Yes, thanks. From what little I rember of basic arithmetic (you know, before
the advanced topics like gozintas and take-aways) +x = x (at least for
positive values of x). I'm glad that Microsoft decided to advance the state
of the art!

"Ron Coderre" wrote:

Some functions (MIN, MAX, SUM, etc) are designed to work with ranges. Consequently, they default to reading the entire referenced
range. However, when an arithmetic operator is used on the range, Excel tries to find the intersection of the current row/col and
the range.

Example:
A1: 10
A2: 20
A3: 30

B2: =SUM(A1:A3)
returns 60

However, B2: =SUM(+A1:A3)
returns 20

AND....B10: =SUM(+A1:A3)
returns #VALUE! because there is NO interesection of Row_10 and A1:A3

Does that help?
--------------------------

Regards,

Ron (XL2003, Win XP)
Microsoft MVP (Excel)


"Jim Russell" wrote in message ...
Yes, that works too!
Next question...Why?

"Ron Coderre" wrote:

If you're referencing cells in the same row as the formula....
still using ranges named: Col_L and Col_M, try this:

=MIN(+Col_L,+Col_M)

Does that help?
--------------------------

Regards,

Ron (XL2003, Win XP)
Microsoft MVP (Excel)


"Ron Coderre" wrote in message ...
I'll assume your range names are "Col_L" and "Col_M".

Try using a range intersection....something like this:
=MIN(Col_L 1:1,Col_M 1:1)

That formula returns the minimum of these two values:
The intersection of Col_L and row 1...which is L1
The intersection of Col_M and row 1...which is M1

Does that help?
Post back if you have more questions.
--------------------------

Regards,

Ron (XL2003, Win XP)
Microsoft MVP (Excel)



"Jim Russell" wrote in message
...
I have a formula that includes the expression "min(L2,M2)". I want to be able
to name columns L and M, and have those names used in the expression. The row
number is relative, so the formulas below are "min(l3,M3)", etc. (The formula
should be min($L2,$M2) to keep the column references absolute, but that
change does not seem to help my problem.)
How should I name the columns to be able to apply them, and what should the
formula look like when it is done? (I would guess the name would reference,
e.g. $M$M, but what then? The rows do not have names.)
Thanks!