Wu Ming <wu.mi...@icloud.com> writes:
>> See "Remote references" subsection. It explains that in
>> remote(NAME,REF), REF is inside the remote table. Relative and current
>> column/row is ambiguous there.
>>
>> In contrast, @# and $# are special - they are replaced before
>> remote(...) is processed.
> ...
> I have some trouble at understanding your answer. Do you mean @# refers a row
> on the table where the formula belongs and @0 refers a row on the remote
> table? Was tempted to describe the former as “current” but remote table is
> also current when accessed. A better noun may be needed.
Let me elaborate.
When Org mode sees something like
#+TBLFML: $1 = $2 + remote(A,@@#$1)
1. it goes to every cell in column 1 and remembers current column and
row numbers (original cell)
2. In the right side of the formula $2 + remote(A,@@#$1), Org replaces
all the instances of @# and $# with current column and row.
So, when we are calculating the value for @1$1, we get
$2 + remote(A,@1$1)
3. Org moves to table A and replaces remote(A,@1$1) with cell contents
of @1$1 inside table A. At this point, it is not allowed to have
relative references like $1 or $-1, because "current" column and row
are set inside remote table A - the original cell coordinates are not
available.
4. Org goes back to the original table, takes the updated formula
$2 + <remote value A@1$1>, and replaces relative reference $2
according to the current column - with the value stored in @1$2
column
5. Org passes the resulting expression <local value @1$2> + <remote
value A@1$1> to GNU cal and assigns the result as the value of the
current cell @1$1.
6. Repeat for @2..$1 cells.
As you can see, @# and $# substitution always uses local cell
coordinates. Any other relative reference is not allowed inside
remote(...).
> This made me worry about reliability of simple biz calculations I am trying
> on Org spreadsheet for the first time. Please advise.
Formula debugger is really helpful to understand the process.
> Finally I moved columns but now column numbers in formulas don’t relate to
> column order on display. How to understand which column formula affect which
> column?
Normally, if you use org-table-* commands, the formulas get updated when
you move the columns.
To make things more readable, you can also assign names to columns:
| ! | | P1 | P2 | P3 | Tot | |
| | Maximum | 10 | 15 | 25 | 50 | 10.0 |
Then, you can write $P1 = ... instead of $3 = ...
See "3.5.10 Advanced features" section of the manual.
--
Ihor Radchenko // yantar92,
Org mode contributor,
Learn more about Org mode at <https://orgmode.org/>.
Support Org development at <https://liberapay.com/org-mode>,
or support my work at <https://liberapay.com/yantar92>
