Spread Sheet Formula Question?

Question

Hi, I am using a formula
=IF(H4=V4,(F4*G4),-(F4*G4)) and its working fine...

but the prblem is if i copy it to other cells
it is becoming as -
=IF(H5=V5,(F5*G5),-(F5*G5))
=IF(H6=V6,(F6*G6),-(F6*G6))
and so on..

But i want it to be
=IF(H5=V4,(F5*G5),-(F5*G5))
Do not want V4 to change to V5 and also i can not replace V4 with a constant value... please help/advise

Tried the $ sign thing too and it did not work...

Answer 1

Put $ signs in your equation to make a variable constant.

Example use $H$4 instead of H4. Now, as you copy the formula, the cell reference will not change.

Another thing you can do is use range names. Instead of H4 you can name the cell something and use that name in the formula. Then when you copy/paste, just the named range is used. It is also much easier to go back later and look at your formulas to figure out what you did.

To name a range, click on the cell and then click on the "Name Box". The "Name Box" is right above the top left corner of your cells. Once there you can choose any name (no spaces or special characters are allowed).

If you named H4 to be "Harry", you would reference in your formula with =if(Harry=V4....

Happy Computing

Answer 2

if I remember correctly you use a $ sign in front of the value you don't want to change. ?