Use dummy arguments in Excel


Do you have trouble remembering the syntax of Excel functions? You could select InsertûFunction, choose a function, and fill in the arguments in the resulting dialogue box. But it's often faster to type the function's name and then press <Ctrl>-<Shift>-A to paste in "dummy" arguments. For instance, if you type =Pmt into a cell and then press <Ctrl>-<Shift>-A, you'll get the formula =PMT(rate,nper,pv,fv,type). Replacing the dummy arguments with the actual arguments then generates the calculation you need.

û John Walkenbach
Category:spreadsheet
Issue: November 1998

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