Forum Discussion
Excel not auto-filling formulas in an Excel Table
I finally understand what you want to do and believe you can achieve it by using structured references and an OFFSET function to pick-up the number from the row below.
In E2 the formula becomes:
=[@[Amt Added]]+[@[Amt Withdrawn]]+[@Return]+OFFSET([@[Current Value]],1,0)and in F2:
=[@Return]+OFFSET([@[VOT Amt]],1,0)Make sure that these have filled down all the way to the bottom of the table.
When you now insert row 3, both formulas will auto-complete in the new row. See attached.
As to why the initial formula doesn't work, take a look at the formulas before you insert row 3.
From the start the formulas in E2 and F2 refer to cells E3 and F3. Insert row 3 and the references will update to E4 and F4 (i.e. two rows down), just as one would expect. The formulas on what is now row 4, still reference E5 and F5. I.e. only one row down. The same for all rows down the table.
Columns E and F now will no longer auto-complete as you have inconsistent formulas in them. Row 3 will be left blank and, the formulas in row 2 are wrong.
Thank you for responding. The community has been very helpful to me in the past. Just last year, someone helped me produce just such a table as you described. It works fine because all I need to know is the net result. See the Phonak attachment.
However, in this application, I need to be able to see the trends for the last week or so. I received help in the past in producing a similar excel table to help me manage my wife's diabetes. It does what I would like the Excel table of this topic to do. It is sorted in descending order and it auto-fills the formulas where ever I insert a new row at or near the top. As you can see, it allows me to see her trends for the last week or so. I have been using it for 3 years now and it has several thousand rows. I don't have the skill to figure this stuff out on my own.
I would like the table of this topic to do the same. I am under the assumption that one needs to use the structured approach to get Excel to auto-fill formulas in tables. I have tried using the column names in the formulas as is done in the attached Diabetes Mngr.jpg example, but have been unsuccessful. See attached Inv.docx.
Currently, when I add rows to this Excel table I need to copy and paste the formulas from the previous row. Otherwise, it works as needed. The VOT Amt column has a similar formula: F3+D2. The difference between the Diabetes table and the Inv table of this topic, is that the Diabetes table does not do a running total from one row to the next.
I would think it should be possible to get the Inv table to do what the Diabetes table does and still auto-fill the formulas. It is not possible?
The community has been very helpful to me in the past. Just last year, someone helped me produce just such a table as you described.
So I'm the one who helped you with that spreadsheet a year ago (reading the exchange here between you and Riny_van_Eekelen reminded me of that exchange). I'm going to let my friend Riny continue to help here, but I do want to make a suggestion: Separate input from output.
In particular, you seem to be emphasizing needing to see the most recent entries, which is why you enter them at the top (this was part of last year's exchange too).....but we keep saying that tables work better if you enter new data at the bottom, This "expert approach" is actually better when you realize that all you're doing at the "input" end of things is collecting raw data. What you do with it--the "output"--is best separated, dealt with by some form of "dashboard" sheet, separate from the input (although still in the same workbook), where you can display whatever relevant data you need on a realtime basis, using FILTER and other tools to extract the most recent, most relevant from the raw historical records.
Thank you for your help in the past. The Diabetes table designed with a lot of help, that I have been using for some time, has worked well for me inserting at the top in descending order. I suppose your recommendation is a better approach, but I would not know how to implement it. That is well beyond my limited skills.
- I'll see if I can take a look at the sheets you've attached later, then. What I'm suggesting isn't really all that difficult; it's maybe trickier when first doing it (involving a different conceptual framework), but in the long run easier to use and maintain.
I thought I had attached the actual Excel table, but I don't see it now. So, I will upload it. Most of the data is dummy data to conceal the actual amounts, but the table is otherwise an correct copy of the actual table. The formulas are in columns E and F. Thank you in advance. Again, row 2 exists only to preserve formatting when inserting next to the header. I suppose it will no longer be needed. The table will grow to several thousand rows. I hope I wouldn't need to navigate to the bottom each time I enter raw data. Avoiding that is what makes inserting at the top seem so natural.