 Spreadsheet cell reference

A spreadsheet cell reference identifies the spreadsheet cell read by a spreadsheet formula. In A1 notation, B3 combines a column letter with a row number. For copying, the column and row can each be relative or absolute, independently: a $ immediately before a coordinate fixes that coordinate during the copy. The $ is an addressing marker, not a currency symbol. ^[ref]

Number columns as $A=1$, $B=2$, and so on. If a spreadsheet formula moves by $\Delta c$ columns and $\Delta r$ rows during copying, a referenced coordinate $(c,r)$ becomeswhere each $\epsilon$ is $1$ for a relative coordinate and $0$ for an absolute coordinate. This is a translation on the unfixed coordinates. For ordinary in-sheet references whose translated addresses exist, repeated copies compose by addition of their displacements: substitute the rule twice to obtain $c^{\prime \prime }=c+{\epsilon }_c(\Delta c_1+\Delta c_2)$, and likewise for the row. Copying therefore preserves either a fixed coordinate or an offset from the formula's location.