The Indirect Function

The indirect function is a function that has some unusual uses.  Let’s take a look at this function.  To do so, click on the reference tab in the Funexam data file. 

The indirect function is used when a cell contains the address of another cell.  For instance if cell A7 contains the value A3, and cell A3 contains a value, the indirect function can be used find the value of A3 by examining cell A7.

Skill Builder:  Using the Indirect Function 

1.	Click 	In the Cell where you want the final value to appear.

2.	Type	The Function.  In this case the function is 
		
		=indirect(cell address of the cell that contains another 
		cell address)

		For example, if cell A7 contained the information A3, 
		and you wanted to know what the value of A3 was, you 
		would use the following formula:
		=indirect(A7)

3.  	Press	Enter.  When you press enter the value of cell A3 will 
		appear.  In essences, this function finds the value of a 
		cell through an indirect procedure.

Since an address rarely appears as a value with in a worksheet, this function is rarely used in this capacity.

The indirect function can also be used as shown in the training video.  In this example, each of the values in the cell corresponds to the name of one of the tabs of the Funexam worksheet.  The indirect function is used to find information within a specific cell of each of the tabs.  The formula that is used in the video to accomplish this task is =indirect(A2&”!a6”).  If we interpret this function, what is occurring is that the indirect function is being used to pick up the value of cell A6 of whatever sheet is named in cell A2.  Thus, if cell A2 is the financial tab, the value that will result is the value of A6 in the financial sheet.