Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

I don't even know what to search for...

Okay, so you know how when you type "January" or "Monday" into a table cell and then you drag the corner of the table cell down and it automatically fills in the rest with "February, March, April, etc..." and "Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, etc..."?

Why does that not work with just numbers? I want a list and I can't figure out how to just populate a column of cells with 1,2,3,4, etc... I know this is a stupid question and has probably been answered before, but I couldn't really find anything because the search terms I would use are just too broad. Thanks in advance.

iMac 3.06ghz, Mac OS X (10.6.3), a sweet jimi hendrix wallpaper

Posted on Feb 11, 2011 12:37 PM

Reply
Question marked as Best reply

Posted on Feb 11, 2011 1:21 PM

Jay,

You would search the User Guide for "Fill".

From the '09 User Guide: (I'm too lazy to get the '08 guide)

"You can also add values to cells based on value patterns. For example, if a cell contains a day of the week or a month, you can select the cell and then drag to the right or down to add the next day of the week or month to the adjacent cell.
To create new values based on numeric patterns, select two or more cells before dragging. For example, if two selected cells contain 1 and 2, the values 3 and 4 are added when you drag through the adjacent two cells. And if two selected cells contain 1 and 4, the values 7 and 10 are added when you drag through the adjacent two cells (values are incremented by 3).
Autofilling doesn’t set up an ongoing relationship among cells in the group. After autofilling, you can change the cells independently of each other."

With numeric input, you must manually enter the first two values in the sequence, select both, and drag to continue the sequence. With other data types you can drag a selection of one if you want incremental values or two if you want steps other than unity.

Jerry
1 reply
Question marked as Best reply

Feb 11, 2011 1:21 PM in response to JayhawkCWE

Jay,

You would search the User Guide for "Fill".

From the '09 User Guide: (I'm too lazy to get the '08 guide)

"You can also add values to cells based on value patterns. For example, if a cell contains a day of the week or a month, you can select the cell and then drag to the right or down to add the next day of the week or month to the adjacent cell.
To create new values based on numeric patterns, select two or more cells before dragging. For example, if two selected cells contain 1 and 2, the values 3 and 4 are added when you drag through the adjacent two cells. And if two selected cells contain 1 and 4, the values 7 and 10 are added when you drag through the adjacent two cells (values are incremented by 3).
Autofilling doesn’t set up an ongoing relationship among cells in the group. After autofilling, you can change the cells independently of each other."

With numeric input, you must manually enter the first two values in the sequence, select both, and drag to continue the sequence. With other data types you can drag a selection of one if you want incremental values or two if you want steps other than unity.

Jerry

I don't even know what to search for...

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple ID.