---
epic: 5
story: 5.2
title: "Line References"
status: draft
---

## Epic 5 — Variables, Line References & Aggregators
**Goal:** Transform the notepad into a lightweight computational document.

### Story 5.2: Line References

As a **CalcPad user**,
I want to reference the result of a specific line by its line number,
So that I can build calculations that depend on intermediate results without naming every value.

**Acceptance Criteria:**

**Given** line 1 evaluates to `100`
**When** the user writes `line1 * 2` on any subsequent line
**Then** the engine resolves `line1` to `100` and the result is `200`

**Given** line 1 evaluates to `100`
**When** the user writes `#1 * 2` on any subsequent line
**Then** the engine resolves `#1` to `100` and the result is `200`

**Given** line 3 contains `line1 * 2` referencing line 1
**When** the user inserts a new line above line 1 (shifting the original line 1 to line 2)
**Then** the reference updates so it still points to the original line (now line 2)
**And** the expression on the shifted line becomes `line2 * 2` or the reference is internally resolved correctly

**Given** line 1 contains `#2 * 2` and line 2 contains `#1 + 3`
**When** the engine evaluates the sheet
**Then** a circular reference error is detected and reported on both lines
**And** neither line produces a numeric result (both show an error indicator)

**Given** a line references `#99` but only 10 lines exist
**When** the engine evaluates the sheet
**Then** the line displays an error such as "invalid line reference"

**Given** line 5 is a comment or empty line with no numeric result
**When** another line references `#5`
**Then** the engine reports an error or returns `0` with a clear indication that the referenced line has no value