS(type_flag,spot,strike1,strike2,time1,time2,rate,cost_of_carry,volatility)

Arguments

type_flag: 'cc' for calls on calls, 'cp' for calls on puts, and so on for 'pc', and 'pp'

spot: spot price

strike1: strike price at which the option being valued is struck

strike2: strike price at which the underlying option is struck

time1: time in years to maturity of the option

time2: time in years to the maturity of the underlying option

rate: annualized risk-free interest rate

cost_of_carry: net cost of holding the underlying asset of the underlying option

volatility: annualized volatility in price of the underlying asset of the underlying option

Note

For common stocks, cost_of_carry is the risk free rate less the dividend yield. time2 ≥ time1

See also

OPT_BS, OPT_BS_DELTA, OPT_BS_RHO, OPT_BS_THETA, OPT_BS_GAMMA.

OPT_RGW

OPT_RGW — theoretical price of an American option according to the Roll-Geske-Whaley approximation

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Synopsis
Arguments
See also

Synopsis

OPT_RGW(spot,strike,time_payout,time_exp,rate,d,volatility)

Arguments

spot: spot price

strike: strike price

time_payout: time to dividend payout

time_exp: time to expiration

rate: annualized interest rate

d: amount of the dividend to be paid expressed in currency

volatility: annualized volatility of the asset in percent for the period through to the exercise date

See also

OPT_BS, OPT_BS_DELTA, OPT_BS_RHO, OPT_BS_THETA, OPT_BS_GAMMA.

OPT_SIMPLE_CHOOSER

OPT_SIMPLE_CHOOSER — theoretical price of a simple chooser option

Synopsis
Arguments
See also

Synopsis

OPT_SIMPLE_CHOOSER(call_put_flag,spot,strike,time1,time2,cost_of_carry,volatility)

Arguments

call_put_flag: 'c' for a call and 'p' for a put

spot: spot price

strike: strike price

time1: time in years until the holder chooses a put or a call option

time2: time in years until the chosen option expires

cost_of_carry: net cost of holding the underlying asset

volatility: annualized volatility of the asset

See also

OPT_BS, OPT_BS_DELTA, OPT_BS_RHO, OPT_BS_THETA, OPT_BS_GAMMA.

OPT_SPREAD_APPROX

OPT_SPREAD_APPROX — theoretical price of a European option on the spread between two futures contracts

Synopsis

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Arguments
See also

Synopsis

OPT_SPREAD_APPROX(call_put_flag,fut_price1,fut_price2,strike,time,rate,volatility1,volatility2,rho)

Arguments

call_put_flag: 'c' for a call and 'p' for a put

fut_price1: price of the first futures contract

fut_price2: price of the second futures contract

strike: strike price

time: time to maturity in years

rate: annualized risk-free interest rate

volatility1: annualized volatility in price of the first underlying futures contract

volatility2: annualized volatility in price of the second underlying futures contract

rho: correlation between the two futures contracts

See also

OPT_BS, OPT_BS_DELTA, OPT_BS_RHO, OPT_BS_THETA, OPT_BS_GAMMA.

OPT_TIME_SWITCH

OPT_TIME_SWITCH — theoretical price of time switch options

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
See also

Synopsis

OPT_TIME_SWITCH(call_put_flag,spot,strike,a,time,m,dt,rate,cost_of_carry,volatility)

Arguments

call_put_flag: 'c' for a call and 'p' for a put

spot: spot price

strike: strike price

a: amount received for each time period

time: time to maturity in years

m: number of time units the option has already met the condition

dt: agreed upon discrete time period expressed as a fraction of a year

rate: annualized risk-free interest rate

cost_of_carry: net cost of holding the underlying asset

volatility: annualized volatility of the asset

Description

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OPT_TIME_SWITCH models the theoretical price of time switch options. (Pechtl 1995). The holder receives a *
dt for each period that the asset price was greater than strike (for a call) or below it (for a put).

See also

OPT_BS, OPT_BS_DELTA, OPT_BS_RHO, OPT_BS_THETA, OPT_BS_GAMMA.

PMT

PMT — payment for annuity

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
See also

Synopsis

PMT(rate,nper,pv,fv,type)

Arguments

rate: effective annual interest rate

nper: number of periods

pv: present value

fv: future value

type: payment type

Description

PMT calculates the payment amount for an annuity.

Note

If type is 0, the default, payment is at the end of each period. If type is 1, payment is at the beginning of each
period.

See also

PV, FV, RATE, ISPMT.

PPMT

PPMT — interest payment for period

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
See also

Synopsis

PPMT(rate,per,nper,pv,fv,type)

Arguments

rate: effective annual interest rate

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per: period number

nper: number of periods

pv: present value

fv: future value

type: payment type

Description

PPMT calculates the principal part of an annuity's payment for period number per.

Note

If type is 0, the default, payment is at the end of each period. If type is 1, payment is at the beginning of each
period.

See also

IPMT.

PRICE

PRICE — price of a security

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
See also

Synopsis

PRICE(settlement,maturity,rate,yield,redemption,frequency,basis)

Arguments

settlement: settlement date

maturity: maturity date

rate: nominal annual interest rate

yield: annual yield of security

redemption: amount received at maturity

frequency: number of interest payments per year

basis: calendar basis

Description

PRICE calculates the price per $100 face value of a security that pays periodic interest.

Note

frequency may be 1 (annual), 2 (semi-annual), or 4 (quarterly). If basis is 0, then the US 30/360 method is
used. If basis is 1, then actual number of days is used. If basis is 2, then actual number of days is used within a
month, but years are considered only 360 days. If basis is 3, then actual number of days is used within a month,
but years are always considered 365 days. If basis is 4, then the European 30/360 method is used.

See also

YIELD, DURATION.

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PRICEDISC

PRICEDISC — discounted price

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
See also

Synopsis

PRICEDISC(settlement,maturity,discount,redemption,basis)

Arguments

settlement: settlement date

maturity: maturity date

discount: annual rate at which to discount

redemption: amount received at maturity

basis: calendar basis

Description

PRICEDISC calculates the price per $100 face value of a bond that does not pay interest at maturity.

Note

If basis is 0, then the US 30/360 method is used. If basis is 1, then actual number of days is used. If basis is
2, then actual number of days is used within a month, but years are considered only 360 days. If basis is 3, then
actual number of days is used within a month, but years are always considered 365 days. If basis is 4, then the
European 30/360 method is used.

See also

PRICEMAT.

PRICEMAT

PRICEMAT — price at maturity

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
See also

Synopsis

PRICEMAT(settlement,maturity,issue,discount,yield,basis)

Arguments

settlement: settlement date

maturity: maturity date

issue: date of issue

discount: annual rate at which to discount

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yield: annual yield of security

basis: calendar basis

Description

PRICEMAT calculates the price per $100 face value of a bond that pays interest at maturity.

Note

If basis is 0, then the US 30/360 method is used. If basis is 1, then actual number of days is used. If basis is
2, then actual number of days is used within a month, but years are considered only 360 days. If basis is 3, then
actual number of days is used within a month, but years are always considered 365 days. If basis is 4, then the
European 30/360 method is used.

See also

PRICEDISC.

PV

PV — present value

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
See also

Synopsis

PV(rate,nper,pmt,fv,type)

Arguments

rate: effective interest rate per period

nper: number of periods

pmt: payment at each period

fv: future value

type: payment type

Description

PV calculates the present value of fv which is nper periods into the future, assuming a periodic payment of
pmt and an interest rate of rate per period.

Note

If type is 0, the default, payment is at the end of each period. If type is 1, payment is at the beginning of each
period.

See also

FV.

RATE

RATE — rate of investment

Synopsis
Arguments
Description

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Note
See also

Synopsis

RATE(nper,pmt,pv,fv,type,guess)

Arguments

nper: number of periods

pmt: payment at each period

pv: present value

fv: future value

type: payment type

guess: an estimate of what the result should be

Description

RATE calculates the rate of return.

Note

If type is 0, the default, payment is at the end of each period. If type is 1, payment is at the beginning of each
period. The optional guess is needed because there can be more than one valid result. It defaults to 10%.

See also

PV, FV.

RECEIVED

RECEIVED — amount to be received at maturity

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
See also

Synopsis

RECEIVED(settlement,maturity,investment,rate,basis)

Arguments

settlement: settlement date

maturity: maturity date

investment: amount paid on settlement

rate: nominal annual interest rate

basis: calendar basis

Description

RECEIVED calculates the amount to be received when a security matures.

Note

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If basis is 0, then the US 30/360 method is used. If basis is 1, then actual number of days is used. If basis is
2, then actual number of days is used within a month, but years are considered only 360 days. If basis is 3, then
actual number of days is used within a month, but years are always considered 365 days. If basis is 4, then the
European 30/360 method is used.

See also

INTRATE.

RRI

RRI — equivalent interest rate for an investment increasing in value

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
OpenDocument Format (ODF) Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

RRI(p,pv,fv)

Arguments

p: number of periods

pv: present value

fv: future value

Description

RRI determines an equivalent interest rate for an investment that increases in value. The interest is
compounded after each complete period.

Note

If type is 0, the default, payment is at the end of each period. If type is 1, payment is at the beginning of each
period. Note that p need not be an integer but for fractional value the calculated rate is only approximate.

OpenDocument Format (ODF) Compatibility

This function is OpenFormula compatible.

See also

PV, FV, RATE.

SLN

SLN — depreciation of an asset

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
See also

Synopsis

SLN(cost,salvage,life)

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Arguments

cost: initial cost of asset

salvage: value after depreciation

life: number of periods

Description

SLN calculates the depreciation of an asset using the straight-line method.

See also

DB, DDB, SYD.

SYD

SYD — sum-of-years depreciation

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
See also

Synopsis

SYD(cost,salvage,life,period)

Arguments

cost: initial cost of asset

salvage: value after depreciation

life: number of periods

period: subject period

Description

SYD calculates the depreciation of an asset using the sum-of-years method.

See also

DB, DDB, SLN.

TBILLEQ

TBILLEQ — bond-equivalent yield for a treasury bill

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
See also

Synopsis

TBILLEQ(settlement,maturity,discount)

Arguments

settlement: settlement date

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maturity: maturity date

discount: annual rate at which to discount

Description

TBILLEQ calculates the bond-equivalent yield for a treasury bill.

See also

TBILLPRICE, TBILLYIELD.

TBILLPRICE

TBILLPRICE — price of a treasury bill

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
See also

Synopsis

TBILLPRICE(settlement,maturity,discount)

Arguments

settlement: settlement date

maturity: maturity date

discount: annual rate at which to discount

Description

TBILLPRICE calculates the price per $100 face value for a treasury bill.

See also

TBILLEQ, TBILLYIELD.

TBILLYIELD

TBILLYIELD — yield of a treasury bill

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
See also

Synopsis

TBILLYIELD(settlement,maturity,price)

Arguments

settlement: settlement date

maturity: maturity date

price: price

Description

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TBILLYIELD calculates the yield of a treasury bill.

See also

TBILLEQ, TBILLPRICE.

VDB

VDB — depreciation of an asset

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
See also

Synopsis

VDB(cost,salvage,life,start_period,end_period,factor,no_switch)

Arguments

cost: initial cost of asset

salvage: value after depreciation

life: number of periods

start_period: first period to accumulate for

end_period: last period to accumulate for

factor: factor at which the balance declines

no_switch: do not switch to straight-line depreciation

Description

VDB calculates the depreciation of an asset for a given period range using the variable-rate declining balance
method.

Note

If no_switch is FALSE, the calculation switches to straight-line depreciation when depreciation is greater than
the declining balance calculation.

See also

DB, DDB.

XIRR

XIRR — internal rate of return

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
See also

Synopsis

XIRR(values,dates,guess)

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Arguments

values: cash flow

dates: dates of cash flow

guess: an estimate of what the result should be

Description

XIRR calculates the annualized internal rate of return of a cash flow at arbitrary points in time. values lists the
payments (negative values) and receipts (positive values) with one value for each entry in dates.

Note

The optional guess is needed because there can be more than one valid result. It defaults to 10%.

See also

IRR.

XNPV

XNPV — net present value

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
See also

Synopsis

XNPV(rate,values,dates)

Arguments

rate: effective annual interest rate

values: cash flow

dates: dates of cash flow

Description

XNPV calculates the net present value of a cash flow at irregular times.

Note

If type is 0, the default, payment is at the end of each period. If type is 1, payment is at the beginning of each
period.

See also

NPV.

YIELD

YIELD — yield of a security

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
See also

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Synopsis

YIELD(settlement,maturity,rate,price,redemption,frequency,basis)

Arguments

settlement: settlement date

maturity: maturity date

rate: nominal annual interest rate

price: price of security

redemption: amount received at maturity

frequency: number of interest payments per year

basis: calendar basis

Description

YIELD calculates the yield of a security that pays periodic interest.

Note

frequency may be 1 (annual), 2 (semi-annual), or 4 (quarterly). If basis is 0, then the US 30/360 method is
used. If basis is 1, then actual number of days is used. If basis is 2, then actual number of days is used within a
month, but years are considered only 360 days. If basis is 3, then actual number of days is used within a month,
but years are always considered 365 days. If basis is 4, then the European 30/360 method is used.

See also

PRICE, DURATION.

YIELDDISC

YIELDDISC — yield of a discounted security

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
See also

Synopsis

YIELDDISC(settlement,maturity,price,redemption,basis)

Arguments

settlement: settlement date

maturity: maturity date

price: price of security

redemption: amount received at maturity

basis: calendar basis

Description

YIELDDISC calculates the yield of a discounted security.

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Note

If basis is 0, then the US 30/360 method is used. If basis is 1, then actual number of days is used. If basis is
2, then actual number of days is used within a month, but years are considered only 360 days. If basis is 3, then
actual number of days is used within a month, but years are always considered 365 days. If basis is 4, then the
European 30/360 method is used.

See also

PRICE, DURATION.

YIELDMAT

YIELDMAT — yield of a security

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
See also

Synopsis

YIELDMAT(settlement,maturity,issue,rate,price,basis)

Arguments

settlement: settlement date

maturity: maturity date

issue: date of issue

rate: nominal annual interest rate

price: price of security

basis: calendar basis

Description

YIELDMAT calculates the yield of a security for which the interest is paid at maturity date.

Note

If basis is 0, then the US 30/360 method is used. If basis is 1, then actual number of days is used. If basis is
2, then actual number of days is used within a month, but years are considered only 360 days. If basis is 3, then
actual number of days is used within a month, but years are always considered 365 days. If basis is 4, then the
European 30/360 method is used.

See also

YIELDDISC, YIELD.

A.8. Gnumeric

GNUMERIC_VERSION — the current version of Gnumeric

GNUMERIC_VERSION

GNUMERIC_VERSION — the current version of Gnumeric

Synopsis
Description

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Synopsis

GNUMERIC_VERSION()

Description

GNUMERIC_VERSION returns the version of gnumeric as a string.

A.9. Information

CELL — information of type about cell

COUNTBLANK — the number of blank cells in range
ERROR — the error with the given name
ERROR.TYPE — the type of error
EXPRESSION — expression in cell as a string
GET.FORMULA — the formula in cell as a string
GET.LINK — the target of the hyperlink attached to cell as a string
GETENV — the value of execution environment variable name
INFO — information about the current operating environment according to type
ISBLANK — TRUE if value is blank
ISERR — TRUE if value is any error value except #N/A
ISERROR — TRUE if value is any error value
ISEVEN — TRUE if n is even
ISFORMULA — TRUE if cell contains a formula
ISLOGICAL — TRUE if value is a logical value
ISNA — TRUE if value is the #N/A error value
ISNONTEXT — TRUE if value is not text
ISNUMBER — TRUE if value is a number
ISODD — TRUE if n is odd
ISREF — TRUE if value is a reference
ISTEXT — TRUE if value is text
N — text converted to a number
NA — the error value #N/A
TYPE — a number indicating the data type of value

CELL

CELL — information of type about cell

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

CELL(type,cell)

Arguments

type: string specifying the type of information requested

cell: cell reference

Description

type specifies the type of information you want to obtain:

address Returns the given cell reference as text.

col Returns the number of the column in cell.

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color Returns 0.

contents Returns the contents of the cell in cell.

column Returns the number of the column in cell.

columnwidth Returns the column width.

coord Returns the absolute address of cell.

datatype same as type

filename Returns the name of the file of cell.

format Returns the code of the format of the cell.

formulatype same as type

locked Returns 1 if cell is locked.

parentheses Returns 1 if cell contains a negative value

and its format displays it with parentheses.

prefix Returns a character indicating the horizontal

alignment of cell.

prefixcharacter same as prefix

protect Returns 1 if cell is locked.

row Returns the number of the row in cell.

sheetname Returns the name of the sheet of cell.

type Returns "l" if cell contains a string,

"v" if it contains some other value, and

"b" if cell is blank.

value Returns the contents of the cell in cell.

width Returns the column width.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

INDIRECT.

COUNTBLANK

COUNTBLANK — the number of blank cells in range

Synopsis
Arguments
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

COUNTBLANK(range)

Arguments

range: a cell range

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Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

COUNT.

ERROR

ERROR — the error with the given name

Synopsis
Arguments
See also

Synopsis

ERROR(name)

Arguments

name: string

See also

ISERROR.

ERROR.TYPE

ERROR.TYPE — the type of error

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

ERROR.TYPE(error)

Arguments

error: an error

Description

ERROR.TYPE returns an error number corresponding to the given error value. The error numbers for error
values are:

#DIV/0! 2

#VALUE! 3

#REF! 4

#NAME? 5

#NUM! 6

#N/A 7

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Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

ISERROR.

EXPRESSION

EXPRESSION — expression in cell as a string

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
See also

Synopsis

EXPRESSION(cell)

Arguments

cell: a cell reference

Note

If cell contains no expression, EXPRESSION returns empty.

See also

TEXT.

GET.FORMULA

GET.FORMULA — the formula in cell as a string

Synopsis
Arguments
OpenDocument Format (ODF) Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

GET.FORMULA(cell)

Arguments

cell: the referenced cell

OpenDocument Format (ODF) Compatibility

GET.FORMULA is the OpenFormula function FORMULA.

See also

EXPRESSION, ISFORMULA.

GET.LINK

GET.LINK — the target of the hyperlink attached to cell as a string

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Synopsis
Arguments
Note
See also

Synopsis

GET.LINK(cell)

Arguments

cell: the referenced cell

Note

The value return is not updated automatically when the link attached to cell changes but requires a
recalculation.

See also

HYPERLINK.

GETENV

GETENV — the value of execution environment variable name

Synopsis
Arguments
Note

Synopsis

GETENV(name)

Arguments

name: the name of the environment variable

Note

If a variable called name does not exist, #N/A will be returned. Variable names are case sensitive.

INFO

INFO — information about the current operating environment according to type

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

INFO(type)

Arguments

type: string giving the type of information requested

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Description

INFO returns information about the current operating environment according to type:

memavail Returns the amount of memory available, bytes.

memused Returns the amount of memory used (bytes).

numfile Returns the number of active worksheets.

osversion Returns the operating system version.

recalc Returns the recalculation mode (automatic).

release Returns the version of Gnumeric as text.

system Returns the name of the environment.

totmem Returns the amount of total memory available.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

CELL.

ISBLANK

ISBLANK — TRUE if value is blank

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Microsoft Excel Compatibility

Synopsis

ISBLANK(value)

Arguments

value: a value

Description

This function checks if a value is blank. Empty cells are blank, but empty strings are not.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

ISERR

ISERR — TRUE if value is any error value except #N/A

Synopsis
Arguments
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

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ISERR(value)

Arguments

value: a value

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

ISERROR.

ISERROR

ISERROR — TRUE if value is any error value

Synopsis
Arguments
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

ISERROR(value)

Arguments

value: a value

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

ISERR, ISNA.

ISEVEN

ISEVEN — TRUE if n is even

Synopsis
Arguments
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

ISEVEN(n)

Arguments

n: number

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

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See also

ISODD.

ISFORMULA

ISFORMULA — TRUE if cell contains a formula

Synopsis
Arguments
OpenDocument Format (ODF) Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

ISFORMULA(cell)

Arguments

cell: the referenced cell

OpenDocument Format (ODF) Compatibility

ISFORMULA is OpenFormula compatible.

See also

GET.FORMULA.

ISLOGICAL

ISLOGICAL — TRUE if value is a logical value

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Microsoft Excel Compatibility

Synopsis

ISLOGICAL(value)

Arguments

value: a value

Description

This function checks if a value is either TRUE or FALSE.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

ISNA

ISNA — TRUE if value is the #N/A error value

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Synopsis
Arguments
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

ISNA(value)

Arguments

value: a value

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

NA.

ISNONTEXT

ISNONTEXT — TRUE if value is not text

Synopsis
Arguments
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

ISNONTEXT(value)

Arguments

value: a value

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

ISTEXT.

ISNUMBER

ISNUMBER — TRUE if value is a number

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Microsoft Excel Compatibility

Synopsis

ISNUMBER(value)

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Arguments

value: a value

Description

This function checks if a value is a number. Neither TRUE nor FALSE are numbers for this purpose.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

ISODD

ISODD — TRUE if n is odd

Synopsis
Arguments
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

ISODD(n)

Arguments

n: number

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

ISEVEN.

ISREF

ISREF — TRUE if value is a reference

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Microsoft Excel Compatibility

Synopsis

ISREF(value,…)

Arguments

value: a value

Description

This function checks if a value is a cell reference.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

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ISTEXT

ISTEXT — TRUE if value is text

Synopsis
Arguments
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

ISTEXT(value)

Arguments

value: a value

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

ISNONTEXT.

N — text converted to a number

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
Microsoft Excel Compatibility

Synopsis

N(text)

Arguments

text: string

Note

If text contains non-numerical text, 0 is returned.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

NA

NA — the error value #N/A

Synopsis
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

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NA()

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

ISNA.

TYPE

TYPE — a number indicating the data type of value

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Microsoft Excel Compatibility

Synopsis

TYPE(value)

Arguments

value: a value

Description

TYPE returns a number indicating the data type of value:

1 = number

2 = text

4 = boolean

16 = error

64 = array

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

A.10. Logic

AND — logical conjunction

FALSE — the value FALSE
IF — conditional expression
IFERROR — test for error
IFNA — test for #N/A error
IFS — multi-branch conditional
NOT — logical negation
OR — logical disjunction
SWITCH — multi-branch selector
TRUE — the value TRUE
XOR — logical exclusive disjunction

AND

AND — logical conjunction

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Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

AND(b0,b1,…)

Arguments

b0: logical value

b1: logical value

Description

AND calculates the logical conjunction of its arguments b0,b1,...

Note

If an argument is numerical, zero is considered FALSE and anything else TRUE. Strings and empty values are
ignored. If no logical values are provided, then the error #VALUE! is returned. This function is strict: if any
argument is an error, the result will be the first such error.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

OR, NOT, IF.

FALSE

FALSE — the value FALSE

Synopsis
Description
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

FALSE()

Description

FALSE returns the value FALSE.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

TRUE, IF.

IF

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IF — conditional expression

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
See also

Synopsis

IF(cond,trueval,falseval)

Arguments

cond: condition

trueval: value to use if condition is true

falseval: value to use if condition is false

Description

This function first evaluates the condition. If the result is true, it will then evaluate and return the second
argument. Otherwise, it will evaluate and return the last argument.

See also

AND, OR, XOR, NOT, IFERROR.

IFERROR

IFERROR — test for error

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
See also

Synopsis

IFERROR(x,y)

Arguments

x: value to test for error

y: alternate value

Description

This function returns the first value, unless that is an error, in which case it returns the second.

See also

IF, ISERROR.

IFNA

IFNA — test for #N/A error

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Synopsis
Arguments
Description
See also

Synopsis

IFNA(x,y)

Arguments

x: value to test for #N/A error

y: alternate value

Description

This function returns the first value, unless that is #N/A, in which case it returns the second.

See also

IF, ISERROR.

IFS

IFS — multi-branch conditional

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
See also

Synopsis

IFS(cond1,value1,cond2,value2,…)

Arguments

cond1: condition

value1: value if condition1 is true

cond2: condition

value2: value if condition2 is true

Description

This function returns the value after the first true conditional. If no conditional is true, #VALUE! is returned.

See also

IF.

NOT

NOT — logical negation

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
Microsoft Excel Compatibility

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See also

Synopsis

NOT(b)

Arguments

b: logical value

Description

NOT calculates the logical negation of its argument.

Note

If the argument is numerical, zero is considered FALSE and anything else TRUE. Strings and empty values are
ignored.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

AND, OR, IF.

OR

OR — logical disjunction

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

OR(b0,b1,…)

Arguments

b0: logical value

b1: logical value

Description

OR calculates the logical disjunction of its arguments b0,b1,...

Note

If an argument is numerical, zero is considered FALSE and anything else TRUE. Strings and empty values are
ignored. If no logical values are provided, then the error #VALUE! is returned. This function is strict: if any
argument is an error, the result will be the first such error.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

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See also

AND, XOR, NOT, IF.

SWITCH

SWITCH — multi-branch selector

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
See also

Synopsis

SWITCH(ref,choice1,value1,choice2,value2,…)

Arguments

ref: value

choice1: first choice value

value1: first result value

choice2: second choice value

value2: second result value

Description

This function compares the reference value, ref, against the choice values, choice1 etc., and returns the
corresponding result value when it finds a match. The choices may be followed by a default value to use. If there
are no choices that match and no default value, #N/A is return.

See also

IF, IFS.

TRUE

TRUE — the value TRUE

Synopsis
Description
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

TRUE()

Description

TRUE returns the value TRUE.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

FALSE, IF.

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XOR

XOR — logical exclusive disjunction

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
See also

Synopsis

XOR(b0,b1,…)

Arguments

b0: logical value

b1: logical value

Description

XOR calculates the logical exclusive disjunction of its arguments b0,b1,...

Note

If an argument is numerical, zero is considered FALSE and anything else TRUE. Strings and empty values are
ignored. If no logical values are provided, then the error #VALUE! is returned. This function is strict: if any
argument is an error, the result will be the first such error.

See also

OR, AND, NOT, IF.

A.11. Lookup

ADDRESS — cell address as text

AREAS — number of areas in reference
ARRAY — vertical array of the arguments
CHOOSE — the (index+1)th argument
COLUMN — vector of column numbers
COLUMNNUMBER — column number for the given column called name
COLUMNS — number of columns in reference
FLIP — matrix flipped
HLOOKUP — search the first row of range for value
HYPERLINK — second or first arguments
INDEX — reference to a cell in the given array
INDIRECT — contents of the cell pointed to by the ref_text string
LOOKUP — contents of vector2 at the corresponding location to value in vector1
MATCH — the index of seek in vector
OFFSET — an offset cell range
ROW — vector of row numbers
ROWS — number of rows in reference
SHEET — sheet number of reference
SHEETS — number of sheets in reference
SORT — sorted list of numbers as vertical array
TRANSPOSE — the transpose of matrix
VLOOKUP — search the first column of range for value

ADDRESS

ADDRESS — cell address as text

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Synopsis
Arguments
Note
See also

Synopsis

ADDRESS(row_num,col_num,abs_num,a1,text)

Arguments

row_num: row number

col_num: column number

abs_num: 1 for an absolute, 2 for a row absolute and column relative, 3 for a row relative and column absolute,
and 4 for a relative reference; defaults to 1

a1: if TRUE, an A1-style reference is provided, otherwise an R1C1-style reference; defaults to TRUE

text: name of the worksheet, defaults to no sheet

Note

If row_num or col_num is less than one, ADDRESS returns #VALUE! If abs_num is greater than 4 ADDRESS
returns #VALUE!

See also

COLUMNNUMBER.

AREAS

AREAS — number of areas in reference

Synopsis
Arguments
See also

Synopsis

AREAS(reference,…)

Arguments

reference: range

See also

ADDRESS, INDEX, INDIRECT, OFFSET.

ARRAY

ARRAY — vertical array of the arguments

Synopsis
Arguments
See also

Synopsis

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ARRAY(v,…)

Arguments

v: value

See also

TRANSPOSE.

CHOOSE

CHOOSE — the (index+1)th argument

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
See also

Synopsis

CHOOSE(index,value1,value2,…)

Arguments

index: positive number

value1: first value

value2: second value

Description

CHOOSE returns its (index+1)th argument.

Note

index is truncated to an integer. If index < 1 or the truncated index > number of values, CHOOSE returns
#VALUE!

See also

IF.

COLUMN

COLUMN — vector of column numbers

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
See also

Synopsis

COLUMN(x)

Arguments

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x: reference, defaults to the position of the current expression

Description

COLUMN function returns a Nx1 array containing the sequence of integers from the first column to the last
column of x.

Note

If x is neither an array nor a reference nor a range, returns #VALUE!

See also

COLUMNS, ROW, ROWS.

COLUMNNUMBER

COLUMNNUMBER — column number for the given column called name

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
See also

Synopsis

COLUMNNUMBER(name)

Arguments

name: column name such as "IV"

Note

If name is invalid, COLUMNNUMBER returns #VALUE!

See also

ADDRESS.

COLUMNS

COLUMNS — number of columns in reference

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
See also

Synopsis

COLUMNS(reference)

Arguments

reference: array or area

Note

If reference is neither an array nor a reference nor a range, COLUMNS returns #VALUE!

See also

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COLUMN, ROW, ROWS.

FLIP

FLIP — matrix flipped

Synopsis
Arguments
See also

Synopsis

FLIP(matrix,vertical)

Arguments

matrix: range

vertical: if true, matrix is flipped vertically, otherwise horizontally; defaults to TRUE

See also

TRANSPOSE.

HLOOKUP

HLOOKUP — search the first row of range for value

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
See also

Synopsis

HLOOKUP(value,range,row,approximate,as_index)

Arguments

value: search value

range: range to search

row: 1-based row offset indicating the return values

approximate: if false, an exact match of value must be found; defaults to TRUE

as_index: if true, the 0-based column offset is returned; defaults to FALSE

Description

HLOOKUP function finds the row in range that has a first cell similar to value. If approximate is not true it
finds the column with an exact equality. If approximate is true, it finds the last column with first value less
than or equal to value. If as_index is true the 0-based column offset is returned.

Note

If approximate is true, then the values must be sorted in order of ascending value. HLOOKUP returns #REF! if
row falls outside range.

See also

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VLOOKUP.

HYPERLINK

HYPERLINK — second or first arguments

Synopsis
Arguments
Description

Synopsis

HYPERLINK(link_location,label)

Arguments

link_location: string

label: string, optional

Description

HYPERLINK function currently returns its 2nd argument, or if that is omitted the 1st argument.

INDEX

INDEX — reference to a cell in the given array

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note

Synopsis

INDEX(array,row,col,area,…)

Arguments

array: cell or inline array

row: desired row, defaults to 1

col: desired column, defaults to 1

area: from which area to select a cell, defaults to 1

Description

INDEX gives a reference to a cell in the given array. The cell is selected by row and col, which count the rows
and columns in the array.

Note

If the reference falls outside the range of array, INDEX returns #REF!

INDIRECT

INDIRECT — contents of the cell pointed to by the ref_text string

Synopsis
Arguments
Note

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See also

Synopsis

INDIRECT(ref_text,format)

Arguments

ref_text: textual reference

format: if true, ref_text is given in A1-style, otherwise it is given in R1C1 style; defaults to true

Note

If ref_text is not a valid reference in the style determined by format, INDIRECT returns #REF!

See also

AREAS, INDEX, CELL.

LOOKUP

LOOKUP — contents of vector2 at the corresponding location to value in vector1

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
See also

Synopsis

LOOKUP(value,vector1,vector2)

Arguments

value: value to look up

vector1: range to search:

vector2: range of return values

Description

If vector1 has more rows than columns, LOOKUP searches the first row of vector1, otherwise the first
column. If vector2 is omitted the return value is taken from the last row or column of vector1.

Note

If LOOKUP can't find value it uses the largest value less than value. The data must be sorted. If value is
smaller than the first value it returns #N/A. If the corresponding location does not exist in vector2, it returns
#N/A.

See also

VLOOKUP, HLOOKUP.

MATCH

MATCH — the index of seek in vector

Synopsis
Arguments

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Description
Note
See also

Synopsis

MATCH(seek,vector,type)

Arguments

seek: value to find

vector: n by 1 or 1 by n range to be searched

type: +1 (the default) to find the largest value ≤ seek, 0 to find the first value = seek, or -1 to find the smallest
value ≥ seek

Description

MATCH searches vector for seek and returns the 1-based index.

Note

For type = -1 the data must be sorted in descending order; for type = +1 the data must be sorted in ascending
order. If seek could not be found, #N/A is returned. If vector is neither n by 1 nor 1 by n, #N/A is returned.

See also

LOOKUP.

OFFSET

OFFSET — an offset cell range

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
See also

Synopsis

OFFSET(range,row,col,height,width)

Arguments

range: reference or range

row: number of rows to offset range

col: number of columns to offset range

height: height of the offset range, defaults to height of range

width: width of the offset range, defaults to width of range

Description

OFFSET returns the cell range starting at offset (row,col) from range of height height and width width.

Note

If range is neither a reference nor a range, OFFSET returns #VALUE!

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See also

COLUMN, COLUMNS, ROWS, INDEX, INDIRECT, ADDRESS.

ROW

ROW — vector of row numbers

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
See also

Synopsis

ROW(x)

Arguments

x: reference, defaults to the position of the current expression

Description

ROW function returns a 1xN array containing the sequence of integers from the first row to the last row of x.

Note

If x is neither an array nor a reference nor a range, returns #VALUE!

See also

COLUMN, COLUMNS, ROWS.

ROWS

ROWS — number of rows in reference

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
See also

Synopsis

ROWS(reference)

Arguments

reference: array, reference, or range

Note

If reference is neither an array nor a reference nor a range, ROWS returns #VALUE!

See also

COLUMN, COLUMNS, ROW.

SHEET

SHEET — sheet number of reference

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Synopsis
Arguments
Note
See also

Synopsis

SHEET(reference)

Arguments

reference: reference or literal sheet name, defaults to the current sheet

Note

If reference is neither a reference nor a literal sheet name, SHEET returns #VALUE!

See also

SHEETS, ROW, COLUMNNUMBER.

SHEETS

SHEETS — number of sheets in reference

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
See also

Synopsis

SHEETS(reference)

Arguments

reference: array, reference, or range, defaults to the maximum range

Note

If reference is neither an array nor a reference nor a range, SHEETS returns #VALUE!

See also

COLUMNS, ROWS.

SORT

SORT — sorted list of numbers as vertical array

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
See also

Synopsis

SORT(ref,order)

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Arguments

ref: list of numbers

order: 0 (descending order) or 1 (ascending order); defaults to 0

Note

Strings, booleans, and empty cells are ignored.

See also

ARRAY.

TRANSPOSE

TRANSPOSE — the transpose of matrix

Synopsis
Arguments
See also

Synopsis

TRANSPOSE(matrix)

Arguments

matrix: range

See also

FLIP, MMULT.

VLOOKUP

VLOOKUP — search the first column of range for value

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
See also

Synopsis

VLOOKUP(value,range,column,approximate,as_index)

Arguments

value: search value

range: range to search

column: 1-based column offset indicating the return values

approximate: if false, an exact match of value must be found; defaults to TRUE

as_index: if true, the 0-based row offset is returned; defaults to FALSE

Description

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VLOOKUP function finds the row in range that has a first cell similar to value. If approximate is not true it
finds the row with an exact equality. If approximate is true, it finds the last row with first value less than or
equal to value. If as_index is true the 0-based row offset is returned.

Note

If approximate is true, then the values must be sorted in order of ascending value. VLOOKUP returns #REF! if
column falls outside range.

See also

HLOOKUP.

A.12. Mathematics

ABS — absolute value

ACOS — the arc cosine of x
ACOSH — the hyperbolic arc cosine of x
ACOT — inverse cotangent of x
ACOTH — the inverse hyperbolic cotangent of x
AGM — the arithmetic-geometric mean
ARABIC — the Roman numeral roman as number
ASIN — the arc sine of x
ASINH — the inverse hyperbolic sine of x
ATAN — the arc tangent of x
ATAN2 — the arc tangent of the ratio y/x
ATANH — the inverse hyperbolic tangent of x
AVERAGEIF — average of the cells in actual range for which the corresponding cells in the range
meet the given criteria
AVERAGEIFS — average of the cells in actual_range for which the corresponding cells in the range
meet the given criteria
BETA — Euler beta function
BETALN — natural logarithm of the absolute value of the Euler beta function
CEIL — smallest integer larger than or equal to x
CEILING — nearest multiple of significance whose absolute value is at least ABS(x)
CHOLESKY — the Cholesky decomposition of the symmetric positive-definite matrix
COMBIN — binomial coefficient
COMBINA — the number of k-combinations of an n-element set with repetition
COS — the cosine of x
COSH — the hyperbolic cosine of x
COSPI — the cosine of Pi*x
COT — the cotangent of x
COTH — the hyperbolic cotangent of x
COTPI — the cotangent of Pi*x
COUNTIF — count of the cells meeting the given criteria
COUNTIFS — count of the cells meeting the given criteria
CSC — the cosecant of x
CSCH — the hyperbolic cosecant of x
DEGREES — equivalent degrees to x radians
EIGEN — eigenvalues and eigenvectors of the symmetric matrix
EVEN — x rounded away from 0 to the next even integer
EXP — e raised to the power of x
EXPM1 — EXP(x)-1
FACT — the factorial of x, i.e. x!
FACTDOUBLE — double factorial
FIB — Fibonacci numbers
FLOOR — nearest multiple of significance whose absolute value is at most ABS(x)
G_PRODUCT — product of all the values and cells referenced
GAMMA — the Gamma function
GAMMALN — natural logarithm of the Gamma function
GCD — the greatest common divisor
GD — Gudermannian function
HYPOT — the square root of the sum of the squares of the arguments
IGAMMA — the incomplete Gamma function
INT — largest integer not larger than x

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LAMBERTW — the Lambert W function
LCM — the least common multiple
LINSOLVE — solve linear equation
LN — the natural logarithm of x
LN1P — LN(1+x)
LOG — logarithm of x with base base
LOG10 — the base-10 logarithm of x
LOG2 — the base-2 logarithm of x
MAXIFS — maximum of the cells in actual_range for which the corresponding cells in the range
meet the given criteria
MDETERM — the determinant of the matrix matrix
MINIFS — minimum of the cells in actual_range for which the corresponding cells in the range
meet the given criteria
MINVERSE — the inverse matrix of matrix
MMULT — the matrix product of mat1 and mat2
MOD — the remainder of x under division by n
MPSEUDOINVERSE — the pseudo-inverse matrix of matrix
MROUND — x rounded to a multiple of m
MULTINOMIAL — multinomial coefficient (x1+⋯+xn) choose (x1,…,xn)
MUNIT — the n by n identity matrix
ODD — x rounded away from 0 to the next odd integer
ODF.SUMPRODUCT — multiplies components and adds the results
PI — the constant 𝜋
POCHHAMMER — the value of GAMMA(x+n)/GAMMA(x)
POWER — the value of x raised to the power y raised to the power of 1/z
PRODUCT — product of the given values
QUOTIENT — integer portion of a division
RADIANS — the number of radians equivalent to x degrees
REDUCEPI — reduce modulo Pi divided by a power of 2
ROMAN — n as a roman numeral text
ROUND — rounded x
ROUNDDOWN — x rounded towards 0
ROUNDUP — x rounded away from 0
SEC — Secant
SECH — the hyperbolic secant of x
SERIESSUM — sum of a power series at x
SIGN — sign of x
SIN — the sine of x
SINH — the hyperbolic sine of x
SINPI — the sine of Pi*x
SQRT — square root of x
SQRTPI — the square root of x times 𝜋
SUM — sum of the given values
SUMA — sum of all values and cells referenced
SUMIF — sum of the cells in actual_range for which the corresponding cells in the range meet the
given criteria
SUMIFS — sum of the cells in actual_range for which the corresponding cells in the range meet the
given criteria
SUMPRODUCT — multiplies components and adds the results
SUMSQ — sum of the squares of all values and cells referenced
SUMX2MY2 — sum of the difference of squares
SUMX2PY2 — sum of the sum of squares
SUMXMY2 — sum of the squares of differences
TAN — the tangent of x
TANH — the hyperbolic tangent of x
TANPI — the tangent of Pi*x
TRUNC — x truncated to d digits

ABS

ABS — absolute value

Synopsis
Arguments
Description

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Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

ABS(x)

Arguments

x: number

Description

ABS gives the absolute value of x, i.e. the non-negative number of the same magnitude as x.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

CEIL, CEILING, FLOOR, INT, MOD.

ACOS

ACOS — the arc cosine of x

Synopsis
Arguments
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

ACOS(x)

Arguments

x: number

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

COS, SIN, DEGREES, RADIANS.

ACOSH

ACOSH — the hyperbolic arc cosine of x

Synopsis
Arguments
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

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ACOSH(x)

Arguments

x: number

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

ACOS, ASINH.

ACOT

ACOT — inverse cotangent of x

Synopsis
Arguments
See also

Synopsis

ACOT(x)

Arguments

x: value

See also

COT, TAN.

ACOTH

ACOTH — the inverse hyperbolic cotangent of x

Synopsis
Arguments
See also

Synopsis

ACOTH(x)

Arguments

x: number

See also

COTH, TANH.

AGM

AGM — the arithmetic-geometric mean

Synopsis

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Arguments
Description
See also

Synopsis

AGM(a,b)

Arguments

a: value

b: value

Description

AGM computes the arithmetic-geometric mean of the two values.

See also

AVERAGE, GEOMEAN.

ARABIC

ARABIC — the Roman numeral roman as number

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
OpenDocument Format (ODF) Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

ARABIC(roman)

Arguments

roman: Roman numeral

Description

Any Roman symbol to the left of a larger symbol (directly or indirectly) reduces the final value by the symbol
amount, otherwise, it increases the final amount by the symbol's amount.

OpenDocument Format (ODF) Compatibility

This function is OpenFormula compatible.

See also

ROMAN.

ASIN

ASIN — the arc sine of x

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
Microsoft Excel Compatibility

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See also

Synopsis

ASIN(x)

Arguments

x: number

Description

ASIN calculates the arc sine of x; that is the value whose sine is x.

Note

If x falls outside the range -1 to 1, ASIN returns #NUM!

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

SIN, COS, ASINH, DEGREES, RADIANS.

ASINH

ASINH — the inverse hyperbolic sine of x

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

ASINH(x)

Arguments

x: number

Description

ASINH calculates the inverse hyperbolic sine of x; that is the value whose hyperbolic sine is x.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

ASIN, ACOSH, SIN, COS.

ATAN

ATAN — the arc tangent of x

Synopsis
Arguments

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Description
Note
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

ATAN(x)

Arguments

x: number

Description

ATAN calculates the arc tangent of x; that is the value whose tangent is x.

Note

The result will be between −π/2 and +π/2.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

TAN, COS, SIN, DEGREES, RADIANS.

ATAN2

ATAN2 — the arc tangent of the ratio y/x

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
OpenDocument Format (ODF) Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

ATAN2(x,y)

Arguments

x: x-coordinate

y: y-coordinate

Description

ATAN2 calculates the direction from the origin to the point (x,y) as an angle from the x-axis in radians.

Note

The result will be between −π and +π. The order of the arguments may be unexpected.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

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OpenDocument Format (ODF) Compatibility

This function is OpenFormula compatible.

See also

ATAN, ATANH, COS, SIN.

ATANH

ATANH — the inverse hyperbolic tangent of x

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

ATANH(x)

Arguments

x: number

Description

ATANH calculates the inverse hyperbolic tangent of x; that is the value whose hyperbolic tangent is x.

Note

If the absolute value of x is greater than 1.0, ATANH returns #NUM!

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

ATAN, COS, SIN.

AVERAGEIF

AVERAGEIF — average of the cells in actual range for which the corresponding cells in the range meet the
given criteria

Synopsis
Arguments
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

AVERAGEIF(range,criteria,actual_range)

Arguments

range: cell area

criteria: condition for a cell to be included

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actual_range: cell area, defaults to range

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

SUMIF, COUNTIF.

AVERAGEIFS

AVERAGEIFS — average of the cells in actual_range for which the corresponding cells in the range meet the
given criteria

Synopsis
Arguments
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

AVERAGEIFS(actual_range,range1,criteria1,…)

Arguments

actual_range: cell area

range1: cell area

criteria1: condition for a cell to be included

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

AVERAGE, AVERAGEIF.

BETA

BETA — Euler beta function

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
See also

Synopsis

BETA(x,y)

Arguments

x: number

y: number

Description

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BETA function returns the value of the Euler beta function extended to all real numbers except 0 and negative
integers.

Note

If x, y, or (x + y) are non-positive integers, BETA returns #NUM!

See also

BETALN, GAMMALN.

BETALN

BETALN — natural logarithm of the absolute value of the Euler beta function

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
See also

Synopsis

BETALN(x,y)

Arguments

x: number

y: number

Description

BETALN function returns the natural logarithm of the absolute value of the Euler beta function extended to all
real numbers except 0 and negative integers.

Note

If x, y, or (x + y) are non-positive integers, BETALN returns #NUM!

See also

BETA, GAMMALN.

CEIL

CEIL — smallest integer larger than or equal to x

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
OpenDocument Format (ODF) Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

CEIL(x)

Arguments

x: number

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Description

CEIL(x) is the smallest integer that is at least as large as x.

OpenDocument Format (ODF) Compatibility

This function is the OpenFormula function CEILING(x).

See also

CEILING, FLOOR, ABS, INT, MOD.

CEILING

CEILING — nearest multiple of significance whose absolute value is at least ABS(x)

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
OpenDocument Format (ODF) Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

CEILING(x,significance)

Arguments

x: number

significance: base multiple (defaults to 1 for x > 0 and -1 for x < 0)

Description

CEILING(x,significance) is the nearest multiple of significance whose absolute value is at least ABS(x).

Note

If x or significance is non-numeric, CEILING returns a #VALUE! error. If x and significance have

different signs, CEILING returns a #NUM! error.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

OpenDocument Format (ODF) Compatibility

CEILING(x) is exported to ODF as CEILING(x,SIGN(x),1). CEILING(x,significance) is the OpenFormula

function CEILING(x,significance,1).

See also

CEIL, FLOOR, ABS, INT, MOD.

CHOLESKY

CHOLESKY — the Cholesky decomposition of the symmetric positive-definite matrix

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
See also

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Synopsis

CHOLESKY(matrix)

Arguments

matrix: a symmetric positive definite matrix

Note

If the Cholesky-Banachiewicz algorithm applied to matrix fails, Cholesky returns #NUM! If matrix does not
contain an equal number of columns and rows, CHOLESKY returns #VALUE!

See also

MINVERSE, MMULT, MDETERM.

COMBIN

COMBIN — binomial coefficient

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
OpenDocument Format (ODF) Compatibility

Synopsis

COMBIN(n,k)

Arguments

n: non-negative integer

k: non-negative integer

Description

COMBIN returns the binomial coefficient "n choose k", the number of k-combinations of an n-element set
without repetition.

Note

If n is less than k COMBIN returns #NUM!

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

OpenDocument Format (ODF) Compatibility

This function is OpenFormula compatible.

COMBINA

COMBINA — the number of k-combinations of an n-element set with repetition

Synopsis
Arguments
OpenDocument Format (ODF) Compatibility

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See also

Synopsis

COMBINA(n,k)

Arguments

n: non-negative integer

k: non-negative integer

OpenDocument Format (ODF) Compatibility

This function is OpenFormula compatible.

See also

COMBIN.

COS

COS — the cosine of x

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
See also

Synopsis

COS(x)

Arguments

x: angle in radians

Description

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

SIN, TAN, SINH, COSH, TANH, RADIANS, DEGREES.

COSH

COSH — the hyperbolic cosine of x

Synopsis
Arguments
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

COSH(x)

Arguments

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x: number

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

SIN, TAN, SINH, COSH, TANH.

COSPI

COSPI — the cosine of Pi*x

Synopsis
Arguments
See also

Synopsis

COSPI(x)

Arguments

x: number of half turns

See also

COS.

COT

COT — the cotangent of x

Synopsis
Arguments
See also

Synopsis

COT(x)

Arguments

x: number

See also

TAN, ACOT.

COTH

COTH — the hyperbolic cotangent of x

Synopsis
Arguments
See also

Synopsis

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COTH(x)

Arguments

x: number

See also

TANH, ACOTH.

COTPI

COTPI — the cotangent of Pi*x

Synopsis
Arguments
See also

Synopsis

COTPI(x)

Arguments

x: number of half turns

See also

COT.

COUNTIF

COUNTIF — count of the cells meeting the given criteria

Synopsis
Arguments
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

COUNTIF(range,criteria)

Arguments

range: cell area

criteria: condition for a cell to be counted

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

COUNT, SUMIF.

COUNTIFS

COUNTIFS — count of the cells meeting the given criteria

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Synopsis
Arguments
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

COUNTIFS(range,criteria,…)

Arguments

range: cell area

criteria: condition for a cell to be counted

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

COUNT, SUMIF.

CSC

CSC — the cosecant of x

Synopsis
Arguments
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
OpenDocument Format (ODF) Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

CSC(x)

Arguments

x: angle in radians

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is not Excel compatible.

OpenDocument Format (ODF) Compatibility

This function is OpenFormula compatible.

See also

SIN, COS, TAN, SEC, SINH, COSH, TANH, RADIANS, DEGREES.

CSCH

CSCH — the hyperbolic cosecant of x

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Synopsis
Arguments
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
OpenDocument Format (ODF) Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

CSCH(x)

Arguments

x: number

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is not Excel compatible.

OpenDocument Format (ODF) Compatibility

This function is OpenFormula compatible.

See also

SIN, COS, TAN, CSC, SEC, SINH, COSH, TANH.

DEGREES

DEGREES — equivalent degrees to x radians

Synopsis
Arguments
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

DEGREES(x)

Arguments

x: angle in radians

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

RADIANS, PI.

EIGEN

EIGEN — eigenvalues and eigenvectors of the symmetric matrix

Synopsis
Arguments
Note

Synopsis

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EIGEN(matrix)

Arguments

matrix: a symmetric matrix

Note

If matrix is not symmetric, matching off-diagonal cells will be averaged on the assumption that the non-
symmetry is caused by unimportant rounding errors. If matrix does not contain an equal number of columns
and rows, EIGEN returns #VALUE!

EVEN

EVEN — x rounded away from 0 to the next even integer

Synopsis
Arguments
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

EVEN(x)

Arguments

x: number

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

ODD.

EXP

EXP — e raised to the power of x

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

EXP(x)

Arguments

x: number

Note

e is the base of the natural logarithm.

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Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

LOG, LOG2, LOG10.

EXPM1

EXPM1 — EXP(x)-1

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
See also

Synopsis

EXPM1(x)

Arguments

x: number

Note

This function has a higher resulting precision than evaluating EXP(x)-1.

See also

EXP, LN1P.

FACT

FACT — the factorial of x, i.e. x!

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
Microsoft Excel Compatibility

Synopsis

FACT(x)

Arguments

x: number

Note

The domain of this function has been extended using the GAMMA function.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

FACTDOUBLE

FACTDOUBLE — double factorial

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Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

FACTDOUBLE(x)

Arguments

x: non-negative integer

Description

FACTDOUBLE function returns the double factorial x!!

Note

If x is not an integer, it is truncated. If x is negative, FACTDOUBLE returns #NUM!

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

FACT.

FIB

FIB — Fibonacci numbers

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note

Synopsis

FIB(n)

Arguments

n: positive integer

Description

FIB(n) is the nth Fibonacci number.

Note

If n is not an integer, it is truncated. If it is negative or zero FIB returns #NUM!

FLOOR

FLOOR — nearest multiple of significance whose absolute value is at most ABS(x)

Synopsis

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Arguments
Description
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
OpenDocument Format (ODF) Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

FLOOR(x,significance)

Arguments

x: number

significance: base multiple (defaults to 1 for x > 0 and -1 for x < 0)

Description

FLOOR(x,significance) is the nearest multiple of significance whose absolute value is at most ABS(x)

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

OpenDocument Format (ODF) Compatibility

FLOOR(x) is exported to ODF as FLOOR(x,SIGN(x),1). FLOOR(x,significance) is the OpenFormula function

FLOOR(x,significance,1).

See also

CEIL, CEILING, ABS, INT, MOD.

G_PRODUCT

G_PRODUCT — product of all the values and cells referenced

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
See also

Synopsis

G_PRODUCT(x1,x2,…)

Arguments

x1: number

x2: number

Note

Empty cells are ignored and the empty product is 1.

See also

SUM, COUNT.

GAMMA

GAMMA — the Gamma function

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Synopsis
Arguments
See also

Synopsis

GAMMA(x)

Arguments

x: number

See also

GAMMALN.

GAMMALN

GAMMALN — natural logarithm of the Gamma function

Synopsis
Arguments
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

GAMMALN(x)

Arguments

x: number

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

GAMMA.

GCD

GCD — the greatest common divisor

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

GCD(n0,n1,…)

Arguments

n0: positive integer

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n1: positive integer

Description

GCD calculates the greatest common divisor of the given numbers n0,n1,..., the greatest integer that is a divisor
of each argument.

Note

If any of the arguments is not an integer, it is truncated.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

LCM.

GD

GD — Gudermannian function

Synopsis
Arguments
See also

Synopsis

GD(x)

Arguments

x: value

See also

TAN, TANH.

HYPOT

HYPOT — the square root of the sum of the squares of the arguments

Synopsis
Arguments
See also

Synopsis

HYPOT(n0,n1,…)

Arguments

n0: number

n1: number

See also

MIN, MAX.

IGAMMA

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IGAMMA — the incomplete Gamma function

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
See also

Synopsis

IGAMMA(a,x,lower,regularize,real)

Arguments

a: number

x: number

lower: if true (the default), the lower incomplete gamma function, otherwise the upper incomplete gamma
function

regularize: if true (the default), the regularized version of the incomplete gamma function

real: if true (the default), the real part of the result, otherwise the imaginary part

Note

The regularized incomplete gamma function is the unregularized incomplete gamma function divided by
GAMMA(a) This is a real valued function as long as neither a nor z are negative.

See also

GAMMA, IMIGAMMA.

INT

INT — largest integer not larger than x

Synopsis
Arguments
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

INT(x)

Arguments

x: number

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

CEIL, CEILING, FLOOR, ABS, MOD.

LAMBERTW

LAMBERTW — the Lambert W function

Synopsis

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Arguments
Note
See also

Synopsis

LAMBERTW(x,k)

Arguments

x: number

k: branch

Note

k defaults to 0, the principal branch. k must be either 0 or -1.

See also

EXP.

LCM

LCM — the least common multiple

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

LCM(n0,n1,…)

Arguments

n0: positive integer

n1: positive integer

Description

LCM calculates the least common multiple of the given numbers n0,n1,..., the smallest integer that is a multiple
of each argument.

Note

If any of the arguments is not an integer, it is truncated.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

GCD.

LINSOLVE

LINSOLVE — solve linear equation

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Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
See also

Synopsis

LINSOLVE(A,B)

Arguments

A: a matrix

B: a matrix

Description

Solves the equation A*X=B and returns X.

Note

If the matrix A is singular, #VALUE! is returned.

See also

MINVERSE.

LN

LN — the natural logarithm of x

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

LN(x)

Arguments

x: positive number

Note

If x ≤ 0, LN returns #NUM! error.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

EXP, LOG2, LOG10.

LN1P

LN1P — LN(1+x)

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Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

LN1P(x)

Arguments

x: positive number

Description

LN1P calculates LN(1+x) but yielding a higher precision than evaluating LN(1+x).

Note

If x ≤ -1, LN returns #NUM! error.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

EXP, LN, EXPM1.

LOG

LOG — logarithm of x with base base

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

LOG(x,base)

Arguments

x: positive number

base: base of the logarithm, defaults to 10

Note

base must be positive and not equal to 1. If x ≤ 0, LOG returns #NUM! error.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

LN, LOG2, LOG10.

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LOG10

LOG10 — the base-10 logarithm of x

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
See also

Synopsis

LOG10(x)

Arguments

x: positive number

Note

If x ≤ 0, LOG10 returns #NUM!

See also

EXP, LOG2, LOG.

LOG2

LOG2 — the base-2 logarithm of x

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
See also

Synopsis

LOG2(x)

Arguments

x: positive number

Note

If x ≤ 0, LOG2 returns #NUM!

See also

EXP, LOG10, LOG.

MAXIFS

MAXIFS — maximum of the cells in actual_range for which the corresponding cells in the range meet the
given criteria

Synopsis
Arguments
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

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MAXIFS(actual_range,range1,criteria1,…)

Arguments

actual_range: cell area

range1: cell area

criteria1: condition for a cell to be included

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

MIN, MINIFS.

MDETERM

MDETERM — the determinant of the matrix matrix

Synopsis
Arguments
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

MDETERM(matrix)

Arguments

matrix: a square matrix

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

MMULT, MINVERSE.

MINIFS

MINIFS — minimum of the cells in actual_range for which the corresponding cells in the range meet the
given criteria

Synopsis
Arguments
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

MINIFS(actual_range,range1,criteria1,…)

Arguments

actual_range: cell area

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range1: cell area

criteria1: condition for a cell to be included

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

MIN, MAXIFS.

MINVERSE

MINVERSE — the inverse matrix of matrix

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

MINVERSE(matrix)

Arguments

matrix: a square matrix

Note

If matrix is not invertible, MINVERSE returns #NUM! If matrix does not contain an equal number of columns
and rows, MINVERSE returns #VALUE!

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

MMULT, MDETERM, LINSOLVE.

MMULT

MMULT — the matrix product of mat1 and mat2

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

MMULT(mat1,mat2)

Arguments

mat1: a matrix

mat2: a matrix

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Note

The number of columns in mat1 must equal the number of rows in mat2; otherwise #VALUE! is returned. The
result of MMULT is an array, in which the number of rows is the same as in mat1), and the number of columns is
the same as in (mat2).

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

TRANSPOSE, MINVERSE.

MOD

MOD — the remainder of x under division by n

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

MOD(x,n)

Arguments

x: integer

n: integer

Description

MOD function returns the remainder when x is divided by n.

Note

If n is 0, MOD returns #DIV/0!

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

CEIL, CEILING, FLOOR, ABS, INT, ABS.

MPSEUDOINVERSE

MPSEUDOINVERSE — the pseudo-inverse matrix of matrix

Synopsis
Arguments
See also

Synopsis

MPSEUDOINVERSE(matrix,threshold)

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Arguments

matrix: a matrix

threshold: a relative size threshold for discarding eigenvalues

See also

MINVERSE.

MROUND

MROUND — x rounded to a multiple of m

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

MROUND(x,m)

Arguments

x: number

m: number

Note

If x and m have different sign, MROUND returns #NUM!

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

ROUNDDOWN, ROUND, ROUNDUP.

MULTINOMIAL

MULTINOMIAL — multinomial coefficient (x1+⋯+xn) choose (x1,…,xn)

Synopsis
Arguments
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

MULTINOMIAL(x1,x2,xn,…)

Arguments

x1: first number

x2: second number

xn: nth number

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Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

COMBIN, SUM.

MUNIT

MUNIT — the n by n identity matrix

Synopsis
Arguments
OpenDocument Format (ODF) Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

MUNIT(n)

Arguments

n: size of the matrix

OpenDocument Format (ODF) Compatibility

This function is OpenFormula compatible.

See also

MMULT, MDETERM, MINVERSE.

ODD

ODD — x rounded away from 0 to the next odd integer

Synopsis
Arguments
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

ODD(x)

Arguments

x: number

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

EVEN.

ODF.SUMPRODUCT

ODF.SUMPRODUCT — multiplies components and adds the results

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Synopsis
Description
Note
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
OpenDocument Format (ODF) Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

ODF.SUMPRODUCT(,…)

Description

Multiplies corresponding data entries in the given arrays or ranges, and then returns the sum of those products.

Note

If an entry is not numeric or logical, the value zero is used instead. If arrays or range arguments do not have the
same dimensions, return #VALUE! error. This function differs from SUMPRODUCT by considering booleans.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is not Excel compatible. Use SUMPRODUCT instead.

OpenDocument Format (ODF) Compatibility

This function is OpenFormula compatible.

See also

SUMPRODUCT, SUM, PRODUCT, G_PRODUCT.

PI

PI — the constant 𝜋

Synopsis
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

PI()

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible, but it returns 𝜋 with a better precision.

See also

SQRTPI.

POCHHAMMER

POCHHAMMER — the value of GAMMA(x+n)/GAMMA(x)

Synopsis
Arguments
See also

Synopsis

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POCHHAMMER(x,n)

Arguments

x: number

n: number

See also

GAMMA.

POWER

POWER — the value of x raised to the power y raised to the power of 1/z

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
See also

Synopsis

POWER(x,y,z)

Arguments

x: number

y: number

z: number

Note

If both x and y equal 0, POWER returns #NUM! If x = 0 and y < 0, POWER returns #DIV/0! If x < 0 and y is not an
integer, POWER returns #NUM! z defaults to 1 If z is not a positive integer, POWER returns #NUM! If x < 0, y is
odd, and z is even, POWER returns #NUM!

See also

EXP.

PRODUCT

PRODUCT — product of the given values

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
OpenDocument Format (ODF) Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

PRODUCT(values,…)

Arguments

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values: a list of values to multiply

Description

PRODUCT computes the product of all the values and cells referenced in the argument list.

Note

If all cells are empty, the result will be 0.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

OpenDocument Format (ODF) Compatibility

This function is OpenFormula compatible.

See also

SUM, COUNT, G_PRODUCT.

QUOTIENT

QUOTIENT — integer portion of a division

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

QUOTIENT(numerator,denominator)

Arguments

numerator: integer

denominator: non-zero integer

Description

QUOTIENT yields the integer portion of the division numerator/denominator.

QUOTIENT (numerator,denominator)⨉denominator+MOD(numerator,denominator)=numerator

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

MOD.

RADIANS

RADIANS — the number of radians equivalent to x degrees

Synopsis
Arguments
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

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Synopsis

RADIANS(x)

Arguments

x: angle in degrees

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

PI, DEGREES.

REDUCEPI

REDUCEPI — reduce modulo Pi divided by a power of 2

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
See also

Synopsis

REDUCEPI(x,e,q)

Arguments

x: number

e: scale

q: get lower bits of quotient, defaults to FALSE

Note

This function returns a value, xr, such that x=xr+j*Pi/2^e where j is an integer and the absolute value of xr does
not exceed Pi/2^(e+1). If optional argument q is TRUE, returns instead the e+1 lower bits of j. The reduction is
performed as-if using an exact value of Pi. The lowest valid e is -1 representing reduction modulo 2*Pi; the
highest is 7 representing reduction modulo Pi/256.

See also

PI.

ROMAN

ROMAN — n as a roman numeral text

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Microsoft Excel Compatibility

Synopsis

ROMAN(n,type)

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Arguments

n: non-negative integer

type: 0,1,2,3,or 4, defaults to 0

Description

ROMAN returns the arabic number n as a roman numeral text.

If type is 0 or it is omitted, ROMAN returns classic roman numbers.

Type 1 is more concise than classic type, type 2 is more concise than type 1, and type 3 is more concise than type
2. Type 4 is a simplified type.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

ROUND

ROUND — rounded x

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

ROUND(x,d)

Arguments

x: number

d: integer, defaults to 0

Description

If d is greater than zero, x is rounded to the given number of digits.

If d is zero, x is rounded to the next integer.

If d is less than zero, x is rounded to the left of the decimal point

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

ROUNDDOWN, ROUNDUP.

ROUNDDOWN

ROUNDDOWN — x rounded towards 0

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

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ROUNDDOWN(x,d)

Arguments

x: number

d: integer, defaults to 0

Description

If d is greater than zero, x is rounded toward 0 to the given number of digits.

If d is zero, x is rounded toward 0 to the next integer.

If d is less than zero, x is rounded toward 0 to the left of the decimal point

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

ROUND, ROUNDUP.

ROUNDUP

ROUNDUP — x rounded away from 0

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

ROUNDUP(x,d)

Arguments

x: number

d: integer, defaults to 0

Description

If d is greater than zero, x is rounded away from 0 to the given number of digits.

If d is zero, x is rounded away from 0 to the next integer.

If d is less than zero, x is rounded away from 0 to the left of the decimal point

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

ROUND, ROUNDDOWN, INT.

SEC

SEC — Secant

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Synopsis
Arguments
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
OpenDocument Format (ODF) Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

SEC(x)

Arguments

x: angle in radians

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is not Excel compatible.

OpenDocument Format (ODF) Compatibility

SEC(x) is exported to OpenFormula as 1/COS(x).

See also

SIN, COS, TAN, CSC, SINH, COSH, TANH, RADIANS, DEGREES.

SECH

SECH — the hyperbolic secant of x

Synopsis
Arguments
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
OpenDocument Format (ODF) Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

SECH(x)

Arguments

x: number

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is not Excel compatible.

OpenDocument Format (ODF) Compatibility

SECH(x) is exported to OpenFormula as 1/COSH(x).

See also

SIN, COS, TAN, CSC, SEC, SINH, COSH, TANH.

SERIESSUM

SERIESSUM — sum of a power series at x

Synopsis

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Arguments
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

SERIESSUM(x,n,m,coeff)

Arguments

x: number where to evaluate the power series

n: non-negative integer, exponent of the lowest term of the series

m: increment to each exponent

coeff: coefficients of the power series

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

COUNT, SUM.

SIGN

SIGN — sign of x

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

SIGN(x)

Arguments

x: number

Description

SIGN returns 1 if the x is positive and it returns -1 if x is negative.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

ABS.

SIN

SIN — the sine of x

Synopsis
Arguments
Microsoft Excel Compatibility

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See also

Synopsis

SIN(x)

Arguments

x: angle in radians

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

COS, TAN, CSC, SEC, SINH, COSH, TANH, RADIANS, DEGREES.

SINH

SINH — the hyperbolic sine of x

Synopsis
Arguments
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

SINH(x)

Arguments

x: number

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

SIN, COSH, ASINH.

SINPI

SINPI — the sine of Pi*x

Synopsis
Arguments
See also

Synopsis

SINPI(x)

Arguments

x: number of half turns

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See also

SIN.

SQRT

SQRT — square root of x

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

SQRT(x)

Arguments

x: non-negative number

Note

If x is negative, SQRT returns #NUM!

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

POWER.

SQRTPI

SQRTPI — the square root of x times 𝜋

Synopsis
Arguments
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

SQRTPI(x)

Arguments

x: non-negative number

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

PI.

SUM

SUM — sum of the given values

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Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
OpenDocument Format (ODF) Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

SUM(values,…)

Arguments

values: a list of values to add

Description

SUM computes the sum of all the values and cells referenced in the argument list.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

OpenDocument Format (ODF) Compatibility

This function is OpenFormula compatible.

See also

AVERAGE, COUNT.

SUMA

SUMA — sum of all values and cells referenced

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
See also

Synopsis

SUMA(area0,area1,…)

Arguments

area0: first cell area

area1: second cell area

Description

Numbers, text and logical values are included in the calculation too. If the cell contains text or the argument
evaluates to FALSE, it is counted as value zero (0). If the argument evaluates to TRUE, it is counted as one (1).

See also

AVERAGE, SUM, COUNT.

SUMIF

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SUMIF — sum of the cells in actual_range for which the corresponding cells in the range meet the given
criteria

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

SUMIF(range,criteria,actual_range)

Arguments

range: cell area

criteria: condition for a cell to be summed

actual_range: cell area, defaults to range

Note

If the actual_range has a size that differs from the size of range, actual_range is resized (retaining the
top-left corner) to match the size of range.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

SUM, SUMIFS, COUNTIF.

SUMIFS

SUMIFS — sum of the cells in actual_range for which the corresponding cells in the range meet the given
criteria

Synopsis
Arguments
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

SUMIFS(actual_range,range1,criteria1,…)

Arguments

actual_range: cell area

range1: cell area

criteria1: condition for a cell to be included

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

SUM, SUMIF.

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SUMPRODUCT

SUMPRODUCT — multiplies components and adds the results

Synopsis
Description
Note
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
OpenDocument Format (ODF) Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

SUMPRODUCT(,…)

Description

Multiplies corresponding data entries in the given arrays or ranges, and then returns the sum of those products.

Note

If an entry is not numeric, the value zero is used instead. If arrays or range arguments do not have the same
dimensions, return #VALUE! error. This function ignores logicals, so using SUMPRODUCT(A1:A5>0) will not work.
Instead use SUMPRODUCT(--(A1:A5>0))

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

OpenDocument Format (ODF) Compatibility

This function is not OpenFormula compatible. Use ODF.SUMPRODUCT instead.

See also

SUM, PRODUCT, G_PRODUCT, ODF.SUMPRODUCT.

SUMSQ

SUMSQ — sum of the squares of all values and cells referenced

Synopsis
Arguments
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

SUMSQ(area0,area1,…)

Arguments

area0: first cell area

area1: second cell area

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

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SUM, COUNT.

SUMX2MY2

SUMX2MY2 — sum of the difference of squares

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

SUMX2MY2(array0,array1)

Arguments

array0: first cell area

array1: second cell area

Description

SUMX2MY2 function returns the sum of the difference of squares of corresponding values in two arrays. The
equation of SUMX2MY2 is SUM(x^2-y^2).

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

SUMSQ, SUMX2PY2.

SUMX2PY2

SUMX2PY2 — sum of the sum of squares

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

SUMX2PY2(array0,array1)

Arguments

array0: first cell area

array1: second cell area

Description

SUMX2PY2 function returns the sum of the sum of squares of corresponding values in two arrays. The equation
of SUMX2PY2 is SUM(x^2+y^2).

Note

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If array0 and array1 have different number of data points, SUMX2PY2 returns #N/A.

Strings and empty cells are simply ignored.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

SUMSQ, SUMX2MY2.

SUMXMY2

SUMXMY2 — sum of the squares of differences

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

SUMXMY2(array0,array1)

Arguments

array0: first cell area

array1: second cell area

Description

SUMXMY2 function returns the sum of the squares of the differences of corresponding values in two arrays. The
equation of SUMXMY2 is SUM((x-y)^2).

Note

If array0 and array1 have different number of data points, SUMXMY2 returns #N/A.

Strings and empty cells are simply ignored.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

SUMSQ, SUMX2MY2, SUMX2PY2.

TAN

TAN — the tangent of x

Synopsis
Arguments
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

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TAN(x)

Arguments

x: angle in radians

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

TANH, COS, COSH, SIN, SINH, DEGREES, RADIANS.

TANH

TANH — the hyperbolic tangent of x

Synopsis
Arguments
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

TANH(x)

Arguments

x: number

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

TAN, SIN, SINH, COS, COSH.

TANPI

TANPI — the tangent of Pi*x

Synopsis
Arguments
See also

Synopsis

TANPI(x)

Arguments

x: number of half turns

See also

TAN.

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TRUNC

TRUNC — x truncated to d digits

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

TRUNC(x,d)

Arguments

x: number

d: non-negative integer, defaults to 0

Note

If d is omitted or negative then it defaults to zero. If it is not an integer then it is truncated to an integer.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

INT.

A.13. Number Theory

ISPRIME — whether n is prime

ITHPRIME — ith prime
NT_D — number of divisors
NT_MU — Möbius mu function
NT_OMEGA — Number of distinct prime factors
NT_PHI — Euler's totient function
NT_PI — number of primes upto n
NT_RADICAL — Radical function
NT_SIGMA — sigma function
PFACTOR — smallest prime factor

ISPRIME

ISPRIME — whether n is prime

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
See also

Synopsis

ISPRIME(n)

Arguments

n: positive integer

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Description

ISPRIME returns TRUE if n is prime and FALSE otherwise.

See also

NT_D, NT_SIGMA.

ITHPRIME

ITHPRIME — ith prime

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
See also

Synopsis

ITHPRIME(i)

Arguments

i: positive integer

Description

ITHPRIME finds the ith prime.

See also

NT_D, NT_SIGMA.

NT_D

NT_D — number of divisors

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
See also

Synopsis

NT_D(n)

Arguments

n: positive integer

Description

NT_D calculates the number of divisors of n.

See also

ITHPRIME, NT_PHI, NT_SIGMA.

NT_MU

NT_MU — Möbius mu function

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Synopsis
Arguments
Description
See also

Synopsis

NT_MU(n)

Arguments

n: positive integer

Description

NT_MU function (Möbius mu function) returns 0 if n is divisible by the square of a prime. Otherwise, if n has an
odd number of different prime factors, NT_MU returns -1, and if n has an even number of different prime
factors, it returns 1. If n = 1, NT_MU returns 1.

See also

ITHPRIME, NT_PHI, NT_SIGMA, NT_D.

NT_OMEGA

NT_OMEGA — Number of distinct prime factors

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
See also

Synopsis

NT_OMEGA(n)

Arguments

n: positive integer

Note

Returns the number of distinct prime factors without multiplicity.

See also

NT_D, ITHPRIME, NT_SIGMA.

NT_PHI

NT_PHI — Euler's totient function

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
See also

Synopsis

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NT_PHI(n)

Arguments

n: positive integer

Note

Euler's totient function gives the number of integers less than or equal to n that are relatively prime (coprime)
to n.

See also

NT_D, ITHPRIME, NT_SIGMA.

NT_PI

NT_PI — number of primes upto n

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
See also

Synopsis

NT_PI(n)

Arguments

n: positive integer

Description

NT_PI returns the number of primes less than or equal to n.

See also

ITHPRIME, NT_PHI, NT_D, NT_SIGMA.

NT_RADICAL

NT_RADICAL — Radical function

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
See also

Synopsis

NT_RADICAL(n)

Arguments

n: positive integer

Note

The function computes the product of its distinct prime factors

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See also

NT_D, ITHPRIME, NT_SIGMA.

NT_SIGMA

NT_SIGMA — sigma function

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
See also

Synopsis

NT_SIGMA(n)

Arguments

n: positive integer

Description

NT_SIGMA calculates the sum of the divisors of n.

See also

NT_D, ITHPRIME, NT_PHI.

PFACTOR

PFACTOR — smallest prime factor

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
See also

Synopsis

PFACTOR(n)

Arguments

n: positive integer

Description

PFACTOR finds the smallest prime factor of its argument.

Note

The argument n must be at least 2. Otherwise a #VALUE! error is returned.

See also

ITHPRIME.

A.14. Random Numbers

RAND — a random number between zero and one

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RANDBERNOULLI — random variate from a Bernoulli distribution
RANDBETA — random variate from a Beta distribution
RANDBETWEEN — a random integer number between and including bottom and top
RANDBINOM — random variate from a binomial distribution
RANDCAUCHY — random variate from a Cauchy or Lorentz distribution
RANDCHISQ — random variate from a Chi-square distribution
RANDDISCRETE — random variate from a finite discrete distribution
RANDEXP — random variate from an exponential distribution
RANDEXPPOW — random variate from an exponential power distribution
RANDFDIST — random variate from an F distribution
RANDGAMMA — random variate from a Gamma distribution
RANDGEOM — random variate from a geometric distribution
RANDGUMBEL — random variate from a Gumbel distribution
RANDHYPERG — random variate from a hypergeometric distribution
RANDLANDAU — random variate from the Landau distribution
RANDLAPLACE — random variate from a Laplace distribution
RANDLEVY — random variate from a Lévy distribution
RANDLOG — random variate from a logarithmic distribution
RANDLOGISTIC — random variate from a logistic distribution
RANDLOGNORM — random variate from a lognormal distribution
RANDNEGBINOM — random variate from a negative binomial distribution
RANDNORM — random variate from a normal distribution
RANDNORMTAIL — random variate from the upper tail of a normal distribution with mean 0
RANDPARETO — random variate from a Pareto distribution
RANDPOISSON — random variate from a Poisson distribution
RANDRAYLEIGH — random variate from a Rayleigh distribution
RANDRAYLEIGHTAIL — random variate from the tail of a Rayleigh distribution
RANDSNORM — random variate from a skew-normal distribution
RANDSTDIST — random variate from a skew-t distribution
RANDTDIST — random variate from a Student t distribution
RANDUNIFORM — random variate from the uniform distribution from a to b
RANDWEIBULL — random variate from a Weibull distribution
SIMTABLE — one of the values in the given argument list depending on the round number of the
simulation tool

RAND

RAND — a random number between zero and one

Synopsis
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

RAND()

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

RANDBETWEEN.

RANDBERNOULLI

RANDBERNOULLI — random variate from a Bernoulli distribution

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Synopsis
Arguments
Note
See also

Synopsis

RANDBERNOULLI(p)

Arguments

p: probability of success

Note

If p < 0 or p > 1 RANDBERNOULLI returns #NUM!

See also

RAND, RANDBETWEEN.

RANDBETA

RANDBETA — random variate from a Beta distribution

Synopsis
Arguments
See also

Synopsis

RANDBETA(a,b)

Arguments

a: parameter of the Beta distribution

b: parameter of the Beta distribution

See also

RAND, RANDGAMMA.

RANDBETWEEN

RANDBETWEEN — a random integer number between and including bottom and top

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

RANDBETWEEN(bottom,top)

Arguments

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bottom: lower limit

top: upper limit

Note

If bottom > top, RANDBETWEEN returns #NUM!

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

RAND, RANDUNIFORM.

RANDBINOM

RANDBINOM — random variate from a binomial distribution

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
See also

Synopsis

RANDBINOM(p,n)

Arguments

p: probability of success in a single trial

n: number of trials

Note

If p < 0 or p > 1 RANDBINOM returns #NUM! If n < 0 RANDBINOM returns #NUM!

See also

RAND, RANDBETWEEN.

RANDCAUCHY

RANDCAUCHY — random variate from a Cauchy or Lorentz distribution

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
See also

Synopsis

RANDCAUCHY(a)

Arguments

a: scale parameter of the distribution

Note

If a < 0 RANDCAUCHY returns #NUM!

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See also

RAND.

RANDCHISQ

RANDCHISQ — random variate from a Chi-square distribution

Synopsis
Arguments
See also

Synopsis

RANDCHISQ(df)

Arguments

df: degrees of freedom

See also

RAND, RANDGAMMA.

RANDDISCRETE

RANDDISCRETE — random variate from a finite discrete distribution

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
See also

Synopsis

RANDDISCRETE(val_range,prob_range)

Arguments

val_range: possible values of the random variable

prob_range: probabilities of the corresponding values in val_range, defaults to equal probabilities

Description

RANDDISCRETE returns one of the values in the val_range. The probabilities for each value are given in the
prob_range.

Note

If the sum of all values in prob_range is not one, RANDDISCRETE returns #NUM! If val_range and
prob_range are not the same size, RANDDISCRETE returns #NUM! If val_range or prob_range is not a
range, RANDDISCRETE returns #VALUE!

See also

RANDBETWEEN, RAND.

RANDEXP

RANDEXP — random variate from an exponential distribution

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Synopsis
Arguments
See also

Synopsis

RANDEXP(b)

Arguments

b: parameter of the exponential distribution

See also

RAND, RANDBETWEEN.

RANDEXPPOW

RANDEXPPOW — random variate from an exponential power distribution

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
See also

Synopsis

RANDEXPPOW(a,b)

Arguments

a: scale parameter of the exponential power distribution

b: exponent of the exponential power distribution

Description

For b = 1 the exponential power distribution reduces to the Laplace distribution.

For b = 2 the exponential power distribution reduces to the normal distribution with σ = a/sqrt(2)

See also

RAND.

RANDFDIST

RANDFDIST — random variate from an F distribution

Synopsis
Arguments
See also

Synopsis

RANDFDIST(df1,df2)

Arguments

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df1: numerator degrees of freedom

df2: denominator degrees of freedom

See also

RAND, RANDGAMMA.

RANDGAMMA

RANDGAMMA — random variate from a Gamma distribution

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
See also

Synopsis

RANDGAMMA(a,b)

Arguments

a: shape parameter of the Gamma distribution

b: scale parameter of the Gamma distribution

Note

If a ≤ 0, RANDGAMMA returns #NUM!

See also

RAND.

RANDGEOM

RANDGEOM — random variate from a geometric distribution

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
See also

Synopsis

RANDGEOM(p)

Arguments

p: probability of success in a single trial

Note

If p < 0 or p > 1 RANDGEOM returns #NUM!

See also

RAND.

RANDGUMBEL

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RANDGUMBEL — random variate from a Gumbel distribution

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
See also

Synopsis

RANDGUMBEL(a,b,type)

Arguments

a: parameter of the Gumbel distribution

b: parameter of the Gumbel distribution

type: type of the Gumbel distribution, defaults to 1

Note

If type is neither 1 nor 2, RANDGUMBEL returns #NUM!

See also

RAND.

RANDHYPERG

RANDHYPERG — random variate from a hypergeometric distribution

Synopsis
Arguments
See also

Synopsis

RANDHYPERG(n1,n2,t)

Arguments

n1: number of objects of type 1

n2: number of objects of type 2

t: total number of objects selected

See also

RAND.

RANDLANDAU

RANDLANDAU — random variate from the Landau distribution

Synopsis
See also

Synopsis

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RANDLANDAU()

See also

RAND.

RANDLAPLACE

RANDLAPLACE — random variate from a Laplace distribution

Synopsis
Arguments
See also

Synopsis

RANDLAPLACE(a)

Arguments

a: parameter of the Laplace distribution

See also

RAND.

RANDLEVY

RANDLEVY — random variate from a Lévy distribution

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
See also

Synopsis

RANDLEVY(c,α,β)

Arguments

c: parameter of the Lévy distribution

α: parameter of the Lévy distribution

β: parameter of the Lévy distribution, defaults to 0

Description

For α = 1, β=0, the Lévy distribution reduces to the Cauchy (or Lorentzian) distribution.

For α = 2, β=0, the Lévy distribution reduces to the normal distribution.

Note

If α ≤ 0 or α > 2, RANDLEVY returns #NUM! If β < -1 or β > 1, RANDLEVY returns #NUM!

See also

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RAND.

RANDLOG

RANDLOG — random variate from a logarithmic distribution

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
See also

Synopsis

RANDLOG(p)

Arguments

p: probability

Note

If p < 0 or p > 1 RANDLOG returns #NUM!

See also

RAND.

RANDLOGISTIC

RANDLOGISTIC — random variate from a logistic distribution

Synopsis
Arguments
See also

Synopsis

RANDLOGISTIC(a)

Arguments

a: parameter of the logistic distribution

See also

RAND.

RANDLOGNORM

RANDLOGNORM — random variate from a lognormal distribution

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
See also

Synopsis

RANDLOGNORM(ζ,σ)

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Arguments

ζ: parameter of the lognormal distribution

σ: standard deviation of the distribution

Note

If σ < 0, RANDLOGNORM returns #NUM!

See also

RAND.

RANDNEGBINOM

RANDNEGBINOM — random variate from a negative binomial distribution

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
See also

Synopsis

RANDNEGBINOM(p,n)

Arguments

p: probability of success in a single trial

n: number of failures

Note

If p < 0 or p > 1 RANDNEGBINOM returns #NUM! If n < 1 RANDNEGBINOM returns #NUM!

See also

RAND, RANDBETWEEN.

RANDNORM

RANDNORM — random variate from a normal distribution

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
See also

Synopsis

RANDNORM(μ,σ)

Arguments

μ: mean of the distribution

σ: standard deviation of the distribution

Note

If σ < 0, RANDNORM returns #NUM!

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See also

RAND.

RANDNORMTAIL

RANDNORMTAIL — random variate from the upper tail of a normal distribution with mean 0

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
See also

Synopsis

RANDNORMTAIL(a,σ)

Arguments

a: lower limit of the tail

σ: standard deviation of the normal distribution

Note

The method is based on Marsaglia's famous rectangle-wedge-tail algorithm (Ann Math Stat 32, 894-899 (1961)),
with this aspect explained in Knuth, v2, 3rd ed, p139, 586 (exercise 11).

See also

RAND.

RANDPARETO

RANDPARETO — random variate from a Pareto distribution

Synopsis
Arguments
See also

Synopsis

RANDPARETO(a,b)

Arguments

a: parameter of the Pareto distribution

b: parameter of the Pareto distribution

See also

RAND.

RANDPOISSON

RANDPOISSON — random variate from a Poisson distribution

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
See also

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Synopsis

RANDPOISSON(λ)

Arguments

λ: parameter of the Poisson distribution

Note

If λ < 0 RANDPOISSON returns #NUM!

See also

RAND, RANDBETWEEN.

RANDRAYLEIGH

RANDRAYLEIGH — random variate from a Rayleigh distribution

Synopsis
Arguments
See also

Synopsis

RANDRAYLEIGH(σ)

Arguments

σ: scale parameter of the Rayleigh distribution

See also

RAND.

RANDRAYLEIGHTAIL

RANDRAYLEIGHTAIL — random variate from the tail of a Rayleigh distribution

Synopsis
Arguments
See also

Synopsis

RANDRAYLEIGHTAIL(a,σ)

Arguments

a: lower limit of the tail

σ: scale parameter of the Rayleigh distribution

See also

RAND, RANDRAYLEIGH.

RANDSNORM

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RANDSNORM — random variate from a skew-normal distribution

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
See also

Synopsis

RANDSNORM(𝛼,𝜉,𝜔)

Arguments

𝛼: shape parameter of the skew-normal distribution, defaults to 0

𝜉: location parameter of the skew-normal distribution, defaults to 0

𝜔: scale parameter of the skew-normal distribution, defaults to 1

Description

The random variates are drawn from a skew-normal distribution with shape parameter 𝛼. When 𝛼=0, the
skewness vanishes, and we obtain the standard normal density; as 𝛼 increases (in absolute value), the skewness
of the distribution increases; when 𝛼 approaches infinity the density converges to the so-called half-normal (or
folded normal) density function; if the sign of 𝛼 changes, the density is reflected on the opposite side of the
vertical axis.

Note

The mean of a skew-normal distribution with location parameter 𝜉=0 is not 0. The standard deviation of a skew-
normal distribution with scale parameter 𝜔=1 is not 1. The skewness of a skew-normal distribution is in general
not 𝛼. If 𝜔 < 0, RANDSNORM returns #NUM!

See also

RANDNORM, RANDSTDIST.

RANDSTDIST

RANDSTDIST — random variate from a skew-t distribution

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
See also

Synopsis

RANDSTDIST(df,𝛼)

Arguments

df: degrees of freedom

𝛼: shape parameter of the skew-t distribution, defaults to 0

Note

The mean of a skew-t distribution is not 0. The standard deviation of a skew-t distribution is not 1. The skewness
of a skew-t distribution is in general not 𝛼.

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See also

RANDTDIST, RANDSNORM.

RANDTDIST

RANDTDIST — random variate from a Student t distribution

Synopsis
Arguments
See also

Synopsis

RANDTDIST(df)

Arguments

df: degrees of freedom

See also

RAND.

RANDUNIFORM

RANDUNIFORM — random variate from the uniform distribution from a to b

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
See also

Synopsis

RANDUNIFORM(a,b)

Arguments

a: lower limit of the uniform distribution

b: upper limit of the uniform distribution

Note

If a > b RANDUNIFORM returns #NUM!

See also

RANDBETWEEN, RAND.

RANDWEIBULL

RANDWEIBULL — random variate from a Weibull distribution

Synopsis
Arguments
See also

Synopsis

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RANDWEIBULL(a,b)

Arguments

a: scale parameter of the Weibull distribution

b: shape parameter of the Weibull distribution

See also

RAND.

SIMTABLE

SIMTABLE — one of the values in the given argument list depending on the round number of the simulation
tool

Synopsis
Arguments
Description

Synopsis

SIMTABLE(d1,d2,…)

Arguments

d1: first value

d2: second value

Description

SIMTABLE returns one of the values in the given argument list depending on the round number of the
simulation tool. When the simulation tool is not activated, SIMTABLE returns d1.

With the simulation tool and the SIMTABLE function you can test given decision variables. Each SIMTABLE
function contains the possible values of a simulation variable. In most valid simulation models you should have
the same number of values dN for all decision variables. If the simulation is run more rounds than there are
values defined, SIMTABLE returns #N/A error (e.g. if A1 contains `=SIMTABLE(1)' and A2 `=SIMTABLE(1,2)', A1
yields #N/A error on the second round).

The successive use of the simulation tool also requires that you give to the tool at least one input variable
having RAND() or any other RAND<distribution name>() function in it. On each round, the simulation tool
iterates for the given number of rounds over all the input variables to reevaluate them. On each iteration, the
values of the output variables are stored, and when the round is completed, descriptive statistical information is
created according to the values.

A.15. Statistics

ADTEST — Anderson-Darling Test of Normality

AVEDEV — average of the absolute deviations of a data set
AVERAGE — average of all the numeric values and cells
AVERAGEA — average of all the values and cells
BERNOULLI — probability mass function of a Bernoulli distribution
BETA.DIST — cumulative distribution function of the beta distribution
BETADIST — cumulative distribution function of the beta distribution
BETAINV — inverse of the cumulative distribution function of the beta distribution
BINOM.DIST.RANGE — probability of the binomial distribution over an interval
BINOMDIST — probability mass or cumulative distribution function of the binomial distribution
CAUCHY — probability density or cumulative distribution function of the Cauchy, Lorentz or Breit-
Wigner distribution
CHIDIST — survival function of the chi-squared distribution

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CHIINV — inverse of the survival function of the chi-squared distribution
CHITEST — p value of the Goodness of Fit Test
CONFIDENCE — margin of error of a confidence interval for the population mean
CONFIDENCE.T — margin of error of a confidence interval for the population mean using the
Student's t-distribution
CORREL — Pearson correlation coefficient of two data sets
COUNT — total number of integer or floating point arguments passed
COUNTA — number of arguments passed not including empty cells
COVAR — covariance of two data sets
COVARIANCE.S — sample covariance of two data sets
CRITBINOM — right-tailed critical value of the binomial distribution
CRONBACH — Cronbach's alpha
CVMTEST — Cramér-von Mises Test of Normality
DEVSQ — sum of squares of deviations of a data set
EXPONDIST — probability density or cumulative distribution function of the exponential distribution
EXPPOWDIST — the probability density function of the Exponential Power distribution
FDIST — survival function of the F distribution
FINV — inverse of the survival function of the F distribution
FISHER — Fisher transformation
FISHERINV — inverse of the Fisher transformation
FORECAST — estimates a future value according to existing values using simple linear regression
FREQUENCY — frequency table
FTEST — p-value for the two-tailed hypothesis test comparing the variances of two populations
GAMMADIST — probability density or cumulative distribution function of the gamma distribution
GAMMAINV — inverse of the cumulative gamma distribution
GEOMDIST — probability mass or cumulative distribution function of the geometric distribution
GEOMEAN — geometric mean
GROWTH — exponential growth prediction
HARMEAN — harmonic mean
HYPGEOMDIST — probability mass or cumulative distribution function of the hypergeometric
distribution
INTERCEPT — the intercept of a linear regression line
KURT — unbiased estimate of the kurtosis of a data set
KURTP — population kurtosis of a data set
LANDAU — approximate probability density function of the Landau distribution
LAPLACE — probability density function of the Laplace distribution
LARGE — k-th largest value in a data set
LEVERAGE — calculate regression leverage
LINEST — multiple linear regression coefficients and statistics
LKSTEST — Lilliefors (Kolmogorov-Smirnov) Test of Normality
LOGEST — exponential least square fit
LOGFIT — logarithmic least square fit (using a trial and error method)
LOGINV — inverse of the cumulative distribution function of the lognormal distribution
LOGISTIC — probability density function of the logistic distribution
LOGNORMDIST — cumulative distribution function of the lognormal distribution
LOGREG — the logarithmic regression
MAX — largest value, with negative numbers considered smaller than positive numbers
MAXA — largest value, with negative numbers considered smaller than positive numbers
MEDIAN — median of a data set
MIN — smallest value, with negative numbers considered smaller than positive numbers
MINA — smallest value, with negative numbers considered smaller than positive numbers
MODE — first most common number in the dataset
MODE.MULT — most common numbers in the dataset
NEGBINOMDIST — probability mass function of the negative binomial distribution
NORMDIST — probability density or cumulative distribution function of a normal distribution
NORMINV — inverse of the cumulative distribution function of a normal distribution
NORMSDIST — cumulative distribution function of the standard normal distribution
NORMSINV — inverse of the cumulative distribution function of the standard normal distribution
OWENT — Owen's T function
PARETO — probability density function of the Pareto distribution
PEARSON — Pearson correlation coefficient of the paired set of data
PERCENTILE — determines the 100*k-th percentile of the given data points (Hyndman-Fan method 7:
N-1 basis)
PERCENTILE.EXC — determines the 100*k-th percentile of the given data points (Hyndman-Fan
method 6: N+1 basis)

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PERCENTRANK — rank of a data point in a data set (Hyndman-Fan method 7: N-1 basis)
PERCENTRANK.EXC — rank of a data point in a data set (Hyndman-Fan method 6: N+1 basis)
PERMUT — number of k-permutations of a n-set
PERMUTATIONA — the number of permutations of y objects chosen from x objects with repetition
allowed
POISSON — probability mass or cumulative distribution function of the Poisson distribution
PROB — probability of an interval for a discrete (and finite) probability distribution
QUARTILE — the k-th quartile of the data points (Hyndman-Fan method 7: N-1 basis)
QUARTILE.EXC — the k-th quartile of the data points (Hyndman-Fan method 6: N+1 basis)
R.DBETA — probability density function of the beta distribution
R.DBINOM — probability density function of the binomial distribution
R.DCAUCHY — probability density function of the Cauchy distribution
R.DCHISQ — probability density function of the chi-square distribution
R.DEXP — probability density function of the exponential distribution
R.DF — probability density function of the F distribution
R.DGAMMA — probability density function of the gamma distribution
R.DGEOM — probability density function of the geometric distribution
R.DGUMBEL — probability density function of the Gumbel distribution
R.DHYPER — probability density function of the hypergeometric distribution
R.DLNORM — probability density function of the log-normal distribution
R.DNBINOM — probability density function of the negative binomial distribution
R.DNORM — probability density function of the normal distribution
R.DPOIS — probability density function of the Poisson distribution
R.DRAYLEIGH — probability density function of the Rayleigh distribution
R.DSNORM — probability density function of the skew-normal distribution
R.DST — probability density function of the skew-t distribution
R.DT — probability density function of the Student t distribution
R.DWEIBULL — probability density function of the Weibull distribution
R.PBETA — cumulative distribution function of the beta distribution
R.PBINOM — cumulative distribution function of the binomial distribution
R.PCAUCHY — cumulative distribution function of the Cauchy distribution
R.PCHISQ — cumulative distribution function of the chi-square distribution
R.PEXP — cumulative distribution function of the exponential distribution
R.PF — cumulative distribution function of the F distribution
R.PGAMMA — cumulative distribution function of the gamma distribution
R.PGEOM — cumulative distribution function of the geometric distribution
R.PGUMBEL — cumulative distribution function of the Gumbel distribution
R.PHYPER — cumulative distribution function of the hypergeometric distribution
R.PLNORM — cumulative distribution function of the log-normal distribution
R.PNBINOM — cumulative distribution function of the negative binomial distribution
R.PNORM — cumulative distribution function of the normal distribution
R.PPOIS — cumulative distribution function of the Poisson distribution
R.PRAYLEIGH — cumulative distribution function of the Rayleigh distribution
R.PSNORM — cumulative distribution function of the skew-normal distribution
R.PST — cumulative distribution function of the skew-t distribution
R.PT — cumulative distribution function of the Student t distribution
R.PTUKEY — cumulative distribution function of the Studentized range distribution
R.PWEIBULL — cumulative distribution function of the Weibull distribution
R.QBETA — probability quantile function of the beta distribution
R.QBINOM — probability quantile function of the binomial distribution
R.QCAUCHY — probability quantile function of the Cauchy distribution
R.QCHISQ — probability quantile function of the chi-square distribution
R.QEXP — probability quantile function of the exponential distribution
R.QF — probability quantile function of the F distribution
R.QGAMMA — probability quantile function of the gamma distribution
R.QGEOM — probability quantile function of the geometric distribution
R.QGUMBEL — probability quantile function of the Gumbel distribution
R.QHYPER — probability quantile function of the hypergeometric distribution
R.QLNORM — probability quantile function of the log-normal distribution
R.QNBINOM — probability quantile function of the negative binomial distribution
R.QNORM — probability quantile function of the normal distribution
R.QPOIS — probability quantile function of the Poisson distribution
R.QRAYLEIGH — probability quantile function of the Rayleigh distribution
R.QSNORM — probability quantile function of the skew-normal distribution
R.QST — probability quantile function of the skew-t distribution

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R.QT — probability quantile function of the Student t distribution
R.QTUKEY — probability quantile function of the Studentized range distribution
R.QWEIBULL — probability quantile function of the Weibull distribution
RANK — rank of a number in a list of numbers
RANK.AVG — rank of a number in a list of numbers
RAYLEIGH — probability density function of the Rayleigh distribution
RAYLEIGHTAIL — probability density function of the Rayleigh tail distribution
RSQ — square of the Pearson correlation coefficient of the paired set of data
SFTEST — Shapiro-Francia Test of Normality
SKEW — unbiased estimate for skewness of a distribution
SKEWP — population skewness of a data set
SLOPE — the slope of a linear regression line
SMALL — k-th smallest value in a data set
SNORM.DIST.RANGE — probability of the standard normal distribution over an interval
SSMEDIAN — median for grouped data
STANDARDIZE — z-score of a value
STDEV — sample standard deviation of the given sample
STDEVA — sample standard deviation of the given sample
STDEVP — population standard deviation of the given population
STDEVPA — population standard deviation of an entire population
STEYX — standard error of the predicted y-value in the regression
SUBTOTAL — the subtotal of the given list of arguments
TDIST — survival function of the Student t-distribution
TINV — two tailed inverse of the Student t-distribution
TREND — estimates future values of a given data set using a least squares approximation
TRIMMEAN — mean of the interior of a data set
TTEST — p-value for a hypothesis test comparing the means of two populations using the Student t-
distribution
VAR — sample variance of the given sample
VARA — sample variance of the given sample
VARP — variance of an entire population
VARPA — variance of an entire population
WEIBULL — probability density or cumulative distribution function of the Weibull distribution
ZTEST — the probability of observing a sample mean as large as or larger than the mean of the given
sample

ADTEST

ADTEST — Anderson-Darling Test of Normality

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
See also

Synopsis

ADTEST(x)

Arguments

x: array of sample values

Description

This function returns an array with the first row giving the p-value of the Anderson-Darling Test, the second row
the test statistic of the test, and the third the number of observations in the sample.

Note

If there are less than 8 sample values, ADTEST returns #VALUE!

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See also

CHITEST, CVMTEST, LKSTEST, SFTEST.

AVEDEV

AVEDEV — average of the absolute deviations of a data set

Synopsis
Arguments
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

AVEDEV(number1,number2,…)

Arguments

number1: first value

number2: second value

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

STDEV.

AVERAGE

AVERAGE — average of all the numeric values and cells

Synopsis
Arguments
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

AVERAGE(number1,number2,…)

Arguments

number1: first value

number2: second value

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

SUM, COUNT.

AVERAGEA

AVERAGEA — average of all the values and cells

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Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

AVERAGEA(number1,number2,…)

Arguments

number1: first value

number2: second value

Description

Numbers, text and logical values are included in the calculation too. If the cell contains text or the argument
evaluates to FALSE, it is counted as value zero (0). If the argument evaluates to TRUE, it is counted as one (1).
Note that empty cells are not counted.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

AVERAGE.

BERNOULLI

BERNOULLI — probability mass function of a Bernoulli distribution

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
See also

Synopsis

BERNOULLI(k,p)

Arguments

k: integer

p: probability of success

Note

If k != 0 and k != 1 this function returns a #NUM! error. If p < 0 or p > 1 this function returns a #NUM! error.

See also

RANDBERNOULLI.

BETA.DIST

BETA.DIST — cumulative distribution function of the beta distribution

Synopsis

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Arguments
Note
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

BETA.DIST(x,alpha,beta,cumulative,a,b)

Arguments

x: number

alpha: scale parameter

beta: scale parameter

cumulative: whether to evaluate the density function or the cumulative distribution function

a: optional lower bound, defaults to 0

b: optional upper bound, defaults to 1

Note

If x < a or x > b this function returns a #NUM! error. If alpha <= 0 or beta <= 0, this function returns a #NUM!
error. If a >= b this function returns a #NUM! error.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

BETAINV, BETADIST.

BETADIST

BETADIST — cumulative distribution function of the beta distribution

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

BETADIST(x,alpha,beta,a,b)

Arguments

x: number

alpha: scale parameter

beta: scale parameter

a: optional lower bound, defaults to 0

b: optional upper bound, defaults to 1

Note

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If x < a or x > b this function returns a #NUM! error. If alpha <= 0 or beta <= 0, this function returns a #NUM!
error. If a >= b this function returns a #NUM! error.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

BETAINV, BETA.DIST.

BETAINV

BETAINV — inverse of the cumulative distribution function of the beta distribution

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

BETAINV(p,alpha,beta,a,b)

Arguments

p: probability

alpha: scale parameter

beta: scale parameter

a: optional lower bound, defaults to 0

b: optional upper bound, defaults to 1

Note

If p < 0 or p > 1 this function returns a #NUM! error. If alpha <= 0 or beta <= 0, this function returns a #NUM!
error. If a >= b this function returns a #NUM! error.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

BETADIST, BETA.DIST.

BINOM.DIST.RANGE

BINOM.DIST.RANGE — probability of the binomial distribution over an interval

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
OpenDocument Format (ODF) Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

BINOM.DIST.RANGE(trials,p,start,end)

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Arguments

trials: number of trials

p: probability of success in each trial

start: start of the interval

end: end of the interval, defaults to start

Note

If start, end or trials are non-integer they are truncated. If trials < 0 this function returns a #NUM! error.
If p < 0 or p > 1 this function returns a #NUM! error. If start > end this function returns 0.

OpenDocument Format (ODF) Compatibility

This function is OpenFormula compatible.

See also

BINOMDIST, R.PBINOM.

BINOMDIST

BINOMDIST — probability mass or cumulative distribution function of the binomial distribution

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

BINOMDIST(n,trials,p,cumulative)

Arguments

n: number of successes

trials: number of trials

p: probability of success in each trial

cumulative: whether to evaluate the mass function or the cumulative distribution function

Note

If n or trials are non-integer they are truncated. If n < 0 or trials < 0 this function returns a #NUM! error. If
n > trials this function returns a #NUM! error. If p < 0 or p > 1 this function returns a #NUM! error.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

POISSON.

CAUCHY

CAUCHY — probability density or cumulative distribution function of the Cauchy, Lorentz or Breit-Wigner
distribution

Synopsis

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Arguments
Note
See also

Synopsis

CAUCHY(x,a,cumulative)

Arguments

x: number

a: scale parameter

cumulative: whether to evaluate the density function or the cumulative distribution function

Note

If a < 0 this function returns a #NUM! error. If cumulative is neither TRUE nor FALSE this function returns a
#VALUE! error.

See also

RANDCAUCHY.

CHIDIST

CHIDIST — survival function of the chi-squared distribution

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
OpenDocument Format (ODF) Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

CHIDIST(x,dof)

Arguments

x: number

dof: number of degrees of freedom

Description

The survival function is 1 minus the cumulative distribution function.

Note

If dof is non-integer it is truncated. If dof < 1 this function returns a #NUM! error.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

OpenDocument Format (ODF) Compatibility

CHIDIST(x,dof) is the OpenFormula function LEGACY.CHIDIST(x,dof).

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See also

CHIINV, CHITEST.

CHIINV

CHIINV — inverse of the survival function of the chi-squared distribution

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
OpenDocument Format (ODF) Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

CHIINV(p,dof)

Arguments

p: probability

dof: number of degrees of freedom

Description

The survival function is 1 minus the cumulative distribution function.

Note

If p < 0 or p > 1 or dof < 1 this function returns a #NUM! error.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

OpenDocument Format (ODF) Compatibility

CHIINV(p,dof) is the OpenFormula function LEGACY.CHIDIST(p,dof).

See also

CHIDIST, CHITEST.

CHITEST

CHITEST — p value of the Goodness of Fit Test

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
OpenDocument Format (ODF) Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

CHITEST(actual_range,theoretical_range)

Arguments

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actual_range: observed data

theoretical_range: expected values

Note

If the actual range is not an n by 1 or 1 by n range, but an n by m range, then CHITEST uses (n-1) times (m-1) as
degrees of freedom. This is useful if the expected values were calculated from the observed value in a test of
independence or test of homogeneity.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

OpenDocument Format (ODF) Compatibility

CHITEST is the OpenFormula function LEGACY.CHITEST.

See also

CHIDIST, CHIINV.

CONFIDENCE

CONFIDENCE — margin of error of a confidence interval for the population mean

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

CONFIDENCE(alpha,stddev,size)

Arguments

alpha: significance level

stddev: population standard deviation

size: sample size

Note

This function requires the usually unknown population standard deviation. If size is non-integer it is truncated.
If size < 0 this function returns a #NUM! error. If size is 0 this function returns a #DIV/0! error.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

AVERAGE, CONFIDENCE.T.

CONFIDENCE.T

CONFIDENCE.T — margin of error of a confidence interval for the population mean using the Student's t-
distribution

Synopsis
Arguments
Note

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Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

CONFIDENCE.T(alpha,stddev,size)

Arguments

alpha: significance level

stddev: sample standard deviation

size: sample size

Note

If stddev < 0 or = 0 this function returns a #NUM! error. If size is non-integer it is truncated. If size < 1 this
function returns a #NUM! error. If size is 1 this function returns a #DIV/0! error.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

AVERAGE, CONFIDENCE.

CORREL

CORREL — Pearson correlation coefficient of two data sets

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

CORREL(array1,array2)

Arguments

array1: first data set

array2: second data set

Description

Strings and empty cells are simply ignored.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

COVAR, FISHER, FISHERINV.

COUNT

COUNT — total number of integer or floating point arguments passed

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Synopsis
Arguments
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

COUNT(number1,number2,…)

Arguments

number1: first value

number2: second value

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

AVERAGE.

COUNTA

COUNTA — number of arguments passed not including empty cells

Synopsis
Arguments
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

COUNTA(number1,number2,…)

Arguments

number1: first value

number2: second value

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

AVERAGE, COUNT, DCOUNT, DCOUNTA, PRODUCT, SUM.

COVAR

COVAR — covariance of two data sets

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

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COVAR(array1,array2)

Arguments

array1: first data set

array2: set data set

Description

Strings and empty cells are simply ignored.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

CORREL, FISHER, FISHERINV.

COVARIANCE.S

COVARIANCE.S — sample covariance of two data sets

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

COVARIANCE.S(array1,array2)

Arguments

array1: first data set

array2: set data set

Description

Strings and empty cells are simply ignored.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

COVAR, CORREL.

CRITBINOM

CRITBINOM — right-tailed critical value of the binomial distribution

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

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Synopsis

CRITBINOM(trials,p,alpha)

Arguments

trials: number of trials

p: probability of success in each trial

alpha: significance level (area of the tail)

Note

If trials is a non-integer it is truncated. If trials < 0 this function returns a #NUM! error. If p < 0 or p > 1 this
function returns a #NUM! error. If alpha < 0 or alpha > 1 this function returns a #NUM! error.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

BINOMDIST.

CRONBACH

CRONBACH — Cronbach's alpha

Synopsis
Arguments
See also

Synopsis

CRONBACH(ref1,ref2,…)

Arguments

ref1: first data set

ref2: second data set

See also

VAR.

CVMTEST

CVMTEST — Cramér-von Mises Test of Normality

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
See also

Synopsis

CVMTEST(x)

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Arguments

x: array of sample values

Description

This function returns an array with the first row giving the p-value of the Cramér-von Mises Test, the second row
the test statistic of the test, and the third the number of observations in the sample.

Note

If there are less than 8 sample values, CVMTEST returns #VALUE!

See also

CHITEST, ADTEST, LKSTEST, SFTEST.

DEVSQ

DEVSQ — sum of squares of deviations of a data set

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

DEVSQ(number1,number2,…)

Arguments

number1: first value

number2: second value

Description

Strings and empty cells are simply ignored.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

STDEV.

EXPONDIST

EXPONDIST — probability density or cumulative distribution function of the exponential distribution

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

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EXPONDIST(x,y,cumulative)

Arguments

x: number

y: scale parameter

cumulative: whether to evaluate the density function or the cumulative distribution function

Description

If cumulative is false it will return: y * exp (-y*x), otherwise it will return 1 - exp (-y*x).

Note

If x < 0 or y <= 0 this will return an error.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

POISSON.

EXPPOWDIST

EXPPOWDIST — the probability density function of the Exponential Power distribution

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
See also

Synopsis

EXPPOWDIST(x,a,b)

Arguments

x: number

a: scale parameter

b: scale parameter

Description

This distribution has been recommended for lifetime analysis when a U-shaped hazard function is desired. This
corresponds to rapid failure once the product starts to wear out after a period of steady or even improving
reliability.

See also

RANDEXPPOW.

FDIST

FDIST — survival function of the F distribution

Synopsis
Arguments

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Description
Note
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
OpenDocument Format (ODF) Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

FDIST(x,dof_of_num,dof_of_denom)

Arguments

x: number

dof_of_num: numerator degrees of freedom

dof_of_denom: denominator degrees of freedom

Description

The survival function is 1 minus the cumulative distribution function.

Note

If x < 0 this function returns a #NUM! error. If dof_of_num < 1 or dof_of_denom < 1, this function returns a
#NUM! error.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

OpenDocument Format (ODF) Compatibility

FDIST is the OpenFormula function LEGACY.FDIST.

See also

FINV.

FINV

FINV — inverse of the survival function of the F distribution

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
OpenDocument Format (ODF) Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

FINV(p,dof_of_num,dof_of_denom)

Arguments

p: probability

dof_of_num: numerator degrees of freedom

dof_of_denom: denominator degrees of freedom

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Description

The survival function is 1 minus the cumulative distribution function.

Note

If p < 0 or p > 1 this function returns a #NUM! error. If dof_of_num < 1 or dof_of_denom < 1 this function
returns a #NUM! error.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

OpenDocument Format (ODF) Compatibility

FINV is the OpenFormula function LEGACY.FINV.

See also

FDIST.

FISHER

FISHER — Fisher transformation

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

FISHER(x)

Arguments

x: number

Note

If x is not a number, this function returns a #VALUE! error. If x <= -1 or x >= 1, this function returns a #NUM!
error.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

FISHERINV, ATANH.

FISHERINV

FISHERINV — inverse of the Fisher transformation

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

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FISHERINV(x)

Arguments

x: number

Note

If x is a non-number this function returns a #VALUE! error.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

FISHER, TANH.

FORECAST

FORECAST — estimates a future value according to existing values using simple linear regression

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

FORECAST(x,known_ys,known_xs)

Arguments

x: x-value whose matching y-value should be forecast

known_ys: known y-values

known_xs: known x-values

Description

This function estimates a future value according to existing values using simple linear regression.

Note

If known_xs or known_ys contains no data entries or different number of data entries, this function returns a
#N/A error. If the variance of the known_xs is zero, this function returns a #DIV/0 error.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

INTERCEPT, TREND.

FREQUENCY

FREQUENCY — frequency table

Synopsis

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Arguments
Description
Microsoft Excel Compatibility

Synopsis

FREQUENCY(data_array,bins_array)

Arguments

data_array: data values

bins_array: array of cutoff values

Description

The results are given as an array.

If the bins_array is empty, this function returns the number of data points in data_array.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

FTEST

FTEST — p-value for the two-tailed hypothesis test comparing the variances of two populations

Synopsis
Arguments
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

FTEST(array1,array2)

Arguments

array1: sample from the first population

array2: sample from the second population

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

FDIST, FINV.

GAMMADIST

GAMMADIST — probability density or cumulative distribution function of the gamma distribution

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

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GAMMADIST(x,alpha,beta,cumulative)

Arguments

x: number

alpha: scale parameter

beta: scale parameter

cumulative: whether to evaluate the density function or the cumulative distribution function

Note

If x < 0 this function returns a #NUM! error. If alpha <= 0 or beta <= 0, this function returns a #NUM! error.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

GAMMAINV.

GAMMAINV

GAMMAINV — inverse of the cumulative gamma distribution

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

GAMMAINV(p,alpha,beta)

Arguments

p: probability

alpha: scale parameter

beta: scale parameter

Note

If p < 0 or p > 1 this function returns a #NUM! error. If alpha <= 0 or beta <= 0 this function returns a #NUM!
error.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

GAMMADIST.

GEOMDIST

GEOMDIST — probability mass or cumulative distribution function of the geometric distribution

Synopsis

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Arguments
Note
See also

Synopsis

GEOMDIST(k,p,cumulative)

Arguments

k: number of trials

p: probability of success in any trial

cumulative: whether to evaluate the mass function or the cumulative distribution function

Note

If k < 0 this function returns a #NUM! error. If p < 0 or p > 1 this function returns a #NUM! error. If cumulative
is neither TRUE nor FALSE this function returns a #VALUE! error.

See also

RANDGEOM.

GEOMEAN

GEOMEAN — geometric mean

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

GEOMEAN(number1,number2,…)

Arguments

number1: first value

number2: second value

Description

The geometric mean is equal to the Nth root of the product of the N values.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

AVERAGE, HARMEAN, MEDIAN, MODE, TRIMMEAN.

GROWTH

GROWTH — exponential growth prediction

Synopsis
Arguments

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Description
Note
See also

Synopsis

GROWTH(known_ys,known_xs,new_xs,affine)

Arguments

known_ys: known y-values

known_xs: known x-values; defaults to the array {1, 2, 3, …}

new_xs: x-values for which to estimate the y-values; defaults to known_xs

affine: if true, the model contains a constant term, defaults to true

Description

GROWTH function applies the “least squares” method to fit an exponential curve to your data and predicts the
exponential growth by using this curve.

GROWTH returns an array having one column and a row for each data point in new_xs.

Note

If known_ys and known_xs have unequal number of data points, this function returns a #NUM! error.

See also

LOGEST, GROWTH, TREND.

HARMEAN

HARMEAN — harmonic mean

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

HARMEAN(number1,number2,…)

Arguments

number1: first value

number2: second value

Description

The harmonic mean of N data points is N divided by the sum of the reciprocals of the data points).

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

AVERAGE, GEOMEAN, MEDIAN, MODE, TRIMMEAN.

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HYPGEOMDIST

HYPGEOMDIST — probability mass or cumulative distribution function of the hypergeometric distribution

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

HYPGEOMDIST(x,n,M,N,cumulative)

Arguments

x: number of successes

n: sample size

M: number of possible successes in the population

N: population size

cumulative: whether to evaluate the mass function or the cumulative distribution function

Note

If x,n,M or N is a non-integer it is truncated. If x,n,M or N < 0 this function returns a #NUM! error. If x > M or n > N
this function returns a #NUM! error.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

BINOMDIST, POISSON.

INTERCEPT

INTERCEPT — the intercept of a linear regression line

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

INTERCEPT(known_ys,known_xs)

Arguments

known_ys: known y-values

known_xs: known x-values

Note

If known_xs or known_ys contains no data entries or different number of data entries, this function returns a
#N/A error. If the variance of the known_xs is zero, this function returns #DIV/0 error.

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Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

FORECAST, TREND.

KURT

KURT — unbiased estimate of the kurtosis of a data set

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

KURT(number1,number2,…)

Arguments

number1: first value

number2: second value

Description

Strings and empty cells are simply ignored.

Note

This is only meaningful if the underlying distribution really has a fourth moment. The kurtosis is offset by three
such that a normal distribution will have zero kurtosis. If fewer than four numbers are given or all of them are
equal this function returns a #DIV/0! error.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

AVERAGE, VAR, SKEW, KURTP.

KURTP

KURTP — population kurtosis of a data set

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
See also

Synopsis

KURTP(number1,number2,…)

Arguments

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number1: first value

number2: second value

Description

Strings and empty cells are simply ignored.

Note

If fewer than two numbers are given or all of them are equal this function returns a #DIV/0! error.

See also

AVERAGE, VARP, SKEWP, KURT.

LANDAU

LANDAU — approximate probability density function of the Landau distribution

Synopsis
Arguments
See also

Synopsis

LANDAU(x)

Arguments

x: number

See also

RANDLANDAU.

LAPLACE

LAPLACE — probability density function of the Laplace distribution

Synopsis
Arguments
See also

Synopsis

LAPLACE(x,a)

Arguments

x: number

a: mean

See also

RANDLAPLACE.

LARGE

LARGE — k-th largest value in a data set

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Synopsis
Arguments
Note
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

LARGE(data,k)

Arguments

data: data set

k: which value to find

Note

If data set is empty this function returns a #NUM! error. If k <= 0 or k is greater than the number of data items
given this function returns a #NUM! error.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

PERCENTILE, PERCENTRANK, QUARTILE, SMALL.

LEVERAGE

LEVERAGE — calculate regression leverage

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note

Synopsis

LEVERAGE(A)

Arguments

A: a matrix

Description

Returns the diagonal of A (A^T A)^-1 A^T as a column vector.

Note

If the matrix is singular, #VALUE! is returned.

LINEST

LINEST — multiple linear regression coefficients and statistics

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note

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See also

Synopsis

LINEST(known_ys,known_xs,affine,stats)

Arguments

known_ys: vector of values of dependent variable

known_xs: array of values of independent variables, defaults to a single vector {1,…,n}

affine: if true, the model contains a constant term, defaults to true

stats: if true, some additional statistics are provided, defaults to false

Description

This function returns an array with the first row giving the regression coefficients for the independent variables
x_m, x_(m-1),…,x_2, x_1 followed by the y-intercept if affine is true.

If stats is true, the second row contains the corresponding standard errors of the regression coefficients. In
this case, the third row contains the R^2 value and the standard error for the predicted value. The fourth row
contains the observed F value and its degrees of freedom. Finally, the fifth row contains the regression sum of
squares and the residual sum of squares.

If affine is false, R^2 is the uncentered version of the coefficient of determination; that is the proportion of
the sum of squares explained by the model.

Note

If the length of known_ys does not match the corresponding length of known_xs, this function returns a
#NUM! error.

See also

LOGEST, TREND.

LKSTEST

LKSTEST — Lilliefors (Kolmogorov-Smirnov) Test of Normality

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
See also

Synopsis

LKSTEST(x)

Arguments

x: array of sample values

Description

This function returns an array with the first row giving the p-value of the Lilliefors (Kolmogorov-Smirnov) Test,
the second row the test statistic of the test, and the third the number of observations in the sample.

Note

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If there are less than 5 sample values, LKSTEST returns #VALUE!

See also

CHITEST, ADTEST, SFTEST, CVMTEST.

LOGEST

LOGEST — exponential least square fit

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
See also

Synopsis

LOGEST(known_ys,known_xs,affine,stat)

Arguments

known_ys: known y-values

known_xs: known x-values; default to an array {1, 2, 3, …}

affine: if true, the model contains a constant term, defaults to true

stat: if true, extra statistical information will be returned; defaults to FALSE

Description

LOGEST function applies the “least squares” method to fit an exponential curve of the form y = b * m{1}^x{1} *
m{2}^x{2}... to your data.

LOGEST returns an array { m{n},m{n-1}, ...,m{1},b }.

Note

Extra statistical information is written below the regression line coefficients in the result array. Extra statistical
information consists of four rows of data. In the first row the standard error values for the coefficients m1, (m2,
...), b are represented. The second row contains the square of R and the standard error for the y estimate. The
third row contains the F-observed value and the degrees of freedom. The last row contains the regression sum
of squares and the residual sum of squares. If known_ys and known_xs have unequal number of data points,
this function returns a #NUM! error.

See also

GROWTH, TREND.

LOGFIT

LOGFIT — logarithmic least square fit (using a trial and error method)

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
See also

Synopsis

LOGFIT(known_ys,known_xs)

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Arguments

known_ys: known y-values

known_xs: known x-values

Description

LOGFIT function applies the “least squares” method to fit the logarithmic equation y = a + b * ln(sign * (x - c)) ,
sign = +1 or -1 to your data. The graph of the equation is a logarithmic curve moved horizontally by c and
possibly mirrored across the y-axis (if sign = -1).

LOGFIT returns an array having five columns and one row. `Sign' is given in the first column, `a', `b', and `c' are
given in columns 2 to 4. Column 5 holds the sum of squared residuals.

Note

An error is returned when there are less than 3 different x's or y's, or when the shape of the point cloud is too
different from a ``logarithmic'' one. You can use the above formula = a + b * ln(sign * (x - c)) or rearrange it to =
(exp((y - a) / b)) / sign + c to compute unknown y's or x's, respectively. This is non-linear fitting by trial-and-error.
The accuracy of `c' is: width of x-range -> rounded to the next smaller (10^integer), times 0.000001. There
might be cases in which the returned fit is not the best possible.

See also

LOGREG, LINEST, LOGEST.

LOGINV

LOGINV — inverse of the cumulative distribution function of the lognormal distribution

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

LOGINV(p,mean,stddev)

Arguments

p: probability

mean: mean

stddev: standard deviation

Note

If p < 0 or p > 1 or stddev <= 0 this function returns #NUM! error.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

EXP, LN, LOG, LOG10, LOGNORMDIST.

LOGISTIC

LOGISTIC — probability density function of the logistic distribution

Synopsis

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Arguments
See also

Synopsis

LOGISTIC(x,a)

Arguments

x: number

a: scale parameter

See also

RANDLOGISTIC.

LOGNORMDIST

LOGNORMDIST — cumulative distribution function of the lognormal distribution

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

LOGNORMDIST(x,mean,stddev)

Arguments

x: number

mean: mean

stddev: standard deviation

Note

If stddev = 0 LOGNORMDIST returns a #DIV/0! error. If x <= 0, mean < 0 or stddev <= 0 this function returns a
#NUM! error.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

NORMDIST.

LOGREG

LOGREG — the logarithmic regression

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
See also

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Synopsis

LOGREG(known_ys,known_xs,affine,stat)

Arguments

known_ys: known y-values

known_xs: known x-values; defaults to the array {1, 2, 3, …}

affine: if true, the model contains a constant term, defaults to true

stat: if true, extra statistical information will be returned; defaults to FALSE

Description

LOGREG function transforms your x's to z=ln(x) and applies the “least squares” method to fit the linear equation
y = m * z + b to your y's and z's --- equivalent to fitting the equation y = m * ln(x) + b to y's and x's. LOGREG
returns an array having two columns and one row. m is given in the first column and b in the second.

Any extra statistical information is written below m and b in the result array. This extra statistical information
consists of four rows of data: In the first row the standard error values for the coefficients m, b are given. The
second row contains the square of R and the standard error for the y estimate. The third row contains the F-
observed value and the degrees of freedom. The last row contains the regression sum of squares and the
residual sum of squares. The default of stat is FALSE.

Note

If known_ys and known_xs have unequal number of data points, this function returns a #NUM! error.

See also

LOGFIT, LINEST, LOGEST.

MAX

MAX — largest value, with negative numbers considered smaller than positive numbers

Synopsis
Arguments
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

MAX(number1,number2,…)

Arguments

number1: first value

number2: second value

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

MIN, ABS.

MAXA

MAXA — largest value, with negative numbers considered smaller than positive numbers

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Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

MAXA(number1,number2,…)

Arguments

number1: first value

number2: second value

Description

Numbers, text and logical values are included in the calculation too. If the cell contains text or the argument
evaluates to FALSE, it is counted as value zero (0). If the argument evaluates to TRUE, it is counted as one (1).
Note that empty cells are not counted.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

MAX, MINA.

MEDIAN

MEDIAN — median of a data set

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

MEDIAN(number1,number2,…)

Arguments

number1: first value

number2: second value

Description

Strings and empty cells are simply ignored.

Note

If even numbers are given MEDIAN returns the average of the two numbers in the center.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

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See also

AVERAGE, COUNT, COUNTA, DAVERAGE, MODE, SSMEDIAN, SUM.

MIN

MIN — smallest value, with negative numbers considered smaller than positive numbers

Synopsis
Arguments
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

MIN(number1,number2,…)

Arguments

number1: first value

number2: second value

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

MAX, ABS.

MINA

MINA — smallest value, with negative numbers considered smaller than positive numbers

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

MINA(number1,number2,…)

Arguments

number1: first value

number2: second value

Description

Numbers, text and logical values are included in the calculation too. If the cell contains text or the argument
evaluates to FALSE, it is counted as value zero (0). If the argument evaluates to TRUE, it is counted as one (1).
Note that empty cells are not counted.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

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MIN, MAXA.

MODE

MODE — first most common number in the dataset

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

MODE(number1,number2,…)

Arguments

number1: first value

number2: second value

Description

Strings and empty cells are simply ignored.

If the data set does not contain any duplicates this function returns a #N/A error.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

AVERAGE, MEDIAN, MODE.MULT.

MODE.MULT

MODE.MULT — most common numbers in the dataset

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

MODE.MULT(number1,number2,…)

Arguments

number1: first value

number2: second value

Description

Strings and empty cells are simply ignored.

If the data set does not contain any duplicates this function returns a #N/A error.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

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This function is Excel compatible.

See also

AVERAGE, MEDIAN, MODE.

NEGBINOMDIST

NEGBINOMDIST — probability mass function of the negative binomial distribution

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

NEGBINOMDIST(f,t,p)

Arguments

f: number of failures

t: threshold number of successes

p: probability of a success

Note

If f or t is a non-integer it is truncated. If (f + t -1) <= 0 this function returns a #NUM! error. If p < 0 or p > 1 this
function returns a #NUM! error.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

BINOMDIST, COMBIN, FACT, HYPGEOMDIST, PERMUT.

NORMDIST

NORMDIST — probability density or cumulative distribution function of a normal distribution

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

NORMDIST(x,mean,stddev,cumulative)

Arguments

x: number

mean: mean of the distribution

stddev: standard deviation of the distribution

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cumulative: whether to evaluate the density function or the cumulative distribution function

Note

If stddev is 0 this function returns a #DIV/0! error.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

POISSON.

NORMINV

NORMINV — inverse of the cumulative distribution function of a normal distribution

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

NORMINV(p,mean,stddev)

Arguments

p: probability

mean: mean of the distribution

stddev: standard deviation of the distribution

Note

If p < 0 or p > 1 or stddev <= 0 this function returns a #NUM! error.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

NORMDIST, NORMSDIST, NORMSINV, STANDARDIZE, ZTEST.

NORMSDIST

NORMSDIST — cumulative distribution function of the standard normal distribution

Synopsis
Arguments
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
OpenDocument Format (ODF) Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

NORMSDIST(x)

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Arguments

x: number

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

OpenDocument Format (ODF) Compatibility

NORMSDIST is the OpenFormula function LEGACY.NORMSDIST.

See also

NORMDIST.

NORMSINV

NORMSINV — inverse of the cumulative distribution function of the standard normal distribution

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
OpenDocument Format (ODF) Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

NORMSINV(p)

Arguments

p: given probability

Note

If p < 0 or p > 1 this function returns #NUM! error.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

OpenDocument Format (ODF) Compatibility

NORMSINV is the OpenFormula function LEGACY.NORMSINV.

See also

NORMDIST, NORMINV, NORMSDIST, STANDARDIZE, ZTEST.

OWENT

OWENT — Owen's T function

Synopsis
Arguments
See also

Synopsis

OWENT(h,a)

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Arguments

h: number

a: number

See also

R.PSNORM, R.PST.

PARETO

PARETO — probability density function of the Pareto distribution

Synopsis
Arguments
See also

Synopsis

PARETO(x,a,b)

Arguments

x: number

a: exponent

b: scale parameter

See also

RANDPARETO.

PEARSON

PEARSON — Pearson correlation coefficient of the paired set of data

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

PEARSON(array1,array2)

Arguments

array1: first component values

array2: second component values

Description

Strings and empty cells are simply ignored.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

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INTERCEPT, LINEST, RSQ, SLOPE, STEYX.

PERCENTILE

PERCENTILE — determines the 100*k-th percentile of the given data points (Hyndman-Fan method 7: N-1
basis)

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

PERCENTILE(array,k)

Arguments

array: data points

k: which percentile to calculate

Note

If array is empty, this function returns a #NUM! error. If k < 0 or k > 1, this function returns a #NUM! error.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

QUARTILE.

PERCENTILE.EXC

PERCENTILE.EXC — determines the 100*k-th percentile of the given data points (Hyndman-Fan method 6:
N+1 basis)

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

PERCENTILE.EXC(array,k)

Arguments

array: data points

k: which percentile to calculate

Note

If array is empty, this function returns a #NUM! error. If k < 0 or k > 1, this function returns a #NUM! error.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

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This function is Excel compatible.

See also

PERCENTILE, QUARTILE, QUARTILE.EXC.

PERCENTRANK

PERCENTRANK — rank of a data point in a data set (Hyndman-Fan method 7: N-1 basis)

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
See also

Synopsis

PERCENTRANK(array,x,significance)

Arguments

array: range of numeric values

x: data point to be ranked

significance: number of significant digits, defaults to 3

Note

If array contains no data points, this function returns a #NUM! error. If significance is less than one, this
function returns a #NUM! error. If x exceeds the largest value or is less than the smallest value in array, this
function returns an #N/A error. If x does not match any of the values in array or x matches more than once,
this function interpolates the returned value.

See also

LARGE, MAX, MEDIAN, MIN, PERCENTILE, QUARTILE, SMALL.

PERCENTRANK.EXC

PERCENTRANK.EXC — rank of a data point in a data set (Hyndman-Fan method 6: N+1 basis)

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
See also

Synopsis

PERCENTRANK.EXC(array,x,significance)

Arguments

array: range of numeric values

x: data point to be ranked

significance: number of significant digits, defaults to 3

Note

If array contains no data points, this function returns a #NUM! error. If significance is less than one, this
function returns a #NUM! error. If x exceeds the largest value or is less than the smallest value in array, this

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function returns an #N/A error. If x does not match any of the values in array or x matches more than once,
this function interpolates the returned value.

See also

LARGE, MAX, MEDIAN, MIN, PERCENTILE, PERCENTILE.EXC, QUARTILE, QUARTILE.EXC, SMALL.

PERMUT

PERMUT — number of k-permutations of a n-set

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

PERMUT(n,k)

Arguments

n: size of the base set

k: number of elements in each permutation

Note

If n = 0 this function returns a #NUM! error. If n < k this function returns a #NUM! error.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

COMBIN.

PERMUTATIONA

PERMUTATIONA — the number of permutations of y objects chosen from x objects with repetition allowed

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
OpenDocument Format (ODF) Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

PERMUTATIONA(x,y)

Arguments

x: total number of objects

y: number of selected objects

Note

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If both x and y equal 0, PERMUTATIONA returns 1. If x < 0 or y < 0, PERMUTATIONA returns #NUM! If x or y are
not integers, they are truncated.

OpenDocument Format (ODF) Compatibility

This function is OpenFormula compatible.

See also

POWER.

POISSON

POISSON — probability mass or cumulative distribution function of the Poisson distribution

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

POISSON(x,mean,cumulative)

Arguments

x: number of events

mean: mean of the distribution

cumulative: whether to evaluate the mass function or the cumulative distribution function

Note

If x is a non-integer it is truncated. If x < 0 this function returns a #NUM! error. If mean <= 0 POISSON returns
the #NUM! error.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

NORMDIST, WEIBULL.

PROB

PROB — probability of an interval for a discrete (and finite) probability distribution

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

PROB(x_range,prob_range,lower_limit,upper_limit)

Arguments

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x_range: possible values

prob_range: probabilities of the corresponding values

lower_limit: lower interval limit

upper_limit: upper interval limit, defaults to lower_limit

Note

If the sum of the probabilities in prob_range is not equal to 1 this function returns a #NUM! error. If any value
in prob_range is <=0 or > 1, this function returns a #NUM! error. If x_range and prob_range contain a
different number of data entries, this function returns a #N/A error.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

BINOMDIST, CRITBINOM.

QUARTILE

QUARTILE — the k-th quartile of the data points (Hyndman-Fan method 7: N-1 basis)

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

QUARTILE(array,quart)

Arguments

array: data points

quart: a number from 0 to 4, indicating which quartile to calculate

Note

If array is empty, this function returns a #NUM! error. If quart < 0 or quart > 4, this function returns a #NUM!
error. If quart = 0, the smallest value of array to be returned. If quart is not an integer, it is truncated.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

LARGE, MAX, MEDIAN, MIN, PERCENTILE, QUARTILE.EXC, SMALL.

QUARTILE.EXC

QUARTILE.EXC — the k-th quartile of the data points (Hyndman-Fan method 6: N+1 basis)

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

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Synopsis

QUARTILE.EXC(array,quart)

Arguments

array: data points

quart: a number from 1 to 3, indicating which quartile to calculate

Note

If array is empty, this function returns a #NUM! error. If quart < 0 or quart > 4, this function returns a #NUM!
error. If quart = 0, the smallest value of array to be returned. If quart is not an integer, it is truncated.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

LARGE, MAX, MEDIAN, MIN, PERCENTILE, PERCENTILE.EXC, QUARTILE, SMALL.

R.DBETA

R.DBETA — probability density function of the beta distribution

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
See also

Synopsis

R.DBETA(x,a,b,give_log)

Arguments

x: observation

a: the first shape parameter of the distribution

b: the second scale parameter of the distribution

give_log: if true, log of the result will be returned instead

Description

This function returns the probability density function of the beta distribution.

See also

R.PBETA, R.QBETA.

R.DBINOM

R.DBINOM — probability density function of the binomial distribution

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
See also

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Synopsis

R.DBINOM(x,n,psuc,give_log)

Arguments

x: observation

n: the number of trials

psuc: the probability of success in each trial

give_log: if true, log of the result will be returned instead

Description

This function returns the probability density function of the binomial distribution.

See also

R.PBINOM, R.QBINOM.

R.DCAUCHY

R.DCAUCHY — probability density function of the Cauchy distribution

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
See also

Synopsis

R.DCAUCHY(x,location,scale,give_log)

Arguments

x: observation

location: the center of the distribution

scale: the scale parameter of the distribution

give_log: if true, log of the result will be returned instead

Description

This function returns the probability density function of the Cauchy distribution.

See also

R.PCAUCHY, R.QCAUCHY.

R.DCHISQ

R.DCHISQ — probability density function of the chi-square distribution

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
OpenDocument Format (ODF) Compatibility
See also

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Synopsis

R.DCHISQ(x,df,give_log)

Arguments

x: observation

df: the number of degrees of freedom of the distribution

give_log: if true, log of the result will be returned instead

Description

This function returns the probability density function of the chi-square distribution.

OpenDocument Format (ODF) Compatibility

A two argument invocation R.DCHISQ(x,df) is exported to OpenFormula as CHISQDIST(x,df,FALSE()).

See also

R.PCHISQ, R.QCHISQ.

R.DEXP

R.DEXP — probability density function of the exponential distribution

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
See also

Synopsis

R.DEXP(x,scale,give_log)

Arguments

x: observation

scale: the scale parameter of the distribution

give_log: if true, log of the result will be returned instead

Description

This function returns the probability density function of the exponential distribution.

See also

R.PEXP, R.QEXP.

R.DF

R.DF — probability density function of the F distribution

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
See also

Synopsis

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R.DF(x,n1,n2,give_log)

Arguments

x: observation

n1: the first number of degrees of freedom of the distribution

n2: the second number of degrees of freedom of the distribution

give_log: if true, log of the result will be returned instead

Description

This function returns the probability density function of the F distribution.

See also

R.PF, R.QF.

R.DGAMMA

R.DGAMMA — probability density function of the gamma distribution

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
See also

Synopsis

R.DGAMMA(x,shape,scale,give_log)

Arguments

x: observation

shape: the shape parameter of the distribution

scale: the scale parameter of the distribution

give_log: if true, log of the result will be returned instead

Description

This function returns the probability density function of the gamma distribution.

See also

R.PGAMMA, R.QGAMMA.

R.DGEOM

R.DGEOM — probability density function of the geometric distribution

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
See also

Synopsis

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R.DGEOM(x,psuc,give_log)

Arguments

x: observation

psuc: the probability of success in each trial

give_log: if true, log of the result will be returned instead

Description

This function returns the probability density function of the geometric distribution.

See also

R.PGEOM, R.QGEOM.

R.DGUMBEL

R.DGUMBEL — probability density function of the Gumbel distribution

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
See also

Synopsis

R.DGUMBEL(x,mu,beta,give_log)

Arguments

x: observation

mu: the location parameter of freedom of the distribution

beta: the scale parameter of freedom of the distribution

give_log: if true, log of the result will be returned instead

Description

This function returns the probability density function of the Gumbel distribution.

See also

R.PGUMBEL, R.QGUMBEL.

R.DHYPER

R.DHYPER — probability density function of the hypergeometric distribution

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
See also

Synopsis

R.DHYPER(x,r,b,n,give_log)

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Arguments

x: observation

r: the number of red balls

b: the number of black balls

n: the number of balls drawn

give_log: if true, log of the result will be returned instead

Description

This function returns the probability density function of the hypergeometric distribution.

See also

R.PHYPER, R.QHYPER.

R.DLNORM

R.DLNORM — probability density function of the log-normal distribution

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
See also

Synopsis

R.DLNORM(x,logmean,logsd,give_log)

Arguments

x: observation

logmean: mean of the underlying normal distribution

logsd: standard deviation of the underlying normal distribution

give_log: if true, log of the result will be returned instead

Description

This function returns the probability density function of the log-normal distribution.

See also

R.PLNORM, R.QLNORM.

R.DNBINOM

R.DNBINOM — probability density function of the negative binomial distribution

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
See also

Synopsis

R.DNBINOM(x,n,psuc,give_log)

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Arguments

x: observation (number of failures)

n: required number of successes

psuc: the probability of success in each trial

give_log: if true, log of the result will be returned instead

Description

This function returns the probability density function of the negative binomial distribution.

See also

R.PNBINOM, R.QNBINOM.

R.DNORM

R.DNORM — probability density function of the normal distribution

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
See also

Synopsis

R.DNORM(x,mu,sigma,give_log)

Arguments

x: observation

mu: mean of the distribution

sigma: standard deviation of the distribution

give_log: if true, log of the result will be returned instead

Description

This function returns the probability density function of the normal distribution.

See also

R.PNORM, R.QNORM.

R.DPOIS

R.DPOIS — probability density function of the Poisson distribution

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
See also

Synopsis

R.DPOIS(x,lambda,give_log)

Arguments

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x: observation

lambda: the mean of the distribution

give_log: if true, log of the result will be returned instead

Description

This function returns the probability density function of the Poisson distribution.

See also

R.PPOIS, R.QPOIS.

R.DRAYLEIGH

R.DRAYLEIGH — probability density function of the Rayleigh distribution

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
See also

Synopsis

R.DRAYLEIGH(x,scale,give_log)

Arguments

x: observation

scale: the scale parameter of the distribution

give_log: if true, log of the result will be returned instead

Description

This function returns the probability density function of the Rayleigh distribution.

See also

R.PRAYLEIGH, R.QRAYLEIGH.

R.DSNORM

R.DSNORM — probability density function of the skew-normal distribution

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
See also

Synopsis

R.DSNORM(x,shape,location,scale,give_log)

Arguments

x: observation

shape: the shape parameter of the distribution

location: the location parameter of the distribution

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scale: the scale parameter of the distribution

give_log: if true, log of the result will be returned instead

Description

This function returns the probability density function of the skew-normal distribution.

See also

R.PSNORM, R.QSNORM.

R.DST

R.DST — probability density function of the skew-t distribution

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
See also

Synopsis

R.DST(x,n,shape,give_log)

Arguments

x: observation

n: the number of degrees of freedom of the distribution

shape: the shape parameter of the distribution

give_log: if true, log of the result will be returned instead

Description

This function returns the probability density function of the skew-t distribution.

See also

R.PST, R.QST.

R.DT

R.DT — probability density function of the Student t distribution

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
See also

Synopsis

R.DT(x,n,give_log)

Arguments

x: observation

n: the number of degrees of freedom of the distribution

give_log: if true, log of the result will be returned instead

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Description

This function returns the probability density function of the Student t distribution.

See also

R.PT, R.QT.

R.DWEIBULL

R.DWEIBULL — probability density function of the Weibull distribution

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
See also

Synopsis

R.DWEIBULL(x,shape,scale,give_log)

Arguments

x: observation

shape: the shape parameter of the distribution

scale: the scale parameter of the distribution

give_log: if true, log of the result will be returned instead

Description

This function returns the probability density function of the Weibull distribution.

See also

R.PWEIBULL, R.QWEIBULL.

R.PBETA

R.PBETA — cumulative distribution function of the beta distribution

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
See also

Synopsis

R.PBETA(x,a,b,lower_tail,log_p)

Arguments

x: observation

a: the first shape parameter of the distribution

b: the second scale parameter of the distribution

lower_tail: if true (the default), the lower tail of the distribution is considered

log_p: if true, the natural logarithm of the probability is given or returned; defaults to false

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Description

This function returns the cumulative distribution function of the beta distribution.

See also

R.DBETA, R.QBETA.

R.PBINOM

R.PBINOM — cumulative distribution function of the binomial distribution

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
See also

Synopsis

R.PBINOM(x,n,psuc,lower_tail,log_p)

Arguments

x: observation

n: the number of trials

psuc: the probability of success in each trial

lower_tail: if true (the default), the lower tail of the distribution is considered

log_p: if true, the natural logarithm of the probability is given or returned; defaults to false

Description

This function returns the cumulative distribution function of the binomial distribution.

See also

R.DBINOM, R.QBINOM.

R.PCAUCHY

R.PCAUCHY — cumulative distribution function of the Cauchy distribution

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
See also

Synopsis

R.PCAUCHY(x,location,scale,lower_tail,log_p)

Arguments

x: observation

location: the center of the distribution

scale: the scale parameter of the distribution

lower_tail: if true (the default), the lower tail of the distribution is considered

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log_p: if true, the natural logarithm of the probability is given or returned; defaults to false

Description

This function returns the cumulative distribution function of the Cauchy distribution.

See also

R.DCAUCHY, R.QCAUCHY.

R.PCHISQ

R.PCHISQ — cumulative distribution function of the chi-square distribution

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
OpenDocument Format (ODF) Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

R.PCHISQ(x,df,lower_tail,log_p)

Arguments

x: observation

df: the number of degrees of freedom of the distribution

lower_tail: if true (the default), the lower tail of the distribution is considered

log_p: if true, the natural logarithm of the probability is given or returned; defaults to false

Description

This function returns the cumulative distribution function of the chi-square distribution.

OpenDocument Format (ODF) Compatibility

A two argument invocation R.PCHISQ(x,df) is exported to OpenFormula as CHISQDIST(x,df).

See also

R.DCHISQ, R.QCHISQ.

R.PEXP

R.PEXP — cumulative distribution function of the exponential distribution

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
See also

Synopsis

R.PEXP(x,scale,lower_tail,log_p)

Arguments

x: observation

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scale: the scale parameter of the distribution

lower_tail: if true (the default), the lower tail of the distribution is considered

log_p: if true, the natural logarithm of the probability is given or returned; defaults to false

Description

This function returns the cumulative distribution function of the exponential distribution.

See also

R.DEXP, R.QEXP.

R.PF

R.PF — cumulative distribution function of the F distribution

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
See also

Synopsis

R.PF(x,n1,n2,lower_tail,log_p)

Arguments

x: observation

n1: the first number of degrees of freedom of the distribution

n2: the second number of degrees of freedom of the distribution

lower_tail: if true (the default), the lower tail of the distribution is considered

log_p: if true, the natural logarithm of the probability is given or returned; defaults to false

Description

This function returns the cumulative distribution function of the F distribution.

See also

R.DF, R.QF.

R.PGAMMA

R.PGAMMA — cumulative distribution function of the gamma distribution

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
See also

Synopsis

R.PGAMMA(x,shape,scale,lower_tail,log_p)

Arguments

x: observation

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shape: the shape parameter of the distribution

scale: the scale parameter of the distribution

lower_tail: if true (the default), the lower tail of the distribution is considered

log_p: if true, the natural logarithm of the probability is given or returned; defaults to false

Description

This function returns the cumulative distribution function of the gamma distribution.

See also

R.DGAMMA, R.QGAMMA.

R.PGEOM

R.PGEOM — cumulative distribution function of the geometric distribution

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
See also

Synopsis

R.PGEOM(x,psuc,lower_tail,log_p)

Arguments

x: observation

psuc: the probability of success in each trial

lower_tail: if true (the default), the lower tail of the distribution is considered

log_p: if true, the natural logarithm of the probability is given or returned; defaults to false

Description

This function returns the cumulative distribution function of the geometric distribution.

See also

R.DGEOM, R.QGEOM.

R.PGUMBEL

R.PGUMBEL — cumulative distribution function of the Gumbel distribution

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
See also

Synopsis

R.PGUMBEL(x,mu,beta,lower_tail,log_p)

Arguments

x: observation

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mu: the location parameter of freedom of the distribution

beta: the scale parameter of freedom of the distribution

lower_tail: if true (the default), the lower tail of the distribution is considered

log_p: if true, the natural logarithm of the probability is given or returned; defaults to false

Description

This function returns the cumulative distribution function of the Gumbel distribution.

See also

R.DGUMBEL, R.QGUMBEL.

R.PHYPER

R.PHYPER — cumulative distribution function of the hypergeometric distribution

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
See also

Synopsis

R.PHYPER(x,r,b,n,lower_tail,log_p)

Arguments

x: observation

r: the number of red balls

b: the number of black balls

n: the number of balls drawn

lower_tail: if true (the default), the lower tail of the distribution is considered

log_p: if true, the natural logarithm of the probability is given or returned; defaults to false

Description

This function returns the cumulative distribution function of the hypergeometric distribution.

See also

R.DHYPER, R.QHYPER.

R.PLNORM

R.PLNORM — cumulative distribution function of the log-normal distribution

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
See also

Synopsis

R.PLNORM(x,logmean,logsd,lower_tail,log_p)

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Arguments

x: observation

logmean: mean of the underlying normal distribution

logsd: standard deviation of the underlying normal distribution

lower_tail: if true (the default), the lower tail of the distribution is considered

log_p: if true, the natural logarithm of the probability is given or returned; defaults to false

Description

This function returns the cumulative distribution function of the log-normal distribution.

See also

R.DLNORM, R.QLNORM.

R.PNBINOM

R.PNBINOM — cumulative distribution function of the negative binomial distribution

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
See also

Synopsis

R.PNBINOM(x,n,psuc,lower_tail,log_p)

Arguments

x: observation (number of failures)

n: required number of successes

psuc: the probability of success in each trial

lower_tail: if true (the default), the lower tail of the distribution is considered

log_p: if true, the natural logarithm of the probability is given or returned; defaults to false

Description

This function returns the cumulative distribution function of the negative binomial distribution.

See also

R.DNBINOM, R.QNBINOM.

R.PNORM

R.PNORM — cumulative distribution function of the normal distribution

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
See also

Synopsis

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R.PNORM(x,mu,sigma,lower_tail,log_p)

Arguments

x: observation

mu: mean of the distribution

sigma: standard deviation of the distribution

lower_tail: if true (the default), the lower tail of the distribution is considered

log_p: if true, the natural logarithm of the probability is given or returned; defaults to false

Description

This function returns the cumulative distribution function of the normal distribution.

See also

R.DNORM, R.QNORM.

R.PPOIS

R.PPOIS — cumulative distribution function of the Poisson distribution

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
See also

Synopsis

R.PPOIS(x,lambda,lower_tail,log_p)

Arguments

x: observation

lambda: the mean of the distribution

lower_tail: if true (the default), the lower tail of the distribution is considered

log_p: if true, the natural logarithm of the probability is given or returned; defaults to false

Description

This function returns the cumulative distribution function of the Poisson distribution.

See also

R.DPOIS, R.QPOIS.

R.PRAYLEIGH

R.PRAYLEIGH — cumulative distribution function of the Rayleigh distribution

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
See also

Synopsis

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R.PRAYLEIGH(x,scale,lower_tail,log_p)

Arguments

x: observation

scale: the scale parameter of the distribution

lower_tail: if true (the default), the lower tail of the distribution is considered

log_p: if true, the natural logarithm of the probability is given or returned; defaults to false

Description

This function returns the cumulative distribution function of the Rayleigh distribution.

See also

R.DRAYLEIGH, R.QRAYLEIGH.

R.PSNORM

R.PSNORM — cumulative distribution function of the skew-normal distribution

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
See also

Synopsis

R.PSNORM(x,shape,location,scale,lower_tail,log_p)

Arguments

x: observation

shape: the shape parameter of the distribution

location: the location parameter of the distribution

scale: the scale parameter of the distribution

lower_tail: if true (the default), the lower tail of the distribution is considered

log_p: if true, the natural logarithm of the probability is given or returned; defaults to false

Description

This function returns the cumulative distribution function of the skew-normal distribution.

See also

R.DSNORM, R.QSNORM.

R.PST

R.PST — cumulative distribution function of the skew-t distribution

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
See also

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Synopsis

R.PST(x,n,shape,lower_tail,log_p)

Arguments

x: observation

n: the number of degrees of freedom of the distribution

shape: the shape parameter of the distribution

lower_tail: if true (the default), the lower tail of the distribution is considered

log_p: if true, the natural logarithm of the probability is given or returned; defaults to false

Description

This function returns the cumulative distribution function of the skew-t distribution.

See also

R.DST, R.QST.

R.PT

R.PT — cumulative distribution function of the Student t distribution

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
See also

Synopsis

R.PT(x,n,lower_tail,log_p)

Arguments

x: observation

n: the number of degrees of freedom of the distribution

lower_tail: if true (the default), the lower tail of the distribution is considered

log_p: if true, the natural logarithm of the probability is given or returned; defaults to false

Description

This function returns the cumulative distribution function of the Student t distribution.

See also

R.DT, R.QT.

R.PTUKEY

R.PTUKEY — cumulative distribution function of the Studentized range distribution

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
See also

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Synopsis

R.PTUKEY(x,nmeans,df,nranges,lower_tail,log_p)

Arguments

x: observation

nmeans: the number of means

df: the number of degrees of freedom of the distribution

nranges: the number of ranges; default is 1

lower_tail: if true (the default), the lower tail of the distribution is considered

log_p: if true, the natural logarithm of the probability is given or returned; defaults to false

Description

This function returns the cumulative distribution function of the Studentized range distribution.

See also

R.QTUKEY.

R.PWEIBULL

R.PWEIBULL — cumulative distribution function of the Weibull distribution

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
See also

Synopsis

R.PWEIBULL(x,shape,scale,lower_tail,log_p)

Arguments

x: observation

shape: the shape parameter of the distribution

scale: the scale parameter of the distribution

lower_tail: if true (the default), the lower tail of the distribution is considered

log_p: if true, the natural logarithm of the probability is given or returned; defaults to false

Description

This function returns the cumulative distribution function of the Weibull distribution.

See also

R.DWEIBULL, R.QWEIBULL.

R.QBETA

R.QBETA — probability quantile function of the beta distribution

Synopsis
Arguments

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Description
See also

Synopsis

R.QBETA(p,a,b,lower_tail,log_p)

Arguments

p: probability or natural logarithm of the probability

a: the first shape parameter of the distribution

b: the second scale parameter of the distribution

lower_tail: if true (the default), the lower tail of the distribution is considered

log_p: if true, the natural logarithm of the probability is given or returned; defaults to false

Description

This function returns the probability quantile function, i.e., the inverse of the cumulative distribution function,
of the beta distribution.

See also

R.DBETA, R.PBETA.

R.QBINOM

R.QBINOM — probability quantile function of the binomial distribution

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
See also

Synopsis

R.QBINOM(p,n,psuc,lower_tail,log_p)

Arguments

p: probability or natural logarithm of the probability

n: the number of trials

psuc: the probability of success in each trial

lower_tail: if true (the default), the lower tail of the distribution is considered

log_p: if true, the natural logarithm of the probability is given or returned; defaults to false

Description

This function returns the probability quantile function, i.e., the inverse of the cumulative distribution function,
of the binomial distribution.

See also

R.DBINOM, R.PBINOM.

R.QCAUCHY

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R.QCAUCHY — probability quantile function of the Cauchy distribution

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
See also

Synopsis

R.QCAUCHY(p,location,scale,lower_tail,log_p)

Arguments

p: probability or natural logarithm of the probability

location: the center of the distribution

scale: the scale parameter of the distribution

lower_tail: if true (the default), the lower tail of the distribution is considered

log_p: if true, the natural logarithm of the probability is given or returned; defaults to false

Description

This function returns the probability quantile function, i.e., the inverse of the cumulative distribution function,
of the Cauchy distribution.

See also

R.DCAUCHY, R.PCAUCHY.

R.QCHISQ

R.QCHISQ — probability quantile function of the chi-square distribution

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
OpenDocument Format (ODF) Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

R.QCHISQ(p,df,lower_tail,log_p)

Arguments

p: probability or natural logarithm of the probability

df: the number of degrees of freedom of the distribution

lower_tail: if true (the default), the lower tail of the distribution is considered

log_p: if true, the natural logarithm of the probability is given or returned; defaults to false

Description

This function returns the probability quantile function, i.e., the inverse of the cumulative distribution function,
of the chi-square distribution.

OpenDocument Format (ODF) Compatibility

A two argument invocation R.QCHISQ(p,df) is exported to OpenFormula as CHISQINV(p,df).

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See also

R.DCHISQ, R.PCHISQ.

R.QEXP

R.QEXP — probability quantile function of the exponential distribution

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
See also

Synopsis

R.QEXP(p,scale,lower_tail,log_p)

Arguments

p: probability or natural logarithm of the probability

scale: the scale parameter of the distribution

lower_tail: if true (the default), the lower tail of the distribution is considered

log_p: if true, the natural logarithm of the probability is given or returned; defaults to false

Description

This function returns the probability quantile function, i.e., the inverse of the cumulative distribution function,
of the exponential distribution.

See also

R.DEXP, R.PEXP.

R.QF

R.QF — probability quantile function of the F distribution

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
See also

Synopsis

R.QF(p,n1,n2,lower_tail,log_p)

Arguments

p: probability or natural logarithm of the probability

n1: the first number of degrees of freedom of the distribution

n2: the second number of degrees of freedom of the distribution

lower_tail: if true (the default), the lower tail of the distribution is considered

log_p: if true, the natural logarithm of the probability is given or returned; defaults to false

Description

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This function returns the probability quantile function, i.e., the inverse of the cumulative distribution function,
of the F distribution.

See also

R.DF, R.PF.

R.QGAMMA

R.QGAMMA — probability quantile function of the gamma distribution

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
See also

Synopsis

R.QGAMMA(p,shape,scale,lower_tail,log_p)

Arguments

p: probability or natural logarithm of the probability

shape: the shape parameter of the distribution

scale: the scale parameter of the distribution

lower_tail: if true (the default), the lower tail of the distribution is considered

log_p: if true, the natural logarithm of the probability is given or returned; defaults to false

Description

This function returns the probability quantile function, i.e., the inverse of the cumulative distribution function,
of the gamma distribution.

See also

R.DGAMMA, R.PGAMMA.

R.QGEOM

R.QGEOM — probability quantile function of the geometric distribution

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
See also

Synopsis

R.QGEOM(p,psuc,lower_tail,log_p)

Arguments

p: probability or natural logarithm of the probability

psuc: the probability of success in each trial

lower_tail: if true (the default), the lower tail of the distribution is considered

log_p: if true, the natural logarithm of the probability is given or returned; defaults to false

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Description

This function returns the probability quantile function, i.e., the inverse of the cumulative distribution function,
of the geometric distribution.

See also

R.DGEOM, R.PGEOM.

R.QGUMBEL

R.QGUMBEL — probability quantile function of the Gumbel distribution

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
See also

Synopsis

R.QGUMBEL(p,mu,beta,lower_tail,log_p)

Arguments

p: probability or natural logarithm of the probability

mu: the location parameter of freedom of the distribution

beta: the scale parameter of freedom of the distribution

lower_tail: if true (the default), the lower tail of the distribution is considered

log_p: if true, the natural logarithm of the probability is given or returned; defaults to false

Description

This function returns the probability quantile function, i.e., the inverse of the cumulative distribution function,
of the Gumbel distribution.

See also

R.DGUMBEL, R.PGUMBEL.

R.QHYPER

R.QHYPER — probability quantile function of the hypergeometric distribution

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
See also

Synopsis

R.QHYPER(p,r,b,n,lower_tail,log_p)

Arguments

p: probability or natural logarithm of the probability

r: the number of red balls

b: the number of black balls

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n: the number of balls drawn

lower_tail: if true (the default), the lower tail of the distribution is considered

log_p: if true, the natural logarithm of the probability is given or returned; defaults to false

Description

This function returns the probability quantile function, i.e., the inverse of the cumulative distribution function,
of the hypergeometric distribution.

See also

R.DHYPER, R.PHYPER.

R.QLNORM

R.QLNORM — probability quantile function of the log-normal distribution

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
See also

Synopsis

R.QLNORM(p,logmean,logsd,lower_tail,log_p)

Arguments

p: probability or natural logarithm of the probability

logmean: mean of the underlying normal distribution

logsd: standard deviation of the underlying normal distribution

lower_tail: if true (the default), the lower tail of the distribution is considered

log_p: if true, the natural logarithm of the probability is given or returned; defaults to false

Description

This function returns the probability quantile function, i.e., the inverse of the cumulative distribution function,
of the log-normal distribution.

See also

R.DLNORM, R.PLNORM.

R.QNBINOM

R.QNBINOM — probability quantile function of the negative binomial distribution

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
See also

Synopsis

R.QNBINOM(p,n,psuc,lower_tail,log_p)

Arguments

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p: probability or natural logarithm of the probability

n: required number of successes

psuc: the probability of success in each trial

lower_tail: if true (the default), the lower tail of the distribution is considered

log_p: if true, the natural logarithm of the probability is given or returned; defaults to false

Description

This function returns the probability quantile function, i.e., the inverse of the cumulative distribution function,
of the negative binomial distribution.

See also

R.DNBINOM, R.PNBINOM.

R.QNORM

R.QNORM — probability quantile function of the normal distribution

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
See also

Synopsis

R.QNORM(p,mu,sigma,lower_tail,log_p)

Arguments

p: probability or natural logarithm of the probability

mu: mean of the distribution

sigma: standard deviation of the distribution

lower_tail: if true (the default), the lower tail of the distribution is considered

log_p: if true, the natural logarithm of the probability is given or returned; defaults to false

Description

This function returns the probability quantile function, i.e., the inverse of the cumulative distribution function,
of the normal distribution.

See also

R.DNORM, R.PNORM.

R.QPOIS

R.QPOIS — probability quantile function of the Poisson distribution

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
See also

Synopsis

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R.QPOIS(p,lambda,lower_tail,log_p)

Arguments

p: probability or natural logarithm of the probability

lambda: the mean of the distribution

lower_tail: if true (the default), the lower tail of the distribution is considered

log_p: if true, the natural logarithm of the probability is given or returned; defaults to false

Description

This function returns the probability quantile function, i.e., the inverse of the cumulative distribution function,
of the Poisson distribution.

See also

R.DPOIS, R.PPOIS.

R.QRAYLEIGH

R.QRAYLEIGH — probability quantile function of the Rayleigh distribution

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
See also

Synopsis

R.QRAYLEIGH(p,scale,lower_tail,log_p)

Arguments

p: probability or natural logarithm of the probability

scale: the scale parameter of the distribution

lower_tail: if true (the default), the lower tail of the distribution is considered

log_p: if true, the natural logarithm of the probability is given or returned; defaults to false

Description

This function returns the probability quantile function, i.e., the inverse of the cumulative distribution function,
of the Rayleigh distribution.

See also

R.DRAYLEIGH, R.PRAYLEIGH.

R.QSNORM

R.QSNORM — probability quantile function of the skew-normal distribution

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
See also

Synopsis

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R.QSNORM(p,shape,location,scale,lower_tail,log_p)

Arguments

p: probability or natural logarithm of the probability

shape: the shape parameter of the distribution

location: the location parameter of the distribution

scale: the scale parameter of the distribution

lower_tail: if true (the default), the lower tail of the distribution is considered

log_p: if true, the natural logarithm of the probability is given or returned; defaults to false

Description

This function returns the probability quantile function, i.e., the inverse of the cumulative distribution function,
of the skew-normal distribution.

See also

R.DSNORM, R.PSNORM.

R.QST

R.QST — probability quantile function of the skew-t distribution

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
See also

Synopsis

R.QST(p,n,shape,lower_tail,log_p)

Arguments

p: probability or natural logarithm of the probability

n: the number of degrees of freedom of the distribution

shape: the shape parameter of the distribution

lower_tail: if true (the default), the lower tail of the distribution is considered

log_p: if true, the natural logarithm of the probability is given or returned; defaults to false

Description

This function returns the probability quantile function, i.e., the inverse of the cumulative distribution function,
of the skew-t distribution.

See also

R.DST, R.PST.

R.QT

R.QT — probability quantile function of the Student t distribution

Synopsis
Arguments

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Description
See also

Synopsis

R.QT(p,n,lower_tail,log_p)

Arguments

p: probability or natural logarithm of the probability

n: the number of degrees of freedom of the distribution

lower_tail: if true (the default), the lower tail of the distribution is considered

log_p: if true, the natural logarithm of the probability is given or returned; defaults to false

Description

This function returns the probability quantile function, i.e., the inverse of the cumulative distribution function,
of the Student t distribution.

See also

R.DT, R.PT.

R.QTUKEY

R.QTUKEY — probability quantile function of the Studentized range distribution

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
See also

Synopsis

R.QTUKEY(p,nmeans,df,nranges,lower_tail,log_p)

Arguments

p: probability or natural logarithm of the probability

nmeans: the number of means

df: the number of degrees of freedom of the distribution

nranges: the number of ranges; default is 1

lower_tail: if true (the default), the lower tail of the distribution is considered

log_p: if true, the natural logarithm of the probability is given or returned; defaults to false

Description

This function returns the probability quantile function, i.e., the inverse of the cumulative distribution function,
of the Studentized range distribution.

See also

R.PTUKEY.

R.QWEIBULL

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R.QWEIBULL — probability quantile function of the Weibull distribution

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
See also

Synopsis

R.QWEIBULL(p,shape,scale,lower_tail,log_p)

Arguments

p: probability or natural logarithm of the probability

shape: the shape parameter of the distribution

scale: the scale parameter of the distribution

lower_tail: if true (the default), the lower tail of the distribution is considered

log_p: if true, the natural logarithm of the probability is given or returned; defaults to false

Description

This function returns the probability quantile function, i.e., the inverse of the cumulative distribution function,
of the Weibull distribution.

See also

R.DWEIBULL, R.PWEIBULL.

RANK

RANK — rank of a number in a list of numbers

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

RANK(x,ref,order)

Arguments

x: number whose rank you want to find

ref: list of numbers

order: 0 (descending order) or non-zero (ascending order); defaults to 0

Note

In case of a tie, RANK returns the largest possible rank.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

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PERCENTRANK, RANK.AVG.

RANK.AVG

RANK.AVG — rank of a number in a list of numbers

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

RANK.AVG(x,ref,order)

Arguments

x: number whose rank you want to find

ref: list of numbers

order: 0 (descending order) or non-zero (ascending order); defaults to 0

Note

In case of a tie, RANK.AVG returns the average rank.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel 2010 compatible.

See also

PERCENTRANK, RANK.

RAYLEIGH

RAYLEIGH — probability density function of the Rayleigh distribution

Synopsis
Arguments
See also

Synopsis

RAYLEIGH(x,sigma)

Arguments

x: number

sigma: scale parameter

See also

RANDRAYLEIGH.

RAYLEIGHTAIL

RAYLEIGHTAIL — probability density function of the Rayleigh tail distribution

Synopsis

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Arguments
See also

Synopsis

RAYLEIGHTAIL(x,a,sigma)

Arguments

x: number

a: lower limit

sigma: scale parameter

See also

RANDRAYLEIGHTAIL.

RSQ

RSQ — square of the Pearson correlation coefficient of the paired set of data

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

RSQ(array1,array2)

Arguments

array1: first component values

array2: second component values

Description

Strings and empty cells are simply ignored.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

CORREL, COVAR, INTERCEPT, LINEST, LOGEST, PEARSON, SLOPE, STEYX, TREND.

SFTEST

SFTEST — Shapiro-Francia Test of Normality

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
See also

Synopsis

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SFTEST(x)

Arguments

x: array of sample values

Description

This function returns an array with the first row giving the p-value of the Shapiro-Francia Test, the second row
the test statistic of the test, and the third the number of observations in the sample.

Note

If there are less than 5 or more than 5000 sample values, SFTEST returns #VALUE!

See also

CHITEST, ADTEST, LKSTEST, CVMTEST.

SKEW

SKEW — unbiased estimate for skewness of a distribution

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

SKEW(number1,number2,…)

Arguments

number1: first value

number2: second value

Description

Strings and empty cells are simply ignored.

Note

This is only meaningful if the underlying distribution really has a third moment. The skewness of a symmetric
(e.g., normal) distribution is zero. If less than three numbers are given, this function returns a #DIV/0! error.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

AVERAGE, VAR, SKEWP, KURT.

SKEWP

SKEWP — population skewness of a data set

Synopsis
Arguments

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Description
Note
See also

Synopsis

SKEWP(number1,number2,…)

Arguments

number1: first value

number2: second value

Description

Strings and empty cells are simply ignored.

Note

If less than two numbers are given, SKEWP returns a #DIV/0! error.

See also

AVERAGE, VARP, SKEW, KURTP.

SLOPE

SLOPE — the slope of a linear regression line

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

SLOPE(known_ys,known_xs)

Arguments

known_ys: known y-values

known_xs: known x-values

Note

If known_xs or known_ys contains no data entries or different number of data entries, this function returns a
#N/A error. If the variance of the known_xs is zero, this function returns #DIV/0 error.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

STDEV, STDEVPA.

SMALL

SMALL — k-th smallest value in a data set

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Synopsis
Arguments
Note
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

SMALL(data,k)

Arguments

data: data set

k: which value to find

Note

If data set is empty this function returns a #NUM! error. If k <= 0 or k is greater than the number of data items
given this function returns a #NUM! error.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

PERCENTILE, PERCENTRANK, QUARTILE, LARGE.

SNORM.DIST.RANGE

SNORM.DIST.RANGE — probability of the standard normal distribution over an interval

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
See also

Synopsis

SNORM.DIST.RANGE(x1,x2)

Arguments

x1: start of the interval

x2: end of the interval

Description

This function returns the cumulative probability over a range of the standard normal distribution; that is the
integral over the probability density function from x1 to x2.

Note

If x1>x2, this function returns a negative value.

See also

NORMSDIST, R.PNORM, R.QNORM, R.DNORM.

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SSMEDIAN

SSMEDIAN — median for grouped data

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
See also

Synopsis

SSMEDIAN(array,interval)

Arguments

array: data set

interval: length of each grouping interval, defaults to 1

Description

The data are assumed to be grouped into intervals of width interval. Each data point in array is the
midpoint of the interval containing the true value. The median is calculated by interpolation within the median
interval (the interval containing the median value), assuming that the true values within that interval are
distributed uniformly:

median = L + interval*(N/2 - CF)/F

where:

L = the lower limit of the median interval

N = the total number of data points

CF = the number of data points below the median interval

F = the number of data points in the median interval

Note

If array is empty, this function returns a #NUM! error. If interval <= 0, this function returns a #NUM! error.
SSMEDIAN does not check whether the data points are at least interval apart.

See also

MEDIAN.

STANDARDIZE

STANDARDIZE — z-score of a value

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

STANDARDIZE(x,mean,stddev)

Arguments

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x: value

mean: mean of the original distribution

stddev: standard deviation of the original distribution

Note

If stddev is 0 this function returns a #DIV/0! error.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

AVERAGE.

STDEV

STDEV — sample standard deviation of the given sample

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

STDEV(area1,area2,…)

Arguments

area1: first cell area

area2: second cell area

Description

STDEV is also known as the N-1-standard deviation.

To obtain the population standard deviation of a whole population use STDEVP.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

AVERAGE, DSTDEV, DSTDEVP, STDEVA, STDEVPA, VAR.

STDEVA

STDEVA — sample standard deviation of the given sample

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

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STDEVA(area1,area2,…)

Arguments

area1: first cell area

area2: second cell area

Description

STDEVA is also known as the N-1-standard deviation.

To obtain the population standard deviation of a whole population use STDEVPA.

Numbers, text and logical values are included in the calculation too. If the cell contains text or the argument
evaluates to FALSE, it is counted as value zero (0). If the argument evaluates to TRUE, it is counted as one (1).
Note that empty cells are not counted.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

STDEV, STDEVPA.

STDEVP

STDEVP — population standard deviation of the given population

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

STDEVP(area1,area2,…)

Arguments

area1: first cell area

area2: second cell area

Description

This is also known as the N-standard deviation

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

STDEV, STDEVA, STDEVPA.

STDEVPA

STDEVPA — population standard deviation of an entire population

Synopsis

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Arguments
Description
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

STDEVPA(area1,area2,…)

Arguments

area1: first cell area

area2: second cell area

Description

This is also known as the N-standard deviation

Numbers, text and logical values are included in the calculation too. If the cell contains text or the argument
evaluates to FALSE, it is counted as value zero (0). If the argument evaluates to TRUE, it is counted as one (1).
Note that empty cells are not counted.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

STDEVA, STDEVP.

STEYX

STEYX — standard error of the predicted y-value in the regression

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

STEYX(known_ys,known_xs)

Arguments

known_ys: known y-values

known_xs: known x-values

Note

If known_ys and known_xs are empty or have a different number of arguments then this function returns a
#N/A error.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

PEARSON, RSQ, SLOPE.

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SUBTOTAL

SUBTOTAL — the subtotal of the given list of arguments

Synopsis
Arguments
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

SUBTOTAL(function_nbr,ref1,ref2,…)

Arguments

function_nbr: determines which function to use according to the following table:

1 AVERAGE

2 COUNT

3 COUNTA

4 MAX

5 MIN

6 PRODUCT

7 STDEV

8 STDEVP

9 SUM

10 VAR

11 VARP

ref1: first value

ref2: second value

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

COUNT, SUM.

TDIST

TDIST — survival function of the Student t-distribution

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
See also

Synopsis

TDIST(x,dof,tails)

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Arguments

x: number

dof: number of degrees of freedom

tails: 1 or 2

Description

The survival function is 1 minus the cumulative distribution function.

This function is Excel compatible for non-negative x.

Note

If dof < 1 this function returns a #NUM! error. If tails is neither 1 or 2 this function returns a #NUM! error. The
parameterization of this function is different from what is used for, e.g., NORMSDIST. This is a common source
of mistakes, but necessary for compatibility.

See also

TINV, TTEST.

TINV

TINV — two tailed inverse of the Student t-distribution

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

TINV(p,dof)

Arguments

p: probability in both tails

dof: number of degrees of freedom

Description

This function returns the non-negative value x such that the area under the Student t density with dof degrees
of freedom to the right of x is p/2.

Note

If p < 0 or p > 1 or dof < 1 this function returns a #NUM! error. The parameterization of this function is different
from what is used for, e.g., NORMSINV. This is a common source of mistakes, but necessary for compatibility.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

TDIST, TTEST.

TREND

TREND — estimates future values of a given data set using a least squares approximation

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Synopsis
Arguments
Note
See also

Synopsis

TREND(known_ys,known_xs,new_xs,affine)

Arguments

known_ys: vector of values of dependent variable

known_xs: array of values of independent variables, defaults to a single vector {1,…,n}

new_xs: array of x-values for which to estimate the y-values; defaults to known_xs

affine: if true, the model contains a constant term, defaults to true

Note

If the length of known_ys does not match the corresponding length of known_xs, this function returns a
#NUM! error.

See also

LINEST.

TRIMMEAN

TRIMMEAN — mean of the interior of a data set

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

TRIMMEAN(ref,fraction)

Arguments

ref: list of numbers whose mean you want to calculate

fraction: fraction of the data set excluded from the mean

Description

If fraction=0.2 and the data set contains 40 numbers, 8 numbers are trimmed from the data set (40 x 0.2): the
4 largest and the 4 smallest. To avoid a bias, the number of points to be excluded is always rounded down to the
nearest even number.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

AVERAGE, GEOMEAN, HARMEAN, MEDIAN, MODE.

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TTEST

TTEST — p-value for a hypothesis test comparing the means of two populations using the Student t-
distribution

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

TTEST(array1,array2,tails,type)

Arguments

array1: sample from the first population

array2: sample from the second population

tails: number of tails to consider

type: Type of test to perform. 1 indicates a test for paired variables, 2 a test of unpaired variables with equal
variances, and 3 a test of unpaired variables with unequal variances

Note

If the data sets contain a different number of data points and the test is paired (type one), TTEST returns the
#N/A error. tails and type are truncated to integers. If tails is not one or two, this function returns a
#NUM! error. If type is any other than one, two, or three, this function returns a #NUM! error.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

FDIST, FINV.

VAR

VAR — sample variance of the given sample

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

VAR(area1,area2,…)

Arguments

area1: first cell area

area2: second cell area

Description

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VAR is also known as the N-1-variance.

Note

Since the N-1-variance includes Bessel's correction, whereas the N-variance calculated by VARPA or VARP does
not, under reasonable conditions the N-1-variance is an unbiased estimator of the variance of the population
from which the sample is drawn.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

VARP, STDEV, VARA.

VARA

VARA — sample variance of the given sample

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

VARA(area1,area2,…)

Arguments

area1: first cell area

area2: second cell area

Description

VARA is also known as the N-1-variance.

To get the true variance of a complete population use VARPA.

Numbers, text and logical values are included in the calculation too. If the cell contains text or the argument
evaluates to FALSE, it is counted as value zero (0). If the argument evaluates to TRUE, it is counted as one (1).
Note that empty cells are not counted.

Note

Since the N-1-variance includes Bessel's correction, whereas the N-variance calculated by VARPA or VARP does
not, under reasonable conditions the N-1-variance is an unbiased estimator of the variance of the population
from which the sample is drawn.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

VAR, VARPA.

VARP

VARP — variance of an entire population

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Synopsis
Arguments
Description
See also

Synopsis

VARP(area1,area2,…)

Arguments

area1: first cell area

area2: second cell area

Description

VARP is also known as the N-variance.

See also

AVERAGE, DVAR, DVARP, STDEV, VAR.

VARPA

VARPA — variance of an entire population

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

VARPA(area1,area2,…)

Arguments

area1: first cell area

area2: second cell area

Description

VARPA is also known as the N-variance.

Numbers, text and logical values are included in the calculation too. If the cell contains text or the argument
evaluates to FALSE, it is counted as value zero (0). If the argument evaluates to TRUE, it is counted as one (1).
Note that empty cells are not counted.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

VARA, VARP.

WEIBULL

WEIBULL — probability density or cumulative distribution function of the Weibull distribution

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Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

WEIBULL(x,alpha,beta,cumulative)

Arguments

x: number

alpha: scale parameter

beta: scale parameter

cumulative: whether to evaluate the density function or the cumulative distribution function

Description

If the cumulative boolean is true it will return: 1 - exp (-(x/beta)^alpha), otherwise it will return
(alpha/beta^alpha) * x^(alpha-1) * exp(-(x/beta^alpha)).

Note

If x < 0 this function returns a #NUM! error. If alpha <= 0 or beta <= 0 this function returns a #NUM! error.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

POISSON.

ZTEST

ZTEST — the probability of observing a sample mean as large as or larger than the mean of the given sample

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
OpenDocument Format (ODF) Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

ZTEST(ref,x,stddev)

Arguments

ref: data set (sample)

x: population mean

stddev: population standard deviation, defaults to the sample standard deviation

Description

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ZTEST calculates the probability of observing a sample mean as large as or larger than the mean of the given
sample for samples drawn from a normal distribution with mean x and standard deviation stddev.

Note

If ref contains less than two data items ZTEST returns #DIV/0! error.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

OpenDocument Format (ODF) Compatibility

This function is OpenFormula compatible.

See also

CONFIDENCE, NORMDIST, NORMINV, NORMSDIST, NORMSINV, STANDARDIZE.

A.16. String

ASC — text with full-width katakana and ASCII characters converted to half-width
CHAR — the CP1252 (Windows-1252) character for the code point x
CLEAN — text with any non-printable characters removed
CODE — the CP1252 (Windows-1252) code point for the character c
CONCAT — the concatenation of the strings s1, s2,…
CONCATENATE — the concatenation of the strings s1, s2,…
DOLLAR — num formatted as currency
EXACT — TRUE if string1 is exactly equal to string2
FIND — first position of string1 in string2 following position start
FINDB — first byte position of string1 in string2 following byte position start
FIXED — formatted string representation of num
JIS — text with half-width katakana and ASCII characters converted to full-width
LEFT — the first num_chars characters of the string s
LEFTB — the first characters of the string s comprising at most num_bytes bytes
LEN — the number of characters of the string s
LENB — the number of bytes in the string s
LOWER — a lower-case version of the string text
MID — the substring of the string s starting at position position consisting of length characters
MIDB — the characters following the first start_pos bytes comprising at most num_bytes bytes
NUMBERVALUE — numeric value of text
PROPER — text with initial of each word capitalised
REPLACE — string old with num characters starting at start replaced by new
REPLACEB — string old with up to num bytes starting at start replaced by new
REPT — num repetitions of string text
RIGHT — the last num_chars characters of the string s
RIGHTB — the last characters of the string s comprising at most num_bytes bytes
SEARCH — the location of the search string within text after position start
SEARCHB — the location of the search string within text after byte position start
SUBSTITUTE — text with all occurrences of old replaced by new
T — value if and only if value is text, otherwise empty
TEXT — value as a string formatted as format
TEXTJOIN — the concatenation of the strings s1, s2,… delimited by del
TRIM — text with only single spaces between words
UNICHAR — the Unicode character represented by the Unicode code point x
UNICODE — the Unicode code point for the character c
UPPER — an upper-case version of the string text
VALUE — numeric value of text

ASC

ASC — text with full-width katakana and ASCII characters converted to half-width

Synopsis
Arguments

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Description
Note
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
OpenDocument Format (ODF) Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

ASC(text)

Arguments

text: string

Description

ASC converts full-width katakana and ASCII characters to half-width equivalent characters, copying all others.

The distinction between half-width and full-width characters is described in

http://www.unicode.org/reports/tr11/.

Note

While in obsolete encodings ASC used to translate between 2-byte and 1-byte characters, this is not the case in
UTF-8.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

For most strings, this function has the same effect as in Excel.

OpenDocument Format (ODF) Compatibility

This function is OpenFormula compatible.

See also

JIS.

CHAR

CHAR — the CP1252 (Windows-1252) character for the code point x

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
See also

Synopsis

CHAR(x)

Arguments

x: code point

Description

CHAR(x) returns the CP1252 (Windows-1252) character with code x.

x must be in the range 1 to 255.

CP1252 (Windows-1252) is also known as the "ANSI code page", but it is not an ANSI standard.

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CP1252 (Windows-1252) is based on an early draft of ISO-8859-1, and contains all of its printable characters. It
also contains all of ISO-8859-15's printable characters (but partially at different positions.)

This function is Excel compatible.

Note

In CP1252 (Windows-1252), 129, 141, 143, 144, and 157 do not have matching characters. For x from 1 to 255
except 129, 141, 143, 144, and 157 we have CODE(CHAR(x))=x.

See also

CODE.

CLEAN

CLEAN — text with any non-printable characters removed

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Microsoft Excel Compatibility

Synopsis

CLEAN(text)

Arguments

text: string

Description

CLEAN removes non-printable characters from its argument leaving only regular characters and white-space.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

CODE

CODE — the CP1252 (Windows-1252) code point for the character c

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
See also

Synopsis

CODE(c)

Arguments

c: character

Description

c must be a valid CP1252 (Windows-1252) character.

CP1252 (Windows-1252) is also known as the "ANSI code page", but it is not an ANSI standard.

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CP1252 (Windows-1252) is based on an early draft of ISO-8859-1, and contains all of its printable characters (but
partially at different positions.)

This function is Excel compatible.

Note

In CP1252 (Windows-1252), 129, 141, 143, 144, and 157 do not have matching characters. For x from 1 to 255
except 129, 141, 143, 144, and 157 we have CODE(CHAR(x))=x.

See also

CHAR.

CONCAT

CONCAT — the concatenation of the strings s1, s2,…

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

CONCAT(s1,s2,…)

Arguments

s1: first string

s2: second string

Note

This function is identical to CONCATENATE

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

LEFT, MID, RIGHT.

CONCATENATE

CONCATENATE — the concatenation of the strings s1, s2,…

Synopsis
Arguments
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

CONCATENATE(s1,s2,…)

Arguments

s1: first string

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s2: second string

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

LEFT, MID, RIGHT.

DOLLAR

DOLLAR — num formatted as currency

Synopsis
Arguments
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

DOLLAR(num,decimals)

Arguments

num: number

decimals: decimals

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

FIXED, TEXT, VALUE.

EXACT

EXACT — TRUE if string1 is exactly equal to string2

Synopsis
Arguments
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

EXACT(string1,string2)

Arguments

string1: first string

string2: second string

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

LEN, SEARCH, DELTA.

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FIND

FIND — first position of string1 in string2 following position start

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

FIND(string1,string2,start)

Arguments

string1: search string

string2: search field

start: starting position, defaults to 1

Note

This search is case-sensitive.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

EXACT, LEN, MID, SEARCH.

FINDB

FINDB — first byte position of string1 in string2 following byte position start

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
OpenDocument Format (ODF) Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

FINDB(string1,string2,start)

Arguments

string1: search string

string2: search field

start: starting byte position, defaults to 1

Note

This search is case-sensitive.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

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While this function is syntactically Excel compatible, the differences in the underlying text encoding will usually
yield different results.

OpenDocument Format (ODF) Compatibility

While this function is OpenFormula compatible, most of its behavior is, at this time, implementation specific.

See also

FIND, LEFTB, RIGHTB, LENB, LEFT, MID, RIGHT, LEN.

FIXED

FIXED — formatted string representation of num

Synopsis
Arguments
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

FIXED(num,decimals,no_commas)

Arguments

num: number

decimals: number of decimals

no_commas: TRUE if no thousand separators should be used, defaults to FALSE

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

TEXT, VALUE, DOLLAR.

JIS

JIS — text with half-width katakana and ASCII characters converted to full-width

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
OpenDocument Format (ODF) Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

JIS(text)

Arguments

text: original text

Description

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JIS converts half-width katakana and ASCII characters to full-width equivalent characters, copying all others.

The distinction between half-width and full-width characters is described in

http://www.unicode.org/reports/tr11/.

Note

While in obsolete encodings JIS used to translate between 1-byte and 2-byte characters, this is not the case in
UTF-8.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

For most strings, this function has the same effect as in Excel.

OpenDocument Format (ODF) Compatibility

This function is OpenFormula compatible.

See also

ASC.

LEFT

LEFT — the first num_chars characters of the string s

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
OpenDocument Format (ODF) Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

LEFT(s,num_chars)

Arguments

s: the string

num_chars: the number of characters to return (defaults to 1)

Note

If the string s is in a right-to-left script, the returned first characters are from the right of the string.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

OpenDocument Format (ODF) Compatibility

This function is OpenFormula compatible.

See also

MID, RIGHT, LEN, MIDB, RIGHTB, LENB.

LEFTB

LEFTB — the first characters of the string s comprising at most num_bytes bytes

Synopsis
Arguments

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Note
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
OpenDocument Format (ODF) Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

LEFTB(s,num_bytes)

Arguments

s: the string

num_bytes: the maximum number of bytes to return (defaults to 1)

Note

The semantics of this function is subject to change as various applications implement it. If the string is in a right-
to-left script, the returned first characters are from the right of the string.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

While this function is syntactically Excel compatible, the differences in the underlying text encoding will usually
yield different results.

OpenDocument Format (ODF) Compatibility

While this function is OpenFormula compatible, most of its behavior is, at this time, implementation specific.

See also

MIDB, RIGHTB, LENB, LEFT, MID, RIGHT, LEN.

LEN

LEN — the number of characters of the string s

Synopsis
Arguments
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

LEN(s)

Arguments

s: the string

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

CHAR, CODE, LENB.

LENB

LENB — the number of bytes in the string s

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Synopsis
Arguments
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

LENB(s)

Arguments

s: the string

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

CHAR, CODE, LEN.

LOWER

LOWER — a lower-case version of the string text

Synopsis
Arguments
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

LOWER(text)

Arguments

text: string

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

UPPER.

MID

MID — the substring of the string s starting at position position consisting of length characters

Synopsis
Arguments
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
OpenDocument Format (ODF) Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

MID(s,position,length)

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Arguments

s: the string

position: the starting position

length: the number of characters to return

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

OpenDocument Format (ODF) Compatibility

This function is OpenFormula compatible.

See also

LEFT, RIGHT, LEN, LEFTB, MIDB, RIGHTB, LENB.

MIDB

MIDB — the characters following the first start_pos bytes comprising at most num_bytes bytes

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
OpenDocument Format (ODF) Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

MIDB(s,start_pos,num_bytes)

Arguments

s: the string

start_pos: the number of the byte with which to start (defaults to 1)

num_bytes: the maximum number of bytes to return (defaults to 1)

Note

The semantics of this function is subject to change as various applications implement it.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

While this function is syntactically Excel compatible, the differences in the underlying text encoding will usually
yield different results.

OpenDocument Format (ODF) Compatibility

While this function is OpenFormula compatible, most of its behavior is, at this time, implementation specific.

See also

LEFTB, RIGHTB, LENB, LEFT, MID, RIGHT, LEN.

NUMBERVALUE

NUMBERVALUE — numeric value of text

Synopsis
Arguments

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Note
OpenDocument Format (ODF) Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

NUMBERVALUE(text,separator)

Arguments

text: string

separator: decimal separator

Note

If text does not look like a decimal number, NUMBERVALUE returns the value VALUE would return (ignoring the
given separator).

OpenDocument Format (ODF) Compatibility

This function is OpenFormula compatible.

See also

VALUE.

PROPER

PROPER — text with initial of each word capitalised

Synopsis
Arguments
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

PROPER(text)

Arguments

text: string

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

LOWER, UPPER.

REPLACE

REPLACE — string old with num characters starting at start replaced by new

Synopsis
Arguments
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

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Synopsis

REPLACE(old,start,num,new)

Arguments

old: original text

start: starting position

num: number of characters to be replaced

new: replacement string

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

MID, SEARCH, SUBSTITUTE, TRIM.

REPLACEB

REPLACEB — string old with up to num bytes starting at start replaced by new

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
OpenDocument Format (ODF) Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

REPLACEB(old,start,num,new)

Arguments

old: original text

start: starting byte position

num: number of bytes to be replaced

new: replacement string

Description

REPLACEB replaces the string of valid unicode characters starting at the byte start and ending at
start+num-1 with the string new.

Note

The semantics of this function is subject to change as various applications implement it.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

While this function is syntactically Excel compatible, the differences in the underlying text encoding will usually
yield different results.

OpenDocument Format (ODF) Compatibility

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While this function is OpenFormula compatible, most of its behavior is, at this time, implementation specific.

See also

MID, SEARCH, SUBSTITUTE, TRIM.

REPT

REPT — num repetitions of string text

Synopsis
Arguments
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

REPT(text,num)

Arguments

text: string

num: non-negative integer

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

CONCATENATE.

RIGHT

RIGHT — the last num_chars characters of the string s

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
OpenDocument Format (ODF) Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

RIGHT(s,num_chars)

Arguments

s: the string

num_chars: the number of characters to return (defaults to 1)

Note

If the string s is in a right-to-left script, the returned last characters are from the left of the string.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

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OpenDocument Format (ODF) Compatibility

This function is OpenFormula compatible.

See also

LEFT, MID, LEN, LEFTB, MIDB, RIGHTB, LENB.

RIGHTB

RIGHTB — the last characters of the string s comprising at most num_bytes bytes

Synopsis
Arguments
Note
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
OpenDocument Format (ODF) Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

RIGHTB(s,num_bytes)

Arguments

s: the string

num_bytes: the maximum number of bytes to return (defaults to 1)

Note

The semantics of this function is subject to change as various applications implement it. If the string s is in a
right-to-left script, the returned last characters are from the left of the string.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

While this function is syntactically Excel compatible, the differences in the underlying text encoding will usually
yield different results.

OpenDocument Format (ODF) Compatibility

While this function is OpenFormula compatible, most of its behavior is, at this time, implementation specific.

See also

LEFTB, MIDB, LENB, LEFT, MID, RIGHT, LEN.

SEARCH

SEARCH — the location of the search string within text after position start

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

SEARCH(search,text,start)

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Arguments

search: search string

text: search field

start: starting position, defaults to 1

Description

search may contain wildcard characters (*) and question marks (?). A question mark matches any single
character, and a wildcard matches any string including the empty string. To search for * or ?, precede the symbol
with ~.

Note

This search is not case sensitive. If search is not found, SEARCH returns #VALUE! If start is less than one or it
is greater than the length of text, SEARCH returns #VALUE!

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

FIND, SEARCHB.

SEARCHB

SEARCHB — the location of the search string within text after byte position start

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
OpenDocument Format (ODF) Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

SEARCHB(search,text,start)

Arguments

search: search string

text: search field

start: starting byte position, defaults to 1

Description

search may contain wildcard characters (*) and question marks (?). A question mark matches any single
character, and a wildcard matches any string including the empty string. To search for * or ?, precede the symbol
with ~.

Note

This search is not case sensitive. If search is not found, SEARCHB returns #VALUE! If start is less than one or
it is greater than the byte length of text, SEARCHB returns #VALUE! The semantics of this function is subject to
change as various applications implement it.

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

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While this function is syntactically Excel compatible, the differences in the underlying text encoding will usually
yield different results.

OpenDocument Format (ODF) Compatibility

While this function is OpenFormula compatible, most of its behavior is, at this time, implementation specific.

See also

FINDB, SEARCH.

SUBSTITUTE

SUBSTITUTE — text with all occurrences of old replaced by new

Synopsis
Arguments
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

SUBSTITUTE(text,old,new,num)

Arguments

text: original text

old: string to be replaced

new: replacement string

num: if num is specified and a number only the numth occurrence of old is replaced

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

REPLACE, TRIM.

T — value if and only if value is text, otherwise empty

Synopsis
Arguments
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

T(value)

Arguments

value: original value

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

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See also

CELL, N, VALUE.

TEXT

TEXT — value as a string formatted as format

Synopsis
Arguments
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

TEXT(value,format)

Arguments

value: value to be formatted

format: desired format

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

DOLLAR, FIXED, VALUE.

TEXTJOIN

TEXTJOIN — the concatenation of the strings s1, s2,… delimited by del

Synopsis
Arguments
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

TEXTJOIN(del,blank,s1,s2,…)

Arguments

del: delimiter

blank: ignore blanks

s1: first string

s2: second string

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

CONCATENATE.

TRIM

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TRIM — text with only single spaces between words

Synopsis
Arguments
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

TRIM(text)

Arguments

text: string

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

CLEAN, MID, REPLACE, SUBSTITUTE.

UNICHAR

UNICHAR — the Unicode character represented by the Unicode code point x

Synopsis
Arguments
See also

Synopsis

UNICHAR(x)

Arguments

x: Unicode code point

See also

CHAR, UNICODE, CODE.

UNICODE

UNICODE — the Unicode code point for the character c

Synopsis
Arguments
See also

Synopsis

UNICODE(c)

Arguments

c: character

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See also

UNICHAR, CODE, CHAR.

UPPER

UPPER — an upper-case version of the string text

Synopsis
Arguments
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

UPPER(text)

Arguments

text: string

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

LOWER.

VALUE

VALUE — numeric value of text

Synopsis
Arguments
Microsoft Excel Compatibility
See also

Synopsis

VALUE(text)

Arguments

text: string

Microsoft Excel Compatibility

This function is Excel compatible.

See also

DOLLAR, FIXED, TEXT.

A.17. Time Series Analysis

FOURIER — Fourier or inverse Fourier transform

HPFILTER — Hodrick Prescott Filter
INTERPOLATION — interpolated values corresponding to the given abscissa targets
PERIODOGRAM — periodogram of the given data

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FOURIER

FOURIER — Fourier or inverse Fourier transform

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note

Synopsis

FOURIER(Sequence,Inverse,Separate)

Arguments

Sequence: the data sequence to be transformed

Inverse: if true, the inverse Fourier transform is calculated, defaults to false

Separate: if true, the real and imaginary parts are given separately, defaults to false

Description

This array function returns the Fourier or inverse Fourier transform of the given data sequence.

The output consists of one column of complex numbers if Separate is false and of two columns of real
numbers if Separate is true.

If Separate is true the first output column contains the real parts and the second column the imaginary parts.

Note

If Sequence is neither an n by 1 nor 1 by n array, this function returns #VALUE!

HPFILTER

HPFILTER — Hodrick Prescott Filter

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note

Synopsis

HPFILTER(Sequence,λ)

Arguments

Sequence: the data sequence to be transformed

λ: filter parameter λ, defaults to 1600

Description

This array function returns the trend and cyclical components obtained by applying the Hodrick Prescott Filter
with parameter λ to the given data sequence.

The output consists of two columns of numbers, the first containing the trend component, the second the
cyclical component.

Note

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If Sequence is neither an n by 1 nor 1 by n array, this function returns #VALUE! If Sequence contains less than
6 numerical values, this function returns #VALUE!

INTERPOLATION

INTERPOLATION — interpolated values corresponding to the given abscissa targets

Synopsis
Arguments
Description
Note
See also

Synopsis

INTERPOLATION(abscissae,ordinates,targets,interpolation)

Arguments

abscissae: abscissae of the given data points

ordinates: ordinates of the given data points

targets: abscissae of the interpolated data

interpolation: method of interpolation, defaults to 0 ('linear')

Description

The output consists always of one column of numbers.

Possible interpolation methods are:

0: linear;

1: linear with averaging;

2: staircase;

3: staircase with averaging;

4: natural cubic spline;

5: natural cubic spline with averaging.

Note

The abscissae should be given in increasing order. If the abscissae is not in increasing order the
INTERPOLATION function is significantly slower. If any two abscissae values are equal an error is returned. If
any of interpolation methods 1 ('linear with averaging'), 3 ('staircase with averaging'), and 5 ('natural cubic
spline with averaging') is used, the number of returned values is one less than the number of targets and the
target values must be given in increasing order. The values returned are the average heights of the
interpolation function on the intervals determined by consecutive target values. Strings and empty cells in
abscissae and ordinates are ignored. If several target data are provided they must be in the same column
in consecutive cells.

See also

PERIODOGRAM.

PERIODOGRAM

PERIODOGRAM — periodogram of the given data

Synopsis
Arguments
Description

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Note
See also

Synopsis

PERIODOGRAM(ordinates,filter,abscissae,interpolation,number)

Arguments

ordinates: ordinates of the given data

filter: windowing function to be used, defaults to no filter

abscissae: abscissae of the given data, defaults to regularly spaced abscissae

interpolation: method of interpolation, defaults to none

number: number of interpolated data points

Description

If an interpolation method is used, the number of returned values is one less than the number of targets and
the targets values must be given in increasing order.

The output consists always of one column of numbers.

Possible interpolation methods are:

0: linear;

1: linear with averaging;

2: staircase;

3: staircase with averaging;

4: natural cubic spline;

5: natural cubic spline with averaging.

Possible window functions are:

0: no filter (rectangular window)

1: Bartlett (triangular window)

2: Hahn (cosine window)

3: Welch (parabolic window)

Note

Strings and empty cells in abscissae and ordinates are ignored. If several target data are provided they
must be in the same column in consecutive cells.

See also

INTERPOLATION.

B. Keybinding Reference
This appendix lists the keyboard shortcuts which are defined by default in Gnumeric.

Keybindings are combinations of keystrokes which tell an application to run a task. These can greatly speed-up
the user's interactions with an application. Some of the most common ones are Ctrl+s to save a file or Ctrl+q to
quit the application. Gnumeric also comes with keybindings to make your spreadsheet experience faster.

Normally, keybindings are next to a command in a menu. For example, if Save has Ctrl+s next to it, that means
that Ctrl+s can be typed at the same time to save your file. However, some keystrokes aren't listed in the
menus. They are as follows:

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F2 sets the current cell for editing. The cursor is inserted at the end of the current text.
Ctrl-O opens the Load file dialog window.
Ctrl-F3 opens the Define Name dialog window.
F4 repeat the last action.
Ctrl-G opens the Go to dialog window which allows you to jump to a specified cell.
Ctrl-H opens the Search and Replace dialog where you can search through your spreadsheets for text
strings and replace them with something else.
Ctrl-F opens the Search Center. The Search Center allows you to search through your spreadsheets for
text strings.
Ctrl-~ Formats the current selection as a 'General'.
Ctrl-$ Formats the current selection with the default currency
Ctrl-# Formats the current selection with default date style
Ctrl-^ Formats the current selection as superscript
Ctrl-@ Formats the current selection with the default time format
Ctrl-! Formats the current selection as an integer (a number with no decimal places).
Ctrl-& Adds a thin border around the current selection
Ctrl-_ Formats the current selection as subscript
Ctrl-$ Formats the current selection as the default currency
Ctrl-B or Ctrl-2 Toggles the boldness of the font in the current selection.
Ctrl-I or Ctrl-3 Toggles the italics of the font in the current selection.
Ctrl-U or Ctrl-4 Toggles single underlining of the current selection.
Ctrl-5 Toggles strikethrough of the current selection.
Shift-Ctrl-G Changes the keyboard focus to the current cell indicator described in Section 4.5.1 ― Current
Cell Indicator.
Ctrl-a Select all cells on the currently focused sheet.

1 For the sake of compatibility with Excel, Gnumeric also assigns a serial number to February 29th, 1900 as if 1900 had been a leap year even
though it was not. So February 28th, 1900 has the serial number 59 and March 1st, 1900 the serial number 61. If you try to format the serial
number 60 as a date, Gnumeric recognizes that that date does not exist and shows a sequence of # symbols.

2 Adapted from Banks, Carson, Nelson and Nicol (2001), Discrete-Event System Simulation, 3rd ed.

3 Definition from Law and Kelton (1991), Simulation Modeling & Analysis, 2nd ed, pp. 113.

4 Gnumeric random numbers are generated using the Mersenne twister MT19937 pseudo-random number generator as implemented in the
GNU Scientific Library.

5 Adapted from Banks, Carson, Nelson and Nicol (2001), Discrete-Event System Simulation, 3rd ed. pp. 42-45.

6 Adapted from Banks et. al. Discrete-Event System Simulation, 3rd Edition, pp. 414-416.

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