Microsoft KB Archive/111385

{| = Excel: Filled Series Not Incremented with Cell Reference =
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Last reviewed: September 12, 1996

Article ID: Q111385 The information in this article applies to:
 * Microsoft Excel for Windows, version 4.0

SYMPTOMS
Page 125 of the "Users Guide 1," suggests that you can create a series by entering data into two cells, selecting those cells, and dragging the fill handle. While this method works for most types of data, it does not work if the cells contain cell references. When you attempt to fill a selection that contains a cell reference, the series is not incremented correctly.

WORKAROUND
To work around this problem, do the following:

  In Cell A1, type the cell reference with a letter before the equal sign. In cell A2, type the next value you want to appear in the incremented series, as in the following example: A1: E=B5 A2: E=B10  Drag the fill handle down. The numbers will now be incremented (because the cell value is treated as a text value).  Use the fill handle to fill this line down. Your results should be similar to the following: A1: E=B5 A2: E=B10 A3: E=B15 A4: E=B20 A5: E=B25 A6: E=B30  Select the series and choose Replace from the Formula menu. In the Find What box, type the letter you used earlier, ("E" in this example) and an equal sign. In the Replace With box type an equal sign and choose Replace All.

Your result is an incremented cell reference.

Steps to Reproduce the Behavior
  Enter the following in your worksheet: A1: =B5 A2: =B10 </li>  Select these two cells and drag to fill the series. The resulting data should resemble the following: A1: =B5 A2: =B10 A3: =B7 A4: =B12 A5: =B9 A6: =B14 </li></ol>