Formulas and Functions

33
This chapter introduces the functions available in iWork.
An Introduction to Functions
A function is a named operation that you can include in a formula to perform a
calculation or to manipulate data in a table cell.
iWork provides functions that do things such as perform mathematical or nancial
operations, retrieve cell values based on a search, manipulate strings of text, or get the
current date and time. Each function has a name followed by one or more arguments
enclosed in parentheses. You use arguments to provide the values that the function
needs to perform its work.
For example, the following formula contains a function named SUM with a single
argument (a range of cells) that adds the values in column A, rows 2 through 10:
=SUM(A2:A10)
The number and types of arguments vary for each function. The number and
description of the arguments are included with the function in the alphabetical
“Listing of Function Categories” on page 40. The descriptions also include additional
information and examples for each function.
2
Overview of the iWork Functions