How To's > Work with Formulas > Work with the Formula Editor > Use the Keyboard in the Formula Editor

Use the Keyboard in the Formula Editor

You can always type a formula in the editor. Most "traditional" keyboard shortcuts for math work. Selection is important.

To get ...

Type ...

Ctrl+Shift+R (Win) Option+Shift+R (Mac), then area

pi

width^2

P, then Ctrl+< (Win) Option+< (Mac), then 0.5

x+1, then , , then /2; alternatively, use parentheses: (x+1)/2

x^2, then , then +1

· Use * for multiply, / for divide, and ^ for exponentiation.

· Most familiar functions work using the most common abbreviation: sin, random, floor, ln, log, asin, exp, sgn, to name a few. Functions require parentheses around their arguments, as in sin(x).

· Use to get the cursor out of an exponent, root, or the denominator of a fraction.

· Entering one vertical bar "|" makes a pair of absolute-value bars.

· The double-quote key makes a pair of quotes.

· The open parenthesis "(" makes a pair of parentheses.

· When you type if( you get a complete (though empty) if-statement, with three parts for you to fill in. Type the condition (for example, income > 100000), then press Tab to move to the results (result-if-true goes on the top, result-if-false on the bottom). If you want the results to be words (also known as strings), you must surround them with quotation marks.

· When you have more than two results, instead of nesting if-statements, you can use the switch function. This is useful for recoding attributes. It takes an optional expression inside parentheses and then evaluates each of any number of true/false expressions to determine which value to return. To add an alternative, press Insert (Win) z+Option+Return (Mac) on your keyboard.

· To insert something in the beginning, don't click to place your cursor; instead, arrow to the beginning before adding to the existing formula.


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