Forum Discussion
Stefan760
Apr 24, 2023Copper Contributor
Using names in formulas?
Hello, I have the following table: Items Jan Feb Mar Apples 7 2 3 Bananas 12 25 14 Oranges 10 8 6 What is the best way to use name ranges, so when I want to ex...
PeterBartholomew1
Apr 24, 2023Silver Contributor
Assuming you have successfully defined the rows Apples, Bananas, Oranges and the column ranges Jan, Feb, Mar, then the value for a given month is obtained by intersecting a row and column range using a space as the operator. Examples are
25
= (Bananas Feb)
27
= SUM(Apples:Bananas Feb)
10
= SUM(Apples Feb, Oranges Feb)Life gets a little more complicated if you want to select months because the Names can get muddled with the A1-style column references
#NULL!
= Apples FEB:JAN
{7, 2}
= Apples TAKE(Items, ,2)- Stefan760Apr 24, 2023Copper ContributorThanks, Peter
this seems to work as long as the left column has words in each row. If I replace the words apples bananas and oranages with 1,2,3 it doesn't work. Any idea if it is possible to work with numbers?
Thanks again- PeterBartholomew1Apr 24, 2023Silver Contributor
It is just that naming from selection doesn't work because a name must start with an underscore or a letter. In addition it must not be a valid cell reference. Name manager and the Name box offer alternative ways of defining names. For example
= (January _1st)is a valid intersection assuming the names are defined appropriately.
- Stefan760Apr 24, 2023Copper ContributorThank you!