translate function into english, anyone?

hi. i just inherited a goliath workbook with four interconnected
spreadsheets that my old boss had used to manage certain aspects of our
company's contract accounting.
one of the functions that he created reads
"=+OFFSET(Detail!$F$1,D22-1,$F$11-1,1,1)". this results in a number that is
important to my task at hand, so i need to know where it came from. knowing
that i am not particularly excel-savvy, can someone tell me what this
expression means? fyi, "detail" is the name of another page of the workbook
from the one where this text is found.
in case it matters, i did look at cell F1 of the "detail" page, but it is
simply a date, and not a related one at that. i wish i knew what the dollar
signs mean.

In words: start at Detail!$F$1. Move down D22-1 rows. Move over $F$11-1
columns. (You could delete the leading + and the ,1,1 at the end).

"Amanda Redmond-Neal" wrote:

> hi. i just inherited a goliath workbook with four interconnected
> spreadsheets that my old boss had used to manage certain aspects of our
> company's contract accounting.
> one of the functions that he created reads
> "=+OFFSET(Detail!$F$1,D22-1,$F$11-1,1,1)". this results in a number that is
> important to my task at hand, so i need to know where it came from. knowing
> that i am not particularly excel-savvy, can someone tell me what this
> expression means? fyi, "detail" is the name of another page of the workbook
> from the one where this text is found.
> in case it matters, i did look at cell F1 of the "detail" page, but it is
> simply a date, and not a related one at that. i wish i knew what the dollar
> signs mean.

Using =+OFFSET(Detail!$F$1,D22-1,$F$11-1,1,1)
That function initially points to cell F1 on the Detail sheet
Then it moves up or down based on the value in Cell D22 less 1 of the sheet
the formula is on.
Then it moves left or right based on the value in Cell F11 less 1 of the
sheet the formula is on and selects an area 1-cell wide by 1-cell high.

Example:
D22 contains 10
F11 contains 3

The formula initially points to Detail!$F$1
Moves down 9 (10-1) to Detail!$F$10
Then moves right 2 (3-1) to end up at Detail!H10


Does that help?

***********
Regards,
Ron

XL2002, WinXP-Pro


"Amanda Redmond-Neal" wrote:

> hi. i just inherited a goliath workbook with four interconnected
> spreadsheets that my old boss had used to manage certain aspects of our
> company's contract accounting.
> one of the functions that he created reads
> "=+OFFSET(Detail!$F$1,D22-1,$F$11-1,1,1)". this results in a number that is
> important to my task at hand, so i need to know where it came from. knowing
> that i am not particularly excel-savvy, can someone tell me what this
> expression means? fyi, "detail" is the name of another page of the workbook
> from the one where this text is found.
> in case it matters, i did look at cell F1 of the "detail" page, but it is
> simply a date, and not a related one at that. i wish i knew what the dollar
> signs mean.

it does help to some degree. thanks ron and also bpeltzer, who also replied.
but one thing that still escapes me is the meaning of the dollar signs.
surely $F$1 is different from F1, right?

"Ron Coderre" wrote:

> Using =+OFFSET(Detail!$F$1,D22-1,$F$11-1,1,1)
> That function initially points to cell F1 on the Detail sheet
> Then it moves up or down based on the value in Cell D22 less 1 of the sheet
> the formula is on.
> Then it moves left or right based on the value in Cell F11 less 1 of the
> sheet the formula is on and selects an area 1-cell wide by 1-cell high.
>
> Example:
> D22 contains 10
> F11 contains 3
>
> The formula initially points to Detail!$F$1
> Moves down 9 (10-1) to Detail!$F$10
> Then moves right 2 (3-1) to end up at Detail!H10
>
>
> Does that help?
>
> ***********
> Regards,
> Ron
>
> XL2002, WinXP-Pro
>
>
> "Amanda Redmond-Neal" wrote:
>
> > hi. i just inherited a goliath workbook with four interconnected
> > spreadsheets that my old boss had used to manage certain aspects of our
> > company's contract accounting.
> > one of the functions that he created reads
> > "=+OFFSET(Detail!$F$1,D22-1,$F$11-1,1,1)". this results in a number that is
> > important to my task at hand, so i need to know where it came from. knowing
> > that i am not particularly excel-savvy, can someone tell me what this
> > expression means? fyi, "detail" is the name of another page of the workbook
> > from the one where this text is found.
> > in case it matters, i did look at cell F1 of the "detail" page, but it is
> > simply a date, and not a related one at that. i wish i knew what the dollar
> > signs mean.

F1 and $F$1 both refer to the same cell. But F1 is a relative reference and
$F$1 is absolute. The difference shows if you start to copy the formula and
paste it into other cells. If you paste one cell right, F1 will advance to
G1. Once cell down and F1 becomes F2. In either case, $F$1 will remain
$F$1. (FYI, there are also mixed references, such as $F1 and F$1; whichever
dimension has the $ in front is fixed as the formulas are copied and pasted
to different locations).
--Bruce

"Amanda Redmond-Neal" wrote:

> it does help to some degree. thanks ron and also bpeltzer, who also replied.
> but one thing that still escapes me is the meaning of the dollar signs.
> surely $F$1 is different from F1, right?
>
> "Ron Coderre" wrote:
>
> > Using =+OFFSET(Detail!$F$1,D22-1,$F$11-1,1,1)
> > That function initially points to cell F1 on the Detail sheet
> > Then it moves up or down based on the value in Cell D22 less 1 of the sheet
> > the formula is on.
> > Then it moves left or right based on the value in Cell F11 less 1 of the
> > sheet the formula is on and selects an area 1-cell wide by 1-cell high.
> >
> > Example:
> > D22 contains 10
> > F11 contains 3
> >
> > The formula initially points to Detail!$F$1
> > Moves down 9 (10-1) to Detail!$F$10
> > Then moves right 2 (3-1) to end up at Detail!H10
> >
> >
> > Does that help?
> >
> > ***********
> > Regards,
> > Ron
> >
> > XL2002, WinXP-Pro
> >
> >
> > "Amanda Redmond-Neal" wrote:
> >
> > > hi. i just inherited a goliath workbook with four interconnected
> > > spreadsheets that my old boss had used to manage certain aspects of our
> > > company's contract accounting.
> > > one of the functions that he created reads
> > > "=+OFFSET(Detail!$F$1,D22-1,$F$11-1,1,1)". this results in a number that is
> > > important to my task at hand, so i need to know where it came from. knowing
> > > that i am not particularly excel-savvy, can someone tell me what this
> > > expression means? fyi, "detail" is the name of another page of the workbook
> > > from the one where this text is found.
> > > in case it matters, i did look at cell F1 of the "detail" page, but it is
> > > simply a date, and not a related one at that. i wish i knew what the dollar
> > > signs mean.