Calc Guide

Finding and fixing errors
It is common to find situations where errors are displayed. Even with
all the tools available in Calc to help you to enter formulas, making
mistakes is easy. Many people find inputting numbers difficult and
many may make a mistake about the kind of entry that a function's
argument needs. In addition to correcting errors, you may want to find
the cells used in a formula to change their values or to check the
answer.
Calc provides three tools for investigating formulas and the cells that
they reference: error messages, color coding, and the Detective.
Error messages
The most basic tool is error messages. Error messages display in a
formula’s cell or in the Function Wizard instead of the result.
An error message for a formula is usually a three-digit number from
501 to 527, or sometimes an unhelpful piece of text such as NAME?,
REF, or VALUE. The error number appears in the cell, and a brief
explanation of the error on the right side of the status bar.
Most error messages indicate a problem with how the formula was
input, although several indicate that you have run up against a
limitation of either Calc or its current settings.
Error messages are not user-friendly, and may intimidate new users.
However, they are valuable clues to correcting mistakes. You can find
detailed explanations of them in the help, by searching for Error codes
in OpenOffice.org Calc. A few of the most common are:
NAME? (525) No valid reference exists for the argument.
REF (525) The column, row, or sheet for the referenced cell is
missing.
VALUE (519) The value for one of the arguments is not the type that
the argument requires. The value may be entered
incorrectly; for example, double-quotation marks may
be missing around the value. At other times, a cell or
range used may have the wrong format, such as text
instead of numbers.
509 An operator such as an equals sign is missing from the
formula.
510 An argument is missing from the formula.
Chapter 7 Using Formulas and Functions 205