Optional and Missing Arguments

Some functions have a variable number of arguments with some (typically the last) arguments being optional. These are displayed in this reference with the word Optional in brackets "[Optional]" before the argument in the table of arguments. For example, consider the payment function (PMT) which has five arguments with the last two being optional. In Spread, you can make any of the following calls:

PMT(rate,nper,pv,fv,type)

PMT(rate,nper,pv,fv)

PMT(rate,nper,pv,fv,)

PMT(rate,nper,pv,,type)

PMT(rate,nper,pv,,)

PMT(rate,nper,pv)

The optional arguments may be omitted. Any missing optional argument is handled with the default value being passed. For example

FIXED(1234.5678,,FALSE)

evaluates the same as

FIXED(1234.5678,2,FALSE)

since the default value for the number of decimal places is 2.

Missing arguments are intended to be used with functions that have optional arguments. If a missing argument is passed in for a required argument then the function will evaluate to the #N/A error.