Office X for Macintosh: The Missing Manual

464 office x for macintosh: the missing manual

Absolute references, on the other hand, refer to a specific cell, no matter where the

formula appears in the spreadsheet. They can be useful when you need to refer to a

particular cell in the spreadsheet—the one containing the sales tax rate, for example—

for a formula that repeats over several columns. Figure 12-19 gives an example.

You designate an absolute cell reference by including a $ in front of the column and/

or row reference. (For the first time in its life, the $ symbol has nothing to do with

money.) For example, $A$7 is an absolute reference for cell A7.

You can also create a mixed reference in order to lock the reference to either the row

or column—for example, G$8, in which the column reference is relative and the

row is absolute. You might use this unusual arrangement when, for example, your

column A contains discount rates for the customers whose names appear in column

B. In writing the formula for a customer’s final price (in column D, for example),

you’d use a relative reference to a row number (which is different for every cus-

tomer), but an absolute reference to the column (which is always A).

Tip: Here’s a handy shortcut that can save you some hand-eye coordination when you want to turn an

absolute cell reference into a relative one, or vice versa: First, select the cell that contains the formula. In

the Formula bar, highlight only ...