SUM doesn't add correctly

Thanks, Barry. I'll attach screen shots. But first a bit more explanation of what I'm doing/trying to do. This is for a checking account. My bank's download comes in qfx. (There are other options.) It will not open with Numbers 3.6 but will with 2.3. I copy it from 2.3 and paste it into 3.6. The sum formula works correctly in 2.3 but not in 3.6. I'm getting the formula from the tool bar in 3.6 and from the Insert menu in 2.3. (When I did the screen shots the formula changed slightly. It did say sum (B), now says sum B2:B45. The total is the same, though.) In the screen shots, first is the formula, then the upper part of the column, then the lower. The top 3 are Numbers 2.3 and the lower numbers 3.6. It looks like there isn't a way to attach an actual file?

Not sure if this matters, but this and a lot of other things have happened since I installed El Capitan. The folks over in OS X forum have tried to help with that. They have given me a lot of tests and terminal inputs to do. All remains the same, however. The worst of it and the thing I went to the forums for is a spontaneous restart (which might be a spontaneous log out) after the computer sleeps for 2 hours. Other things are weird actions from rapid mouse movements. If that matters I can be much more detailed in description. I have reinstalled El Capitan.

Geoff

Thanks, Wayne. How do I check that? All the numbers look OK. I've tried it in auto format, currency format, and number format and it's all the same. I discovered it works fine in an old version of Numbers. More on that in my post to Barry.

Geoff

Original (Numbers 2.6) had the formula several rows from the bottom. Don't know why. It still works properly in Numbers 2.6 whether the formula is at the bottom in a footer or a few rows up from that. I did use the SUM (B) in the original and in the 3.6 version until today. It was the default when I clicked "sum" in the formula box in the tool bar. Today, however, when I as for the sum formula it gives me the B;2 B:45 instead. I've put in the SUM (B) manually. No matter what it gives me the incorrect sum. I've restarted many times. One of the other problems (related?) is spontaneous restarts so I get a restart several times a day. I have been in the habit of shutting down most nights also so I get 5+ restarts a week when all is working well.

The problem did not start until I downloaded El Capitan. Did that give me a new version of Numbers? Other things started also shortly after installing El Capitan. Perhaps this is part of the whole picture. One person in another forum thought it is a hardware problem because much of the other problems seems graphic related. I haven't been able to get any of the apple hardware assessment tools to work. Most people thought it was an incompatible program. I've uninstalled everything I can and don't have many non-system programs. I've asked the support people for those programs for thoughts and, of course, they don't think it's there program. Because no one else has reported similar things I think they're right. I've reinstalled El Capitan once.

That works! Well, almost. I had to get rid of the dollar signs also. I also found I could strip the commas and dollar signs in Numbers 2 and bypass the pages step. I also learned if the footer row is to have a sum formula it has to be placed there before it's made a footer row. After it's a footer the formula option is greyed. You solved my dilemma.

That, however raises another question. This is quite a hassle to do every 10-14 days when I record my checking data. Why doesn't Numbers 3 open a qfx file? Is there another bank type file it will open? I see cvs, tsk, qfx, Quick 98-99, and Quick 2000-2004 as options my bank has. I'll try these soon. But in researching money programs it seems qfx is a very common format. Why does Numbers 3 ignore it?

Thanks Wayne, Barry, and SGII. I appreciate your help.

Geoff

Your right, it's cvs. I guess I was thinking about the pharmacy my insurance wants me to use. The cvs works well with Numbers but won't work with MoneyDance. qfx works with MoneyDance and with Numbers 2x but not with numbers 3x. I'll try again to download all the banks options and try them with both MOneyDance and Numbers 3x.

It might take me a while; I'm burned out with this stuff now. Actually, burned out more because I've been trying to sort out what else is happening to my Mac. You mention "That part doesn't sound right." Unfortunately there's lots that doesn't sound right with my Mac. It's been going on for 2+ months. Spontaneous restarts, spontaneous logouts, screen changes with rapid mouse movements, programs acting one way to day and another tomorrow, Safari frequently can't open a page, and maybe more yet to be discovered? It all started shortly after I installed El Capitan. None of it's consistent. i.e. it happens "sometimes." I've gotten lots of help from this forum with lots of testing and corrective action. I've gotten help from some support sites in non Apple programs I've had. So far no one has found a solution. One suggestion was get a new Mac because with none of the usual fixes helping it's likely a hardware problem, probably in the graphics component. That's temping but I'll really be bummed if I get a new Mac and the problem transfers into it. And my old (2009) Mac does what I need... or it did until a few months ago.

Sorry for going off on a rant. I really appreciate your help and all the help others have given me. If I come up with any magic answers I'll post them here.

Geoff

You may have hit on the problem! (Sorry for the lack of conviction. I've become quite pessimistic about this.) I opened a new user account and left the computer for 5 hours of Friday shopping and dinner out. I just got back and it had not restarted. It has not gone that long sleeping without restart for a month. I tried the things you guys have told me to do in Numbers and they all work fine in the new account. I can't be sure yet because all symptoms have been erratic and frequently showed a period of improvement after introducing one of the steps people suggested. However, the longest the improvement lasted was 3 days. So by Monday perhaps I'll know if it's the user folder/stuff and not the entire system or computer that's whacky. OTOH, There's not much I can do in the new user account as all my stuff is in the old account . If the symptoms are less time related than quantity of use related I may not see if the problem is still there. I'd like to transfer all my stuff into the new user account but I see 2 problems. 1) Even if I do it small amounts at a time sooner or later my problem may migrate also. Will I be able to know when and where it transferred over and thus what to eliminate? 2) That looks like one heck of a big job. How do I migrate all my settings, files, preferences, mail, etc? Will I be spending hours rethinking my ways of doing things? Some of it is synced in iCould and some in dropbox so I assume that part will be easy. I think I saw somewhere that there is an easy and quick way to switch between user accounts. If I can find that I can have both accounts ready and go back and forth if needed rather than transfer everything.

Well, I'm feeling positive now. Hope it lasts!

Geoff

Back to square one. I left the test account overnight and it was logging out this morning. That's longer than my regular account but still the same activity. When I awoke the computer the dialogue box saying it would log out or restart in 60 seconds was up. It was on 4 seconds so I didn't have time to look and see which one it was before hitting cancel. It doesn't seem to matter; both lead to the same screen and same lengthy process of reloading the user's stuff. Whatever the problem is it's very insidious. It gets better with any attempt to fix but doesn't go away and slowly, sometimes quickly, returns. Sort of like there's digital dust working it's way through the machine's parts as soon as a door is opened. Very con confusing!!!

I've got an appointment to have it looked at by the Apple store Thursday. If he doesn't find any hardware problems perhaps I can clone everything on a new external disk and completely erase and start over. Or get a new computer and use the old as the external disk and slowly migrate everything to the new?

Geoff