Documentation/How Tos/Calc: INDIRECT function

INDIRECT

Returns a reference, given a text string.

Syntax:

INDIRECT(textref)

textref is a text string specifying the reference to be returned; the reference may be to a single cell or to a range.

The reference may then be used in formulae or functions requiring a reference - see the examples below.

Example:

=INDIRECT("B2")

(in a cell) returns the contents of cell B2. INDIRECT("B2") returns a reference to cell B2, so this is the same as =B2.

=INDIRECT("B" & "2")

also returns the contents of cell B2. "B" & "2" becomes the text string "B2".

=SUM(INDIRECT("A1:C3"))

returns the sum of the numbers in A1:C3.

See also:

ADDRESS

Spreadsheet functions

Issues:

• If you import from a spreadsheet that represents some cell references differently to Calc, those references cannot be translated to work in Calc.
• Named cells/ranges will be recognised from OOo2.4 (see Issue 4695).