Setting Up a Criteria Range
Build the header-and-condition block that D-functions read.
Meet the D-Functions
Excel has a family of database functions whose names all start with the letter D: DSUM, DCOUNT, DAVERAGE, DGET, and more.
They work on a table laid out like a tiny database: a row of column headers on top, with records below. Instead of typing conditions inside the formula, you point each D-function at a separate criteria range on the sheet that describes what to match.
This lesson is all about building that criteria range correctly, because every D-function depends on it.
The Three Arguments
Every D-function shares the same three arguments:
- database - the whole table including its header row.
- field - which column to operate on (a header name in quotes, or a column number).
- criteria - the range that holds your matching rules.
So the shape is always DSUM(database, field, criteria). The criteria argument is the part beginners get wrong, so we focus on it first.
=DSUM(A1:D20, "Amount", F1:F2)All lessons in this course
- Setting Up a Criteria Range
- Summing Records With DSUM
- Counting Records With DCOUNT
- Averaging and Extracting With DAVERAGE and DGET