Microsoft KB Archive/151337

= Increment Relative References by More Than One Cell in VBA =

Article ID: 151337

Article Last Modified on 10/11/2006

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Excel 2000 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft Excel 97 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft Excel 95 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft Excel 5.0 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft Excel 98 for Macintosh

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This article was previously published under Q151337



SUMMARY
The Fill feature always increments relative references by one for each cell filled. This article shows how to use Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications code to fill a range of cells with a formula and increment the relative references by an amount that you choose.



MORE INFORMATION
Microsoft provides programming examples for illustration only, without warranty either expressed or implied. This includes, but is not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. This article assumes that you are familiar with the programming language that is being demonstrated and with the tools that are used to create and to debug procedures. Microsoft support engineers can help explain the functionality of a particular procedure, but they will not modify these examples to provide added functionality or construct procedures to meet your specific requirements. As an example, suppose you have the following list of names and addresses on a Microsoft Excel worksheet:

A1: Alice

A2: 123 Anywhere St.

A3: Brian

A4: 234 Indeterminate Lane

A5: Catherine

A6: 345 Unknown Ave.

A7: Dave

A8: 456 Not Sure Blvd.

A9: Erica

A10: 567 Wherever Way

Suppose you want the range B1:B5 to contain links to the names in this list, but not to the addresses. If you enter "=A1" in cell B1, select the range B1:B5, and click Fill Down on the Edit menu, you will get the following formulas:

B1: =A1

B2 =A2

B3: =A3

B4: =A4

B5: =A5

rather than the following formulas:

B1: =A1

B2 =A3

B3: =A5

B4: =A7

B5: =A9

which, in this example, would produce the desired result. The following sample macro enables you to get this result without having to type the formulas in each cell.

To use the sample macro, first select a vertical range of cells starting with the cell that contains the formula you want to fill down. In the example above, you would select the range B1:B5. When you run the macro, a dialog box will prompt you for the number of cells to increment the relative references for each cell filled.

WARNING: The macro will overwrite any data in the selected range and the -1 cells below it, where  is the number you enter in the dialog box.

Sample Visual Basic Procedure
Option Explicit

Sub FillAndSkip

Dim CellToCopy As Range Dim n As Integer Dim x As Integer

n = Val(InputBox("Increment relative references by how many cells?")) Set CellToCopy = Selection.Cells(1)

For x = 2 To Selection.Rows.Count

' COPY the formula to a cell n cells down to update relative ' references. CellToCopy.Copy CellToCopy.Offset(n, 0).Range("A1").Select ActiveSheet.Paste

' CUT and paste to the desired destination so the references don't        ' change. Application.CutCopyMode = False Selection.Cut CellToCopy.Offset(1, 0).Range("A1").Select ActiveSheet.Paste

' Start from the formula just created to get the next formula. Set CellToCopy = Selection

Next x

End Sub

