Make Calc Spreadsheets Dance for You in OpenOffice.org
- Creating "Natural-Language" Formulas
- Using the "Intelligent Sum" Button
- Working with Stylist and Autoformat in Calc
- Letting Scenario Manager Help with What-If Projections
- Using and Creating Spreadsheet Themes
- Using DataPilot to Import and Manipulate Information from Databases Created with Other Software
- Mail Merging with OOo Writer Documents and Calc Data
- Summing Up
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By Lalaine "Lizza" Capucion
"Advanced" doesn't necessarily mean "complicated." With a little practice, OOo Calc's advanced features will help you make elegant spreadsheets for almost any home or office need.
Creating "Natural-Language" Formulas
OOo Calc can compute any formula as long as the syntax is right. With Microsoft Excel, you have to know the coordinates of the values you want to compute. But OOo Calc has a "natural language," meaning you can create formulas using column and/or row labels.
Using the file Sales.ods, you will make a "natural-language" formula.
Our original formula in cell E4 was =D4*0.3. Instead of using that formula, let’s change the coordinate D4 to the word Sales, because we are computing sales multiplied by 0.3, or 30 percent. The results are the same.
Figure 9.1 A "natural-language" formula.