Apple Numbers '08 - Manual (Page 194)

194 Chapter 12 Dictionary of Functions
The following table defines terms that are commonly used in function descriptions.
There are several categories of functions. For example, some functions perform
calculations on date and time values, logical functions give a Boolean (TRUE or FALSE)
result, and other functions perform financial calculations. Following a brief introduction
to the function categories, this chapter defines each function individually, in
alphabetical order by function name.
Term or symbol Meaning
italic An argument you replace with an actual value or a reference to a
cell containing a value.
commas and semicolons The syntax descriptions for functions use commas to separate
arguments. If your International System Preferences are set up to
use the comma as a decimal separator, separate arguments using a
semicolon instead of a comma.
[ brackets ] Surround an optional argument. If you omit an optional argument
in the middle of a list of arguments, be sure to include the
separator that precedes the missing argument. For example, to
omit the second argument, arg2, from a list of three arguments,
you would type FUNCTION(arg1, , arg3).
. . . (ellipses) The preceding argument can be repeated as many times as
necessary.
integer A number with no fractional part.
logical expression An expression that has the Boolean value TRUE or FALSE.
numeric expression An expression that produces a number.
string A contiguous sequence of characters.
text expression An expression that produces a string.
date-time Any Numbers date/time value. While you can choose to display
only date or time in a cell, all Numbers date or time values contain
both the date and time.