Question

How do I copy a formula as a series in a column

Asked by: ruavol2

I am having trouble trying to copy a series of formulas.  I created a column in excel and put in this formula in the cell column to the right of it "B2958"

=TEXT(A2958,"00000") all the way down to =TEXT(A6394,"00000") which is the cell where I want to start and end. Placing the formula in the opposing B column B2958 to B6394.
I right clicked on the cell and dragged down the column thinking it would fill a series etc. No luck!
I used to know Excel better I thought............ then Microsoft changed the game a little bit and I can barely find my way around. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

This Question has been solved and asker verified All Experts Exchange premium technology solutions are available to subscription members.

Subscribe now for full access to Experts Exchange and get

Instant Access to this Solution

  • Plus...
  • 30 Day FREE access, no risk, no obligation
  • Collaborate with the world's top tech experts
  • Unlimited access to our exclusive solution database
  • Never be left without tech help again

Subscribe Now

Asked On
2009-11-03 at 14:17:05ID24869115
Tags

Excel 2007

Topics

Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet Software

,

Microsoft Office Suite

Participating Experts
2
Points
500
Comments
8

Trusted by hundreds of thousands everyday for fast, accurate and reliable tech support.

  • "The time we save is the biggest benefit of Experts Exchange to Warner Bros. What could take multiple guys 2 hours or more each to find is accessed in around 15 minutes on Experts Exchange." Mike Kapnisakis, Warner Bros.
  • "Our team likes having a resource that is more secure than just using Google and most experts using this service really know their stuff. It's nice to look here first versus using Google." Dayna Sellner, Lockheed Martin
  • "Anytime that I've been stumped with a problem, 9 out of 10 times Experts Exchange has either the accepted solution or an open discussion of the potential solution to the problem." Kenny Red, eBay Inc.

See what Experts Exchange can do for you.

Got a question?

We've got the answer.

Experts Exchange has been collecting answers to technology questions since 1996…3 million and counting! If you have a question, chances are we already have your answer.

Screenshot of Experts Exchange Knowledgebase

Need individual assistance?

Our experts are ready to help.

If you can't find the exact answer you're looking for, ask our exclusive community of 50,000 experts. You’ll get a personalized answer from a trusted professional.

Screenshot of Experts Exchange Knowledgebase

Want to learn from the best?

Read articles from industry experts.

Thousands of free tech tips, tricks, how-to’s and tutorials are available in our peer reviewed articles section. See for yourself how smart our experts are, no login required.

Screenshot of an Article

Working on a long term project?

Store your work and research.

Save solutions to your questions, answers you’ve discovered through searching plus helpful articles in your personal knowledgebase for easy future access.

Screenshot of Experts Exchange Knowledgebase

Access the answers to your technology questions today.

Subscribe Now

30-day free trial. Register in 60 seconds.

What Makes Experts Exchange Unique?

Members of the expert community talk about why the experience at Experts Exchange is different than what you will find anywhere else.

Trusted by the world's most respected brands.

image of each brand's logo

Faithfully serving IT professionals since 1996.

Experts Exchange Logo

Try it out and discover for yourself.

Subscribe Now

30-day free trial. Register in 60 seconds.

Related Solutions

  1. IF formula in cell
    I need to conditional format a cell so that if there is a formula (other than the conditional format formula) in that same cell it turns red and if not no change.
  2. SERIES formula
    =SERIES(A!$C$3,A!$B$4:$B$16,A!$C$4:$C$16,1) How can this series formula be modified to add data above each bar in the chart? This is in reference to a horizontal bar graph in Excel.
  3. Formula Help
    Hi Everyone- I need some help with a formula issue. I have two formulas that I am working with. Formula A is:=IF(AND($B2<=J1+6,$C2>=J1),"1",IF(AND($C2<=J1+6,$D2>=J1),"2",IF(AND($D2<=J1+6,$E2>=J1),"3",IF(AND($E2<=J1+6,$F2&...
  4. formula
    hi, is there a catch-all bit of formula that i can put at the front (or whatever) of a formula so that the formula only reads a value in a square and ignors any cell with a formula in? (but leaves the cell blank) pete
  5. Help on UDF custom formulas
    I have read this in few places that UDF cannot place a value into any other cell except the cell housing the UDF. But i have seen a few formulas which do so. formulas by reuters or bloomberg . Can i write a UDF that can give me series to a referenced cell. Say a formula Se...
  6. formulas in cells
    I have a formula in cell B10 such as the following: =SUM(B11:AF11) It calculates fine. however, I don't want to this formula to reside in the current cell where it calculates. I would like it to calculate the sum from a different cell such as B9 and then the total be place...

Free Tech Articles

  1. WARNING: 5 Reasons why you should NEVER fix a computer for free.
    It is in our nature to love the puzzle. We are obsessed. The lot of us. We love puzzles. We love the challenge. We thrive on finding the answer. We hate disarray. It bothers us deep in our soul. W...
  2. SCCM OSD Basic troubleshooting
    SCCM 2007 OSD is a fantastic way to deploy operating systems, however, like most things SCCM issues can sometimes be difficult to resolve due to the sheer volume of logs to sift through and the dispe...
  3. Migrate Small Business Server 2003 to Exchange 2010 and Windows 2008 R2
    This guide is intended to provide step by step instructions on how to migrate from Small Business Server 2003 to Windows 2008 R2 with Exchange 2010. For this migration to work you will need the fo...
  4. Create a Win7 Gadget
    This article shows you how to create a simple "Gadget" -- a sort of mini-application supported by Windows 7 and Vista. Gadgets can be dropped anywhere on the desktop to provide instant information, ...
  5. Outlook continually prompting for username and password
    There have been a lot of questions recently regarding Outlook prompting for a username and password whilst using Exchange 2007. There are a few reasons why this would happen and I will try to cover t...
  6. Backup Exchange 2010 Information Store using Windows Backup
    There seems to be quite a lot of confusion around the ability to backup Exchange 2010 using the built in Windows Backup feature. This stems from the omission of this feature prior to Exchange 2007 s...

Cloud Class Webinars

  1. Avoiding Bugs in Microsoft Access
    Alison Balter takes and in-depth look at avoiding bugs in Access. In this webinar you will learn about using the immediate window to debug your applications, invoking the debugger, using breakpoints to troubleshoot, stepping through code, setting the next statement to execute, ...
  2. Top 10 Best New Features in Visio 2010
    Scott Helmers gives live demonstrations of the top 10 new features in Visio 2010. This webinar will teach you how to create compelling diagrams by adding shapes to the page with a single click, linking the shapes in a diagram to data in Excel (or SQL Server, or SharePoint), ...
  3. IT Consultant Business Secrets Revealed
    Michael Munger, Experts Exchange tech pro and IT consultant, pulls back the curtain on his very successful businesses and answers question on every IT consultant and business owner should know about. He shares secrets on what he did to solve the 5 most common problems in IT, ...
  4. Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity
    Quest CTO, Mike Billon, gives an overview of the steps involved in building a dunamic disaster recovery plan. Through case studies and an examination of software/hardware tooles for monitoring and testing, you'll gain a better understandin of where you are, where you want ...
  5. Organize Your Visio Diagrams with Containers and Lists
    Scott Helmers uses cross functional flowcharts, wireframe diagrams, data graphic legends and seating charts to teach you: how to ustilize all three new structured diagram components in Visio 2010, the best practices for organizeing shapes in previous version of Visio, how to organize ...
  6. How to Us Objects, Properties, Events and Methods in Microsoft Access
    Alison Dalter gives an in-depbth look at objects, properties, events and methods in Microsoft Access. In this webinar you will learn about using the object browser, referring to objects, working with properties and methods, working with object variables, understanding the ...

Join the Community

Give a Little. Get a Lot.

Join the community of experts here and help other tech pros by answering question in your area of expertise. You can earn FREE access to all Experts Exchange's premium features and resources.

Join the Community

Answers

 

by: PuntasticPosted on 2009-11-03 at 14:28:49ID: 25734533

Sounds like your auto fill options needs to be adjusted:
1. Click the Microsoft Office Button , and then click Excel Options.
2. In the Advanced category, under Editing options, select or clear the Enable fill handle and cell drag-and-drop check box to turn drag-and-drop editing on or off.

 

by: roryaPosted on 2009-11-03 at 14:41:33ID: 25734657

Did you right-click and drag the fill handle at the bottom right corner of the first cell? (Note: you could also just double click the fill handle if the column A values are already filled in.)
Regards,
Rory

 

by: ruavol2Posted on 2009-11-03 at 17:20:21ID: 25735616

I tried those things and for some reason it did not work. Here is what I get when I try to copy the formula.

 

by: roryaPosted on 2009-11-03 at 23:16:24ID: 25737102

When you entered the formula in the first cell, did you see a result, or just the formula itself?

 

by: ruavol2Posted on 2009-11-04 at 03:26:52ID: 25738219

Just the formula itself. I even hit calculate and nothing happens. I thought this was easier than this.

 

by: roryaPosted on 2009-11-04 at 03:50:58ID: 25738366

It sounds as if your cells are explicitly formatted as Text then. You will need to format them as General, then re-enter the formula and then copy it down.

HTH
Rory

 

by: ruavol2Posted on 2009-11-04 at 08:32:32ID: 25741020

Finally. I am not even sure how I did it but that worked.
I changed the entire column back to general.
Then  select the cell in the column you want to copy
place the formula....in my case it was
=TEXT(A2955."00000")
Once the cell had the formula entered into cell B2955
I held down my CTRL button
Left Mouse-click and drag the fill handle at the bottom right corner of the B2955 cell dragged the selected range down to the bottom of the series of rows. I let go and Wallah the result was filled formula results.

Thank you gentlemen. That was much appreciated.

 

by: ruavol2Posted on 2009-11-04 at 08:38:01ID: 31649686

Hopefully I left a good explanation of what I had to do to get that to work.
For some reason when I initially made the formula it seemed to have converted the entire column to text? You caught my error and fixed it thank you very much for following up.

20120131-EE-VQP-002

3 Ways to Join

30-Day Free Trial

The Experts

98% positive feedback on 31,087 answers since March 2000. angeliii is a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional for his work with MS SQL Server & Develoment.

He has also proven his knowledge of Visual Basic Programming, PHP Scripting and Oracle Databases.

The Experts

97% positive feedback on 10,752 answers since July 2000. lrmoore has more than 18 years experience in the networking industry.

The six-time Mircosoft MVPs specialties include firewalls, virtual private networking, and network management.

Testimonials

"...and excellent source for support... Kind of like having your very own IT dept." Electriciansnet

Testimonials

"I was apprehensive at signing up at first. However... it has already made my life as an IT administrator much easier." JaCrews

Testimonials

"WOW! You guys have great, active, and knowledgeable people on here." moore50

Business Clients

Business Clients

In the Press

"If you’ve got a question... Experts Exchange can supply an answer.”

In the Press

"...an invaluable aid for both IT professionals and those who require tech support."

In the Press

"where IT professionals provide quick answers on just about any topic"

Business Account Plans

Loading Advertisement...