# Expressions > Every function, and how to refer to variables and cells. *Source:* https://recense.ai/docs/expressions ## The basics An expression is a function name with what it applies to in parentheses, combined with arithmetic where you need it. - Function names ignore case: MEAN, Mean and mean are the same function. - Some functions have other names, such as avg for mean; each function below lists its own. - While you type, the editor suggests the functions and variables that fit, shows the arguments a function takes, and offers a fix for a mistake. fx (⌘/) opens the function browser. *Examples:* ```text top2box(satisfaction) mean(q1, q2, q3) [Evening] - [Morning] ``` ## Referring to things - A variable by its name: satisfaction. A question group by its name; a function that takes several variables reads all of its members. - Brackets mean different things in different places: in a formula cell they name a cell; in a table pill they choose parts of a group. - In a formula cell, a cell by its row and column labels: [Hunger, Morning]. In a formula column, [Morning] is this row's Morning cell; in a formula row, [Hunger] is this column's Hunger cell. - A cell in another table: Table 2[Hunger, Morning]. - A range of cells, as a function argument: mean([Hunger:Convenience, Morning]). - A label containing , : [ ] " or $ goes in quotes: ["Yes, often", Morning]. $ before a part keeps it in place when a formula is filled. - When two rows share a label, the editor offers each by its identity, {…}, so the formula stays on the row you meant. ## Operators - **+ - * /** — Arithmetic, with * and / before + and -. Works everywhere. - **( )** — Group a calculation. Works everywhere. - **%** — Remainder. Formula cells. - **== != < <= > >=** — Compare a value, as in age >= 18. Table pills and derived variables. - **and or not** — Combine conditions; & and | mean and and or. Table pills and derived variables. ## Scores Turn answers into scores: box scores, ranks, standard scores and transforms. - **top2box(source, max=5)** — Flag the top two response values as 1, others 0. Works in table pills and derived variables. - **rank(source, pct=false, ties="Average")** — Per-row ascending rank with a choice of tie convention (default average). Works in table pills and derived variables. - **math_transform(source, kind=…)** — Row-wise log / exp / logit applied to a numeric source. Works in table pills and derived variables. - **reverse_likert(source, max=…)** — Reverse a Likert-coded source on a 1..=max scale. Works in table pills and derived variables. Also written reverse. - **zscore(source)** — Per-row z-score, optionally grouped by a categorical variable. Works in table pills and derived variables. - **box_score(source, n=2, direction="Top")** — Flag the top or bottom N value-label codes of an ordinal source as 1. Works in table pills and derived variables. - **percentile(source, position, a, [b])** — Per-respondent 0/1 flag based on the percentile rank of the numeric source. Works in table pills and derived variables. Also written pctl. - **quartile(source)** — Cut a numeric column into four equal-population bands (Q1..Q4) by percentile rank. Works in table pills and derived variables. - **quintile(source)** — Cut a numeric column into five equal-population bands (Quintile 1..5) by percentile rank. Works in table pills and derived variables. ## Recode Regroup or rebuild values: bands, recodes and conditional assignments. - **bin(source, bands…)** — Cut a numeric column into ordered bands (cut-point list or labelled-arm form). Works in table pills and derived variables. - **recode(source, arms…)** — Map source codes to labelled buckets (list form or labelled-arm form). Works in table pills and derived variables. - **cast_copy(source, target_type=…)** — Duplicate a variable and cast it into a supported target type. Works in table pills and derived variables. - **coalesce(sources…)** — First non-missing value across N parallel source columns. Works in table pills and derived variables. - **case_when(cases=…)** — Assign each row the first arm whose predicate is truthy. Works in table pills and derived variables. Also written casewhen. - **value_range(source, min, max)** — Per-respondent 0/1 flag: 1 iff the source value is within [min, max] inclusive. Works in table pills and derived variables. Also written range. ## Select Keep or drop respondents and categories. - **select(source)** — Keep only rows whose value is in `codes`; others become missing. Works in table pills and derived variables. - **exclude(source, codes=…)** — Drop rows whose value is in `codes` (they become missing); others pass through. Works in table pills and derived variables. - **eligible_if(expr=…)** — Boolean eligibility mask from a predicate expression. Works in table pills and derived variables. Also written eligible. - **pattern(source, regex)** — Per-respondent 0/1 flag: 1 iff the source's text (categorical value label or raw text response) matches the regex; nothing-to-match leaves the base, not a No. Works in table pills and derived variables. Also written match. ## Summaries Summarise several variables per respondent. In a formula cell, the same functions summarise cells. - **mean(inputs…)** — Row-wise mean across two or more parallel source columns (listwise on missing). Works in table pills, derived variables and formula cells. Also written avg, average. - **sum(inputs…)** — Row-wise sum across two or more parallel source columns (listwise on missing). Works in table pills, derived variables and formula cells. - **product(inputs…)** — Row-wise product across two or more parallel source columns (listwise on missing). Works in table pills and derived variables. - **min(inputs…)** — Row-wise minimum across two or more parallel source columns (listwise on missing). Works in table pills, derived variables and formula cells. - **max(inputs…)** — Row-wise maximum across two or more parallel source columns (listwise on missing). Works in table pills, derived variables and formula cells. - **count(source)** — Row count of the source column, broadcast as a constant. Works in table pills and derived variables. ## Combine Combine variables: nets, interactions and multi-select indicators. - **interact(left, right)** — Cross-product of two categorical variables. Works in table pills and derived variables. - **multi_select_to_binary(source)** — Materialise N binary 0/1 indicators from a categorical source (one per option). Works in table pills and derived variables. - **net(expr=…)** — Boolean mask from a predicate expression, optionally restricted by universe. Works in table pills and derived variables. - **theme_group_publish(source_variable, themes=…, coding_frame_id=…, coding_frame_name=…, codebook_revision=…, classification_result=…)** — Publish coded text themes as binary indicator variables. Works in table pills and derived variables. ## Analyses Multivariate analyses that add one variable per respondent, such as a segment. - **pca(variables…, auto_variance_threshold=0.8, rotation="None", rotation_max_iterations=100, parallel_analysis_reps=0, parallel_analysis_percentile=0.95)** — Principal component analysis. Works in table pills and derived variables. - **kmeans(variables…, k=…, max_iterations=300, n_init=5, gap_bootstraps=0, stability_resamples=0, seed=42)** — K-means clustering via Lloyd's algorithm. Works in table pills and derived variables. - **lca(indicators…, classes=…, max_iterations=300, restarts=5, smoothing_alpha=0.01, convergence_threshold=0.000001, seed=42, output="Posteriors", blrt_bootstrap_reps=0)** — Latent Class Analysis via EM. Works in table pills and derived variables. - **conjoint(variables…, none=false, coding="Effects", iterations=1000, burn_in=500, seed=42, prior_df_offset=5, use_asc=false, output="Raw", thin=1, n_mixture_components=1, dual_response_none=false)** — Choice-based conjoint via Hierarchical Bayes MNL. Works in table pills and derived variables. - **maxdiff(variables…, mode="Sequential", iterations=10000, burn_in=5000, seed=42, prior_df_offset=5, mh_scale=0.1, response_model="ScaleHeterogeneity", scale_prior_sd=0.75, output="Raw")** — MaxDiff (best-worst scaling) via Hierarchical Bayes MNL. Works in table pills and derived variables. - **efa(variables…, rotation="Promax", correlation="Auto", parallel_analysis_reps=100, parallel_analysis_percentile=0.95, score_method="Regression", extraction="PrincipalAxis", rotation_max_iterations=100)** — Exploratory factor analysis (principal-axis or maximum-likelihood). Works in table pills and derived variables. - **drivers(outcome, drivers…, bootstrap_reps=100, shapley_samples=2000)** — Key-driver analysis (correlation/regression/Johnson/Shapley). Works in table pills and derived variables. - **typing_tool(target, predictors…, l2_penalty=1, min_hit_rate=0.7, max_iter=200, lr=0.01)** — Multinomial-logit classifier (predicts a categorical target). Works in table pills and derived variables. - **ranking(variables…, iterations=10000, burn_in=5000, seed=42, prior_df_offset=5, mh_scale=0.1)** — Hierarchical Bayes Plackett-Luce ranking analysis. Works in table pills and derived variables. - **correspondence(variables…, dimensions=2, normalization="Symmetric", mca_matrix="Indicator", adjusted_inertia=false)** — Correspondence Analysis (simple CA / MCA via eigendecomposition). Works in table pills and derived variables. Also written ca. - **conjoint_lc(variables…, k=…, none=false, coding="Effects", output="Class", max_iterations=100, restarts=10, convergence_threshold=0.000001, seed=42, use_asc=false)** — Latent Class CBC Conjoint via EM. Works in table pills and derived variables. ## Next steps - **[Build tables and analysis](/docs/tables-and-analysis)** — Use expressions and formula cells in your tables. - **[Agent recipes](/docs/agent-recipes)** — Ask the agent to write expressions for you.