Psion 3a Series - Editing Data in Cells; Formulae

is illegal, as the initial 3 sets the type of data to numbers, so letters, like b , aren't
allowed.
To force the Spreadsheet to accept data as text, type the ' symbol first. You might, for
example, enter a phone number like this: ' 081-999-0102 .If you want to enter a
text string which itself begins with a '.enter ' twice.
The ' doesn't appear in the cell - it just instructs the Spreadsheet to treat the
characters which follow as text. You can use the same trick if you want to enter text
beginning with =; if you don't use a ' symbol, the = character tells the Spreadsheet
to treat what you type as a formula.
There are three other prefixes which behave in this way: * " and \ . They are
covered later.
Editing data in cells
You can change data entered into the grid as much as you like, until it's as you want it.
• To edit as you type: you can press the Delete key to delete to the left of the cursor.
Remember that the arrow keys enter the data, then make the cell pointer move.
If you press Psion-<- ('Home') or Psion—»('End') you can use the full range of
Series 3a editing keys, including Ti->. When you've finished editing, press Enter
to enter the data in the current cell.
jgf If the Spreadsheet displays an error message such as 'Illegal character', because you
have tried to enter something it doesn't understand, it will automatically let you edit
the whole input line.
• To re-edit the current cell: press Enter. Here again you can use the full range of
editing keys, including ti
• To overwrite the current cell: just type the new entry.
• To clear the current cell: press the Delete key.
Formulae
All calculations in the Spreadsheet are done through formulae. Formulae always
start with an = character. You enter formulae into cells in the same way as text or
numbers, but the cell shows the calculated result of the formula it contains, not the
formula itself.
Working out what a formula should be
To work out the formula you need, use the cell references - A1, B2 and so on - of the
cells you wish to refer to, with the appropriate mathematical operators - characters
which represent arithmetic operations, like + , - , * (multiply) / (divide) and so on.
For example, a formula to add whatever is in cells Al and B2 would be =A1+B2 .
When you enter a formula into a cell it is evaluated - using the current values of the
cells it references - and the result is displayed in the cell. However, it is the formula
which is stored. The formula will be displayed in the input line whenever you move the
cell pointer back to this cell.
8: The Spreadsheet 133