the drag feature in combining cells won't work

A

Annxqz

I am trying to combine 3 columns. I have watched the demo and the drag
feature to get the other cells to merge won't work. I also have (brackets)
around the 3rd column and it won't show in the combined cell. Is there any
way to make it show up with the brackets? I am trying to combine last name,
first name, maiden name of women (with brackets around it) to designate
maiden name.
 
P

Pete_UK

Assuming your last name is in A2, first name in B2 and maiden name in
C2, then enter this formula in D2:

=A2&", "&B2&" ("&C2&")"

and copy this formula down as necessary. Note that this does not check
for blanks, so if you do not have a maiden name you will have " ()" at
the end of the combined names. If all the cells are blank, you will get
" , ()"

Hope this helps.

Pete
 
A

Annxqz

Pete_UK said:
Assuming your last name is in A2, first name in B2 and maiden name in
C2, then enter this formula in D2:

=A2&", "&B2&" ("&C2&")"

and copy this formula down as necessary. Note that this does not check
for blanks, so if you do not have a maiden name you will have " ()" at
the end of the combined names. If all the cells are blank, you will get
" , ()"

Hope this helps.

Pete


Pete, thanks for the answer, but I still can't get the drag feature to work. The formula populates D2 and now has the maiden name, but when I highlight it and drag down the D column to put the others in the column like D2 I get nothing but a blank cell all the way down the column. The demo says you don't have to enter a formula in each cell, just highlight and drag and it will do it for you. What am I doing wrong?
Click to expand...
 
P

Pete_UK

The easiest way to copy the formula in D2 down the column is to
double-click the fill-handle. This is the small black square in the
bottom right corner of the cursor, and double-clicking it will copy the
formula down for as many items as you have in the column to the left
(i.e. column C).

Another way is to select D2 then click <copy>, then click on D3 and
with the mouse button held down, drag the highlighted cell down to the
bottom of the range that you want to copy the formula to and just press
enter.

There are many other ways.

Hope this helps.

Pete

Annxqz wrote:

Pete, thanks for the answer, but I still can't get the drag feature to
work. The formula populates D2 and now has the maiden name, but when I
highlight it and drag down the D column to put the others in the column
like D2 I get nothing but a blank cell all the way down the column.
The demo says you don't have to enter a formula in each cell, just
highlight and drag and it will do it for you. What am I doing wrong?
 
G

Gord Dibben

Under Tools>Options>Edit do you have "Allow cell drag and drop" enabled.

Must be enabled for Pete's copy method to work.


Gord Dibben MS Excel MVP
 
A

Annxqz

Thank you so much, I finally have it done. I appreciate all the help, it
took me weeks to get this date entered.
 
P

Pete_UK

Glad to be of help - thanks for feeding back.

You can always re-visit the newsgroups if you have any other Excel
problems to be solved - there are lots of people who will offer you
help and advice.

Pete
 
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