Excel Names

Everyone who has used a spreadsheet for a non-trivial purpose knows that results are calculated using a formula notation in which cells are identified with coordinates, as in =A5-B7.

What is much less widely known is that it is possible to associate meaningful names with those cells, and use the names in the formulas, as in =Revenue-Costs.

Opinion is more divided on whether it's a good idea for formulas to identify their inputs by names rather than coordinates in formulas than by any other topic in the field of developing spreadsheet models.

There are some, Operis among them, who like names and use them extensively in their spreadsheets. OAK has a number of facilities that are valuable to people with this outlook.

There are other practitioners who dislike names and discourage their use in spreadsheets. OAK has facilities that they will find valuable also.

The majority of spreadsheet users have no opinion on the subject, because they know next to nothing of the use of names in spreadsheets. Since quite a proportion of OAK is devoted to extending Excel's functionality for handling names, this help has a fifteen step tutorial that explains the naming facilities offered by Excel, and what OAK does to enhance them.