Excel's Formula - sisman

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Part II: Using Functions in Your Formulas
Creating a pivot table is a quick way to get a count or sum of items without using formulas. Like
the database function, using a pivot table is appropriate when your data is in the form of a worksheet
database or table.
Refer to Chapter 18 for information about pivot tables.
Basic Counting Formulas
The basic counting formulas presented here are all straightforward and relatively simple. They
demonstrate how to count the number of cells in a range that meet specific criteria. Figure 7-1
shows a worksheet that uses formulas (in column E) to summarize the contents of range A1:B10 —
a 20-cell range named Data.
Figure 7-1: Formulas provide various counts of the data in A1:B10.
About this chapter’s examples
Most of the examples in this chapter use named ranges for function arguments. When you adapt
these formulas for your own use, you’ll need to substitute either the actual range address or a
range name defined in your workbook.
Also, some examples are array formulas. An array formula, as explained in Chapter 14, is a special
type of formula. You can spot an array formula because it is enclosed in brackets when it is displayed
in the Formula bar. For example
{=Data*2}
When you enter an array formula, press Ctrl+Shift+Enter (not just Enter). And don’t type the
brackets — Excel inserts the brackets for you. If you need to edit an array formula, don’t forget
to press Ctrl+Shift+Enter when you’ve finished editing. Otherwise, the array formula will revert
to a normal formula, and it will return an incorrect result.