Hi Hari

Apologies for not reading your question carefully enough. You are right,
this is inconsistant, confusing and maybe even worth a "bug" status. I guess
I'm just so used to it that I don't think about it anymore <g.

To add to the confusion; put q294b1 in cell A1 and 1 in B1, select both
cells A1:B1 and fill down. They suddenly behave identically.

Best wishes Harald

"Hari" skrev i melding
oups.com...
Hi Harald,

Thanks a lot for the links to Dick' blog. Found them useful.

Sometimes you need one behavior, sometimes you need another.
I agree that we need different behaviours based on different needs. In
this case there are 2 needs, one we want an exact copy of original cell
and second we want the cells to follow some kind of arithmetic
progression. I have both of these needs. But my question is why should
the user behave differently (depending on what is in the cell) for the
same need.

I. To make it clearer suppose I want a COPY of the original cell then
:-
a) if my cell contains numbers then i should drag Fill handle only to
get a COPY of the number.
b) On the other hand if my cell contains a string like "q294b1" and if
i want a copy then I should do Fill handle +Ctrl

II. No, suppose I want a SERIES of the original cell then :-
a) if my cell contains numbers then i should drag Fill handle + ctrl to
get a SERIES of the number.
b) On the other hand if my cell contains a string like "q294b1" and if
i want a SERIES then I should do Fill handle only.

For the same need -- I.a vs I.b) -- behavoiur (Fill handle only vs
Fill handle +Ctrl) is different. The same holds for II.a) vs II.b)

Please throw some light on the same.

Regards,
Hari
India