Array Formula Question, probably fairly basic

[TomCon]

I'm fairly new to array formulas. I thought i "got it" but this one is not behaving as i expect, so maybe i do not fullly understand.

I entered this as an array formula.
{=SUM(OFFSET(M2,{0,1,2},0))}

I thought that it would be equivalent to
=SUM((OFFSET(M2,0,0,3,1)))

And equivalent, of course, to:
=SUM(M2:M4)

But, the array formula always returns the first value, i.e. the value in M2.

Can somebody explain why the array formula does not sum the values M2, M3, M4?

(Of course this is a reduced, clearer question, of a more complex situation I have).

Thanks!
Tom

 

[Andrew Poulsom]

The OFFSET function doesn't accept an array as an argument. The Formula Evaluation tool shows that only the first value is used.

 

[Aladin Akyurek]

I'm fairly new to array formulas. I thought i "got it" but this one is not behaving as i expect, so maybe i do not fullly understand.

I entered this as an array formula.
{=SUM(OFFSET(M2,{0,1,2},0))}

I thought that it would be equivalent to
=SUM((OFFSET(M2,0,0,3,1)))

And equivalent, of course, to:
=SUM(M2:M4)

But, the array formula always returns the first value, i.e. the value in M2.

Can somebody explain why the array formula does not sum the values M2, M3, M4?

(Of course this is a reduced, clearer question, of a more complex situation I have).

Thanks!
Tom

=SUM(OFFSET(M2,{0,1,2},0))

suffers from what is known as the dereferencing problem. In order to get
the desired total, you need a second round of evaluation like in:

=SUM(SUBTOTAL(9,(OFFSET(M2,{0,1,2},0))))

=SUM(N(OFFSET(M2,{0,1,2},0)))

 

[TomCon]

Thanks for the help. Good idea to use the formula eval tool to help diagnose. As for reference to the "dereferencing problem" can you explain that more (and/or a link)? For instance, while i can veriy that this formula works {=SUM(N(OFFSET(M2,{0,1,2},0)))}, i don't really understand why it is necessary to use the N() fucntion in that way.

Thanks!
Tom

 

[Aladin Akyurek]

Thanks for the help. Good idea to use the formula eval tool to help diagnose. As for reference to the "dereferencing problem" can you explain that more (and/or a link)? For instance, while i can veriy that this formula works {=SUM(N(OFFSET(M2,{0,1,2},0)))}, i don't really understand why it is necessary to use the N() fucntion in that way.

Thanks!
Tom

http://tinyurl.com/3hhjayv

The link shows many discussions of the issue on this board. A few more can be found on (the old) Excel-related newsgroups.