I have a spreadsheet that I’ve been working with that has 3 columns and a very simple formula. Column C value is just the column A value plus the column B value. So for instance, in row 2, the formula in cell C is =$A2+$B2
.
When I want to add another row, I copy an existing blank row that has the formula in column C but has no values in columns A or B. After I copy the row I enter values in cells A and B.
Now here’s where it gets interesting. For some reason, an erroneous behavior started: I copy the blank row, enter values in cells A and/or B, but the forumula in cell C doesn’t do anything. I confirm that there’s a formula there (if I double click on the cell it actually highlights the corresponding cells A and B showing the dependency), but the cell remains blank. If I retype the formula, then I get the correct calculated value.
Another problem became evident as well. If I have a row that I had entered some time ago that has a proper value calculated for cell C and I copy/paste the formula from that cell to another cell C, it appears to copy the formula correctly (adjusting the row numbers accordingly), but the value it calculates is still from the values in the original row! This happens even if I retype the formula in the original row.
I figure something has gotten corrupted in the file, so I went through the painstaking process of reconstructing the spreadsheet, copy/pasting the source values to the new calc file, re-entering the formulas, reformatting the cells like the original, and everything calculates as expected. I’ve abandoned the original file but left it in case I can solve this problem in case it comes up again.
Has anyone seen this behavior before? Sorry I don’t have an illustration of the cells, hoping that my description is clear. If it’s not, I can try to create some screen shots.