Formula Bar in Excel 2010

Formula bar in Excel 2010  is a large white field, marked on the left with an icon with a function image.

The name field and the formula bar are located on the same panel.

If the name field contains the address or name of the active cell, then the formula bar displays the active cell’s value or the formula by which this value is calculated. In the figure below, active cell B2 with a numeric value. In this case, the same value can be observed in the formula bar.

However, the values displayed in the cell and the formula bar do not always match. In the figure below, you can see this difference.

The cell contains the display value, appearance, and shape, which is mainly determined by the formatting settings. The exact value (or formula) is shown in the formula bar. In the figure below, the value in cell C2 is calculated by the formula = SIN (B2)… The cell itself contains the numerical result, and the formula bar includes the formula by which the result was calculated.

Values can be entered not only directly into the cell but also the formula bar. It is often necessary to use large formulas that take up a lot of space. In this case, the input to the formula bar can be done in line break mode. For convenience, it is reasonable to click on the icon with an arrow on the right side of the formula bar, as a result of which the input field area will significantly increase in height.

In the process of entering, the transition to the following line is carried out by pressing the key combination <Alt> + <Enter> (we draw the reader’s attention that in Excel, the key <Enter> cannot be used for splitting into lines in this case). The completion of the input is confirmed by pressing the <Enter> key. In the figure below, the value in cell C3 is calculated by the formula = SIN (B3) - COS (B3), which is entered into the line of formulas in two lines.

If you collapse the formula bar (click all on the same arrow icon on the right side of the field), the height of the formula bar returns to its original value. Still, if the formula was entered in line break mode, it will not be displayed in its entirety in the formula bar. To view various formula lines, use the scroll buttons located to the left of the icon to change the formula line’s height.

The icon with the image of the function in the left part of the formula field is also convenient. Clicking on it activates the function insertion utility.

Moreover, the equal sign is added automatically before entering the formula.

The panel with the formula bar and the name field is displayed in the working window by default. You can turn off the display mode of the entire panel by unchecking the Formula Bar option in the Show group of the View tabs of the application ribbon. In figure below shows how the working window will look without the formula bar.

True, the feasibility of such a step is in question.