Engine reference
Spreadsheet operator support
Operators are the symbols of the formula language: arithmetic, comparison, text concatenation and the reference operators that combine ranges. The GRID engine evaluates all 21 operators in Excel and Google Sheets, including the newer Excel-only ones for spilled ranges and trimmed references. See also the list of supported functions.
Excel
21of 21 operators supported
Google Sheets
16of 16 operators supported
| Operator | Operation | Example | Excel | Google SheetsSheets | GRID engineGRID |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| + | Addition | =A1+B1 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| - | Subtraction | =A1-B1 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| * | Multiplication | =A1*B1 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| / | Division | =A1/B1 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| ^ | Exponentiation | =A1^2 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| % | Percent | =A1*20% | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| + (prefix) | Unary plus | =+A1 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| - (prefix) | Negation | =-A1 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| = | Equal to | =A1=B1 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| <> | Not equal to | =A1<>B1 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| < | Less than | =A1<B1 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| <= | Less than or equal to | =A1<=B1 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| > | Greater than | =A1>B1 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| >= | Greater than or equal to | =A1>=B1 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| & | Text concatenation | =A1&" "&B1 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| : | Range | =SUM(A1:B10) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| , | Union of references | =SUM((A1:A5,C1:C5)) | ✓ | – | ✓ |
| ␣ (space) | Intersection of references | =A1:B5 B3:C7 | ✓ | – | ✓ |
| # | Spilled range | =SUM(A1#) | ✓ | – | ✓ |
| @ | Implicit intersection | =@A1:A10 | ✓ | – | ✓ |
| .:. | Trim reference | =SUM(A1.:.A100) | ✓ | – | ✓ |
✓ supported– not supported
The union, intersection, spilled-range, implicit-intersection and trim-reference operators exist only in Excel. Google Sheets has no equivalent syntax.
Precedence and evaluation order follow Excel's rules, and the engine parses a workbook with the grammar of the application it came from.
Get started now
Install the engine from npm with a free evaluation license and start building today. When you are ready to ship, talk to us. Most teams are surprised how quickly they go from first install to production, with direct support from the GRID team throughout.