Google Docs: SpreadsheetABS Function Tips and Tricks

You may think that the ABS function is not something you can get excited about, after all, it’s sole job is to remove the minus sign (-) from a negative number turning it into a positive one. It’s not very

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exciting, is it? But don’t fall asleep just yet. There are two ABS tricks you can use to make your and your spreadsheet user's lives easier:

Trick no. 1: Avoid confusion by removing the minus sign from the results returned by the PMT function.

Enter the following formula into an empty spreadsheet:=PMT(2.5%/12; 10*12; 250000)

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‘And what’s the problem?’ you might ask. Well, some people get confused when they see that they owe -2,356.75 of [insert your favorite currency here].

The minus sign seems a little odd to someone who’s not crunching numbers every day. Also, some people may interpret negative values of money owed as overpayment. To make your message

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clear, consider wrapping the results returned by PMT in ABS, e.g.:=ABS(PMT(2.5%/12; 10*12; 250000))

Trick no. 2: Turn positive numbers into negative ones, while leaving the negative ones alone.

To make it work, put the minus (-) sign in front of the ABS function:=-ABS(value, function, or reference)

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e.g.:=-ABS(RAND())

=-ABS(12.56)

=-ABS(C17)

Written, typeset, and published by Jacek Artymiak and devGuide.net ltd.

Copyright © 2007–2009 Jacek Artymiak This is a free publication downloaded from devGuide.net. Share it with your

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