KB152265 - Incrementing Relative References in Formulas by More Than One

Article ID: 152265

Article Last Modified on 8/17/2005

Microsoft Excel 97 Standard Edition
Microsoft Excel 95 Standard Edition
Microsoft Excel 5.0 Standard Edition
Microsoft Excel 98 for Macintosh
Microsoft Excel 95a
Microsoft Excel 5.0c
Microsoft Excel 5.0 Standard Edition
Microsoft Excel 5.0 for Macintosh
Microsoft Excel 5.0a for Macintosh

This article was previously published under Q152265

SUMMARY

When you fill formulas down a column or across a row, the relative references are, by default, incremented by one. The formulas can be altered so that they are incremented by a user-defined amount through the use of the OFFSET function.

MORE INFORMATION

The formula for incrementing by more than a row is:

   =OFFSET(<Starting_Cell>,(ROW()-<Current_Row>)*<Inc>,0)

   =OFFSET(<Starting_Cell>,0,(COLUMN()-<Current_Column>)*<Inc>)

where <Starting_Cell> is the absolute reference to the first cell in the range of interest, <Current_Column> is the number associated with the column of the cell in which the formula is being entered, and <Inc> is the number of columns to increment.

Example Incrementing a Formula by More Than One Row

Type the following information in a worksheet:

      A1: Patrick    B1:
      A2: 79         B2:
      A3: Ricky      B3:
      A4: 68         B4:
      A5: Matt       B5:
      A6: 23         B6:
      A7: John       B7:
      A8: 15         B8:
      A9: Mary       B9:
     A10: 40        B10:

Type the following formula in cell B1:
B1: =OFFSET($A$2,(ROW()-1)*2,0)
With cell B1 selected, grab the fill handle and fill down the formula through cell B5. The resulting cells will look as follows:
B1: 79
B2: 68
B3: 23
B4: 15
B5: 40

Example Incrementing a Formula by More Than One Column

Type the following information in a worksheet:

      A1: Patrick   B1: 79   C1: Ricky   D1: 68   E1: Matt   F1: 23
      A2:           B2:      C2:         D2:      E2:        F2:

Type the following formula in cell A2:
A2: =OFFSET($B$1,0,(COLUMN()-1)*2)
With cell A2 selected, grab the fill handle and fill the formula right through cell C2:
A2: 79 B2: 68 C2: 23

Example Using ISEVEN Function

This formula is not restricted to extracting data. It can also be used within other formulas. By using the following formula, you can test if the numerical data in every fourth row is even:

   =IF(ISEVEN(OFFSET(<Starting_Cell>,(ROW()-<Current_Row>)*<Inc>,0),
      "EVEN","ODD")

where <Starting_Cell> is the absolute reference to the first cell in the range of interest, <Current_Row> is the row of the cell in which the formula is being entered, and <Inc> is the number of rows to increment.

NOTE: This formula requires that the Analysis ToolPack is included in the Add-Ins. To do this, on the Tools menu, click Add-Ins and click to select the check in the box next to Analysis ToolPack.

Type the following information in a worksheet:

      A1: Patrick    B1:
      A2: 79         B2:
      A3: Ricky      B3:
      A4: 68         B4:
      A5: Matt       B5:
      A6: 23         B6:
      A7: John       B7:
      A8: 15         B8:
      A9: Mary       B9:
     A10: 40        B10:

Type the following formula in cell B1:
B1: =IF(ISEVEN(OFFSET($A$2,(ROW()-1)*4,0)),"EVEN","ODD")
With cell B1 selected, grab the fill handle and fill down the formula through cell B3. The resulting cells will look as follows:
B1: ODD
B2: ODD
B3: EVEN

For additional information, please see the following article(s) in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

151337 Incrementing Relative References by More Than One Cell in VBA

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