C H A P T E R  3

Functions

You might have heard that functions and formulas are difficult to master. That used to be the case a long time ago, but it is not so anymore, and it is certainly not the case with OpenOffice.org Calc.

There is some jargon to explain, but it's not difficult. As you will learn on the following pages, I often use phrases such as “the formula returns x” or “the function returns x,” which is just a short way of saying that the formula or the function in question has a value of x for the given “parameters” or “arguments,” as they are called by the creators of OpenOffice.org Calc.

What is the difference between a formula and a function? A formula is something you create yourself, using standard mathematical operators, numbers, ...

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