Range
Names
A range name is a word or phrase that you substitute
for a cell reference. Anywhere that you would use a cell reference
or cell range, you can use the range name instead. Range names describe
the data contained in the cells and are easy to remember. Using range
names in formulas make the formulas understood more easily.
For example, a formula to compute Net Income might be +GrossProfit-TotalExpenses
instead of +C7-C22.
Range names can be up to 255 characters, but use
short names. Remember these names will show in formulas in place
of the cell references. You don't want your formulas to be too long.
Range names cannot include spaces because spaces are not allowed in formulas.
You can place an underscore (_) between two words to create the illusion
of a space without actually having a space.
Other rules for range names are:
Do not use any valid cell reference such as B2.
Do not use any of the following characters:
a space or a hyphen.
There are two methods you can use to create Range
Names:
Naming a Range Using Labels
in a Adjacent cells.
Use this method if there are descriptive labels (that
fit the criteria listed in the rules above) next to value cells.
For example, in the worksheet below, cell B1 can be named Principal, cell
B2 named Interest and cell B3 named Term.
To do this, select the label cells and the cells
to be named (A1:B3), choose Insert on the
menu and point to Name and then click Create
on the submenu. In the Create name dialog box, choose the location
that contains the LABELS by selecting the Left column check box.
Try this! After you've done this, click in cell B1 and you should
see Principal in the name box on the formula bar where you would usually
see the cell reference B1.
Naming a Range by Typing
the Name
Use this method when the cell you wish to name doesn't
have an adjacent label or the label doesn't follow the rules listed above.
Select the cell or range of cells that you want to name. Click the Name
box at the left end of the formula bar. Type the name for the cells and
press ENTER.
Note: You cannot name a cell while you
are changing the contents of the cell.
Read pages 7.10 - 7.24 and perform the steps as
instructed in the tutorial.
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