Text Cell Displays Formula and NOT Value?

[Steve348]

Hello,

This is probably simple but I don’t even know where to begin to look for an answer.

I have a workbook with two worksheets call them Master and Slave. The Master sheet has text cells in it that I want to be tracked and automatically updated in the Slave sheet i.e. If I change the Master cell the Slave should update to match

The process that is NOT working is as follows:

1. Select cell in the Slave sheet
2. Type “=” in the Slave formula bar
3. Click on the source cell in the Master sheet.
4. The cell reference shows up in the formula bar in the Slave sheet.
5. When I hit return on the formula bar. The destination cell shows the Formula (=$Sheet1.A2) and NOT the Value that I want.

What am I doing wrong? I am thinking that this should be stupid easy but maybe not.

Thanks,
Steve

[robleyd]

Without seeing the actual spreadsheet, two possibilities come to mind.

1. The cells in the Slave are formatted as text
2. Under Tools | Options | LibreOffice Calc | View |Display, Formulas is checked.

If neither is the case, consider providing a sample spreadsheet that shows the issue. Also, include information about your LO version (from Help | About) and your operating system.

[fpy]

@robleyd

consider

This is the guide - How to use the Ask site? - #3 by Hrbrgr

[Steve348]

In answer to your questions…

1. The Slave cells are formatted as text because they display text. If that is not correct what should they be formatted as? I suspected that this had something to do with Text data type. Everywhere else Calc displays the VALUE of formulas in cells that are not selected.

2. Display Formulas is NOT checked.

This is on a PC win 7 with LO version 7.5.8.2

Thanks,
Steve

[EarnestAl]

If a cell is to use a formula then it cannot be formatted as text.

The General format for Default Cell works fine for formulas. After formatting the cells to general you might need to convert the contents, see Faq/Calc/How to convert number text to numeric data - The Document Foundation Wiki

[Steve348]

Changing the format was the answer!

Thanks everyone for your input! I never would have figured this out by myself. I am a member of the “strongly typed” camp!

Steve

[Villeroy]

menu:View>Highlight Values [Ctrl+F8] highlights formula cells in green font.
If your formula is shown with a green font, the cell has a formula, indeed. Turn off menu:View>Show Formula
If your formula is shown with a black font, the cell has some text starting with a =. In this case, you need to re-enter the formulas as follows:

1. Select the cells in question, or select a rectangle including the cells in question.
2. Apply any number format, but not “Text” (code @).
3. menu:Edit>Find&Replace…
   3.1. Check “Current selection only”
   3.2. Check "Regular expressions.
   3.3. Search: .+
   3.3. Replace: &
   3.4. Button “Replace All”

[LeroyG]

Just a guess:
Menú View - Show Formula or Ctrl+` (grave accent).