Excel's Formula - sisman

Chapter 3: Working with Names 99
Figure 3-23: You can enter a named formula that contains a 12-item array into 12 adjacent cells.
Creating a dynamic named formula
A dynamic named formula is a named formula that refers to a range not fixed in size. You may
find this concept difficult to grasp, so a quick example is in order.
Examine the worksheet shown in Figure 3-24. This sheet contains a listing of sales by month,
through the month of May.
Figure 3-24: You can use a dynamic named formula to represent the sales data in column B.
Suppose you want to create a name (SalesData) for the data in column B, and you don’t want
this name to refer to empty cells. In other words, the reference for the SalesData range would
change each month as you add a new sales figure. You could, of course, use the Name Manager
dialog box to change the range name definition each month. Or, you could create a dynamic
named formula that changes automatically as you enter new data.
To create a dynamic named formula, start by re-creating the worksheet shown in Figure 3-24.
Then follow these steps:
1. Bring up the New Name dialog box.
2. Type SalesData in the Name field.
3. Type the following formula in the Refers To field:
=OFFSET(Sheet1!$B$1,0,0,COUNTA(Sheet1!$B:$B),1)
4. Click OK to close the New Name dialog box.