AGB 260: Agribusiness Data Literacy Basic Operators and Functions

Useful Chapters in the Textbook Regarding this Lecture Chapter 10: Introducing Formulas and Functions Chapter 11: Creating Formulas that Manipulate Text Chapter 12: working with dates and times Chapter 13: creating formulas that count and sum Many of the other functions in this chapter are scattered throughout the book.

Formulas in Excel and Basic Operators Whenever you are starting a function or a formula in Excel by typing it either into the formula bar or directly into the cell, you need to put =, -, or + sign in front of it. While you can use any of the three signs, it is recommended that you use the =.

Formulas in Excel and Basic Operators Cont. Basic operators in Excel: Logical: =, >, <, >=, <=, <> Mathematical Operators: +, -,*,/, ^ (for exponents), Concatenation Operator: &

Operator Precedence ( ) *, / +, - & =, >,<, >=, >= ( ) Anything in parenthesis is evaluated first *, / +, - & =, >,<, >=, >=

Formula Examples =1+2+3, =5*(4/2), =10^10 =1=1, =(1=1)*5, =1=1*5 =5&5, =A&2, =“a”&2 =a1+A2, +A$1+$B$1

Basic Functions in Excel A function in Excel is a preprogrammed formula that contains a set of arguments A function can have no arguments, e.g., =Rand() one argument, e.g., =Sqrt(Value) a fixed number of arguments, e.g., =if(Condition,True,False)

Basic Functions in Excel Cont. an indeterminate number of arguments E.g., =sum(Value 1, Value 2, …) and/or optional arguments e.g., =PMT(rate,nper,PV,[fv],[type]. Arguments are typically separated by commas. Whenever an argument is optional, it is placed in brackets.

Quick Note on Arguments using Colon (:) Suppose you had the following function: =Sum(A1,A2,a3,a4,a5) Another way of writing this is to put: =sum(a1:a5) Putting a colon between A1 and a5 tells excel to use cells a1 through a5. A1:a5 is known as a range of cells.

Quick Note on Arguments using Colon (:) Cont. Suppose you had the following function: =Average(A1,A2,b1,b2) Another way of writing this is to put: =average(a1:b2)

Useful Functions for Initial Data Analysis =Count(value1,[value2],…) This counts the number of cells in a range that are numbers. =CountA(value1,[value2],…) This counts the number of cells in a range that are not empty. =CountBlank(value1,[value2],…) This counts the number of cells in a range that are empty.

Useful Functions for Initial Data Analysis Cont. =Sum(value1,[value2],…) Adds all the numbers in a range of cells. =sumproduct(array1,[array2],[array3],…) Returns the sum of the products. An array is a grouping; in this case a set of numbers

Useful Functions for Initial Data Analysis Cont. =Max(Number1,[Number2],…) Gives you the largest number in a range of numbers while ignoring logical values and text. =Large(Array,K) Provides the K-th largest value in a dataset which can be known as an array.

Useful Functions for Initial Data Analysis Cont. =Min(Number1,[Number2],…) Gives you the Smallest number in a range of numbers while ignoring logical values and text. =Small(Array,K) Provides the K-th smallest value in a dataset which can be known as an array.

Useful Functions for Initial Data Analysis Cont. =Rank.Avg(Number,Ref,[Order]) Gives you the ranking of a number from a set of reference numbers where if two or more numbers tie then it will average their rankings. Order is an optional argument set to 0 if you want the ranking in terms of descending order and 1 if you want the ascending order.

Useful Functions for Initial Data Analysis Cont. =Rank.EQ(Number,Ref,[Order]) Gives you the ranking of a number from a set of reference numbers where if two or more numbers tie then it will give them the same ranking. Order is an optional argument. =Rank(Number,Ref,[Order]) This is a backwards compatible function for Excel 2007 and before and works like =Rank.EQ(Number,Ref,[Order]).

Useful Functions for Initial Data Analysis Cont. =Average(value1,[value2],…) Gives the average of the range of cells. =Median(value1,[value2],…) Gives the median of the range of cells.

Useful Functions for Initial Data Analysis Cont. =SQrt(Number) Returns the square root of a number. =concatenate(text1,[text2],…) Joins text strings together. You can use & in much the same way.

Useful Functions for Initial Data Analysis Cont. =today() Returns the current date. =day(serial_Number) Returns the day of the month from a given date. =Month(serial_Number) Returns the month from a given date in terms of a number from 1 to 12.

Useful Functions for Initial Data Analysis Cont. =Year(serial_Number) Returns the Year from a given date. =date(year,month,day) Returns the number that represents a given date.

Useful Functions for Initial Data Analysis Cont. =weekday(serial_number,[return_type]) This returns a number for the day of the week, which can be customized for what the number means, e.g., 1=Sunday, 2 =Monday, etc. =Networkdays(start_Date,End_Date,[holidays]) Provides you with the number of workdays between two dates with the ability to customize the holidays.

Useful Functions for Initial Data Analysis Cont. =Choose(index_Num,value1,[value2]) Chooses a value or action to perform from a list of values which is based on an index number. =mod(Number,divisor) Returns the remainder from dividing a number by a divisor. How could this be useful to you?

Useful Functions for Initial Data Analysis Cont. =round(number,num_digits) Rounds a number to a specified number of digits. =roundup(number,num_digits) Rounds a number to a specified number of digits away from zero. =rounddown(number,num_digits) Rounds a number to a specified number of digits towards zero.

Useful Functions for Initial Data Analysis Cont. =Len(text) This counts the number of characters in a text string. =Left(text,[num_chars]) Returns a designated number of characters from the beginning of a text string, with the default being one. =Right(text,[num_chars]) Returns a designated number of characters from the End of a text string, with the default being one.

Useful Functions for Initial Data Analysis Cont. =value(text) Changes text to a number value. =Text(value,[format_Text]) This takes a value and formats in a particular style of text.

Useful Functions for Initial Data Analysis Cont. =row([reference]) Returns the row number of a designated cell. If it is left empty, then it gives the row number that the formula is in. =Column([reference]) Returns the column number of a designated cell.

Useful Functions for Initial Data Analysis Cont. Address(Row_Num,Column_Num,[Abs_Num], [A1],[Sheet_Text]) Returns the cell reference for any given column and row numbers.

Investigate Functions Using Carrier survey Open carriersurvey-1-110310- Classexample.xlsx In class we will work through examining this survey using the functions discussed above.