Apple numbers User Manual

Page of 295
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Chapter 5
    Using Formulas and Functions in Tables 
 
Understanding the Comparison Operators 
Comparison operators compare two values and return TRUE or FALSE. 
Here are the comparison operators (examples presume that cell A2 contains 20 and 
that B2 contains 2):
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The operator = returns TRUE if two values are equal.
For example, A2 = B2 returns FALSE.
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The operator <> returns TRUE if two values aren't equal.
For example, A2<>B2 returns TRUE.
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The operator > returns TRUE if the first value is greater than the second value.
For example, A2 > B2 returns TRUE.
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The operator < returns TRUE if the first value is less than the second value.
For example, A2 < B2 returns FALSE.
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The operator >= returns TRUE if the first value is greater than or equal to the second 
value.
For example, A2 >= B2 returns TRUE.
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The operator <= returns TRUE if the first value is less than or equal to the second value.
For example, A2 <= B2 returns FALSE.
Strings are larger than numbers. For example, "hello" > 5 returns TRUE.
TRUE and FALSE can be compared with each other, but not with numbers or strings. 
TRUE > FALSE, and FALSE < TRUE, because TRUE is interpreted as 1 and FALSE is 
interpreted as 0. TRUE = 1 returns FALSE, and TRUE = "SomeText" returns FALSE.
Using Functions
A function is a predefined, named operation (such as SUM and AVERAGE) that you can 
use to perform a calculation in a table cell. 
There are several families of functions, ranging from financial functions that calculate 
interest rates, investment values, and more to statistical functions that calculate 
averages, probabilities, standard deviations, and more. See “About Functions” on 
page 193 f
or complete information about all the functions, including the arguments 
you specify to provide the data for functions to use in their calculations.
Although you can type a function into the text field of the Formula Editor or Formula 
Bar, you can also use the Function Browser to add a function to a formula.