Brother International PDP350CJ Owner's Manual - English - Page 388

Math and Database Functions Functions are built-in formulas that automatically perform common calculations and insert data in Spreadsheet. For example, you can use a built-in function to total a group of numbers, calculate the net present value of an investment, or insert the current date and time. CAUTION: Ensemble applications use floating point math. While floating point calculations have benefits such as speed, they are inherently inaccurate. All spreadsheets and calculators based on floating point math produce errors in the 17th or 18th significant digit. While this is often not detectable, the errors become apparent in some calculations, especially financial functions such as IRR and NPV. Ensemble adheres to the IEEE 754 standards for floating point calculations. Functions are represented by a keyword followed by arguments enclosed in parentheses. The function returns a value based on the arguments you enter. For example, in the expression SQRT(144), SQRT is the keyword for the square root function and 144 is the argument. This function returns 12, the square root of 144. Argument Rules The following rules apply to using arguments in functions: S You can use numbers, addresses, ranges, or cell and range names in Spreadsheet; and field names in Addressbook as values. S You must enclose text string arguments in quotation marks. S You must specify interest rates as decimal values, and they must correspond to the same time unit as the term. For example, payments that are monthly require a monthly interest rate. S You must express trigonometric angle arguments in radians. If you want to convert degrees to radians, use the RADIANS() function. S Some trigonometric functions return radians. If you need the returned value expressed in degrees, use the DEGREES() function. Appendix 361