Formula Guidelines
Formulas support the following arithmetic operations: addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, exponentiation, logarithms, and square roots. Formulas also support the following trigonometric functions: sine, cosine, tangent, arcsine, arccosine, and arctangent.
The valid formula abbreviations for arithmetic operations and trigonometric functions include:
- Addition: +
- Subtraction: ─
- Multiplication: *
- Division: /
- Square root: sqrt: sqrt(16)
- Exponentiation: ^: x^y, x raised to the power of y
- e raised to an x power: exp
- Logarithm: log
- Sine: sin
- Arcsine: asin
- Cosine: cos
- Arccosine: acos
- Tangent: tan
- Arctangent: atan
You can enter integers, decimals, and fractional values in formulas, using normal mathematical syntax, as shown in the examples below:
- Length = Height + Width + sqrt(Height*Width)
- Length = Wall 1 (11000mm) + Wall 2 (15000mm)
- Area = Length (500mm) * Width (300mm)
- Volume = Length (500mm) * Width (300mm) * Height (800 mm)
- Width = 100m * cos(angle)x = 2*abs(a) + abs(b/2)
- ArrayNum = Length/Spacing
Lastly, we can even introduce conditional statements to our schedules. A conditional statement uses the following structure: IF (<condition>, <result-if-true>, <result-if-false>). And it means that the values entered for the parameter depends on whether the condition is satisfied (true) or not satisfied (false).
Conditional statements can contain numeric values, numeric parameter names, and Yes/No parameters. You can use the following comparisons in a condition: <, >, =. You can also use Boolean operators with a conditional statement: AND, OR, NOT. Currently, <= and >= are not implemented. To express such a comparison, we can use a logical NOT. For example, a<=b can be entered as NOT(a>b).
The following are sample formulas that use conditional statements.
- Simple IF: =IF (Length < 3000mm, 200mm, 300mm)
- IF with a text parameter: =IF (Length > 35', “String1”, “String2”)
- IF with logical AND: =IF ( AND (x = 1 , y = 2), 8 , 3 )
- IF with logical OR: =IF ( OR ( A = 1 , B = 3 ) , 8 , 3 )
- Embedded IF statements: = IF ( Length < 35' , 2' 6" , IF ( Length < 45' , 3' , IF ( Length < 55' , 5' , 8' ) ) )
- IF with Yes/No condition: = Length > 40 (Note that both the condition and the results are implied.)