Confused about relative references in named formulas

[davidmichaelkarr]

I'm new to this, so perhaps I'm missing something obvious.

I'm reading the "Excel 2002 Inside Out" book. In the section "Using
Relative References in Named Formulas" in chapter 12, it mentions a
sample formula like "=Sheet1!B22+1.2%". It says that if the active cell
was B21, then the reference to B22 will always translate to the cell
just below the active cell.

What bothers me is that the information about what the active cell was
when the formula was defined is not displayed with the formula. Because
of that, isn't it impossible for someone to tell by looking at a named
formula that uses relative references to know what cell the relative
cell reference refers to? That can't be right, can it?

 

[davidmichaelkarr]

Ok, never mind. I guess I should have tried it first. What I didn't
realize is that the display of the named formula in the Define Named
Formula dialog always shows relative references offset from the
currently active cell, so the reference in the example wouldn't show
"B22", it would show the cell address of the cell below the active cell
(or B22, if the active cell was B21).