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Formula Precedent Highlighting

When you select a formula cell, Excel View can outline all cells that the formula depends on (its "precedents") with a green border. This makes it easy to visually trace where a formula's inputs come from.


Enabling Precedent Highlighting​

  1. View tab → Formula Precedents toggle

When enabled, selecting any cell that contains a formula causes its dependent cells to get a green outline automatically.


How It Works​

Excel View calls HyperFormula.getCellDependencies(row, col) to get the full list of cells the formula references. All referenced cells get a 2px solid green outline. The outline updates with an 80ms debounce as you navigate.


Disabling​

View tab → Formula Precedents (click again to toggle off).


Limitations​

  • Only shows direct precedents (one level up). For deeper dependency tracing, you'd need to navigate to each precedent cell.
  • Works within the current sheet only — cross-sheet precedents are not highlighted (but are supported by the formula engine).