Show Formulas, Why? (2K/03)

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Happy November 2006 Y’all,

Here’s a challenge.

I know you can toggle showing/hiding formulas in cells by pressing CTRL+` (grave accent).

Give me three good reasons to show formulas in cells.

This is not a “pop quiz” and I am really eager to see what you think.

Thanks and G’Day,
Rich

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I can give you one. It comes in handy when you are auditing a worksheet.

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Thanks Legare,

In what way do you use the feature as you are auditing your worksheet?

G’Day,
Rich

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You can quickly tell if someone has ‘overtyped’ a formula in a cell i.e. replaced the formula by entering a number.
Hard to spot unless you are using ExcelXP

zeddy

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Hi Zeddy,

Thanks so much. Yes, that is very helpful.

G’Day,
Rich

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You can print the sheet with formulas displayed, and then work through the formula with pencil and paper to make sure it is calculating what it is supposed to be calculating. It is also a quick way to check that a formula has not been overlayed with constant data, particularly if the sheet does not use protection to protect formulas from being overwritten.

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And it is a way to document the way your spreadsheet works.

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….and it is a great teaching aid when trying to explain how different functions tie in together

….and it impresses the boss when you do it and vaguely point at a cell and state “Hmmmn , problems seems to be there” and then nod

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that makes it 5 reasons so far

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And of course, its a way to fool a novice Excelite into thinking there is a virus in the program

Six reasons….thats doubled what you asked for!!

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