DSUM search issues

[Guest]

I'm using a simple dsum to collapse and summarize records.

My criteria is a text field. My target or search database column is a text field.

DSUM returns invalid summations, because it appears to find text matches for any target record that has common characters starting from the left most or first cahracter.

ie.. DSUM return values where

Criteria = bob

target = bob value to return = 1
target = bobby value to return = 1
target = bobxxxx value = 1

dsum returns 3.

this is incorrect, as i only want the records for "bob".
i do not want the records for "bobby" and "bobxxx" or any other records that happen to start with "bob.....".

How do I make dsum stop doing this ???

thanks,

tim

 

[Jim Rech]

You can get Excel to return the result you want by making two changes:

First change the entry in your criteria cell to something like =A2="Bob"
instead of just Bob. A2 in this example is the first data cell in the Name
field, i.e., just below the field name.

Second, clear the "Name" heading from the criteria range. The criteria
range should stay the same, like D12, but D1 should be empty rather than
having the matching field name.