Assigning an input block to a spreadsheet cell is what connects your reader's choices to your math. This article covers how to assign an input to a cell, what the cell holds while you build, and what a visitor substitutes into it when the calculator runs.
How to assign an input to a cell
- Select the input block in the editor — an Input field, Slider, Dropdown, Selection, or Toggle.
- In its settings panel, open the Formula group.
- Click the cell-assignment box (it reads No cell assigned until something is bound).
- The Formula spreadsheet opens. Click the cell this input should stand in for.
- Click Assign [cell ref] at the top of the panel — for example, Assign D5 — to confirm.
After assigning, the settings box shows the bound cell reference and a Change action you can click to pick a different cell.
Assign each input its own cell. No column is off-limits — see Formula tab overview for how the sheet relates to your blocks.
What the cell holds while you build
The value in an assigned cell is yours. Type a realistic sample there — the number a typical reader would enter — and your formulas preview against it as you work.
Numio does not write over it. Changing the block's default value, its options, or a slider's range never overwrites what you put in the cell, and editing the cell never changes the block. The two sides stay independent.
The one exception is the first hookup: if you point a block at a cell that is empty, Numio drops the block's current value in once so the sheet isn't blank. After that the cell is yours to edit.
What visitors substitute at run time
When the calculator is published, each visitor's entry is substituted for the assigned cell and the sheet recomputes in their browser. What each block contributes:
| Block | Value substituted at run time |
|---|---|
| Input field | The number the visitor typed |
| Slider | The handle position — as a decimal for a percentage slider (a handle at 10 becomes 0.1) |
| Dropdown / Selection | The chosen option's value, or the sum of the selected values when multiple answers are allowed |
| Toggle | Its configured Value when on, or 0 when off |
Your sample values are never shown to visitors, and their answers are never written back into your sheet.
Where to go next
- Formula tab overview — the reference-sheet model, and how linked cells are tinted
- Input rows and cell references — A1 notation, ranges, and absolute references
- Assigning cells to result blocks — the other half of the wiring