Untmdsprt wrote:
something as simple as typing in a series like Jan, Feb, and then have the spreadsheet fill in the rest requires me to look up how to do it in the manual. I think I will stick with OpenOffice for right now until I've read the manual for Numbers.
Jerrold Green1 wrote:> I'm not going to say anything that might discourage you from reading the User Guides, but you will find that most things are close to being the same in Numbers as in Excel and very few are truly different.
Including the Jan, Feb... series of the example. OOo doesn't run on pre-intel Macs, so I used NeoOffice.
Excel (Win): type Jan into a cell, grab the handle at the lower right corner of the cell and drag right (or down) to fill as many cells as desired with the months in succession.
Numbers: type Jan into a cell, grab the handle at the lower right corner of the cell and drag right (or down) to fill as many cells as desired with the months in succession.
Neo did not retain the selection border and handle when data was typed into the cell, so it was necessary to confirm the entry by pressing return, enter or tab, then reselect the cell before dragging the handle. Otherwise the process was the same as Excel and Numbers.
For some series—1, 3, 5 for example—all three applications require two entries (to establish the interval) be made and selected before dragging the handle. Numbers and Excel will fill a series of alternate months. Neo will not.
BUT like Jerry, I would NOT discourage anyone from reading the Numbers '09 User Guide (and the iWork Formulas and functions User Guide as needed).
Regards,
Barry
PS: I share some of your frustration, but in the opposite direction. Most things are similar enough in Excel to what I'm used to after years of using AppleWorks and months of using Numbers that I can usually figure out a way to do it in Excel. When I can't, the Help files are available.
B