how do you fill down value until it changes

[Dorian]

I am using Excel 2003.
I have column A with customer names. Data in columns B, C ..... relate to
the customer.The customer name is entered only once with blanks below it
until the customer name changes. I want to fill the customer name into the
blank cells below it.

I have tried selecting column A, Then F5 > special > blanks.
In first active cell, I enter = and select the customer name above it.
Then CNTL + ENTER.
This enters =celladdress of first active cell into ALL the blanks and
obviously doesn't work.

Can anyone advise?

 

[JP]

Works for me.

1. Highlight all of the cells, including the blanks you want to fill.
2. Press F5, click special and go to blanks
3. Type "=" then UP ARROW (equal sign, then Up Arrow) and press Ctrl-
Enter.

The blank cells are filled in with the cell from above.

HTH
JP

 

[Dorian]

Thanks. It still wasn't working for me and after playing around a bit, I
found out that if the cells are formatted as text, it won't work - it filled
in "=A5" into ALL the blanks. After changing the format to General, it
worked. Just FYI.

 

[JP]

Ah, I think I understand. A more careful reading of your original
message might have yielded the proper results.

Glad to hear it worked out for you!

--JP

 

[Tyro]

Yes, fill would not change text. You wouldn't want that. Think about it.

Tyro