Don, to give a column, do this:
1. Click on the letter above the column to highlight the column.
2. Click on Insert on the menubar, then Name, then Define.
3. Look for the name you intend to use for your column. If it already
exists, delete it, reselect the column and repeat steps 1 and 2.
4. Type in the name you intend to use. It must begin with an
alphabetic character. You may not use spaces or special characters in
the name. Use only characters A-Z, a-z, 0-9 and _.
5. Click OK.

Repeat to name the second column, third column, however many.

Go to an empty column where you want to do use your formula. Type in
your formula and press Enter. Drag this formula down the column.
Hope this helps,
James

DonF wrote:
Please bear with me! I'm brand new to both Excell and spreadsheets in general.

1) I am trying to name a column range, as in "pay_amt=(C8:C12)" I've gone
through the; InsertName(Create | Define |Apply) processes to create this
name range, but to no avail. Two of the ranges I've tried to build are
(cur_pay and sup_pay_amt)

2) Part two of the problem is a driviative of #1.

I want use a nested "IF" function to evalue the column range named
"cur_pay". I set up the function like this:

=IF(cur_pay=(68),sup_pay_amt=(68-10),=IF(cur_pay=(136),sup_pay_amt=(136-20).........

I've also tried using the function drop-down menu to create the test and
post the dollar amount. So far, I've spent 3 days trying to figure this two
realted (for me anyway) issues. I need to make five tests and if they all
fail, I need to post an "Invalid Entry" text message as the final
value_IF_False

I've worn out both the help section and the Excell for dummies.
Appearently, I now qualify as a dummy!

--
Don