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#1
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=+SUM
Hi, I have a question: I was given a spreadsheet to work on and all the SUM
formulas have the following format: =+SUM(A1:A10). I have never seen this before. Does the + sign before SUM mean anything and if so, what? It doesnt seem to make a difference when it is removed. Sorry if this is a really basic question. I have just never seen this before and I am curious. Thanks in advance for any information. |
#2
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=+SUM
I believe the standard answer for the + is that its a throwback to the Lotus
1 2 3 days. I works but is not needed in Excel. Discard at your pleasure HTH Regards, Howard "FJ" wrote in message ... Hi, I have a question: I was given a spreadsheet to work on and all the SUM formulas have the following format: =+SUM(A1:A10). I have never seen this before. Does the + sign before SUM mean anything and if so, what? It doesn't seem to make a difference when it is removed. Sorry if this is a really basic question. I have just never seen this before and I am curious. Thanks in advance for any information. |
#3
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=+SUM
The plus sign was used to enter a formula in other spreadsheet applications
like Lotus 123. Some of those old spreadsheet users do it by force of habit. Excel accepts it for compatibility but it has no effect one way or another. Try entering this formula in Excel in cell B1: +SUM(A1:A10) Excel will simply add the equal sign to the formula: =+SUM(A1:A10) -- Biff Microsoft Excel MVP "FJ" wrote in message ... Hi, I have a question: I was given a spreadsheet to work on and all the SUM formulas have the following format: =+SUM(A1:A10). I have never seen this before. Does the + sign before SUM mean anything and if so, what? It doesn't seem to make a difference when it is removed. Sorry if this is a really basic question. I have just never seen this before and I am curious. Thanks in advance for any information. |
#4
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=+SUM
I've always considered this to be lazy programming on the part of the
Excel developers. When you enter something into a cell and press <enter Excel then needs to make sense of what you have typed. All formulae in Excel begin with =, which makes it easy to distinguish a formula from other types of entry. Earlier spreadsheets did not follow this convention, however, so you could type a formula with a leading arithmetic operator (like +), or with an @ symbol to denote a function. You can still use these within Excel, but Excel will put an = in front of what you have typed. The leading + is redundant, but Excel does not remove it, although when you type a formula like: @left(a1,2) Excel will convert this to: =LEFT(A1,2) so it is capable of removing some of your text (and of changing function names and cell references to upper case, etc). The + is a hangover from earlier times and can be ignored (and Excel should get rid of it). Pete On Feb 18, 12:31*am, FJ wrote: Hi, I have a question: *I was given a spreadsheet to work on and all the SUM formulas have the following format: *=+SUM(A1:A10). *I have never seen this before. *Does the + sign before SUM mean anything and if so, what? *It doesn’t seem to make a difference when it is removed. *Sorry if this is a really basic question. *I have just never seen this before and I am curious. Thanks in advance for any information. |
#5
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=+SUM
The + sign was placed there by someone who used to work with Lotus which
uses the + sign instead of the = sign and has not yet adjusted to Excel. Or someone who prefers to use the numpad for entering formulas. In Excel if you enter +A1 in a cell it will be turned into =+A1 It is not necessary but does no harm. Gord Dibben MS Excel MVP On Wed, 17 Feb 2010 16:31:02 -0800, FJ wrote: Hi, I have a question: I was given a spreadsheet to work on and all the SUM formulas have the following format: =+SUM(A1:A10). I have never seen this before. Does the + sign before SUM mean anything and if so, what? It doesn’t seem to make a difference when it is removed. Sorry if this is a really basic question. I have just never seen this before and I am curious. Thanks in advance for any information. |
#6
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=+SUM
Hi, thank you very much for your response. :)
"T. Valko" wrote: The plus sign was used to enter a formula in other spreadsheet applications like Lotus 123. Some of those old spreadsheet users do it by force of habit. Excel accepts it for compatibility but it has no effect one way or another. Try entering this formula in Excel in cell B1: +SUM(A1:A10) Excel will simply add the equal sign to the formula: =+SUM(A1:A10) -- Biff Microsoft Excel MVP "FJ" wrote in message ... Hi, I have a question: I was given a spreadsheet to work on and all the SUM formulas have the following format: =+SUM(A1:A10). I have never seen this before. Does the + sign before SUM mean anything and if so, what? It doesn't seem to make a difference when it is removed. Sorry if this is a really basic question. I have just never seen this before and I am curious. Thanks in advance for any information. . |
#7
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=+SUM
Hi, thank you very much for your response. :)
"L. Howard Kittle" wrote: I believe the standard answer for the + is that its a throwback to the Lotus 1 2 3 days. I works but is not needed in Excel. Discard at your pleasure HTH Regards, Howard "FJ" wrote in message ... Hi, I have a question: I was given a spreadsheet to work on and all the SUM formulas have the following format: =+SUM(A1:A10). I have never seen this before. Does the + sign before SUM mean anything and if so, what? It doesn't seem to make a difference when it is removed. Sorry if this is a really basic question. I have just never seen this before and I am curious. Thanks in advance for any information. . |
#8
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=+SUM
Hi, thank you for the information. :)
"Pete_UK" wrote: I've always considered this to be lazy programming on the part of the Excel developers. When you enter something into a cell and press <enter Excel then needs to make sense of what you have typed. All formulae in Excel begin with =, which makes it easy to distinguish a formula from other types of entry. Earlier spreadsheets did not follow this convention, however, so you could type a formula with a leading arithmetic operator (like +), or with an @ symbol to denote a function. You can still use these within Excel, but Excel will put an = in front of what you have typed. The leading + is redundant, but Excel does not remove it, although when you type a formula like: @left(a1,2) Excel will convert this to: =LEFT(A1,2) so it is capable of removing some of your text (and of changing function names and cell references to upper case, etc). The + is a hangover from earlier times and can be ignored (and Excel should get rid of it). Pete On Feb 18, 12:31 am, FJ wrote: Hi, I have a question: I was given a spreadsheet to work on and all the SUM formulas have the following format: =+SUM(A1:A10). I have never seen this before. Does the + sign before SUM mean anything and if so, what? It doesnt seem to make a difference when it is removed. Sorry if this is a really basic question. I have just never seen this before and I am curious. Thanks in advance for any information. . |
#9
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=+SUM
Hi, thank you for the information. :)
"Gord Dibben" wrote: The + sign was placed there by someone who used to work with Lotus which uses the + sign instead of the = sign and has not yet adjusted to Excel. Or someone who prefers to use the numpad for entering formulas. In Excel if you enter +A1 in a cell it will be turned into =+A1 It is not necessary but does no harm. Gord Dibben MS Excel MVP On Wed, 17 Feb 2010 16:31:02 -0800, FJ wrote: Hi, I have a question: I was given a spreadsheet to work on and all the SUM formulas have the following format: =+SUM(A1:A10). I have never seen this before. Does the + sign before SUM mean anything and if so, what? It doesnt seem to make a difference when it is removed. Sorry if this is a really basic question. I have just never seen this before and I am curious. Thanks in advance for any information. . |
#10
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=+SUM
You're welcome - thanks for feeding back.
Pete On Feb 18, 2:07*am, FJ wrote: Hi, thank you for the information. :) "Pete_UK" wrote: I've always considered this to be lazy programming on the part of the Excel developers. When you enter something into a cell and press <enter Excel then needs to make sense of what you have typed. All formulae in Excel begin with =, which makes it easy to distinguish a formula from other types of entry. Earlier spreadsheets did not follow this convention, however, so you could type a formula with a leading arithmetic operator (like +), or with an @ symbol to denote a function. You can still use these within Excel, but Excel will put an = in front of what you have typed. The leading + is redundant, but Excel does not remove it, although when you type a formula like: @left(a1,2) Excel will convert this to: =LEFT(A1,2) so it is capable of removing some of your text (and of changing function names and cell references to upper case, etc). The + is a hangover from earlier times and can be ignored (and Excel should get rid of it). Pete On Feb 18, 12:31 am, FJ wrote: Hi, I have a question: *I was given a spreadsheet to work on and all the SUM formulas have the following format: *=+SUM(A1:A10). *I have never seen this before. *Does the + sign before SUM mean anything and if so, what? *It doesn’t seem to make a difference when it is removed. *Sorry if this is a really basic question. *I have just never seen this before and I am curious. Thanks in advance for any information. .- Hide quoted text - - Show quoted text - |
#11
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=+SUM
You're welcome!
-- Biff Microsoft Excel MVP "FJ" wrote in message ... Hi, thank you very much for your response. :) "T. Valko" wrote: The plus sign was used to enter a formula in other spreadsheet applications like Lotus 123. Some of those old spreadsheet users do it by force of habit. Excel accepts it for compatibility but it has no effect one way or another. Try entering this formula in Excel in cell B1: +SUM(A1:A10) Excel will simply add the equal sign to the formula: =+SUM(A1:A10) -- Biff Microsoft Excel MVP "FJ" wrote in message ... Hi, I have a question: I was given a spreadsheet to work on and all the SUM formulas have the following format: =+SUM(A1:A10). I have never seen this before. Does the + sign before SUM mean anything and if so, what? It doesn't seem to make a difference when it is removed. Sorry if this is a really basic question. I have just never seen this before and I am curious. Thanks in advance for any information. . |
#12
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=+SUM
"+" sign is near to numeric pad and that's why often used instead of "="
If you would insert a formula like: +sum(1,1) it would automatically convert to: =+sum(1,1) -- Thanx & Best Regards, Faraz! "FJ" wrote: Hi, I have a question: I was given a spreadsheet to work on and all the SUM formulas have the following format: =+SUM(A1:A10). I have never seen this before. Does the + sign before SUM mean anything and if so, what? It doesnt seem to make a difference when it is removed. Sorry if this is a really basic question. I have just never seen this before and I am curious. Thanks in advance for any information. |
#13
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=+SUM
On Thursday, February 18, 2010 at 11:51:01 AM UTC+3, Faraz A. Qureshi wrote:
"+" sign is near to numeric pad and that's why often used instead of "=" If you would insert a formula like: +sum(1,1) it would automatically convert to: =+sum(1,1) -- Thanx & Best Regards, Faraz! "FJ" wrote: Hi, I have a question: I was given a spreadsheet to work on and all the SUM formulas have the following format: =+SUM(A1:A10). I have never seen this before. Does the + sign before SUM mean anything and if so, what? It doesnt seem to make a difference when it is removed. Sorry if this is a really basic question. I have just never seen this before and I am curious. Thanks in advance for any information. thnks ....... ......its a simple answer for that question..... so that we can + instead of = |
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