Microsoft KB Archive/213297

= XL2000: Increment Relative References by More Than One Cell in VBA =

Article ID: 213297

Article Last Modified on 11/23/2006

-

APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Excel 2000 Standard Edition

-



This article was previously published under Q213297





SUMMARY
The Fill feature always increments relative references by one for each cell filled. This article shows you 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, including, but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability and/or fitness for a particular purpose. This article assumes that you are familiar with the programming language being demonstrated and the tools used to create and debug procedures. Microsoft support professionals 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 needs. If you have limited programming experience, you may want to contact a Microsoft Certified Partner or the Microsoft fee-based consulting line at (800) 936-5200. For more information about Microsoft Certified Partners, please visit the following Microsoft Web site:

https://partner.microsoft.com/global/30000104

For more information about the support options that are available and about how to contact Microsoft, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=fh;EN-US;CNTACTMS

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. For the purpose of this example, enter "2".

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

