Handling errors and warnings in formulas – Apple iWork '09 User Manual

Page 23

Chapter 1

Using Formulas in Tables

In Pages or Keynote, choose Insert > Function > Show Function Browser to open

the Function Browser. In Numbers, open the Function Browser by doing one of the
following:

Click the Function Browser button in the formula bar.

Click the Function button in the toolbar and choose Show Function Browser.

Choose Insert > Function > Show Function Browser.

Choose View > Show Function Browser.

Select a function category.

Choose a function by double-clicking it or by selecting it and clicking Insert Function.

In the Formula Editor or formula bar (Numbers only), replace each argument

placeholder in the inserted function with a value.

Help for the “issue” argument
appears when the pointer is over
the placeholder.

Placeholders for optional
arguments are light gray.

Click to see a list of valid values.

To review a brief description of an argument’s value: Hold the pointer over the
argument placeholder. You can also refer to information about the argument in the
Function Browser window.
To specify a value to replace any argument placeholder: Click the argument
placeholder and type a constant or insert a cell reference (see “Referring to Cells
in Formulas” on page 24 for instructions). If the argument placeholder is light gray,
providing a value is optional.
To specify a value to replace an argument placeholder that has a disclosure
triangle: Click the disclosure triangle and then choose a value from the pop-up menu.
To review information about a value in the pop-up menu, hold the pointer over the
value. To review help for the function, select Function Help.

Handling Errors and Warnings in Formulas

When a formula in a table cell is incomplete, contains invalid cell references, or is
otherwise incorrect, or when an import operation creates an error condition in a cell,
Number or Pages displays an icon in the cell. A blue triangle in the upper left of a cell
indicates one or more warnings. A red triangle in the middle of a cell means that a
formula error occurred.