Talk:Documentation/Calc Functions/INDIRECT


 * (1) General. It might be worth mentioning somewhere on this page that the INDIRECT function is volatile.
 * (2) General. If the INDIRECT function call relates to an external link, then you may receive a suitable message on opening your spreadsheet, warning that automatic update of external links has been disabled. At the same time error 540 will be displayed in the affected cell. Click the “Allow updating” button to enable updating of these links. This behaviour should be mentioned somewhere on this page.
 * (3) Summary. I am unsure what the second sentence of this summary means (it originally comes from the Help page). Also, I suspect the usefulness of this function may not be obvious to many people and so I suggest providing a little extra clarification in this paragraph. Therefore, I suggest the following replacement text for the entire paragraph – “Constructs a reference from a string representation of the reference. For example, =INDIRECT(“C3”) returns a reference to cell C3 and so is equivalent to =C3. The function is powerful because it enables a user to create dynamic references.”.
 * (4) Returns. Again, I am struggling to understand the second sentence of this paragraph. Suggest the following replacement text for the entire paragraph – “Returns the reference that corresponds to the given string, using the appropriate notation.”.
 * (5) Arguments, Ref. Presumably this parameter is either a string or a reference to a cell that contains that string?
 * (6) Arguments, A1. Please update to reflect the comments that I raised on the same parameter for the ADDRESS function.
 * (7) Arguments, Note pin. I am not sure why this is in the Arguments section; within the structure of this page, it would seem to lie more naturally in the Additional details section. I have been unable to produce an occurrence of the problem stated – if we cannot generate the problem, we would be better off not including the warning. Would it be simpler to just say “Excel represents some cell references differently to Calc, so calls to this function may not always be portable.”?
 * (8) Arguments, bullet. Suggest minor re-word as follows – “If Ref does not represent a valid reference or name, then the function returns the #REF! error”.
 * (9) Additional details, general. This ought to include descriptions of the A1 and R1C1 notations (same comment raised when reviewing ADDRESS function wiki page).
 * (10) Additional details, general. Instead of assorted mentions of the ADDRESS function, it would be a good idea to provide a coherent statement of any relationships between the ADDRESS and INDIRECT functions. See the same comment on the ADDRESS function page.
 * (11) Additional details, 1st bullet. I am not sure that this paragraph has any value and recommend deleting it. (As the argument is in ODF 1.2, we do not need to justify including it).
 * (12) Additional details, 2nd bullet. Delete – not relevant to this page.
 * (13) Additional details, 3rd bullet. I am not sure that this paragraph has any value and recommend deleting it. (Obvious from syntax and argument descriptions)
 * (14) Additional details, 4th bullet. Delete – already covered in argument descriptions.
 * (15) Additional details, 5th bullet. Useful information – include as part of the coherent statement of any relationships between the ADDRESS and INDIRECT functions (mentioned in a previous comment).
 * (16) Additional details, 6th and 7th bullets. Delete – of no relevance to INDIRECT function.
 * (17) Additional details, 1st Note pin. Delete – of no relevance to INDIRECT function.
 * (18) Examples, 1st example. Suggest change text in Formula column to “=INDIRECT(A1) where cell A1 contains “C108” as a string and cell C108 contains the number 100”.
 * (19) Examples, 2nd example. Suggest change text in Formula column to “=INDIRECT(A1) where cell A1 contains "MyCell" as a string and MyCell is the name of a defined named range set to reference cell C1111. Cell C1111 contains the number 1111.”
 * (20) Examples, 3rd example. In the Formula cell, I think that “C2” should be changed to “C1”.
 * (21) Examples, 4th example. Suggest change text in Formula column to “=INDIRECT(A1;0) where cell A1 contains “R108C3” as a string and cell C108 contains the number 100”. In the Description, change “format” to “notation” for consistency.
 * (22) Examples, Note pin. Delete as repetition.

--Stevefanning (talk) 2020-12-18T20:07:44 (UTC)