Is it possible to populate cell A with the formula in cell B as opposed to the value of the formula in cell B dynamically?

Question

Hello,
I am wondering if the following scenario is possible:
Cell B contains a formula which refers to a number of other cells.
Cell A refers to Cell B such that the formula in Cell B is applied in Cell A.
I am aware that I can copy and paste, but I am wanting to do this dynamically, for the following reason.
In order to avoid constructing a very complicated formula which involves lots of tricky IF functions, I use a formula with a chain of simpler IF functions, such as follows:
=IF(A1=1,B1,IF(A1=2,B2,IF(A1=3,B3,IF(A1=4,B4,IF(A1=5,B5,IF(A1=6,B6,IF(A1=7,B7,"" )))))))
Then in B1-B7 I include the complicated formulas, and depending on which value is actually in cell A1 that particular formula is applied in the cell (i.e the cell is populated with the respective formula).
Is it possible to use Numbers in this way, or if not, is there another way of achieving my goal (i.e. to avoid having to construct one very long and complicated formula)?
Thanks,
Nick.

Answer 1

It depend of what you want to achieve.
Here, in standard cells of column B the formula is :
=IF($A=1,C,IF($A=2,D,IF($A=3,E,IF($A=4,F,IF($A=5,G,"")))))
Here, in standard cells of column C the formula is :
=$A*10
Here, in standard cells of column D the formula is :
=$A^2
Here, in standard cells of column E the formula is :
=$A*12345
Here, in standard cells of column F the formula is :
=$A+10000
Here, in standard cells of column G the formula is :
=20000-$A
Here, in standard cells of column H the formula is :
=OFFSET($A$1,ROW()-1,A+1)
Here, in standard cells of column I the formula is :
=CHOOSE($A,C,D,E,F,G)
Here, in standard cells of column J the formula is :
=IF($A=1,$A*10,IF($A=2,$A^2,IF($A=3,$A*12345,IF($A=4,$A+10000,IF($A=5,20000-$A," ")))))
As you see, the formulas used in column B,H, I, require the use of the columns C, D, E, F, G
The one used in column I doesn't require these columns.
When a task requires a complex formula, I often used the columna A thru G
then when I'm sure that the formula in column B return behave exactly what I want, I replace in the formula of column B the references to columns C thru G by the formula embedde in the pointed columns minus the equal symbol.
It's what I did to build the formula of column J.
If you build the sample table, you will see that the formula in column I isn't perfect because it return a red triangle when the cell in column A is empty.
I decided to leave it as is and created an enhanced synthetic formula for column K:
=IFERROR(CHOOSE(A,$A*10,$A^2,$A*12345,$A+10000,20000-$A),"")
As you see a single problem may receive different answers.
Sometimes, one is clearly the best, sometimes it's matter of taste.
Here my best choice would be the very last one which I added for column K.
Yvan KOENIG (VALLAURIS, France) mardi 23 août 2011 16:44:11
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