Incrementing Text

Hmmm...

"Created a new column next to the one I needed,

entered the same single letter in the 2 cells of the first row

selected both cells and dragged down.

Both cells 'increment' the letter.

What you've described is shown in columns A&B then D&E.

What I suggested is shown in columns G then I

The seed cells must be a pair that are adjacent in the direction (down) of the fill to be done.

Regards,

Barry

PS: Nice workaround. Do make sure that you do not have the text string "qwerty" anywhere else in the document before selecting Replace ALL, though. Also, don't use a text string ending with a number—qwerty1 will increment1

B.

That is strange, and unexpected behaviour.

Try this. It's a workaround, rather than a recommended 'regular' procedure, but should get the job done.

Enter the single letter in cell B2

Select B3, press = to open the Formula Editor, then click B2 to enter this simple 'formula' (shown below the table).

Click the green checkmark button to confirm the formula and close the editor.

Fill down as usual.

With the filled cells selected, press command-C to Copy, then go to the Edit menu and choose Paste formula results.

This replaces the formula in each cell with the last value calculated by that formula, leaving each of the cells now containing a copy of the original letter.

Regards,

Barry

PS: If further experimentation confirms the odd behaviour when following the procedure suggested in my earlier message (try it for filling in all four directions using two identical letter cells as seed) consider sending Apple a Bug report, using the Provide Numbers Feedback menu item in the Numbers menu.

Example test table:

Enter the same letter in the first two cells. Then, with both cells selected, drag down to fill s usual.

The 'difference' between entries in two cells sets the increment between content of filled cells. Placing the same value sets that increment to 'no change.'

Regards,

Barry

Of course, you aren't absolutely fixated on the idea dragging the yellow dot down to fill, you can easily achieve the same result by simply entering the value in the first cell, command-c to copy, shift-command-down-arrow to select the rest of the column, command-v to paste.

Done in less than a second!

SG

SG wrote: "you can easily achieve the same result by…"

Good point!

B.