How to Use Excel's DSUM Function

By an eHow Contributor
Excel's DSUM function is short for "database sum." It adds the values in a column of a
database that match the specified criteria. DSUM then calculates its return value in the same
manner as SUM, which simply takes its values directly from the argument list. The following
steps will show how to use Excel's DSUM function.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions
1.

Learn the syntax of DSUM (database, field, criteria). Database is a cell range
that specifies the database, field is a column in the database from which
DSUM will add values and criteria is a cell range with the criteria to be used in
selecting the values.

2.

Define the database for DSUM. The first cell in the range will indicate the
upper left corner of the database array and the second cell will indicate the
lower right corner of the array. The first row of the array must contain the
column names.

3.

Specify the field for DSUM. It can include the column name enclosed in
double quotation marks or a number representing the column's position in the
database where 1 is the first column, 2 is the second column and so on.

4.

Supply the criteria for DSUM. This cell range must contain at least one
column name and one condition for that column. The condition will generally
be of the form ="condition." Thus, a value of ="=Apple" would select rows
where the value in the specified column is equal to "Apple."

5.

Enter the following in the first four columns of an Excel spreadsheet:

Row 1: Tree, Height, Age and Yield;

Row 2: ="=Apple" and =">10" (nothing in columns three and four);
 Row 3: ="=Pear" (nothing in columns two, three and four);
Row 4: Tree, Height, Age and Yield;
Row 5: Apple, 18, 20 and 14;
Row 6: Pear, 12, 12 and 10;
Row 7: Cherry, 13, 14 and 9;
Row 8: Apple, 14, 15 and 10;
Row 9: Pear, 9, 8 and 8; and
Row 10: Apple, 8, 9 and 6.

6.

Interpret the formula =DSUM(A4:D10,"Yield",A1:B2) as follows: The database

is defined as the array A4:D10. Note the column names in the first row of this
array. "Yield" is the column name from which the values will be taken. The
criteria are given by A1:B2 which indicates that the column named Tree must
contain "Apple" and the column named Height must contain a value greater
than 10. DSUM(A4:D10,"Yield",A1:B2) will therefore be evaluated as
SUM(14,10)=24.

If Function

One of the most useful functions in Excel is the IF function. What it does is test a value in a specific cell to
see if that value meets a certain condition. If the value does meet the condition, one result will happen, if
false, a different action will occur.

Writing the IF function:

=IF(logical_test, value_if_true, value_if_false)

IF Function example:

=IF(D1 < 26, 100, 200)

Breaking the example down into its three parts we have:

logical test: D1 < 26, ("<" means less than)
value if true: 100
value if false: 200

The results of this function will be:

1) If the value in D1 is less than 26, the value shown will be 100.

2) If the value in D1 is NOT less than 26, the value shown will be 200.