Combining data from different cells and more...

[Jeff]

I have a worksheet in Excel 2002 made from a database. I have tried two
methods to combine data from several cells in a row into a separate cell as
below:

=(AL2&AM2&AN2&AO2&AP2&AQ2&AR2&AS2&AT2)
=CONCATENATE(AL3,AM3,AN3,AO3,AP3,AQ3,AR3,AS3,AT3)

Each of these functions are in cells AK2 and AK3 respectively. My problem is
in three parts:
1. Have I used these functions correctly to combine the data?
2. How do I get cells AK2 and/or AK3 to "equal" or display the result of the
function? (I have consulted several help resources and used the CTRL+` and
the Tools-Formula Auditing method but I only see the function, not the result)
3. How do I "fill" row AK2 thru AK309 with one of these formulas to combine
data from cells in adjacent columns as above?
Thanks

 

[Max]

Your issue is not with the formulas, they're ok. But the cells in which they
were entered in probably were pre-formatted as TEXT (unknown to you). Just
change the format to either general or number (via Format>Cells), then
re-trigger* the formula by re-confirming it, ie click inside the formula bar,
press ENTER. It should work fine, and you can then copy down, etc as per
normal.

*Re-confirming the formula is required.
Just changing the format alone will not do it.

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Max
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[Elkar]

1. Your formulas are correct, although the first one doesn't need the
parenthesis.

2. I'm guessing that your cells in Column AK have been pre-formatted as
"Text". Thus, whatever you type in them will be treated as a literal text
string, instead of a formula. Try highlighting column AK, then from the
Format Menu, choose "Cells". Change the Number Category back to "General".
Then go back and try entering your formulas again.

3. You can just copy the formula from cell AK2, and paste into cell AK3
through AK309. Excel will increment the cell references in the formulas
appropriately.

HTH
Elkar