Re: naming question

[Peter Jay Salzman <p dirac org>]

begin Andreas J. Guelzow <aguelzow taliesin ca> 
> Peter Jay Salzman wrote:
>
> > hola,
> >
> > i'd like to be able to name cells to make formulas easier to read.
> >
> > suppose cell A1 contains 1.0 and i'd like name this cell "hbar" in
> > equations.
> >
> > 1. click on insert | name | define
> > 2. in "name" place "hbar"
> > 3. click on "expression" box, then click on cell A1.  this will place
> >   Sheet1!A1 in the expression box
> >
> > how exactly do i use this name now?   i've tried:
> >
> > hbar (gnumeric interprets this as a literal string)
>
> yes, since you entered a string...
>
> > =hbar (puts a zero in the cell)
>
> this _should_ be the content of A1 or 0 if A1 is empty
>
> > "hbar" (another literal string)
>
> yes
>
> > =power(hbar,2)   (doesn't work either)
>
> what did you get? This should be identical to =power(A1,2)
> Which version of gnumeric are you using?
 
unfortunately, it's zero also.   all my "names" yield zero, in fact.

i'm using gnumeric 1.0.4, packaged for debian woody (testing).

i just realized something.

1. cell C5 contains 6.671e-11
2. under the "define names" box, i verified that G is Sheet2!C5
3. in H19, i type "=log(G)".  the cell now shows "#NUM!" (the main bar
   shows "=log(G)".
4. going back to the "defines names" box, G now contains the expression
   Sheet2!H3

this seems to happen regularly.  every time i make reference to a name
anywhere on the spreadsheet, the expression box in the "defines name"
popup contains a completely different cell reference.  using the name
somehow changes its expression.

bleah.  i could try to upgrade to woody's version of gnumeric, but
frankly, i'm in the middle of taking down data for my dissertation.
names would be very convenient, but breaking gnumeric would be absolutely
deadly.  i don't want to risk breaking my system; between now and
december it's just too important...   :(

pete